Simply A Masterpiece

Best movie ever!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This is a darned good Western; much better than I expected. In fact, the only reason I began watching it was that I wondered if it looked like Raton Pass, which I have traveled through several times. Well, for the record, some of the exterior scenes do not look at all like the Raton area, while other exterior scenes do -- although the film was photographed on the opposite side of New Mexico.Dennis Morgan is the primary star, and despite having a background that more often involved musicals and light comedies, he does very nicely here. His role is that of the son of a rancher who owns a massive spread. The female lead is Patricia Neal, who is excellent as a power hungry woman who ends up as Morgan's wife, but then double crosses him with a railroad tycoon.Basil Ruysdael is excellent as the father of Morgan. Not exactly ruthless, but he wields his power effectively. Excellent performance; he was a reliable character actor. Steve Cochran plays the less than savory man who comes to the aide of Patricia Neal, while Scott Forbes plays "the other man". There are a number of other lesser character actors who do rather well here.As for the plot -- pretty good. You have to have a little sympathy for Patricia Neal's character -- she expected to be a partner, not a woman held down looking at magazines. So, she gets bored and takes matters into her own hands.Although this is not one of the better known Westerns, it's a good one, made at a time when Warner Brothers often did some pretty decent Westerns. Not A+, but still recommended.

Patricia Neal plays a chilling and evil vixen who uses and disposes men like Kleenex trying to get to the top. Among those she charms and disposes of or tries to in Raton Pass are Dennis Morgan, Basil Ruysdael, Steve Cochran, and Scott Forbes. This has fatal consequences for some of them.Father and son Basil Ruysdael and Dennis Morgan own the biggest spread around and Ruysdael is one proud and ruthless character who's not too squeamish about what he does to maintain supremacy. He's feuding with neighbor Louis Jean Heydt, but Morgan is courting daughter Dorothy Hart and the marriage may make it a happy merger of interest.That is until Neal arrives in town and she seduces Morgan away from Hart and they marry. So happy and charmed by his daughter-in-law that as a wedding present Ruysdael turns over title to the ranch to Morgan and Neal. That's when Neal really goes to work.Part of her scheme includes banker Scott Forbes and outlaw Steve Cochran. In Cochran she finally meets a man more evil than her. But she thinks she's up to him.A little more plot than usual characterizes this western and Raton Pass is definitely not for the Saturday matinée kid's trade. We do get to hear Dennis Morgan sing a song at his wedding which is always nice.But Neal is truly a malevolent creature and Cochran isn't too far behind her. They make Raton Pass some interesting viewing.

The movie is vague in my mind because I saw it 55yrs ago when it debuted here in Raton, New Mexico. I remember it was exciting; this was for a five year old. The greatest excitement came from the city activities to commemorate the occasion. This included parades, dances and parties. My present day next door neighbor, a high school student at the time, danced with Dorothy Hart---a lifetime event for him.For the benefit of civic historical programs, I am trying to track down a copy of the movie. We are a small town trying to beat the doldrums that affect many small towns in America at this time. We are trying put together a film festival focused around "The Raton Pass" and the associated history of our area---the Santa Fe Trail. We have been through what seems to be all of the normal sources to find this movie. Can anyone help with a source?

I confess I was somewhat shocked at the role Patricia Neal played in this movie. She was the dastardly darling all the way through right up to the end. And to someone who has been a "loving" fan of hers since he was 13 and saw her in The Day the Earth Stood Still--that was a shock.The plot is very good. She arrives in town to find herself in the midst of a feud between two families. She immediately seeks out a young man from the richest family and seductively (which she is excellent at) works her way into his heart. He marries her and she is given deed to half the ranch. When her husband brings home an even richer man who owns a railroad in hopes of getting him to financially back the ranch, she convinces her husband to leave the job to her. Instead, she seduces him into falling in love with her also and talks him into buying out her husband. He agrees.Suddenly, they find themselves totally alone as all the hands have quit the ranch. So she sends for a gunman she met by chance at the very beginning of the Western. He brings in his "boys" and they begin to take over the ranch. Finally there is the ultimate showdown between Neal, Morgan (her husband) and the gunman (Cochran).And as I said: Patricia Neal is the dastardly darling right up to the very last breath. The role would have better suited Barbara Stanwyck or Betty Davis. But Patricia Neal it did not suit even though she did a fine job (as always). While I have seen her in many movies I shall never be able to accept her in any villain role. The Western is very good and well worth any amount of money paid to obtain it but it is just not the kind, sweet, adorable feminine Neal I am used to in movies.