The Rawhide Years (1956)

Tony Curtis plays Ben Matthews, a riverboat gambler adept at scamming folks out of their money with the help of his sidekick Carrico, a father-figure who taught him the tawdry trade.

But Curtis tires of cheating people and announces his plan to go straight. Unfortunately, he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Matt Comfort, the rancher who vowed to help him find a new direction in life is murdered by riverboat raiders.

They flee, and the crime is blamed on Matthews and Carrico. The latter is hanged.

Matthews spends the rest of the film trying to clear his name and win back the affections of his lady love, Zoe Fontaine (Colleen Miller), a pretty saloon singer who’s fallen into the arms of a fancy dan named Andre Boucher.

Meanwhile, Matthews finds a sidekick in Rick Harper (Arthur Kennedy), a down-on-his -luck schemer with a quick wit and a fondness for other people’s money and horses.

Tony Curtis as Ben Matthews, trying to live a more lawful life in The Rawhide Years (1956)

Colleen Miller as Zoe Fontaine, the saloon singer who falls for Ben Matthews in The Rawhide Years (1956)

Review:

Entertaining film, with a couple neat plot twists — a wooden Indian that provides clues to the truth; a villain that likes to whip men with his silver-studded belt.

The interaction between Curtis and Kennedy adds a nice touch of humor to the piece, and Colleen Miller, looking particularly lovely, belts out a couple of nice saloon tunes.

Curtis had appeared in Westerns before — “Kansas Raiders,” “Winchester ’73” and “Sierra” (all 1950) — but not with top billing. This marked his last Western film though he wouldn’t appear in his last big-screen movie until 2008.

Arthur Kennedy as Rick Harper, the cowboy who befriends Ben Matthews in The Rawhide Years (1956)

Peter van Eyck as Andre Boucher, a man who wants Zoe for his own and often wears a mask in The Rawhide Years (1956)

Directed by:
Rudolph Mate

Cast:
Tony Curtis … Ben Matthews
Colleen Miller … Zoe Fontaine
Arthur Kennedy … Rick Harper
William Demarest … Brand Comfort
Peter van Eyck … Andre Boucher
Minor Watson … Matt Comfort
William Gargan … Marshal Sommers
Donald Randolph … Carrico
Robert J. Wilke … Neal
Trevor Bardette … Captain
James Anderson … Deputy Wade

Runtime: 85 min.

Saloon songs, all by Coleen Miller
“The Gypsy with Fire in His Shoes”
“Happy Go Lucky”
“Give Me Your Love”

William Demarest as Brand Comfort, brother of the man Ben is accused of killing in The Rawhide Years (1956)

William Gargan as Marshal Sommers and Minor Watson as Matt Comfort, scolding Ben Matthews for his role in a crooked card game in The Rawhide Years (1956)

Memorable lines:

Carrico, after losing at poke: “Isn’t it customary to give a man a chance to get even?”
Matt Comfort: “I wouldn’t know. I’m not familiar with the niceties of the game.”
Carrico: “I figured you for a man of high ideals. Seems I was wrong.”
Comfort: “I figured you for a bad loser. I was right.”

Harper to Matthews as they flee riders intent on capturing him for stealing a horse: “It’s a miserable country. It’s infested with decent citizens.”

Matthews: “I don’t know why you’re hanging around. I can’t even pay for this massage.”
Harper: “Nobody’s rushing you. Next best thing to money is friendship anyhow.”
Matthews: “You really mean that?”
Harper: “I don’t know. It sounded good. But it didn’t sound like me.”

Zoe: “You can’t clear your name in this town, Ben, they’ll kill you first. There’s only one way. Run. And don’t look back. This time you won’t go alone.”
Matthews: “You know what you’re giving up?”
Zoe: “Nothing. Some furniture. And a man with too much ambition.”

Donald Randolph as Carrico, a crooked riverboat gambler in The Rawhide Years (1956)

Tony Curtis as Ben Matthews and Colleen Miller as Zoe Fontaine in The Rawhide Years (1956)