Raton Pass (1951)

Very well executed

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a darned good Western; much better than I expected. In fact, the only reason I began watching it was that I wondered if it looked like Raton Pass, which I have traveled through several times. Well, for the record, some of the exterior scenes do not look at all like the Raton area, while other exterior scenes do -- although the film was photographed on the opposite side of New Mexico.Dennis Morgan is the primary star, and despite having a background that more often involved musicals and light comedies, he does very nicely here. His role is that of the son of a rancher who owns a massive spread. The female lead is Patricia Neal, who is excellent as a power hungry woman who ends up as Morgan's wife, but then double crosses him with a railroad tycoon.Basil Ruysdael is excellent as the father of Morgan. Not exactly ruthless, but he wields his power effectively. Excellent performance; he was a reliable character actor. Steve Cochran plays the less than savory man who comes to the aide of Patricia Neal, while Scott Forbes plays "the other man". There are a number of other lesser character actors who do rather well here.As for the plot -- pretty good. You have to have a little sympathy for Patricia Neal's character -- she expected to be a partner, not a woman held down looking at magazines. So, she gets bored and takes matters into her own hands.Although this is not one of the better known Westerns, it's a good one, made at a time when Warner Brothers often did some pretty decent Westerns. Not A+, but still recommended.

Patricia Neal plays a chilling and evil vixen who uses and disposes men like Kleenex trying to get to the top. Among those she charms and disposes of or tries to in Raton Pass are Dennis Morgan, Basil Ruysdael, Steve Cochran, and Scott Forbes. This has fatal consequences for some of them.Father and son Basil Ruysdael and Dennis Morgan own the biggest spread around and Ruysdael is one proud and ruthless character who's not too squeamish about what he does to maintain supremacy. He's feuding with neighbor Louis Jean Heydt, but Morgan is courting daughter Dorothy Hart and the marriage may make it a happy merger of interest.That is until Neal arrives in town and she seduces Morgan away from Hart and they marry. So happy and charmed by his daughter-in-law that as a wedding present Ruysdael turns over title to the ranch to Morgan and Neal. That's when Neal really goes to work.Part of her scheme includes banker Scott Forbes and outlaw Steve Cochran. In Cochran she finally meets a man more evil than her. But she thinks she's up to him.A little more plot than usual characterizes this western and Raton Pass is definitely not for the Saturday matinée kid's trade. We do get to hear Dennis Morgan sing a song at his wedding which is always nice.But Neal is truly a malevolent creature and Cochran isn't too far behind her. They make Raton Pass some interesting viewing.

The movie is vague in my mind because I saw it 55yrs ago when it debuted here in Raton, New Mexico. I remember it was exciting; this was for a five year old. The greatest excitement came from the city activities to commemorate the occasion. This included parades, dances and parties. My present day next door neighbor, a high school student at the time, danced with Dorothy Hart---a lifetime event for him.For the benefit of civic historical programs, I am trying to track down a copy of the movie. We are a small town trying to beat the doldrums that affect many small towns in America at this time. We are trying put together a film festival focused around "The Raton Pass" and the associated history of our area---the Santa Fe Trail. We have been through what seems to be all of the normal sources to find this movie. Can anyone help with a source?

This film catches you off guard. It starts by showing how a wealthy rancher Marc Challon (Dennis Morgan) falls in love with Ann (Patricia Neal), a woman he just saw arriving on a stagecoach. It also shows that the family of Jim Ponzer hates the Challons because they are very small compared to them and are always getting the worst deal. The exception is Lena Casamajor (Dorothy Hart) who is in love with Marc. Marc proposes to Ann, they get married, and his father Pierre gives them as a wedding gift the joint ownership of the ranch. By that time you think this is a routine western, but then the unexpected occurs. Ann is very ambitious and she convinces Marc to try to get a loan to improve the ranch. He contacts Prentice who is willing to do so and falls in love with Ann. When Marc, coming back from a trip sees Ann in the arms of Prentice, they both propose to Marc to buy his part on the ranch. Marc eventually agrees, but he makes a plan to make Ann go broke. Ann hires a mean gunslinger Van Cleave (Steve Cochran), and then quite a war begins between the two sides. This western is very unusual considering the year it was released, it is much more violent then most of that time and also the change of character of Ann after she gets married is shocking., a good performance of Patricia Neal. In Brazil this film was known as "Escrava Da Cobiça" (Slave of Ambition)