Rachel and the Stranger **** (1948, Loretta Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum) – Classic Movie Review 9,512

The 1948 Western film Rachel and the Stranger stars Robert Mitchum as Indian scout Jim, who visits a backwoods cabin in the 1820s and falls for purchased bride Rachel (Loretta Young), whose jealous husband Big Davey (William Holden) is very put out.

Director Norman Foster’s 1948 black and white Western film Rachel and the Stranger stars Robert Mitchum as tall dark stranger and Indian scout Jim, who visits a backwoods cabin in the 1820s and falls for purchased bride Rachel (Loretta Young), whose jealous husband Big Davey (a very young-looking William Holden) and his young son Davey (Gary Gray) are very put out.

This accomplished period oddity hovers charmingly between comedy, romance and Western adventure, and even throws in five songs and an Indian attack. The screenplay is written by Waldo Salt, based on the stories Rachel and Neighbor Sam by Howard Fast.

Good though Mitchum and Holden are, Young will not be upstaged. It is shot in black and white by Maury Gertsman.

It runs 92 minutes, with the cut version at 80 minutes.

Also in the cast are Tom Tully, Sara Haden, Frank Ferguson, Walter Baldwin, Regina Wallace and Frank Conlan.

Rachel and the Stranger is directed by Norman Foster, runs 93 minutes, is made and released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by Waldo Salt, based on the stories Rachel and Neighbor Sam by Howard Fast, is shot in black and white by Maury Gertsman, is produced by Jack J Gross (executive producer) and Richard H Berger ,and is scored by Roy Webb and Constantin Bakaleinikoff (musical director), with Art Direction by Albert S D’Agostino and Jack Okey.

It was shot in Eugene, Oregon.

The Tall Dark Stranger was a working title.

Young placed a swear jar on the set of all of her films, charging 25 cents for use of strong language. Mitchum smiled as he left the set on the final day, dropped a $20 bill into the jar, and said: ‘This should just about cover everything I’ve been wanting to say to Loretta.’

When Mitchum was arrested for possessing marijuana, RKO rushed the film out to take advantage of the publicity, helping to make it one of the studio’s biggest hits of 1948, earning $395,000.

American film director Norman Foster (born Norman Foster Hoeffer; December 13, 1903 – July 7, 1976) was a star actor in early talkies like Love at First Sight, Young Man of Manhattan (1930) with Claudette Colbert, and It Pays to Advertise.

In 1928, Foster secretly married Claudette Colbert in London, but divorced in 1935 when he married actress Sally Blane, sister of Loretta Young. Their daughter Gretchen was named after Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9,512

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