A rare opportunity not to be missed is watching Rancho Notorious as it was originally released, one of the many great films Fritz Lang directed and the third, last and best of his westerns. Since it was distributed by RKO, and for years was not effectively protected by copyright, most of the available versions on VHS or DVD (in several countries) have a dismally pale and nevertheless exceedingly dark colour, whereas the actual film was photographed by the great cameraman Hal Mohr with a magnificent and daring use of Technicolor that might have influenced the future, even more flamboyant Trucolor palette designed by Nicholas Ray for Johnny Guitar (1954).

Quite an innovative film in its genre at the time, now it looks like one of the best (and less irrational) examples of the revenge variety explored by several Fritz Lang films and many western movies. It has quite an unusual cast (with Arthur Kennedy as the lead, Marlene Dietrich and Mel Ferrer in the other main roles) and a rather strange narrative structure, with three flashbacks which help build up the mythical reputation and mystery of the Altar Keane character (Dietrich) and also contribute to ‘contaminate’ this western with elements related to the thriller and the melodrama. The use of a ballad as both narration and commentary on the tale could also have inspired Ray, this time for The True Story of Jesse James (1957).

Part of the credit for the film’s lasting interest should perhaps go to the quite infrequent writer Silvia Richards, author of (at least) the original story (the screenplay was credited to Daniel Taradash), who had already written Secret beyond the door… (1947) for Lang. A former communist and therefore more or less black- or gray-listed around 1952, she also wrote (or contributed to) Curtis Bernhardt’s Possessed, George Sherman’s Tomahawk and, in particular, King Vidor’s Ruby Gentry, all very interesting pictures with very strong, decision-making women characters.

Miguel Marías