8/10
A Tale of Hate, Murder and Revenge
25 December 2007
In a small town in the Wyoming, the pacific cowboy Vern Haskell (Arthur Kennedy) and his beloved fiancée Beth Forbes (Gloria Henry) will get married in eight days, and plan their lives living in a ranch of their own in eight years with many children. However, their dream is destroyed when Beth is raped and murdered by an outlaw during a heist in the store of her father. The full of hate Vern follows the trail of the criminal alone, and meets his partner, who was betrayed by the killer and shot on his back, dying in the desert. The bandit tells that his partner is going to Chuck-a-Luck hiding place, but nobody knows where it is. In his journey, Vern learns how to shoot and listens to many stories about the famous Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich), a woman that worked in many cabarets and made a fortune gambling in a Chuck-a-Luck wheel helped by the hit-man Frenchy Fairmont (Mel Ferrer), the fastest trigger in the west. When Vern finds that Frenchy has just been captured and is arrested in the local jail, he shoots bottles in a bar to be sent to jail. Vern is locked with Frenchy and becomes his friend when he helps the hit-man to escape. They ride to a remote ranch in the border owned by Keane, actually a sanctuary for criminals, where Vern tries to find the murderer and revenge the death of Beth.

"Notorious Ranch" is a wonderful tale of hate, murder and revenge. I am not fan of the genre, but this western directed by Fritz Lang tells a solid and credible story, with characters very well-developed and supported by a magnificent cast leaded by Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy and Mel Ferrer. I only regret the poor quality of image of the Brazilian DVD, which has not been restored. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Diabo Feito Mulher" ("The Devil Like Woman")
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