The Rawhide Years (1956)

Back in the 1940s and 50s, studios would sign actors and actresses to contracts with no clear intention of how they'd use them. Because of this, some actors were put in strange roles that, in hindsight, made little sense....but since they were under contract they did want to keep the actors busy and have them earn their keep. This is why you can see Rock Hudson starring as an American Indian in one film and Tony Curtis playing a riverboat gambler and cowboy in "The Rawhide Years". So, despite his Brooklyn accent and pretty looks...here he is!The story begins with Ben Matthews (Curtis) working as a shill for a riverboat gambler. Matthews is sick of the life and quits...at just the perfect time! Soon, his ex-partner is hung and some masked man tossed him overboard into the river! But he IS alive...which is far more than can be said for the partner!Time passes and Matthews is aboard another riverboat with his less than honest associate, Rick Harper (Arthur Kennedy). But this time Matthews is legitimate and looking to live the straight life...when the boat is boarded by river pirates...all sporting masks like the guy who tossed him overboard some time ago. Afterwards, Matthews swears he's going to find out who is in charge of this gang and bring them to justice.Apart from the ridiculous and anachronistic songs belted out by Colleen Miller, the film turns out to be pretty good and entertaining. I also was shocked because in some of the fight scenes, it clearly IS Curtis and not a stuntman...so he apparently wasn't just some pretty boy from Brooklyn! Worth your time...and a most unusual western.

This has to be one of the "best looking" films around. Very scenic, as a Western should be. Maybe the best looking two leads together ever.It's a "fluff" Western, and that isn't always an insult. That's what this was meant to be. Lots of B Westerns were made with different goals, but roughly 2/5 were made like this, to be just eye candy, with a few side dishes added on.Here, Arthur Kennedy is the "mystique" character. he comes on with too much of a likable rogue, and we wonder if he'll be the masked murderer who leaves Tony Curtis with the blame for a killing of a respected cattle baron.This is lifted up a bit over the usual fluff with a few red herrings, as we get a bit of a mystery. And the clues come to us the same way they come to the character played by Curtis, which is refreshing. We actually feel along the way with him, as this is very well directed.The review that claims Korman may have copied the villain for Blazing Saddles looks to be close to the mark I dare say. That kind of gives it a retro appeal that they hadn't counted on in 1955. It is an appealing film. Not memorable, but appealing.

To call this a "B Western" is to do it an injustice. B Westerns were long on action, shooting, horse chases and short on acting, and, most of all, character development. And they were intended as second billing to an A feature. Rawhide Years has solid acting all around, and some truly enjoyable singing (and fine acting) from Colleen Miller. Tony Curtis delivers a relaxed, low-keyed performance in the manner of Hitchcock's dictum: Don't act! The result is some remarkably good acting for the Fifties. The movie is similarly low-keyed, and delivers a pleasant, interesting tale. There is a bit of a who-dunit in the river pirates that puts some meat on the plot, and there is character development to the Curtis role that shows a con man with a conscience who becomes a cowpoke and, ultimately, a man. The Arthur Kennedy character has an even stronger element of character development, and the twists add greatly to the story's interest. Kennedy's is, indeed, the most interesting acting. And then there is Peter van Eyck, the bad guy almost to the point of caricature -- Boo! Hiss! -- at least by the end of the movie. He all but ties Zoe to the railroad tracks. I kept having to double check that I wasn't seeing Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles. I suspect Korman was parodying van Eyck -- and there is some resemblance.There is no strong moralizing here, just an entertaining story. If there is any lesson, it is that appearances can be deceiving, and it can be hard to know who your friends are. The opening, where the crew of the riverboat mistakes some logs for pirates hints at this, as does the Kennedy character. Rawhide Years has a good storyline that keeps moving and keeps your attention. In the end, the story ties the threads together nicely. It is not a great movie, just a good, solid, entertaining one, and that's all it sets out to be.

The Rawhide Years is directed by Rudolph Maté and adapted from the Norman A. Fox novel by Earl Felton, Robert Presnell Jr. & D.D. Beauchamp. It stars Tony Curtis, Colleen Miller, William Demarest, Arthur Kennedy, William Gargan & Peter Van Eyck. It's a Technicolor production with photography by Irving Glassberg and the music is scored by Frank Skinner & Hans J. Salter.Plot finds Curtis as Ben Matthews, a riverboat card player who along with his elder partner, Carrico (Donald Randolph), cheat unsuspecting players. But during one particular sting on The Montana Queen, Ben is found out by an observer, Minor Watson (Matt Comfort), who quietly pulls Ben aside to let him know he has been rumbled and that he has destroyed the life of one of the older players. This gives Ben an attack of consciousness who fixes the next game so that Matt can win enough money to pay the old fella back. After breaking the partnership with Carrico, Ben has a meeting with Matt who offers him a job back on his ranch in Galena. It's food for thought but later that night Matt is murdered and Ben and Carrico are chief suspects. Forced to go on the run as Ben Martin, he finds work but eventually feels he can't sit still in one place and he hooks up with shifty guide Rick Harper (Kennedy), for he knows at some point he must get back to Galena to solve the murder, clear his name and win back his true love, Zoe Fontaine (Miller).Little known, probably forgotten and rarely seen, is this fun, entertaining but formulaic Western in the cannon of Tony Curtis. Running at just under an hour and half, Maté (D.O.A.) and his team make sure they fill out the picture with as many Western movie staples as they can. Only thing missing here is Indians, tho we do get a cigar store wooden Indian that's the Macguffin of the piece. The story is a safe one to execute, with its murder mystery core, romantic strands and shifty villains waiting to be knocked down a peg or two, it is never less than interesting. It also looks very nice in Technicolor, especially when the film goes off stage and out into Lone Pine, California, where Glassberg (Backlash) uses the backdrop to great effect. There's also a trio of pleasing songs to enjoy, "The Gypsy With Fire In His Shoes", "Happy Go Lucky" and "Give Me Your Love".The cast, perhaps unsurprisingly for a B Western, is a very mixed bag. Curtis is very unconvincing as a cowboy type, but he's very handsome here and his character is one that's easy to get on side with as he seeks to achieve his goals. Curtis is aided by Kennedy (Where the River Bends), who is playing the material the way it should be played (with tongue in cheek and glint in the eye), they form a nice double act and Kennedy shines as the lovable rogue type. Miller sadly is very poor and her scenes with Curtis lack spark or conviction, while Van Eyck is just wooden as the chief villain. Demarest (The Jolson Story) is his usual reliable and stoic self, while the bonus turn comes from William Gargan (They Knew What They Wanted) who does a nice line in officialdom as Marshal Sommers. All told it's a more than adequate time filler for fans of Curtis and light entertainment Westerns. From gunfights to fisticuffs, to horseback pursuits, there's enough here to offset some of the ham and cheese formula that comes with such a production. 6.5/10