The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Throughout the film I kept asking myself what is so special (if anything) about Marlene Dietrich that two quick draw gunfighters would be interested in? Marlene Dietrich was 51 years old when she appeared in Rancho Notorious and to be playing a sexy saloon singer and the owner of a horse ranch hideout for a bunch of fugitives on the run from the law, why did the producers think she could pull it off? I'll tell you why this over the hill saloon singer with her strong German accent starred in this offbeat western, it was because the German born director Fritz Lang wanted her to star in it.There is a plot to this western which is a woman is murdered during the execution of a robbery by two gunmen and the husband of the murdered woman is a cowboy named Vern Haskell (Arthur Kennedy) so he rides out of town in hot pursuit of his wife's killer until he finds him at the hideout horse ranch Chuck-O-Luck run by aged and weathered actress Marlene Dietrich who plays Altar Keane.So there is double crossing, bandits, gunslingers, two gunmen vying for a woman's affection, and a man on a mission to revenge his wife's murder, but there is a also a really bad musical score chiming in throughout this offbeat western, and Marlene Dietrich's heavy German accent was too much of a distraction for me to take this western too seriously. Thus the mediocre 5 out of 10 rating.

The third and last Western by Fritz Lang, Rancho Notorious is a weird, distinctive, film-noir infused Oater containing familiar Fritz Lang themes. Adapted by Daniel Taradash from an original story by Silvia Richards, the story follows Arthur Kennedy's frontiersman Vern Haskell as he trawls the West in search of the culprit responsible for the rape and murder of his fiancée. He winds up at a place known as Chuck-a-Luck, a ranch and front for a criminal hideout that is run by smouldering chanteuse Altar Keane {Marlene Dietrich}. Posing as a criminal himself, Haskell hooks up with gunslinger Frenchy Fairmont {Mel Ferrer} and infiltrates the unsavoury mob behind the scenes of the Chuck-a-Luck. But problems arise as both Haskell and Frenchy vie for the attentions of Altar and slowly but surely, as Haskell gets closer to his target, it's evident that he is so torn and twisted by revenge he's become as bad as the villains he now aims to bring down.Reference Fritz Lang, love, betrayal and retribution, cloak them in a decidedly feminist sheen and what you get is Rancho Notorious. That the film is an oddity is something of an understatement, yet it works in a very unique sort of way. The film opens with one of the most god awful title songs used in Westerns, "Legend of Chuck-A-Luck" song by Bill Lee, from then the tune is used at points of reference in the narrative. It seems like a joke song, hell it sounds like a joke song, but within the first quarter of the film a pretty young lady is raped and murdered, Haskell is informed that she "wasn't spared anything," this is completely at odds with the tone that had been set at that time. The Technicolour photography provided by Hal Mohr has a garish sheen to it, this too gives the film a confused feel, most likely the intention there is to convey a sense of gloom as Haskell's bile starts to rise. And then the first sight of Dietrich, astride a man, riding him like a horse in some bizarre barroom contest. All of which points to Lang perhaps being over audacious with his intentions. But he wasn't, and to stay with the film brings many rewards as he revels in the tale of inner turmoil. This ultimately becomes a perfect companion piece to Lang's brilliant film noir the following year, The Big Heat. The similarities between the lead male protagonist and the femme fatale are impossible to cast aside as being mere coincidence. Rest assured Lang was at home with these themes, and cinema fans are the better for it.It was a troubled production tho, one that belies the quality of the final product. Studio head Howard Hughes kept interfering {nothing new there of course}, even taking away control of the editing from the increasingly infuriated Lang. While the relationship between the fiery director and Dietrich broke down to such an extent they stopped talking to each other by the end of the film. Dietrich was troubled by her age at this time, often begging Mohr to work miracles with his photography to convey a more youthful look for the once "Babe of Berlin". Yet she need not of worried for her real life concerns dovetail with that of her character, which in turn gives the film a revelatory performance. With Dietrich backed up by the similarity excellent Kennedy, Rancho Notorious has much class to go with its odd and visionary touches. A different sort of Western to be sure, but most definitely a Fritz Lang baby, this deserves the classic status that is now afforded it. 8/10

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")

Not since JOHNNY GUITAR became a cult classic, has there been an odder western than RANCHO NOTORIOUS with its studio-bound outdoor sets filmed in muted Technicolor and such oddities as: 1) MEL FERRER, who looks cast against type as a fast gunslinger; 2) FRITZ LANG of film noir fame as the director of a mechanical western; 3) MARLENE DIETRICH fatally attracted to ARTHUR KENNEDY, with whom she shares no chemistry whatsoever; 4) GEORGE ("Superman") REEVES looking a bit flabby in a thin bad guy supporting role; 5) A clichéd, banal theme song to establish the "love, hate, revenge" motif of the story; 6) The central role of a tough outlaw (MARLENE DIETRICH) giving rise to comparisons with another cult favorite oddity, JOHNNY GUITAR and Miss JOAN CRAWFORD.To Dietrich's credit, when out of her western garb and gowned in jewels and gown, she looks stunning. But most of the time the close-ups are less than flattering and only emphasize the modern make-up and hairstyle that doesn't exactly smack of the Old West. It's a bit jarring, to say the least.Most of the performances are standard for this genre, but ARTHUR KENNEDY stands out like a sore thumb as the biggest miscasting mistake in the film, aside from MEL FERRER. Kennedy's tough guy seems like a pose left over from so many other of his petulant performances and this time there's absolutely nothing visible in his chemistry with Dietrich. No sparks despite all of his tempestuous outbreaks.Summing up: A trifle that can easily be overlooked in the resume of Fritz Lang.