Review #1,411: 'Ramrod' (1947)

Feuding landowners have always been a popular subject matter for the old-school B-movie westerns, and on face value Andre De Toth's Ramrod appears to be cut from very familiar material. The presence of co-stars Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake no doubt attracted punters charmed six years earlier by their performances in Preston Sturges' masterpiece Sullivan's Travels, and they would be forgiven if they thought they were in for some light-hearted white hat vs. black hat cowboy fun, with a little bit of romance sprinkled in for good measure. In fact, Ramrod couldn't be further away from Sturges' romp in terms of tone, with De Toth revelling in the cynicism of all but one of its central characters. Based on a story by legendary Western author Luke Short, this is a tough, twisty horse opera that pushes its characters into morally murky territory, sharing more in common with the film noir genre than the tropes of a western.

As the film opens, we are already at the boiling point of a conflict between powerful ranch owner Frank Ivey (Preston Foster) and sheepherder Walt Shipley (Ian MacDonald). Walt wants to bring sheep to the land, a big problem in cattle country. Caught in the middle of the feud is Connie Dickason (Lake), the beautiful and headstrong daughter of rancher Ben (Charles Ruggles). Her father wants Connie to marry Ivey, but she detests his bullying, violent manner and prefers to marry Walt instead. As it turns out, Walt doesn't have the stomach for a fight and flees town, leaving his Circle 66 ranch to Connie. Rather than caving to Ivey's demands for the land, Connie hires the stoic Dave Nash (McCrea) as her 'ramrod', or foreman, who feels indebted to Walt for taking him in when he was at his lowest. Dave accepts, but only on the promise that he is allowed to deal with Ivey peacefully, and without resorting to violence. He hires the free-spirited Bill Schell (Don DeFore) as back-up, but as Ivey and his gang employ increasingly brutal methods and Connie loses patience with Dave's restraint, alliances are forged and broken as the conflict spirals out of control.

Despite the magic they made together working with Sturges, I've never been particularly fond of either McCrea or Lake as actors. They have the screen presence, certainly, but they can both come across as empty shells. They are undoubtedly the weakest aspect of Ramrod, a film that is otherwise riveting from start to finish. The story is complicated enough to hold your interest for the duration, with supporting characters emerging to play a more important role that you were expecting, and revealing hidden layers that provide plenty of twists and turns. Indeed, Ramrod would be pretty pedestrian if Dave's methods proved to be the only way, and as his grip on the situation loosens when the back-stabbing and dirty dealings start to play out, the film heads into pure film noir territory. As the bodies start to pile up and the gun-fire becomes more frequent, De Toth forces his characters down some incredibly dark paths and doesn't wimp out of the difficult corners he backs them into. This is tough and exciting stuff, made all the more interesting by the way De Toth toys with the myth of black against white. The weakness of the leads is countered by some excellent supporting players, in particular Foster and DeFore.


Directed by: André De Toth
Starring: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Don DeFore, Donald Crisp, Preston Foster, Arleen Whelan, Charles Ruggles, Lloyd Bridges
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #449: 'The Navigator' (1924)

While his set-pieces were certainly on a lower scale than Harold Lloyd, and his films were less politically and socially aware than Charles Chaplin, the great Buster Keaton was certainly a resourceful man, and wholly dedicated to the art of prop comedy. In 1924, he would buy his biggest prop in the USAT Buford, a liner that served in World War I and was destined for the scrap heap until Keaton stepped in. Keaton and co-director Donald Crisp sat down to write a new comedy based around their new toy, a giant ship that was ripe with endless comedic possibilities, and one which Keaton had free reign. And out of this came The Navigator, one of Buster Keaton's most loved comedies.

Bored rich-kid Rollo Treadway (Keaton) decides one day to get married, and travels across the street to propose to neighbour Betsy (Kathryn McGuire). Confident that she will say yes, he asks his servant to book honeymoon tickets for Honolulu that very night, but naturally, she turns him down. Rollo decides to go anyway, and a mistake leads to him getting on the wrong ship, the SS Navigator, which has just be sold to an enemy by Betsy's father in an unknown war. Her father is seized while checking the ship by some local gangsters, and Betsy, hearing her father's shouts, wanders onto the ship before it is cut loose. The ship drifts out into the Pacific Ocean, with Rollo and Betsy all alone to face the perils of savage tribes, dodgy equipment, and having to make breakfast all by themselves.

While I do prefer the films of Chaplin, Keaton's reputation as the greatest physical comedian of all time is well justified, with his doe-eyed, helpless expression providing some great subtle comedy between the prat-falls (his nickname was the Great Stone Face). One of the opening scenes aboard the ship has the two characters sensing each other's presence and running manically around the ship, missing each other by inches. It's a remarkably well-timed moment, and McGuire (who co-starred in other Keaton films) proves game and much more than the archetypal love interest. Although I much preferred the likes of Sherlock, Jr. (1924), The General (1926) and Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928), there are some inspired moments here involving Rollo's helpless attempts to open a can of food, a rickety deck-chair, and an underwater sword-fight with a swordfish. If the ending is tinged with a bit of racism (they're black and on an island, of course they're cannibals!), it seems to be more of a case of innocent ignorance, and The Navigator is a 60-minute hoot, though some plot-strands are left somewhat neglected and open-ended.


Directed by: Donald Crisp, Buster Keaton
Starring: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Frederick Vroom
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie