''Ramrod'' is a 1947 American
Western film
The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...
directed by
Andre de Toth
Endre Antal Miksa de Toth, known as Andre de Toth (; May 15, 1913 – October 27, 2002), was a Hungarian-American film director, born and raised in Makó, Austria-Hungary.
He directed the 3D film House of Wax (1953 film), ''House of Wax'' (1 ...
and starring
Joel McCrea,
Veronica Lake,
Preston Foster and
Don DeFore. This cowboy drama from
Hungarian director de Toth was the first of several films based on the stories of Western author
Luke Short. De Toth's first Western is often compared to
films noir released around the same time.
Leading lady Veronica Lake was then married to director de Toth. The supporting cast features
Donald Crisp
Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English people, English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best S ...
,
Charles Ruggles,
Lloyd Bridges and
Ray Teal.
Plot
Connie Dickason is the strong-willed daughter of a ranch owner who is under the control of powerful local cattleman Frank Ivey, a man her father once wanted Connie to marry. Instead, Connie takes up with a sheep rancher who is run out of town by Ivey, leaving behind a note that he is handing the title of his ranch over to Connie.
The conniving and manipulative Connie persuades ranch hand Dave Nash to be her "ramrod," or ranch foreman. He recruits an old pal, Bill Schell, who bends the law to his own purposes now and then but is fiercely loyal to Dave, to come help him run the ranch and fend off the ruthless Ivey.
Rose Leland is in love with Dave and he feels great affection toward her. Connie seduces both Dave and Bill to do her bidding, however. She even persuades Bill to stampede her own cattle, without Dave's knowledge, just so Ivey will appear guilty to the law. Sheriff Jim Crew goes to arrest Ivey and is shot down in cold blood. Dave is ambushed by a couple of Ivey's men. He kills one of them, Red Cates, but is badly wounded. Bill hides him, but Connie carelessly exposes their hideout. Bill volunteers to distract Ivey and his men while Dave turns to Rose for shelter. Ivey hunts down Bill in the mountains and shoots him in the back.
Dave has had enough. He confronts Ivey in the street, armed with only a shotgun, but beats him to the draw. Connie is delighted. At last, she has her land and her man. Dave, though, wants nothing more to do with her, returning to Rose's arms.
Cast
*
Joel McCrea as Dave Nash
*
Veronica Lake as Connie Dickason
*
Don DeFore as Bill Schell
*
Donald Crisp
Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English people, English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best S ...
as Sheriff Jim Crew
*
Preston Foster as Frank Ivey
*
Arleen Whelan
Arleen Whelan (September 1, 1916 – April 7, 1993) was an American film actress.
Early years
Whelan was a native of Salt Lake City, Utah. Before she became an actress, she worked in Southern California as a manicurist, contributing her ea ...
as Rose Leland
*
Charles Ruggles as Ben Dickason
*
Lloyd Bridges as Red Cates
*
Nestor Paiva as Curley (Circle 66 hand)
*
Ray Teal as Ed Burma
*
Houseley Stevenson as George Smedley
*
Robert Wood as Link Thomas
*
Ian MacDonald as Walt Shipley
*
Wally Cassell as Virg Lea
*
Sarah Padden as Mrs. Parks
*
Trevor Bardette as Bailey (uncredited)
Production
It was the first film from the independent production company Enterprise and was Lake's first movie as a star outside Paramount. Per the
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
The ''AFI Catalog of Feature Films'', also known as the ''AFI Catalog'', is an ongoing project by the American Film Institute (AFI) to catalog all commercially-made and theatrically exhibited American motion pictures from the birth of cinema i ...
, production took place from late May to early August 1946. Shooting took place in
Zion National Park and
Grafton, Utah.
Reception
Critical
The film received a positive review from ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', which said in summary "the director, scenarists and cast, many of whom are no strangers to this sort of emoting, have pitched in with him to make this horse opera a pleasant variation on a venerable theme."
''Diabolique'' magazine says "the movie is a bit out of kilter – you have more sympathy for Lake, who has more at stake than McCrea, who is just a hired hand" and that "''Ramrod'' isn't perfect but it is interesting, and it's fun to see Lake in a Western."
Box Office
According to ''
Variety,'' the film earned $2 million, with a negative cost of $1.5 million. This made it one of the more successful films from the short-lived
Enterprise Productions.
References
External links
*
*
Review of filmat ''Variety''
{{André de Toth
1947 films
1947 Western (genre) films
American Western (genre) films
United Artists films
Films directed by Andre de Toth
Films scored by Adolph Deutsch
Films shot in Utah
American black-and-white films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films
English-language Western (genre) films