Roughshod
Tags: violence, murder

Plot synopsis:
Three escaped convicts led by Lednov kill three cowboys in Nevada and steal their clothes. They ride on looking for revenge against a rancher, Clay Phillips, who is warned by friend Jed Graham to get out of town.
Clay and younger brother Steve head toward Sonora, California with a herd of horses. They come across four stranded saloon girls, Mary, Marcia, Elaine and Helen, with a broken wagon wheel.
Helen's fiance turns up to take her home. Elaine, who is depressed and ill, flees. Steve saves her and they end up at the Wyatt ranch, where it turns out Elaine is a long-missing daughter. Back on the trail, Helen decides to stay with an Irishman named Fowler who has struck gold.
An argument later leads Mary to steal Clay's wagon, which act is quickly discovered by Clay and Steve. During the short chase, the wagon becomes detached from the horses and plummets into the adjacent creek. Clay dashes into the water and retrieves a semi-conscious and soaking wet Mary, who quickly comes to. Clay's concern for her well-being suddenly returns to anger as Mary, seeing the rest of her clothing floating away downstream, is concerned about that instead of Clay's wagon that she just destroyed. This only solidifies Clay's resolve that she not continue with him and Steve onto Sonora and so puts her on a passing stagecoach to the next town.
In the meanwhile, Lednov, in pursuit, comes upon the camp of Helen and Fowler and so roughs up Helen and kills Fowler to make her reveal where the Phillips brothers have gone. Upon finding them, a gunfight ensues, in which Clay and Steve are victorious, though Steve is wounded. Needing medical attention, Clay takes him to the town doctor where Mary appears and returns to Clay's arms.

Review: Likable Western.
Unusually adult Western for its time.
Brothers Sterling and Jarman have to drive their horse herd over a dangerous mountain pass so they can start a ranch on the other side.
Along the way, however, they encounter four stranded dance hall girls (Production Code euphemism for hookers).
Now the brothers are torn between helping the women or getting their herd safely across.
And, oh yes, there are the three baddies chasing Sterling, but they're in the movie mainly to provide action and not to drive the plot.Now, Robert Sterling doesn't exactly fit my image of a cowboy lead.
He seems a shade too boyish and perhaps a little soft looking (likely why the unshaven stubble was added).
However, he does well with the part, being convincingly tough when he needs to be.
In fact, acting skill means more in this Western than in most because of the emotional interplay between the three principals, Sterling, Jarman, and Grahame.
And, as it turns out, the chemistry between Jarman and Sterling is outstandingly unforced.
There seems to be a genuine rapport between the brothers.
Grahame, of course, specialized in this kind of compromised role in her all-too-brief and exotic career.
Having her teach the skeptical Jarman to read amounts to an interesting character sidelight.
In my book, however, the youthful Jarman walks off with the movie since he manages to be genuinely appealing without piling it on.For Sterling the challenge is whether to follow conventional morality and reject Grahame's overtures or to follow instinct and see the real potential in her.
Jarman sees such inner qualities immediately since he has not yet learned to judge others according to stereotype.
Fortunately the screenplay avoids getting sentimental over the conflict, and in fact handles the whole risky theme quite intelligently.The mountain shootout is scenic and well-staged.
I wish I had a nickel for every nasty heavy John Ireland played during this period.
But then, he was so very good at it.
For a Western with a strong human interest side, director Robson avoids the usual pitfall of too much talk by moving things along nicely.
the movie's an entertaining and satisfying 90 minutes with a genuinely humane message..
Fine actors, femme western, ingenious plot, careful direction.
Gloria Grahame is Roughshod's major attraction, but bonuses are Jeff Corey in a small role, John Ireland as a lean young killer, and Claude Jarman Jr. carrying as serious a teenage role as a western may offer.
Robert Sterling honestly manages the male lead.
All the supporting roles are a testament to the kind of dependable quality the studios were delivering in the mid-20th century.The most pleasant surprise may be the number of women's roles--the four bar girls, each of whom has her own denouement, including the accidental reunion of one with her decently grieving parents.
