Ramrod (1947)

Ramrod (1947), directed by Andre DeToth.

We are dropped into the middle of the story in a confusing first act. Eventually the plot emerges: Veronica Lake is a hard and manipulative young woman who is going to run her own ranch. She is at war with her father and villainous suitor Preston Foster who already owns all the other land. Joel McCrea is her careful foreman who everyone else considers a drunk. He is sweet on the reliable Arleen Whelan, another strong woman.

This is somewhere between a standard format "B" western and the more realistic efforts of Hawks and Ford. Good period detail. It is actually a crime story plot and could be set in the big city. Rather violent.

Photographed by Russell Harlan (Red River (1948), The Thing from Another World (1951), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)). I don't know how he did one tracking shot on a rough hillside. Filmed at Zion and Grafton in Utah.

Busy Adolph Deutsch score, Edith Head costumes.

Available on Blu-ray from Olive Films. Much print damage throughout.