Rancho Notorious

When the film begins, Vern Haskell (Arthur Kennedy) is shown with his fiancé. However, shortly after Vern leaves her store, a thug wanders in to rob the place and then assaults and murders her as well.

With it being directed by the great Fritz Lang (a director with a great and distinctively Expressionistic visual and directing style, with 'M' and 'Metropolis' being two of the finest examples) and starring Marlene Dietrich (especially fond of her work with Josef von Sternberg and in 'Witness for the Prosecution'), 'Rancho Notorious' had a lot of interest value. Likewise with the story idea.

The strange factor is what is foremost in this odd and artificial Western. Most Movie Westerns try to avoid false images that betray their fictional accounts.

Nicely done Western with a very interesting story-line. I like the way it unfolds and how we follow the main character as he ups his game and his skills.

Synopsis: Vern Haskell, a nice rancher, seeks out to avenge his fiancé's death when she is killed during a robbery. His revenge leads him to Chuck-a-luck, Altar Keane's ranch set up to hide criminals, and he finds more than he bargains for.

Rancho Notorious (1952) *** (out of 4) Offbeat but entertaining Western about a man (Arthur Kennedy) who goes searching for the man who raped and killed his fiancé. He eventually meets up with an outlaw (Mel Ferrer) who takes him to a notorious, secret ranch ran by Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich).

A honest rancher, palming himself off as an outlaw to gain acceptance into a fraternal haven of gangsters hiding out in the sticks, is only after the varmint who murdered his fiancée--but ends up feeling a strong sexual attraction to the woman who runs the Chuck-a-Luck, a former saloon hostess with a colorful reputation. Fritz Lang-directed western was plagued with problems (both during the production and after), although Marlene Dietrich--allegedly the cause of most of the on-set turmoil--gives a must-see performance as the notorious Altar Keane ("They even named a railroad car after her!

Fritz Lang, the director, was quite a guy -- the last of the red hot authoritarians. He strode around the set in riding breeches and boots, a monocle in his eye, shouting orders in a German accent through his megaphone.

The Western is so unique, so internalised, and so full of instantly-recognisable motifs, that many Westerns from the classic era take on the look and feel not of the western United States, but some surreal and separate country, as far removed from America as anywhere else. This was especially the case when the increasingly European production crews in Hollywood produced their skewed yet affectionate takes on this "most American of genres".