As other posters have noted, the movie handles such scenes with minimal sentimentality or chatter, so that the strong feminine presence operates within the proper western decorum.As a student of plot, I felt continually (if mildly) impressed by the story's layers and crossings.
The bad guys' journey interweaves with the good guys' journey, which involves driving 10 free horses and assuming responsibility for the bar girls who break down on their path.
One genre hallmark of a western is the story's geography or landscape.
The good guys take another trail to avoid the bad guys, which leads the brassiest of the saloon-girls to hitch up with a gold prospector.
The only wince-factor is the dependence on Gloria Grahame's character's reckless driving, but when that results in some of her clothes spilling in the river, those clothes float downstream and signal to the bad guys where the good guys are.A lot happens in about 90 minutes, but it's all a bit subdued like its male lead.
Director Mark Robson worked with Orson Welles and Val Lewton, so the quality-floor is high throughout.
The best visuals are the long shots through the landscape where the different parties see each other; otherwise the film's composition, in keeping with its feminine content, is tight, personal, and intimate.
The final gunfight is modest but, again, honest in its way, like the whole movie..
A Great Classic Gloria Grahame Film!.
This is a film I seemed to have missed over the years and I was glued to the TV screen because Gloria Grahame had a starring role in this Western Classic.
Gloria Grahame (Mary Wells),"Oklahoma",'55, played a sweet sexy looking hooker who found herself falling in love with Robert Sterling,(Clay Phillips),"Showboat",'51, who was on a manhunt and had trouble trying to forget Mary Wells affairs with men in the various dance halls throughout the West.
Claude Jarman, Jr., (Steve Phillips),"The Yearling",'46, was Clay Phillips brother who was very wise at knowing people, but did not know his ABC's, which Gloria was glad to teach him in a buckboard!
If you are a Gloria Grahame fan, you will want to view this film, because Gloria was very young and extremely attractive at the start of a very short career.
She should have been given better roles in Hollywood, but she was TYPE CAST too SOON!.
Journey to the right side of the street.
Brothers Robert Sterling (Clay) and Claude Jarman Jr ((Steve) are heading to Sonora with 9 horses to start up ranch life.
On the way they pick up 4 ladies of ill-repute who are heading the same way – Gloria Grahame (Mary), Myrna Dell (Helen), Jeff Donnell (Elaine) and Martha Hyer (Marcia).
Sterling also has John Ireland (Lednov) and two other escaped outlaws after him for revenge.
We follow Sterling and his merry band as they follow their dreams to Sonora.
Not all of them make it there, though.This engaging western is easy to watch as the fates of the 2 brothers and 4 women is revealed.
The end shoot-out scene is well done with a degree of tension that sustains itself throughout.
The cast are all good with particular mention to John Ireland, Gloria Grahame and Myrna Dell.
Robert Sterling in the lead isn't as memorable as these three.
John Ireland makes the most of his screen time and he is definitely not a good guy.
The fate of Myrna Dell is the most unfortunate and is dealt with in, what was for me, the film's most powerful segment.
It will leave you asking yourself what happened.I usually find children in films quite annoying, especially if they run around saying "swell".
Well, Claude Jarman Jr is the exception to this rule and he adds some nice moments to the developing relationship between Sterling and Grahame.
I would have liked to see some Indian trouble as well but you can't have everything!
And there is no need for it, really.
It's an enjoyable character-driven western..
Opportunities Beckon.
Roughshod is a B western from RKO Studios where Robert Sterling and his younger brother Claude Jarman are driving a herd of horses to their new ranch.
The brothers have been separated for years, but with their parents dying, they're reconnecting in this new venture.
On the way they stop to help a group of four saloon girls also moving west for bigger and better opportunities.
The girls are Gloria Grahame, Jeff Donnell, Martha Hyer and Myrna Dell.
They all went on to have film careers of varying degrees of success and RKO was using this western as an opportunity to exhibit some of the flesh.Sterling also has John Ireland on his trail, an outlaw he wounded and put in jail for several years.
He'd probably wait and shoot it out with him like Gary Cooper in High Noon, but with all these responsibilities, the best course is to keep moving.
Although it's never said, it is sure implied here more than in most westerns done under the Code that the four girls are working girls.
