Rancho Notorious (1952)

[dfordoom]

Fritz Lang’s 1952 western <i>Rancho Notorious</i> has some claims to being a film noir/western hybrid. It certainly has plenty of classic film noir elements. It has flashbacks, it has a femme fatale. It has corrupt law enforcement officials conspiring with crooked politicians. And it has a hero who starts out as a conventional western hero seeking revenge, but as the movie progresses he finds himself on the wrong side of the law and living with outlaws.

Arthur Kennedy gives an excellent performance as the hero Vern, Mel Ferrer is good as the romantic likeable bandit Frenchy, and Marlene Dietrich is excellent as the proprietress of the ranch that serves as a hideout and headquarters for outlaws. At the age of 51 she was a completely believable femme fatale.

There are outdoor scenes that are obviously filmed in the studio but somehow that artificiality seems to add to the atmosphere. I think it’s the first Fritz Lang colour movie I’ve seen, and I like the way Lang and cinematographer Hal Mohr have used colour – it’s just as moody and oppressive as a black-and-white film noir. Overall it’s an intriguing and entertaining movie, and very much worth seeing. I can’t stand westerns, but I loved this movie.

[traceyk]

I hate most westerns too, but I agree with you, this one, along with "Johnny Guitar" are worth seeing. Maybe I like them because the main characters include women? In most westerns (and correct me if I'm worng--I won't take offense--westerns are unexplored territory to me) the women seem to be mostly there as decoration or the prize or "the girl he left behind." Just call me feminist, but that's why I like a lot of precodes and also the movies of the great women stars, like Hepburn, Dietrich, Davis and so on.
I wonder if the movie would have looked better in black and white? One thing critics seem to hate about this movie is the obvious backdrops and so forth. And Dietrich always looked better in B & W.