The Rawhide Years
Dir: Rudolph Mate
1955
***
An overlooked buddy Western that I can't help but think influenced some of the best loved films and TV shows in the genres, such as Maverick and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I watched it for Cinephile Crocodile favorite Tony Curtis but it's fair to say that Arthur Kennedy steals the show. Kennedy worked the Westerns throughout his career and is mostly, and quite unfairly, forgotten these days. I can only imagine it was his accent that prevented Curtis from doing more Westerns as his acting actually suited the genre quite well. It's easy to see why The Rawhide Years is thought of as a B-Western, it's nothing to do with Rawhide and obviously chose the name for familiarity reasons. It's quality performances, sharp dialogue and Wild West spirit have been terribly misjudged, as had Rudolph Mate as a director.