And the opportunities they seek are places where men are scarce and they can make money or even marry one.Naturally this makes the film perfect for Gloria Grahame who when you needed a woman of loose morals in the coming decade, she always got first call.
She's who makes Roughshod any kind of memorable and without the women, Roughshod could have passed for a Gene Autry or a Roy Rogers product.
Gloria however has a great deal more character to her than originally supposed.
You'll see that if you watch Roughshod and believe me, she's the reason to check this film out..
A forgotten, unknown Masterpiece among B Westerns....
Unfortunately, this was the only Western directed by the talented Mark Robson.
Has an excellent, tight screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring (AKA Geoffrey Homes) and Hugo Butler, from a story by Peter Viertel.
The film boasts unusual violence for the Genre and for its time, with uniformly outstanding performances by Gloria Grahame, Claude Jarman Jr., Myrna Dell, John Ireland and Jeff Donnell.
Character actors James Bell, Jeff Corey and Sara Haden were exceptionally good in small roles.
Surprisingly, the usually dull leading man Robert Sterling proved he could act.
Other highlights: the impeccable Joe Biroc photography, an evocative score by the underrated Roy Webb and the women costumes by Renie.
Shamefully, as with many RKO Titles, WarnerVideo never released it on VHS, and the first DVD (Made on order) came out in January 2016!.
If you love Westerns do not miss ROUGHSHOD, is on a par with the all time great..
Western Drama.
Usually, westerns have a lot more action than "Roughshod".
This one, however, is a character study starring Robert Sterling and Gloria Grahame and is a likable, well made picture.
Peculiar storyline has Sterling and his younger brother trying to herd some horses to another town.
Along the way they encounter Grahame and 3 other dance hall girls with a broken-down wagon enroute elsewhere, having been deemed morally bankrupt and driven out of a neighboring town.
Sterling is also being chased by a vengeful John Ireland and 2 other escaped cons for some payback.The story is mainly about a budding -or not- romance between Sterling and Grahame which Sterling is trying to fight off.
He is trying to maintain a righteous front for his younger brother played by Claude Jarman, Jr. in an excellent performance.
As noted by other users, Gloria Grahame fans will enjoy seeing her in an admittedly routine role, but she has never looked prettier than here.The action is all in the last 10 minutes in an exciting finale.
It is an unremarkable, ultimately satisfying film that grows on you and lasts only 88 minutes.
It almost makes you forget that is mostly a talking picture that could have used a little more energy and maybe some second unit stuff..
A gingham dress.
The first western by Robson who had already made some extraordinary movies (who says they were Val Lewton's work?) such as "the seventh victim" 'the ghost ship" or "bedlam".And his western is quite good ,if not as mind -boggling as his precedent efforts.First of all,Gloria Grahame,who was often cast in films noirs ,shines in her part of a dance hall gal who dreams to be a housewife and to educate her young protégé,Robert Sterling's kid brother:my favorite scenes show her teaching him the alphabet and the "true" culture;it's a destruction of the bad gal cliché;and I love when Sterling tells her that he knows a lot of things she can't teach him: the nature ,the animals,the weather,an empirical knowledge for sure ,but one that is more useful than the culture you get from the books,when you are in the wilderness tracked down by outlaws (John Ireland is the ideal bandit,but his part is underwritten and his relationship with the hero is skimmed over);it seems the director was more interested in the Sterling/Grahame relationship:a hero who is (perhaps?We are not told about it) illiterate but who demands a "respectable" woman for his wife :the other one is just good for a kiss,but you cannot marry a chick with a racy past;his kid brother knows better than he does:the young actor is excellent and endearing.A rare thing in the forties (and in the westerns of the era),the action begins a few seconds before the cast and credits..
Gloria Grahame steals the spotlight in this uneven western....
GLORIA GRAHAME is photographed expertly in this B&W western that stars ROBERT STERLING as a cowboy heading back to his new ranch with brother CLAUDE JARMAN, JR.
Grahame not only looks good, but gets to deliver an interesting performance as the dance hall girl (prostitute really) who wants to find the right man and go down the straight and narrow path.She thinks she's found her man in Sterling, who looks a bit too boyish for the role of the rugged cowboy but nevertheless, he delivers an earnest and likable performance.
