The Proud Rebel (1958)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

If you loved Shane, you will probably like this movie too. It revolves around a Rebel solider (Allan Ladd) who comes to a small Illinois town with his 10-year-old mute son (David Ladd), and the boy's dog. The boy had been traumatized while watching his mother being killed, by Union soldiers, in their Atlanta mansion. The father is devoted to finding a doctor who can cure his boy, and the boy is devoted to his father and his dog (a great sheep dog). Here, de Havilland plays a tough woman trying to make a go of a farm that had been left to her by the men in her life who had been killed. Her enemies are a family of sheep ranchers who want to get her off of her rundown ranch so that their sheep can get to water. She had steadfastly refused to leave. Things change when she offers to pay Ladd's legal fine for fighting one of the sheep ranchers---after being provoked by him. Since she had no money to pay the fine either, she offers to let him work it off on her ranch. Of course the boy and the dog come to live in the bunkhouse too.

The boy, David, is the focal point of this movie. The movie had a resounding impact on young boys coming of age in the late 50s and into the 60s. Its powerful impact at the time is what made it a successful movie. The many emotional ups and downs throughout the movie dealt with a wide variety of issues faced by a devoted war veteran father from the south, trying hard to steer away from violence as he travels the Midwest seeking medical resolution to his traumatized son who had been struck by aphasia after witnessing his mother's burning death in a Civil War atrocity . Some of the issues viewers are exposed to include the tragedies during and after the Civil War, the western range wars, the disenfranchisement of the southerners, an evil rancher and his evil sons, a frontier love story, and a son-dog-father saga. The traumatized boy-cum-hero is superbly portrayed by child actor, David Ladd, who becomes the film's hero at the climatic gunfight at the end of the movie, saving his father, reuniting with his dog and regaining his voice. The developing love story between the father portrayed by the ever stoic and stiff Alan Ladd and the widower farmer portrayed by Olivia de Havilland, takes second stage to the tear-jerking scenes superbly portrayed by the boy in two scenes: when he learns that his father had sold his dog, and when he regains his ability to speak at the end of the movie. A well-crafted movie and an outstanding performance by David Ladd who was eleven years old when the film was released.The theme of the skilled gunfighter trying to lead a gun-free productive civilian life but is thwarted and forced back to his firearm to right an injustice, is a theme that recurs numerous times in western movies. In fact, this theme is quite common in the most successful of westerns including this movie, Shane and High Noon. The overriding message of this genre of movies is: if you are unjustly treated (justice commonly portrayed as inept or corrupt), then you may take up arms and take justice into your own hands, even if it means killing others. The hero and his gun are paramount.

I have long complained because there must have been a million western movies made over the years by Hollywood and practically all of them are variations on the exact Fsame half dozen (or less) themes. As a result, most westerns are repetitive and dull. Fortunately, this one is a bit different--with enough that is not familiar to make it worth viewing.The film begins with a father and son (Alan Ladd and his real life son, David) traveling across the country. They are Southerners but have left Atlanta following the Civil War in order to locate a doctor who might be able to cure the boy. It seems that following witnessing his mother's death the child has been mute.In one of the towns, the father meets up with a couple dirt-bags who pick a fight with him. However, it is Ladd himself who is convicted of assault and is sentenced to spend 30 days in jail or pay $30--which he just doesn't have. A local spinster (Olivia de Havilland) takes pity on them and offers to pay the fine if the father comes to her farm to work off the debt.Once on this farm, it's obvious Olivia's having problems with the same dirt-bags that attacked Ladd earlier in the film. In this case, the men are trying to force her to sell them her struggling farm. Along the way, Alan comes to her aid in this struggle and it's also obvious that some real affection is forming--and it's hardly a surprise when the two decide to stay.While the story is not monumental in scope, it's a nice story about people. It helped that an exceptional director (Michael Curtiz) and many excellent actors appeared in the film. In addition to the main characters, veteran character actors such as Cecil Kellaway, Dean Jagger, Henry Hull and Harry Dean Stanton appeared in the film as well--giving it nice color. Plus the writing was very good and made for an appealing film.By the way, the sign language that David Ladd uses throughout the film isn't perfect, but it IS essentially correct. So, when he is trying to tell Alan that there is a fire, that IS what he is signing. It's actually funny, but several times during the movie the dad didn't seem to know what the kid was saying--and I clearly understood and felt like yelling out what he was signing! I especially liked when the boy was trying to tell de Havilland how much he liked her but no one seemed to understand that he was saying how much he liked her. The film makers COULD have just as easily had the kid just make some nonsense signs and hardly anyone every would have known. It's nice to see that they tried. Now here is the rub, however, the DVD is NOT captioned at all!!! So, deaf people who COULD understand the boy cannot watch the film and enjoy it.Also, while not a huge mistake, in one scene late in the film the three leads are in town and it's pouring down rain--so much so that they need to stay there until it clears. Yet, when they arrive back at the farm, it's 100% dry--the same dessert-like place it's always been with dirt, dirt and more dirt.

Alan Ladd plays a widower whose wife died in a fire during the Civil War. His young son (played by his real life son, David Ladd) has not been able to speak after he saw his mother die. Alan Ladd's character is trying to find a doctor to help his son. Ladd ends up with a thirty day jail sentence after being unfairly fined for a brawl which the two sons of an ambitious sheep rancher (wonderfully played by Dean Jagger) intentionally initiate. Olivia DeHavilland is a local unmarried woman who sees the predicament Alan Ladd and his son are in, and she pays the fine so that Ladd will not have to spend thirty days in jail, provided he works it off for thirty days on her farm. Michael Curtiz did a fantastic job of directing this beautiful film. Alan Ladd, Olivia DeHavilland and David Ladd are all terrific. This movie is a bit different than Ladd's classic film,"Shane", although there are some similarities. Ladd is once again the strong silent type, although he is more human in this film. David Ladd is perfectly cast as his son who can't speak. Olivia DeHavilland has just the right touch as a lonely but strong woman who quickly gets attached to the two new men in her life. The chemistry between the three leads in this film is tough to beat. The supporting actors are very good, including Cecil Kellaway, Dean Jagger, the ubiquitous film star John Carradine and Harry Dean Stanton. This movie works as a family film, which is in the end uplifting. The photography is just beautiful in this movie. "The Proud Rebel" is definitely an overlooked minor classic in the same genre as "Old Yeller", "The Yearling" and even "Shane." It has stood the test of time very well and I truly expect it will begin to grow in stature if it is shown on cable channels and available on DVD. Well worth watching for fans of the Western and Family Film genre. 90/100. Buy it if you have kids! Heck, buy it even if you don't!