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Roughshod
Rancher Clay and his brother, Steve, head out across the Sonora mountain pass, followed by Lednov, an ex-con seeking revenge on Clay for putting him behind bars. Clay and Steve unexpectedly cross paths with a group of dance hall girls -- including Mary, Marcia and Helen -- whose stagecoach has broken down, and help them get to the nearest ranch, where Lednov unfortunately catches up to Clay.
1949 · Directed by Mark Robson · 88 min · Western · Screenplay in the scene database · 8 frames
Tagline
"Sure I'm from the wrong side of the town...that's where I learned to handle guys like you!"
Plot
Three escaped convicts in prison garb, led by cold-blooded killer Lednov, ambush and murder three cowboys, taking their clothes and firearms. They burn their prison garb in the smoldering camp fire, and the trio quickly rides on seeking revenge against a rancher named Clay Phillips, who once dogged Lednov all the way to Mexico and wounded him before turning him over to American authorities for a previous crime. Phillips is warned by friend Jed Graham to get out of Aspen.
Early thirtyish Clay and young teenage brother Steve, are headed toward Sonora with a small herd of horses - which is all they've got. They come across four stranded "women of the night," saloon girls that the townsfolks had sent packing. Led by take-charge Mary, the four women are stuck on the Sonora trail with a broken wagon wheel.
A lovestruck local cowboy turns up to take Marcia back and marry her, over his parents' objections. Elaine, who is sick and evidently pregnant, flees when she hears Clay is leading the group to the nearest ranch to leave the girls in its owners' care. Steve corrals her and they continue on. To heartbreak, recrimination, and tentative reconciliation, it turns out Elaine is the Wyatts' runaway daughter. Her father yields to his wife's compassion, but orders the other women to leave. Mary upbraids Clay for his narrow-mindedness, acknowledging that he can't think past his idealized future, of a Simon-pure dream wife in a spotted gingham dress.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Hugo Butler, Daniel Mainwaring
- Cinematography: Joseph F. Biroc
- Edited by: Marston Fay
- Music: Roy Webb, Paul Sawtell
- Produced by: Richard H. Berger
Cast
- Robert Sterling as Clay Phillips
- Gloria Grahame as Mary Wells
- Claude Jarman Jr. as Steve Phillips
- John Ireland as Lednov
- Jeff Donnell as Elaine Wyatt
- Myrna Dell as Helen Carter
- Martha Hyer as Marcia
- George Cooper as Jim Clayton
- Jeff Corey as Jed Graham
- Sara Haden as Ma Wyatt
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: RKO Radio Pictures
- Themes: family reunion, sonora, frontier hospitality
More by Mark Robson
On this film
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