The Raiders

A rancher (Richard Conte) who has staked a claim during the California gold rush goes after the gang of murderous claim-jumpers who have stolen his claim and murdered his wife. Richard Conte is known to star in urban/noir films, but he lends some good acting chops in this Universal western as the rancher who wants to get even with the ones who killed his wife. Later, with the help of Viveca Lindfors, he realises that revenge is futile. A handsome-looking western, the Raiders is fast-paced, has some intense shootouts, but it has a solid story that gets you involved, and rooting for the good guys.

To fill in a wet Sunday, I watched this film for the second time. The best thing is the colour photography, but as is so often the case little effort has been made to catch the 1849 atmosphere. The men wear the usual cowboy clothes and use repeating rifles and I'm not too sure that binoculars were in common use then. There's an unrealistic and unsatisfyingly condensed court case, and the ending didn't convince. But that's what you get with a 1950s B Western. Richard Conte is his usual slick self, as when he's playing a gangster, WWII soldier or whatever. Of the other actors, Hugh O'Brian has the most screen presence, playing the nastiest of the bad men. Of the three young women, Conte's wife was the most impressive - pity she was murdered in an early scene.

I hadn't seen this movie before or the actors in it but found it easy to engage with. Richard Conte plays Jan Morrell a gold prospector in California before it became a state of the union. His cabin is attacked by bandits who steal his gold and kill his wife. hey leave him for dead but he is saved and goes on the hunt for the gang. The costumes are typical 50's with lots of colour and all beautifully clean. The girls outfits are stunning - Jan Morrell gets a choice of two new women in his life - I guess the frontier life meant that you had to move on quickly ! OK, it is a bit creaky here and there but if you want a good afternoon cowboy - give it a chance.