happytrigger-64-390517 "Raw Edge" is an exploitation Universal western in its story and direction but shot in classic settings. It was directed by John Sherwood who was a great assistant director (he worked for Anthony Mann, Bud Boetticher, Max Ophüls, John Sturges, ...). Harry Essex wrote the script of "Raw Edge", he wrote also scripts for Jack Arnold, and the three movies John Sherwoood shot were like Jack Arnold's movies, "The Creature Walks Among Us" and "The Monolith Monsters" being the two others."Raw Edge" describes how sex could have been in those times with workers having no home and being strong alcoholics. There are scenes never seen before in a western, like the one with Neville Brand and Yvonne de Carlo. So "Raw Edge" cannot please to westerns purists, it's more a western for 1956 youth watching it in a drive-in in their muscle-car, looking for sex and violence. Rory Calhoun had already played in the western "Four Guns To The Border" directed by Richard Carlson in which there also were very erotic scenes with Colleen Miller. How could those scenes have been through the censorship? Beginning of the end...

classicsoncall Wow, keep the feminists and National Alliance of Women away from this one! I couldn't believe the premise laid out in the opening minutes (actually I can believe it, but it's really over the top) when it was stated that the law, such as it was in 1842 Oregon, held that women were for the taking by the strongest man who could affect his will on her and claim her for his own. After that, she became his property until he died.Talk about a dysfunctional family, I'm still thinking about how Tarp Penny (Neville Brand) shot his Pa (Emile Meyer) in the back! over the old Montgomery Doctrine stated above. George Montgomery (Herbert Rudley) was king of the hill in this story, with his wife Hannah (Yvonne De Carlo) the top prize. Funny, but I didn't get much of a sense that Hannah objected to being his wife for the most part until things got intense with the unjust hanging of Dan Kirby (John Gavin). Otherwise it didn't appear that she was much opposed to this particular law of the Oregon jungle.I'll say this for Dan Kirby's widow Paca (Mara Corday), she sure pulled a neat double cross on Montgomery to save hero Tex Kirby (Rory Calhoun) the trouble. He had his own hands full dealing with the Penny's, Tarp and his Pa. If you think about it, Tarp never had to atone for the problem that opened the story, the attack on Hannah Montgomery. But that issue was settled when he went up against Tex for the final showdown. I thought it a bit too coincidental that Tex and Tarp ran out of bullets at the same time, at which point Tarp found himself on the horns of a dilemma.Nor did it seem very realistic that Hannah would simply run off with Tex to close out the story, but that's how a lot of these Westerns ended for lack of something more creative. It's too bad we never got to see what ever happened to Sile Doty (Robert Wilke). Left to my own imagination, I'd like to think that Paca got her Yakima revenge on his butt too.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) No doubt thinking he had made a wise decision, Gerald Montgomery (Herbert Rudley) creates a law by which any woman without a man will be the property of the first man who finds her. Well, this trashy but fun western shows how this will have the opposite effect . Quoting Pauline Kael about trashy movies:"What gives this trash a lift, what makes it entertaining is clearly that some of those involved, knowing of course that they were working on a silly shallow script and a movie that wasn't about anything of consequence, used the chance to have a good time with it." Writers Harry Essex (Creature from the Black Lagoon) and Robert Hill (The Private Lives of Adam and Eve) knew for sure what trash was about. There is a big flaw in the script already mentioned in another comment, in how could Montgomery being responsible for the death of Paca's (Mara Corday) husband, allowed her to go to her tribe, without predicting she would turn against him. Apart from this, "Raw Edge" is a good western, violent for its time, entertaining and with Yvonne de Carlo sexier than at any other film she made.

chipe This is one of the most implausible Westerns I have ever seen. Despite the good actors, acting, cinema-photography and other good production values, the story reduces the movie to rubbish. ***Lots of spoilers.**** The movie centers on a stupid rule/custom of the locale that an unmarried woman can be claimed by any (strong) man. So when an Indian wife's (Mara Corday) white husband is hanged on flimsy grounds, she calmly accepts the man claiming her, even though the Indian helping her escape back to her tribe is also killed.. Vigilantes hung the husband for assault even though the wife (Yvonne De Carlo) of the big local land baron said the Indian's husband did not attack her. Rory Calhoun is looking for the land baron, who instigated the hanging (of Calhoun's brother), so some lustful townspeople follow along hoping to claim the land baron's wife and property after he is hopefully killed by Calhoun. Even though he had Corday's husband hanged, the land baron trusts Corday that the Indian tribe wants to see him, not kill him, but she lies and he is killed. Near the end one of the bad guys shoots his father in the back. To top it off, at the end De Carlo goes off with drifter Calhoun, seemingly leaving her wealthy husband's property behind.