It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The 1860s "Rawhide" Station falls between the San Francisco to St. Louis stagecoach route. Working there, handsome hired hand Tyrone Power (as Tom Owens) has his hands full when asked to detain beautiful Susan Hayward (as Vinnie Holt). Travelling with a toddler, Ms. Hayward is ordered to stay at the station because a dangerous criminal has made a break, just before he's scheduled for hanging. Folks think he'll target the coach, looking for a fortune in gold. They're correct, but heartless bandit Hugh Marlowe (as Rafe Zimmerman) starts at the relay station. After creepy henchman Jack Elam (as Tevis) pumps Mr. Power's boss Edgar Buchanan (as Sam Todd) full of lead, Mr. Marlow and his gang take over the "Rawhide" station...This western is marvelously photographed, in beautiful black and white, by Milton Krasner and is very skillfully directed by Henry Hathaway. Hallways, doorways and open spaces look especially artful. Powell is intentionally introduced shirtless, but the 1950s was not as revealing for leading women; Hayward is costumed in cleavage, instead. Both very attractive, Powell and Hayward have eyelashes that are made for each other. The gang led by Mr. Marlowe is wickedly perfect, with Dean Jagger (as Yancy) and George Tobias (as Gratz) rounding out the quartet. Getting to play a trigger-happy rapist, Mr. Elam gets the most villainous role. Elam viciously steals the movie, blazing through a bricked doorway to an exciting outdoors shoot-out.******** Rawhide (3/7/51) Henry Hathaway ~ Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Hugh Marlowe, Jack Elam

One earlier reviewer remarked on the theme - the only music at the opening & closing. I agree with his comment on the studio's invidiousness about the music credits - I have been provoked several times when trying to pin down recordings or sources & failing to find the truth. This theme from "Brigham Young" which coincidentally starred the Canadian Dean Jagger ( one of Hollywood's scene stealers & Oscar winner from another Hathaway winner, "12 O'Clock High") was used again by Fox for the similarly gritty "Yellow Sky". It almost seems the studio favoured repeated themes, possibly the most familiar being Alfred Newman's evocative "Street Scene" was used in several films noires & I think,included in one of a series of LPs in the 70s of compilations from famed classics by Charles Gerhardt & the NPO as well as a promo CinemaScope music short featuring Newman & his full studio orchestra released to support the UK Premiere of "Young Bess". Another theme for which I cannot trace a recording used originally throughout Hathaway's "House on 92nd St" & "Street With No Name" featuring a young Widmark reprising his giggling villain & Lloyd Nolan as Inspector Briggs which I can only call the FBI march ( also used briefly at the close of "13 Rue Madaleine"). I have remarked elsewhere on the iniquity of wrongly crediting Adolphe Deutsch with all the music for Billy Wilder's "The Apartment" when the compelling main theme was one "Jealous Lover" composed by Charles Williams(1949) who has contributed popular themes to several British films of the 40s. (This point is included in the trivia listing by IMDb for this movie.) 8 out of 10 for "Rawhide" which I thoroughly enjoyed & is one of my more memorable westerns.Spunky Susan Hayward remains one the screen's delectably desirous redheads and not just a pretty face as she proved in the harrowing biopic "I Don't Want To Die!" The manner of her premature death was another of Hollywood's tragedies & a sad loss.

What makes a western above average? A good story, good direction, good actors and good action scenes. Cinematography also, no doubt. Rawhide has all these elements, the story might seem conventional , but the characters played by Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward bring a new aspect , Hayward as the determined, sure of herself, woman who is carrying her sister's baby and Power as the rich boy who is spending some time at a stagecoach station to learn more about life. Hugh Marlowe as Zimmerman( remember Bob Dylan?), the bad guy who is not so bad, brings me to mind the westerns of Budd Boetticher, specially "The Tall T". But Jack Elam as Tevis is really sick and vicious. The stagecoach is driven by mules and takes more than 25 days from California to St. Louis. Every time it shows up you hear "Oh Susanna" on the sound track. Henry Hathaway sure knew how to make a western. He ranks among the best, on the same level as Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher.

i thought this was a pretty good western.it contains most of the elements western contain,stagecoaches,robbers,and gunfights.and,there is the beautiful woman(Susan Hayward)and the man(Tyrone power)she is unwittingly thrown together with in a fight to survive.there is not a lot of action,in this particular western,but that's OK.the dramatic parts are well done,and the acting is very good.Power and Hayward acquit themselves quite well do quite well here,but Hugh Marlowe is really good as the chief Villain.Dean Jagger,Jack Elam and George Tobias also play villains with Jack Elam very strong here.there is some great chemistry/tension between Power and Hayward.as most western go this one follows the formula,so it's fairly easy to predict how thing will go.i will say,though,that the ending went a bit different than i had expected.overall,an enjoyable 86 minutes or so