Rancho Notorious

Fairly typical revenge Western, with a little romance triangle thrown in. Nothing really special here, other than Dietrich's sizzling one-liners. The bar race was perhaps the most memorable part of the movie. Was I the only person who chuckled during the opening credits when the (ehem) crooner sang "man of steel" as George Reeves' name came up?

Quality film noir western that has a strong bromance at the center and probably inspired multiple other westerns and spoofs.

Fritz Lang 3rd and last Hollywood western. And the best of the trio. While it got all the western tropes, it does it in it's own way, and because of it becomes a rather complex western by the standard of the day. Raw and honest, and not just gimmicks glorifying the old west. Marlene Dietrich at the age of 50 is still an enigmatic beauty and lure of film. Even with Marlene all over this, it's a rather unglamorous picture. Which also becomes part of its allure.

A rancher looks for revenge, but finds only a strange love for a woman running a place for doomed and wicked outlaw men to rest and take shelter. Such a poignant western every way you look at it, where the revenge story is less relevant than the film's grim portrait of manhood, with no room for redemption or victory, only pain and regreet.

A bit more focused, stylistically, than most, but otherwise--apart from a few audacious lines and the presence of an aging Marlene Dietrich--not much here to distinguish it from countless other westerns of the era.

The acting range of Marlene Dietrich is significant: the timid and fragile personae from The Garden of Allah is nowhere to be seen here, and neither is the cynical apathetic lady from Touch of Evil. Here we have a vivacious woman, an evolved femme fatale, a woman who knows who she is, knows what she wants, and knows how to get it. Arthur Kennedy is once again great and a treat to watch. Overall a decent western with a great song segment and good character arc of the main hero (and heroine).

While there are some moments of genuine psychological tension, these are too few and far between. And while Dietrich completely owns every scene she is in, this is not enough to carry the rest of the cast who are so-so. Probably best summed up as disappointing and as a lost opportunity by Lang and co to make a properly interesting film that pushes the boundaries of Western films (it starts to do this, but does not go far enough, even considering that it was made in the early '50s.)

Viewed July 1, 2020.

Forgettable. Bland main character who doesn't even blink when turning to a life of crime. Film feels als though it misses half an hour of second act goodness to flesh out the stakes.

85.00

Star Rating: ★★★1/2

Kind of campy at times, but still works out to be both fun and surprisingly raw.

watched: 2013, 2024

Straight to the point revenge-ballad, litterally, with a doomed, revenge-thirsty hero and a great chain-smoking Marlene Dietrich. The story is somewhat bland, but the dialogue smacks of wonderful camp.

This typical western yarn of (sing it together now), "Hate.... Murrderrr.... and Reeevaaannnnnggah!" goes through the motions, but is elevated to wonderful camp by dialogue so meaty, some actors chew it while others choke - and a powerhouse Dietrich, whose cigarette-smoke singing and offscreen bisexuality are both impossible to dismiss.

Unusual Germanic Western, with a great revenge theme and a poignant and powerful performance of an aging--but still very beautiful--Dietrich.