Alan Ladd is John Chandler, a former Southern soldier roaming the countryside looking for a doctor who can cure his son David, who went mute when Union troops raided the South, killing his mother and burning their home to the ground.
That journey takes him to the town of Aberdeen, Ill., where he learns of a doctor in Minnesota doing experimental treatments on mute children and where he gets in a scrap with the two sons of sheep herder Harry Burleigh (Dean Jagger).
That scrap lands him in front of a judge and nearly in jail for 30 days. A spinster named Linnett Moore (Olivia de Havilland) intervenes, agreeing to pay Chandler’s $30 fine and let him work it off on her ranch.
Moore, who says she’s never married because the right man never asked her, takes a liking to the boy and his father. And Chandler quickly learns she needs more than someone to repair her barns and fences.
Burleigh has his sight on her land. He wants to grow his sheep farm, but her ranch has him penned in. And if he can’t convince her to sell … well, his sons aren’t above setting a fire to provide her with a bit of motivation.
Meanwhile, word comes that the doctor in Minnesota is moving his practice and Chandler needs to get his son there as soon as possible. Finding himself far short of the $300 the trip will cost, Chandler has no option but to sell his son’s best friend, a sheepdog named Lance.
The operation doesn’t work. Worse, Lance winds up in the hands of the Burleigh family. They still want Linnett’s land. And they aren’t feeling so kindly toward Chandler, figuring she might have caved long ago if he hadn’t been around to lend her a hand.
Alan Ladd as John Chandler, ready for a showdown with the Burleigh clan in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Olivia de Havilland as Linnett Moore, the woman who opens her home to John and David Chandler in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Review:
An entertaining family Western, and it’s difficult to think the filmmakers weren’t hoping to score another hit along the lines of 1953’s “Shane” by matching their star with another young actor.
In this case, that young actor is Ladd’s own son, David, who had a bit role in “Shane” and had appeared with his dad in 1957’s “The Big Land.”
The rest of the cast includes James Westerfield as the man who will pay top dollar for Chandler’s well-trained sheepdog, Cecil Kellaway as the doctor and Harry Dean Stanton in an early role as one of Burleigh’s loud-mouthed, misbehaving sons.
This marked one of just six films Olivia de Havilland appeared in during the 1950s. She’d achieved stardom opposite Errol Flynn in the 1930s, starring with him in a half dozen films, including “They Died with Their Boots On,” “Dodge City” and “Sante Fe Trail.”
David Ladd as David Chandler, trying to decide which candy is his favorite in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Dean Jagger as Harry Burleigh, trying to convince John Chandler (Alan Ladd) to help him get Linnett’s land in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Directed by:
Michael Curtiz
Cast:
Alan Ladd … John Chandler
Olivia de Havilland … Linnett Moore
Dean Jagger … Harry Burleigh
David Ladd … David Chandler
Cecil Kellaway … Dr. Enos Davis
Harry Dean Stanton … Jeb Burleigh
Tom Pittman … Tom Burleigh
Henry Hull … Judge Morley
Eli Mintz … Mr. Gorman
James Westerfield … Birm Bates
John Carradine … Traveling salesman
King … Lance (David’s dog)
Percy Helton … Photographer
Mary Wickes … Mrs. Ainsley
Runtime: 103 min.
Harry Dean Stanton as Jed Burleigh, confronting John Chandler for the first time in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Tom Pittman as Tom Burleigh, smug at a court hearing against John Chandler in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Memorable lines:
Jeb Burleigh: “I’d like a little respect. I told you before I don’t like people to walk away from me. Look at me! You look at me when I talk to you!”
John Chandler: “I’m lookin’, but I don’t see anything.”
Mr. Gorman: “Why don’t you have a picture taken, Linnett, with your pretty dress and bonnet.”
Linnette Moore: “Well, what would I do with it?”
Mr. Gorman: “Look at it now and then. Ten years from now, you’ll know what you looked like today.”
Harry Burleigh, about Chandler and Linnett: “Can’t keep people from a talkin’.”
John Chandler: “Not if they have dirty minds.”
James Westerfield as Birm Bates, offering a handsome price for Lance, the Chandlers’ sheepdog, in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Henry Hull as Judge Morley, considering John Chandler’s case in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Cecil Kellaway as Dr. Enos Davis, reading a letter about Davy’s condition to John Chandler (Alan Ladd) in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Olivia de Havilland as Linnett Moore, meeting David Chandler (David Ladd) with the help of the message he wears around his neck in The Proud Rebel (1958)
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