One thing that bothers me about typical reviews of Hollywood westerns is that every modest picture with horses, six-guns and saloons gets thrown into the same 'just another western' sack. If it's not The Big Country, or High Noon, or Rio Bravo, or a John Ford classic, then it's usually 'just another routine oater'. Of course, way too many westerns are cliché ridden and flat. But there are scores of really good ones. Westerns that not only hold your interest, but also make you marvel at what a difference a good director, a good cast and a good script can make.The Rawhide Years is one such picture. Expertly directed by Rudolph Maté and flawlessly filmed by Irving Glassberg, this movie has an exciting story, a terrific cast and carefully distilled themes of betrayal, friendship, courage and redemption. It's on a par with the best westerns of Anthony Mann or Budd Boetticher. I've seen it many times, and it never disappoints. Very highly recommended, even for viewers who don't usually cater to oats.

It is not easy for a guy with a very young face to be a star in a western. Audie Murphy could do it, but then he was a hero in real life. Tony Curtis also can do it and he comes out well in this entertaining and colorful western directed by Rudolph Mate. The supporting cast is remarkable. Arthur Kennedy as the not so bad guy, Coleen Gray  sexy, pretty and remarkably still in style, Peter Van Eyk the refined villain who thinks he rules the world. From the poker game at the beginning to the uncontrollable lynching mob at the end all goes very fast . Very good musical number "Gypsy with the Fire in his Shoes" performed by Coleen Gray composed by Laurindo Almeida and Peggy Lee.

To call this a "B Western" is to do it an injustice. B Westerns were long on action, shooting, horse chases and short on acting, and, most of all, character development. And they were intended as second billing to an A feature. Rawhide Years has solid acting all around, and some truly enjoyable singing (and fine acting) from Colleen Miller. Tony Curtis delivers a relaxed, low-keyed performance in the manner of Hitchcock's dictum: Don't act! The result is some remarkably good acting for the Fifties. The movie is similarly low-keyed, and delivers a pleasant, interesting tale. There is a bit of a who-dunit in the river pirates that puts some meat on the plot, and there is character development to the Curtis role that shows a con man with a conscience who becomes a cowpoke and, ultimately, a man. The Arthur Kennedy character has an even stronger element of character development, and the twists add greatly to the story's interest. Kennedy's is, indeed, the most interesting acting. And then there is Peter van Eyck, the bad guy almost to the point of caricature -- Boo! Hiss! -- at least by the end of the movie. He all but ties Zoe to the railroad tracks. I kept having to double check that I wasn't seeing Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles. I suspect Korman was parodying van Eyck -- and there is some resemblance.There is no strong moralizing here, just an entertaining story. If there is any lesson, it is that appearances can be deceiving, and it can be hard to know who your friends are. The opening, where the crew of the riverboat mistakes some logs for pirates hints at this, as does the Kennedy character. Rawhide Years has a good storyline that keeps moving and keeps your attention. In the end, the story ties the threads together nicely. It is not a great movie, just a good, solid, entertaining one, and that's all it sets out to be.

The only western that Tony Curtis was to star in his long career was The Rawhide Years. In the tradition of B westerns I'm not sure what Rawhide had to do with the story.Despite that, it's a decent enough western which starts out on a riverboat where Curtis is the protégé/come-on shill of gambler Donald Randolph. After feeling sorry for a sucker they trimmed one night, Curtis allows a friend of the sucker played by Minor Watson to win the money back. Later on during a pirate raid on the riverboat Watson is killed, Curtis thrown overboard and later suspected of Watson's death.His fugitive status also puts his marriage plans on hold with Colleen Miller. Curtis comes back after three years and finds she's married to saloon owner Peter Van Eyck. But it all gets straightened out in the end.Arthur Kennedy is also in The Rawhide Years, a rather rouguish trail companion that Curtis picks up along the way back to Miller. You're never quite sure whether he'll be friend of foe in the end. He gets the acting honors in The Rawhide Years.In his memoirs Curtis liked doing the film as a change of pace from what Universal usually cast him in. And he liked hanging around with stuntmen who gave him some good tips about behavior in front of the camera. Something they have to know as well as the players they are doubling for.The Rawhide Years is solid western entertainment a good credit in the Tony Curtis filmography.