Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

When the film begins, Vern Haskell (Arthur Kennedy) is shown with his fiancé. However, shortly after Vern leaves her store, a thug wanders in to rob the place and then assaults and murders her as well. Vern makes it his life work to track down the killer and punish him, but he has very few clues. Through much of the film, he's on the trail and eventually finds his way to a wanted man, Frenchy Fairmont (Mel Ferrer). He arranges to break Frenchy out of jail...and pretends to be a bad guy in the hope that Frenchy takes him to the rest of the gang and the murderer. Once with the gang, however, like EVERYONE in this film he inexplicably falls for the charms of Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich)--a woman who runs sort of a hostel for crooks called 'Chuck-A-Luck'. Vern's problem now is what to do...keep on his path of revenge or settle down with Altar and her feminine wiles.While I know a lot of folks love this film, for me it was problematic to watch due to the casting. Like Joan Crawford in "Johnny Guitar", the leading lady (Dietrich) was just too old and unattractive to be portraying such a vivacious and sexy character. Some women are still gorgeous at 51, but, sadly, Dietrich here is just kind of sad playing a sexy siren. This is a severe knock against the film as is the annoying song "Chuck-A-Luck", though otherwise it is well acted, written and directed (by Fritz Lang of all people). Enjoyable but seriously flawed.

Synopsis: Vern Haskell, a nice rancher, seeks out to avenge his fiancé's death when she is killed during a robbery. His revenge leads him to Chuck-a-luck, Altar Keane's ranch set up to hide criminals, and he finds more than he bargains for. Personally, I find most European "art" movies unwatchable. However, Fritz Lang's Hollywood movies are different. They have this weird arty European vibe, but combined with basic American entertainment practicality. This is what makes "Rancho Notorious" so worth watching.Here's a list of positives: This is just an great part for Marlene Dietrich. It fits her like a glove and she hits the ball way out of the park. Lang does a great job building Altar Keane's character with a series of flashbacks.Arthur Kennedy's lead character, Vern Haskell, abandons a posse and sets out on a solo epic journey to track down the killer/rapist of his fiancé. Six years later, a similar storyline formed the basis of the greatest Western ever made, "The Searchers". Unlike, Ethan Edwards, Verne travels alone, an alienated individual roaming the formless, vast West bent on revenge.Lang milks the concept of a community of outlaws, or brotherhood of outlaws to the maximum in this film. This is one of those arty European things that adds so much to the movie and makes watching it such a different experience from the average Western.The movie is limited by the following problems:You have to look past the silly song narration to enjoy this film.This was shot completely in Burbank on some of the phoniest sets I've ever seen.Not a single Indian, Civil War or Mexican theme introduced, outside of some Mexican servants.Poorly developed heavy. Kinch, the rapist/murderer, has a very small part and is a blatant coward.No comic relief.Mel Ferrer seems very stiff and out of place against fine performances by Dietrich and Kennedy.Hey, I love Arthur Kennedy. Although he gets the most out of his acting ability in this film, he's just not a legit romantic lead, especially opposite Dietrich. Some more starpower in that spot would have elevated this movie substantially. Kennedy was a great supporting actor, see is role as Vic Hansbro in "The Man From Laramie", or as Emerson Cole in "Bend of the River".

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

60/100. You would think the combination of Lang and Marlene Dietrich would be amazing, but this is my fourth viewing of the film over a 35 year period, and not once was I impressed with this movie. The score is a little overbearing and it just rarely rises above an ordinary western from the 1950's. I was disappointed in the art direction, the sets looked very obvious to me. It's a fair story given an okay treatment. I am in the minority on this one, but the film to me went from one cliché to another. Arthur Kennedy is a bland choice and lacks the fire needed for the role. Certainly it has some good visuals, so at least one of Fritz Lang's trademark touches came through.