The pairing of him with Jarman as brothers seems a bit incongruous since they look nothing alike--but again, good acting almost compensates for this minor distraction.For a villain, we have JOHN IRELAND in full mode as a nasty guy who wants to put a bullet in Sterling for past transgressions.
The final shootout provides the story with the only really tense moments in a story that is more character-driven than an action western.Nothing special about any of the production values or Mark Robson's direction, except to mention that Grahame really walks off with most of her scenes even though her intense expression conveys little more than annoyance with the fact that Sterling seems oblivious to her charms.
Still, there's a heart of gold in the gal who wants nothing more than to wear a gingham dress and play housewife, leaving her tawdry past behind.Summing up: A bit pokey but interesting enough to maintain interest because of some well played interplay between the characters..
The western formula is in plain sight, but dialed back and skillfully opened up..
I stumbled into this by not changing channels after watching another movie.
I was engaged within 5 minutes by the not-quite-formula everything - dialog, setup, even acting.
I don't want oversell it.
It's competent and interesting, partly for surprisingly good dialog occasionally, for a "western".
I would call it a skillful addition to the short list of actually adult westerns.
It could reasonably be called a skillful addition to the short list of actually adult westerns.There's an exchange that serves as a good example of how the movie succeeds.
At one point Mary Wells (Grahame) and Clay Phillips (Sterling) get to the moment that any film buff knows must come, where she confronts him about his attitude towards her past, we get this exchange:MARY: Well, why don't you just say it.CLAY: Okay, it's said.There's a lot of that, economy of dialog and action where lesser writers would drag in familiar stuff from the standard inventory.Other reviewers have analyzed plenty that's good.
I mainly wanted to toss in another high rating for it..
Gloria steals the show.
Some fun names in here....Gloria Grahame was in SO many noir films of the time.
and she really steals the show here.
Robert Sterling, John Ireland.
Cowboy is travelling out in the old west, and comes to the rescue of four dancing girls, who left town suddenly when dancing is no longer allowed.
and of course, some dangerous, escaped convicts are also still in the area.
Lots of talking and arguing.
Shooting, galloping.
Show down at sun down.
Written by Peter Viertel, who had come over from Germany under hitler.
Directed by Mark Robson.
It's okay.
typical western.
typical western.
Family sometimes looking out for family.
hunting for outlaws.
shows on Turner Classics..
Predictable But Entertaining Western.
Robert Sterling is a Winchester-toting rancher in "Peyton Place" director Mark Robson's "Roughshod," a romantic western epic, where our stalwart hero finds his fortunes changed by a quartet of women that have been run out of Aspen by social reformers.
Clay Phillips (Robert Sterling of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea") has nine horses and his little brother Steve (Claude Jarman, Jr., of "The Yearling") and he herding them to their new ranch in Sonora.
They encounter a buggy load of prostitutes broken down on the trail to Sonora.
Reluctantly, rather than leave them to die by the elements, Clay decides to load their things and them in the back of his wagon and deposit them at the first ranch that they see.
Meantime, Sheriff Gardner (Ed Cassidy) warns Clay about the trio of desperadoes that have broken out of prison, shot down three innocent gents, and stolen not only their horses but also their hardware.
Actually, this is the first thing that happens in "Roughshod." The man who leads this threesome, Lednov (John Ireland of "Red River" in an outfit that resembles his Red River garb) wants to even up a score with Clay.
As it turns out, our hero took part in arresting Lednov because he killed of his best friend.
Mary Wells (film noir femme fatale Gloria Grahame of "The Big Heat") and the three of her dancehall girl friends with her, Elaine (Jeff Donnell), Helen (Myrna Dell) and Marcia (Martha Hyer of "The Sons of Katie Elder"), are literally fish out of water on the frontier.
One frontiersman (Jeff Cory of "True Grit") helps the women navigate their way down a sloping road.
Eventually, the wagon that they were run out of town in breaks down on them, and this is when they meet Clay.
Nothing of significance, "Roughshod" is still an above-average oater with strong performances and great photography.