Rage * (1966, Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens) – Classic Movie Review 12,915

Stella Stevens.

The Mexican-American 1966 rabid dog drama/ thriller film Rage stars Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens.

Director Gilberto Gazcón’s Mexican-American 1966 rabid dog drama/ thriller film Rage stars Glenn Ford as a doctor in distress and Stella Stevens as an entertainment worker, with Mexican actors David Reynoso and Armando Silvestre.

Glenn Ford plays Dr Reuben, a boozy US doctor on the slide after his wife dies in childbirth. He is living in a Mexican border small town and has to accept work at the medical clinic nearby a Mexican building site. Haunted by his pregnant wife’s death, he refuses to treat Maria who needs a Caesarean section, until he resurrects his career when the threat of a rabies outbreak requires his skills and speed to save the day. Laying aside his demons, he saves the life of the mother and baby in childbirth, but then needs help to save his own life.

Big trouble starts when construction crew worker Fortunato complains that his cat has been acting strangely, and the cat bites Reuben’s dog, which later bites Reuben, so he must get help to drive through the desert to reach a city hospital within 48 hours or die of rabies.

However, after at first refusing to help Maria, he changes his mind and successfully delivers Maria and Pancho’s child, and he now has only 36 hours left to survive, but Pancho (David Reynoso) volunteers to escort him to the hospital in Buenavista.

Ford and Stella Stevens as a hooker called Perla whom Reuben finds asleep on his examination table, are okay, giving acceptable if not exactly thrilling performances. Rage is a sincere but not very exciting drama, with some clumsy melodramatics, tired support performances and tacky Mexican settings, making overall for a just watchable, arguably missable movie. You can’t complain about the stars. Ford is dour and gloomy, but then that is the role, and Stevens is lively and sexy, but then that is the role too.

Writers: Teddi Sherman (screenplay), Gilberto Gazcón (screenplay and story), Fernando Méndez (screenplay), Jesús Velásquez (story) and Guillermano Hernánde (story).

It is shot in Sierra de Órganos National Park in the town of Sombrerete, Mexico.

Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens are starring in the last of their three films together, following The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1963) and Company of Cowards (1964).

The cast are Glenn Ford as Doctor Reuben, Stella Stevens as Perla, David Reynoso as Pancho, Armando Silvestre as Antonio, Ariadne Welter as Blanca, Dacia Gonzalez as Maria, Pancho Córdova as Old Man, Maura Monti as Violetta, David Silva as Bus Driver, Quintin Bulnes as Pedro, Isela Vega, and Jorge Russek.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,915

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Glenn Ford with Bette Davis in A STOLEN LIFE (1946).