''Rawhide'' is a 1951

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film produced by

Twentieth Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. It was directed by

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgrou ...

and produced by

Samuel G. Engel Samuel G. Engel (December 29, 1904 – April 7, 1984) was a screenwriter and film producer from the 1930s until the 1960s. He wrote and produced such films as ''My Darling Clementine'' (1946), ''Sitting Pretty (1948 film), Sitting Pretty'' ...

from a screenplay by

Dudley Nichols Dudley Nichols (April 6, 1895 – January 4, 1960) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was the first person to decline an Academy Award, as part of a boycott to gain recognition for the Screen Writers Guild; he would later accept ...

. The music score was by Sol Kaplan and the song "A Rollin' Stone" by

Lionel Newman Lionel Newman (January 4, 1916 – February 3, 1989) was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He won the Academy Award for Best Score of a Musical Picture for '' Hello Dolly!'' with Lennie Hayton in 1969. He ...

. The cinematography was by Milton R. Krasner. The film stars

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...

and Susan Hayward with

Hugh Marlowe Hugh Marlowe (born Hugh Herbert Hipple; January 30, 1911May 2, 1982) was an American film, television, stage and radio actor. Early life Marlowe was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born Hugh Herbert Hipple. He was of primarily Engli ...

Dean Jagger Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an American film, stage, and television actor who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Henry King's ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949). Early life Dean Jeffrie ...

Edgar Buchanan William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ''The ...

Jack Elam William Scott "Jack" Elam (November 13, 1920 – October 20, 2003) was an American film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies (sometimes spoofing his villainou ...

and

George Tobias George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner K ...

Plot

Tom Owens is the clean-cut and sophisticated gentleman son of J. C. Owens of the Overland Mail Company. His father wants Tom to learn the business from the ground up, so he sends Tom west to remote relay station Rawhide Pass to take lessons from stationmaster Sam Todd, whom he has known for more than 40 years. Tom is now eagerly anticipating his return to civilization in one week. A strong-willed woman named Vinnie Holt and her very young niece Callie arrive on a coach on their way east. Holt's sister was killed in a bar brawl along with Callie's father Johnny back in

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. Sitting approximately from Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is within the Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, Vacaville had a population of 102,386, making it t ...

, and she is taking Callie to her paternal grandparents in the east. As her stage prepares to depart Rawhide, the U.S. Cavalry arrives from the east with the news that four convicts escaped from Huntsville prison, held up a stagecoach that had passed through Rawhide and killed the driver, who was Sam's friend. The convicts are after a gold shipment expected to pass through Rawhide the following day. The cavalry intends to escort Holt's coach on its way east, but children are not permitted to ride a coach into a dangerous situation, and when Holt refuses the driver's command to leave Callie at the station, she is forcibly removed from the coach by Owens, but she then insists on taking Owens' room for the night. Holt takes Callie, along with Owens' gun, to the nearby hot springs for a bath. While they are gone, a man approaches the outpost on horseback. Todd and Owens are leery knowing that it could be one of the escaped convicts, so Owens approaches while Todd hides in the stable tack room with his rifle. The man flashes a deputy sheriff's badge from Huntsville, saying that he is hunting the escaped convicts, so Owens gives Todd the all-clear signal. However, they soon learn that the man is Rafe Zimmerman, the convict who had escaped from Huntsville the day before his scheduled hanging for the murder of his girlfriend and her lover. Zimmerman then signals the other three convicts to ride into town. They are hardcore outlaw Tevis, simpleton Yancy and obedient Gratz, all of whom were around Zimmerman when he made his prison break. Holt and Callie return from bathing in time to hide and see Todd shot in the back by Tevis after Todd makes a break for the rifle that he had left in the stable. They are discovered when Callie cries, but Owens' gun is left under the horse trough. The convicts all assume that Holt is Owens' wife, as their items are in the same bedroom. When Holt hears this, she is indignant and wants to tell them that she has no connection to Owens, but Owems persuades her that her best chance of staying alive with the baby is to pretend to be his wife. Zimmerman knows that they need an official from the company there when the last coach passes through that night, as he will assure the cavalry to the east that all is well, and the best way to convince Owens to do this is to leave his wife and baby alone. After the last coach passes, Owens manages to grab a kitchen knife, and he and Holt chip away frantically throughout the night at the clay brick wall in the bedroom where they are being held captive. Before they can make the hole large enough to escape through, the knife breaks. Dawn comes, and Owens is summoned to prepare the station for the stagecoach. While Holt is distracted, Callie crawls through the small hole. Fearing for Callie's safety, Holt screams to be let out of the room. When Tevis opens the door, he forces himself on her. Owens hears this and tries to come to her aid, but is knocked out by Zimmerman in the melee. Zimmerman then thinks that he has wrested control of Tevis, but turns his back on Tevis to return to Owens and Tevis shoots him in the back. Gratz is also gunned down by Tevis while Yancy flees into hiding. Owens regains consciousness but is shot running across the yard. He takes the gun from under the horse trough and is then engaged in a gunfight with Tevis as the next stage approaches. Callie wanders back into the yard and Tevis threatens to kill her if Owens will not surrender his gun and present himself to be killed. Owens complies, but as he walks to his sure death, Holt is able to recover Gratz's rifle and saves Owens by killing Tevis. The gold-filled stagecoach then rides in with Yancy aboard. When asked what has happened, Owens replies to the stage driver, "Learning the business, Jim. Just learning the business."

Cast

as Tom Owens * Susan Hayward as Vinnie Holt *

as Sam Todd *

as Rafe Zimmerman *

as Tevis *

as Gratz *

as Yancy * Jeff Corey as Luke Davis * James Millican as Tex Squires *

Louis Jean Heydt Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall guy roles. Early life Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many sou ...

as Fickert * Judy Ann Dunn as Callie

References

External links

* * * * * {{Henry Hathaway 1951 films 1951 Western (genre) films 20th Century Fox films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Henry Hathaway Films scored by Sol Kaplan 1950s American films