Raw Edge (1956)

Good movie but grossly overrated

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"Raw Edge" is an exploitation Universal western in its story and direction but shot in classic settings. It was directed by John Sherwood who was a great assistant director (he worked for Anthony Mann, Bud Boetticher, Max Ophüls, John Sturges, ...). Harry Essex wrote the script of "Raw Edge", he wrote also scripts for Jack Arnold, and the three movies John Sherwoood shot were like Jack Arnold's movies, "The Creature Walks Among Us" and "The Monolith Monsters" being the two others."Raw Edge" describes how sex could have been in those times with workers having no home and being strong alcoholics. There are scenes never seen before in a western, like the one with Neville Brand and Yvonne de Carlo. So "Raw Edge" cannot please to westerns purists, it's more a western for 1956 youth watching it in a drive-in in their muscle-car, looking for sex and violence. Rory Calhoun had already played in the western "Four Guns To The Border" directed by Richard Carlson in which there also were very erotic scenes with Colleen Miller. How could those scenes have been through the censorship? Beginning of the end...

A very Different Western with its concern Focused on Sex. Competing with TV, the Movies of the Decade occasionally ventured into this Territory. The Movie Stars Two Beautiful Women, Yvonne De Carlo, and Mara Corday and the Complete Running Time is spent with both being Chased, Near Raped, and generally Lusted after.The Male Cast lead by Rory Calhoun also features Neville Brand, Rex Reason, and Emile Meyer. The Screen is On Fire from Frame One and the Chase is On to see who can Bed the Beauties First.It's Widescreen and Technicolor and Runs 76 Minutes. The Subject Matter Alone makes this one Stand Apart from other Fifties Western Fodder. Definitely Worth a Watch for Western Movie Fans and even those not usually drawn to Genre might find it Entertaining as it leans more toward an Adult Audience. Note...Director John Sherwood made a career as a Second Unit Director and only Directed three films. Other than this one...The Monolith Monsters (1957) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956).

Set in the days of the Oregon Territory, Raw Edge is one of your more adult westerns made during the Fifties at a time when westerns were trying to compete with westerns shown on television. The Saturday matinée kids of the Thirties and Forties did not see westerns that were about sex.John Gavin married to Mara Corday insults Yvonne DeCarlo in the eyes of her husband Herbert Rudley who is the local Ponderosa owner in the area. But this guy has a lot more power than Ben Cartwright ever dreamed of. He's a veritable medieval lord of the manor and he's in charge of the women who in pioneer Oregon are the most valuable commodity around.Gavin is hung as per Lord Rudley's orders and Mara Corday who is a mixed racial women is then 'assigned' to Robert J. Wilkie also per Lord Rudley's orders. That's how it is in his part of Oregon.That is until former Texas Ranger Rory Calhoun arrives in town and is greeted with his brother's lifeless swinging body. He wants answers and wants them now.Which presents a peculiar conundrum for a lot of people. They're all under Rudley's thumb, but they also realize that there's still a shortage of women and Yvonne DeCarlo's one most desirable woman. And she'd also be a wealthy widow. And Corday has a tribe of relations ready to take up her cause as well.All in all Raw Edge with its emphasis on sex and women as valuable commodities is an unusual, but entertaining western. Besides those I've mentioned look for good performances from Rex Reason as a cynical gambler and a father and son pair of lowlifes, Emile Meyer and Neville Brand.Definitely one adult western.

In 1842, Oregon, might makes right. And might belongs to Montgomery, who rules over the land. One of his "laws" is that any "free" woman rightfully belongs to the first man who claims her, until his death. And he has claimed the desirable Hannah (Yvonne De Carlo - no wonder she made so many Westerns, that woman can ride!). When the brother of a man whom Montgomery unjustly sentenced to hanging comes looking for revenge, Montgomery's protectors decide to side with him, hoping to see their boss dead and his wife open to re-claiming. The threat of rape, if not explicit then certainly strongly implied, hangs over the proceedings throughout "Raw Edge", giving the film an unpleasant air (this is definitely no family fare). Even the "hero", or at least the person who comes closest to that description (Rory Calhoun), is morally questionable at best. But the cast is good, and the film is beautifully shot in natural locations and vivid Technicolor. **1/2 out of 4.