The Redhead from Wyoming
The Redhead from Wyoming
NR | 08 January 1953 (USA)
The Redhead from Wyoming Trailers

A saloonkeeper sides with the sheriff for justice after she's framed for rustling.

Reviews
WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
classicsoncall I guess I'm used to my Fifties B Westerns in glorious black and white. This one was just a bit too colorful, perhaps offered as a distraction from the idea that it was meant to be an A-list feature. Story wise, it's been said and done before, with open range men about to scrap with settlers over rustled cattle, with a would be politician (William Bishop as Jim Averell) thrown into the mix to stir up trouble. About the most interesting part of the story was the tutorial on how Averell's henchmen changed the Bar-Double-Check brand into the K-Bar-M, an effort that was repeated a second time to make sure we all got it. That, and the almost comical side view of Maureen O'Hara at one point in which her over ambitious figure is profiled to the point of caricature. She's wearing the yellow dress with the white top, but believe me, you won't miss it.Alex Nicol is second billed here as the laconic sheriff Blaine, developing a romantic interest with O'Hara's character, but he just doesn't look the part. I wonder, could it be because his first name was Stan? What Western writer names his top gun Stan? Better to have left him just plain Blaine. Sorry, couldn't help it.One interesting take away here is Dennis Weaver in an early role as one of the feisty Jessup Brothers. The other is the frequent, to the point of over use, of the term maverick to describe a steer without a brand on open range. If I didn't know better, I would think this one of John McCain's favorite Westerns.
rose-294 Ah, the glamour and pure entertainment of Golden age Hollywood! Shapely saloon queen is caught in the middle of the Wyoming cattle war and between two men: suavely villainous gambler and distrusting sheriff hero. Red-haired Maureen O'Hara, the star of the picture among unknowns, and her dresses blaze in gorgeous 1950's Technicolor, and routine western shenanigans between cattle kings and new settlers are enjoyably went through. Script by Polly James and Herb Meadow is just an excuse to show beauty of O'Hara's heroine and her rosy cheeks, the scenery and glorious colours. Bad thing? No, not at all, on the contrary. Dennis Weaver, Sheriff McCloud from my childhood, has a minor role.
tedg Spoilers herein.I'm interested in the history of redheads in film. It is pretty remarkable, I think and one of the purest stereotypes - or collection of them - in all filmdom. That effectively means in all life.Ms O'Hara had just made the film that defined her - and reinforced a specific type of redhead - in 'The Quiet Man,' with John Wayne. You know, the feisty, fiery, sexy, stubborn, furrowed brow Irish lass, capable even of physical anger.Problem is that Maureen is a pretty unskilled actress. Other than the red hair and a torpedo bra, there isn't much there.Here we see an exploitation of all that, in technicolor so that we can see the hair. And yes, we have rough ridin, shooten, stubbornness, and sexiness (at least so far as the code allowed). There are a few scenic shots as well. Other than that, its as empty as Wayne's head.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
rsoonsa A voice-over opening, with Winston Hoch's outstanding camera-work of calf roping and branding on screen, is a promising beginning and describes the setting for this film in 1870s Wyoming Territory, aboil with open range cattle raising and rustling, stimulated by the Territory's Maverick Law which permitted settlers to brand calves as their own if they were not within the confines of deeded property. When the voice-over ends the scenario begins, and that is a pity as it is woeful, approaching unintentional pastiche of the genre, with a fast-moving series of scenes lacking development, motivation and narrative continuity helpful to a viewer. An obvious vehicle for the beautiful Maureen O'Hara, splendid in Technicolor with her flaming red hair and green eyes, the piece unfortunately places her acting shortcomings to the fore, although she does her own stunt work, as is her wont. Alex Nicol is miscast as a laconic sheriff and Alexander Scourby is a bit too elegant for his role as a principal landowner, but William Bishop makes something interesting of his part as the film's primary villain, although his dialogue is no more penetrating than that of any other cast member. The plot deploys O'Hara as Kate Maxwell, a dance hall diva who is set up as proprietress of a saloon by her former lover, Jim Averill (Bishop) so that he may utilize her place of business as a front for rustling cattle, whereupon Kate is rent by her dual attraction to Averill and to the sheriff, who is taking steps to oppose this criminal enterprise. Director Lee Sholem, a straight ahead sort, is not given to varying of moods within his pictures, and that is the case here, resulting in a cursory and literal reading of the puerile script. Edward Stevenson's costumes for O'Hara are striking and appropriate and master make-up artist Bud Westmore does not have his craftsmanship disturbed by her riding and shooting activity, which is of a piece with the others in the colorfully garbed cast, whose raiment is barely disturbed by violent goings-on; indeed, the players often appear to be about to launch into song and dance, turning this affair into a musical of sorts, which might have been an improvement. The film includes the debut of Jeanne Cooper and an early effort of Dennis Weaver, atypically portraying a hard case, and somehow Robert Strauss is included in this one, completely out of place. Despite crisp editing, REDHEAD seems to take a long while arriving at its predictable ending, and although the cast never seems the worse for wear from its exertions, the viewer certainly will be, during this motivationless attempt to cast light upon a significant segment of Western American history.