Main Cast: Veronica Lake, Joel McCrea, Preston S. Foster, Lloyd Bridges, Jeff Corey, Donald Crisp, Charlie Ruggles
Release Year: 1947
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
Plot
This cowboy drama from Hungarian director Andre De Toth was the first of several films based on the stories of Western author Luke Short. Veronica Lake stars as Connie Dickason, strong-willed daughter of Ben Dickason (Charles Ruggles), a ranch owner who has become the toady of a powerful local cattleman, Frank Ivey (Preston Foster), whom Ben once wanted Connie to marry. Connie instead married a sheep rancher and inherited his spread. With her husband out of the picture, Connie becomes determined to run the ranch despite the opposition of Ivey and her father. In her camp are the town drunk, veteran cowhand Dave Nash (Joel McCrea) and a crew of anti-Ivey locals. The resulting bloody range war is much to the dismay of Dave, who wants to resolve Connie's problems with Ivey legally. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
An inexplicably underappreciated Western with serious noir overtones, Ramrod is an engrossing film that serves as a transition from the traditional optimistic Westerns of prior cinema to those examples of the genre that take a darker, grimmer view of life on the frontier. It's true that Ramrod gets a little heavyhanded at times, that the pacing is too deliberate for some and that the surface elements of the tale are quite familiar. But the first criticism is easy to forgive, while the pacing is ultimately integral to Ramrod's success. And if much of the plot has been seen before, it's explored with more depth than is usual, and the very prominent female role is unusual for Westerns of the period. In addition, the grafting on of such noirelements as the femme fatale who wants what she wants at any price, the hero who tries to remain true to his code and a sense of men trying hard to alter a predetermined story they don't quite understand works beautifully here. Andre De Toth's direction is meticulous and precise, and Russell Harlan's cinematography matches it shot for shot. And the cast is a dream, with Veronica Lake turning in an icy, devastating performance that perfectly complements Joel McCrea's noble yet steely one. Charlie Ruggles is quite good in an uncharacteristically serious part, and Preston Foster's villain is quite memorable. Ramrod deserves to be much better known. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Edith Head - Costume Designer, André De Toth - Director, Sherman A. Rose - Editor, Adolph Deutsch - Composer (Music Score), Rudolph Polk - Musical Direction/Supervision, Lionel Banks - Production Designer, Russell Harlan - Cinematographer, Harry Sherman - Producer, Harry Redmond - Special Effects, Ben Winkler - Sound/Sound Designer, Graham Baker - Screenwriter, Cecile Kramer - Screenwriter, John C. Moffitt - Screenwriter, Jack Moffitt - Screenwriter, Luke Short - Short Story Author
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 movies released around the same time. The film stars Veronica Lake who was married to director De Toth from 1944-1952.
Plot
Connie Dickason (Veronica Lake) is a blonde and strong-willed daughter of a ranch owner (Charles Ruggles). The father is under the control of a powerful local cattleman Frank Ivey (Preston Foster), whom the father once wanted Connie to marry. Connie instead marries a sheep rancher and inherits his land. Later, she gets caught up in a dangerous ranch standoff and begins to fall in love with a ranch hand Dave Nash (Joel McCrea).
