Wed 27 Mar 2019
A Western Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: ROUGHSHOD (1949).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[8] Comments
ROUGHSHOD. RKO Radio Pictures, 1949. Robert Sterling, Gloria Grahame, Claude Jarman Jr., John Ireland, Jeff Donnell, Myrna Dell, Martha Hyer, George Cooper, Jeff Corey. Screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring (as Geoffrey Homes) and Hugo Butler. Director: Mark Robson.
Roughshod is a surprisingly noir western from RKO, the quintessential nor studio, co-written by Geoffrey Homes (Out of the Past) and directed by Val-Lewton-alumnus Mark Robson. Surprising because it sets up a standard White-Hat vs. Black-Hat plot, then pretty much abandons it to dwell of the Pilgrim’s Progress of four Ladies of Easy Virtue reluctantly rescued by absurdly tight-lipped White-Hat Robert Sterling, who is stalking and being stalked by Black-Hat John Ireland.
Homes does a thoughtful job sketching the trials and tribulations of the euphemistic “Dance Hall Gals” (who include Martha Hyer, Jeff Donnell and the unforgettable Gloria Grahame) as they chase dreams of Love, Lust, Avarice and Respectability, showing sensitivity without straying West of the Pathos, while Robson skillfully sustains tension in the Val Lewton style, with half-seen figures flitting about the night, punctuated by a few very chilling scenes of Ireland prowling about like a monster in a horror flick.
There is also a dandy run-and-jump gunfight to wrap things up with a satisfying ironic twist that I refuse to divulge.
March 28th, 2019 at 9:38 am
Dan
“…the unforgettable Gloria Grahame”
You certainly got that right!
I’m adding this movie to my To Be Watched list right now.
March 28th, 2019 at 9:55 am
I’d never heard of this film. Thank you!
Leading man Robert Sterling often played urban sophisticates – most convincingly. It’s hard to imagine him as a cowboy.
The only Mark Robson I ever liked was “Peyton Place”. And that mildly (good script and cast, routine direction).
March 28th, 2019 at 2:10 pm
Mike, I wouldn’t rush to Robson’s defense, but THE 7TH VICTIM, ROUGHSHOD and EDGE OF DOOM are happy exceptions in a career that strived for mediocrity.
March 28th, 2019 at 7:43 pm
Good film with better credits than it would seem to deserve, but which all tend to pay off. Sterling was perhaps too contemporary in nature to be fully at home in a Western, but he did a few others that weren’t bad.
To me he is always George Kirby from the TOPPER series and Spring Byington’s son in law from SEPTEMBER BRIDE. He was at his best in light comic roles.
March 28th, 2019 at 9:26 pm
December Bride and Dean Miller.
March 28th, 2019 at 10:13 pm
Right you are, Barry. If you remembered it was Dean Miller in that TV show, without looking it up, not Sterling, you have a better memory than I do. I can picture everyone else in the cast, but not Miller.
As for Sterling, he was in a lot of movies, and some of them were indeed westerns — The Sundowners, for example, but I confess that I couldn’t come up with the title on my own. I had to look it up.
He was definitely at his best doing light comedy. Near perfect, in fact.
March 28th, 2019 at 10:42 pm
I do not have a better memory than you, Steve. I just knew the title was December, not September Bride. Then, I followed up. And agree with you, that Sterling was an attractive presence, who played Clark Gable’s younger brother in Somewhere, I’ll Find You. Not a great picture, but one I have a soft spot for in my heart. Gable casually throws away the name Richard Harding Davis, and it was the film he was shooting when Carole was killed.
March 29th, 2019 at 6:46 pm
Barry,
Memory tricks, I’m old. I love SOMEWHERE I’LL FIND YOU too, I even used Gable’s Irish Mail as a call drink for a while, champagne and Irish Whiskey (better than it sounds) in a beer glass. Sterling was indeed good in it too though hard to notice with those two stars.
He was always an charming and likable presence in film, not exactly a star, but with an easy and likable persona on screen and enough range to be good in comedy and drama.