Ramrod (1947)

Veronica Lake is Connie Dickason, a strong-willed rancher’s daughter in love with a man named Walt Shipley who plans to bring sheep into cow country. He’s about to board a stage to make their dream a reality.

But her father and his hands are there to stop Shipley. So is Frank Ivey (Preston Foster), the most powerful cattleman around, and his henchmen. Shipley decides he’d rather live than die for a dream; he leaves the town and Connie behind.

That only makes Connie more determined to stand up against her father and Ivey, the man he wants her to marry and the man who wants her for his own.

Shipley leaves Connie his land; she’s determined to carve out her own cattle ranch there and become the one person willing to stand up to Frank Ivey.

She convinced Dave Nash (Joel McCrea) to be her foreman. He convinces best friend Bill Schell (Don DeFore) to join his crew of ranch hands, made up mostly of men who have one beef or another with Ivey.

Then the trouble starts. Ivey has Connie’s new home torched. She and her men take over a stone home — it’s fireproof Nash assures her — that Ivey had been using as a line camp.

In retaliation, Ivey has Curley, one of Connie’s hands, beaten to within an inch of his life in front of her.

With the ranch hand blinded and near death, Connie wants revenge. Nash wants to proceed in a lawful manner, making sure to keep Sheriff Jim Crew (Donald Crisp) on their side.

So Connie comes up with a plan to hurry vengeance along: Without letting Dave in on the secret, she has Schell and some other hands stampede her cattle off a cliff. She knows everyone — the sheriff included — will suspect Ivey.

That’s just what happens, setting off a deadly chain of events that convince Nash that maybe the slow, lawful way isn’t the best way to handle things after all.

Veronica Lake as Connie Dickason, the strong willed young woman determined to stand up to her father and Frank Ivey in Ramrod (1947)

Joel McCrea as Dave Nash, the drifter who finds himself running Connie Dickason’s ranch in Ramrod (1947)

Review:

A refreshingly different, well-done Western starring Lake — in her only oater — as the woman who hates more deeply than she loves, but will love a man — or at least seduce him — if it suits her devious plan.

What matters most to her? Standing up to Frank Ivey and her father and taking control of the valley they think they own.

Ivey’s hands include lots of familiar faces, including Lloyd Bridges as the man who tries to push around Nash and pushes him into the job as Connie’s ramrod in the process, and Ray Teal as the top hand who’s goaded into a gunfight with Schell in return for Curley’s brutal beating.

Meanwhile, there’s a love triangle going on. Connie sees Dave as a suitable replacement for Walt Shipley, a stronger man in fact to stand by her side once she’s triumphed.

And he thinks he loves her, though he also has strong feelings toward a dress maker named Rose (Arleen Whelan), who helps nurse him back to help after he’s wounded by in an ambush set by Ivey’s men.

Lake and director Andre de Toth were married when this film was made; he was nine years her senior. And the screenplay comes from a book written by popular Western novelist Luke Short.

Preston Foster as Frank Ivey, the cattle queen who chases Connie’s fiance out of town in Ramrod (1947)

Don DeFore as Bill Schell, the fun-loving friend Dave Nash convinces to work on Connie’s ranch in Ramrod (1947)

Directed by:
Andre de Toth

Cast:
Joel McCrea … Dave Nash
Veronica Lake … Connie Dickason
Don DeFore … Bill Schell
Donald Crisp … Sheriff Jim Crew
Preston Foster … Frank Ivey
Arleen Whelan … Rose LeLand
Charles Ruggles … Ben Dickason
Lloyd Bridges … Red Cates
Ray Teal … Ed Burma
Houseley Stevenson … George Smedley
Ward Wood … Link Thomas
Nestor Paiva … Curley
Ian MacDonald … Walt Shipley
Wally Cassell … Virg Lea
Sarah Padden … Mrs. Parks
Hal Taliaferro … Jess More
Jeff Corey … Bice
Victor Potel … Buch Nellice

Runtime: 95 min.

Donald Crisp as Sheriff Jim Crew, a lawman who does his best to dispense the law fairly in Ramrod (1947)

Charles Ruggles as Ben Dickason, trying to reason with his stubborn daughter Connie in Ramrod (1947)

Memorable lines:

Ben Dickason, to his daughter: “Connie, are you hurt about Walt throwing you over?”
Connie Dickason: “You have such a thoughtful way of putting it. Walt didn’t throw me over. He just took one look at you and Frank (Ivey) and decided he didn’t love me enough to die for me.”

Connie Dickason to her father: “From now on, I’m going to make a life of my own. And being a woman, I won’t have to use guns.”
Ben Dickason: “Connie!”

Dave Nash: “Something Shipley said got me curious. He said Ivey isn’t god. Ivey says he is. I want to see who’s right.”

Arleen Whelan as Rose Leland, the dressmaker Dave Nash cares for in Ramrod (1947)

Veronica Lake as Connie Dickason, visiting Dave Nash’s hideout despite being warned not to do so in Ramrod (1947)

Dave Nash: “There’s just one load between Connie and what she wants — the load that gets Ivey.”

Bill Schell, to Dave Nash: “Listen kid, I got shot at once for huggin’ a gal. Connie will get you killed just working for her.”

Frank Ivey, tracking Dave Nash: “He must want to get shot taking this trail. We’ll accommodate him.”

Ian MacDonald as Walt Shipley, the man Connie hopes to marry until her father helps chase him out of town in Ramrod (1947)

Veronica Lake as Connie Dickason, trying to convince Link Thomas (Ward Wood) to keep her secret in Ramrod (1967)

Lloyd Bridges as Red Cates, one of the bullies on Frank Ivey’s payroll in Ramrod (1947)

Ray Teal as Ed Burma, dealing with an angry Bill Schell after one of Connie’s hands is savagely beaten in Ramrod (1947)

Veronica Lake as Connie, caring for a wounded Dave Nash (Joel McCrea) in Ramrod (1947)

Joel McCrea as Dave Nash, loading his shotgun while preparing for a showdown in Ramrod (1947)