Roughshod (1949)

Directed by Mark Robson; produced by Richard H Berger

Clay Phillips (Robert Sterling) and his younger brother, Steve (Claude Jarman Jr), having just established their ranch, are bringing ten horses to their new home in Sonora, California, from Aspen, Colorado. After initially expecting an easy journey, they find their route complicated; first, by news that a convicted murderer (John Ireland) has escaped prison, swearing revenge against the elder Phillips, and then by four saloon women, needing an escort to their next destination after being evicted from Aspen. Between girls and guns, the Phillips boys will have a tough time getting home.

With elements of Westward the Women and High Noon, Roughshod doesn’t really manage to combine them effectively. The story remains two parts, with the male/female conflict/romance predominating. It’s hard to determine whether either half would have made an entertaining movie on its own; together, Roughshod becomes merely adequate.

Relationships are the strongest feature in the movie. That between the brothers is the most interesting, which was probably not the intention. We learn more about the siblings than we do about the bar-girls, and as a result invest more in their characters. The women (the principal of whom is played by the always watchable Gloria Grahame) are more ephemeral characters; we learn why they are on the trail west, and something of one girl’s past, but little else.

The acting is good. Leading man Sterling was already a veteran of many movies and, while capable, shows the lack of presence that kept him from reaching the higher levels of stardom. Canadian-born John Ireland never has a problem emitting an aura of real menace (despite being the sympathetic reporter in All the King’s Men, also from 1949), and plays the villain well. The acting credits go primarily, however, to young Jarman, whose portrayal of a boy becoming a man is never annoying and always realistic.

Action is not a big part of the film, despite the inevitable shoot-out at the end. As may be inferred by the comment about the amount relationships take up in the story, Roughshod is more talk than fighting. The direction never rises to the challenge of making either the dialogue or the action exciting or involving, despite Robson’s better work before and after this picture.

In short, Roughshod is not exactly a routine western, but neither is it very entertaining. It is one of those movies the premise of which sounded more promising than the execution turned out to be.