Customer Reviews

Rawhide

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i bought this dvd because (at least i think so)it's lou gehrig's only film. the quality of the disc is ok,not great,but ok.the main thing is lou gehrig looks great(his acting isn't that hot,but who cares)and it's nice to see him before als cut him down. really a treasure of a disc and worth the price.

Rawhide, 1938 film

The story begins in a big city train station. Lou Gehrig is heading out west, "100 miles from a railroad". A valley with peace and quiet. The "Rancher's Protective Association" is creating a local monopoly. "It's a free country, ain't it?" Three riders see the laden wagon and question the driver. One overturns the wagon, spilling the sacks. The sheriff is in cahoots with Saunders, the manager of the RPA, and gets his payoff. Lawyer Larry Kimball exercises in his office, and sings. He advises against joining the RPA. Lou Gehrig doesn't want to join up. Will they put pressure on them? "Strike One." Some of Saunders' men cut the fence wire, and shoot at Pop. "What kind of country is this anyway?" Saunders wants Kimball to work for him for $10,000, a great salary. Lou identifies one of the men and a fist-fight begins. Lou finds a new use for pool balls, then hires Kimball. The plot develops.

Kimball is attacked in his office. The attackers are bailed out by the sheriff. Kimball plans a fight. Gehrig uses wagons to bring in supplies from outside the county. One wagon is overturned and its supplies burned. Peace and quiet? Kimball tricks Saunders men and replaces the lost hay. Can Saunders divert water away from the Gehrig ranch? The feast at the ranch provides entertainment. The cows now lack water. Can Kimball see MacDonald? The boys play baseball in a backyard; they are self-organized. Kimball investigates the health of MacDonald, and rescues him from Butch. Kimball contacts all the ranchers by using a telephone. [Riders like Paul Revere lost their jobs to technology.] Saunders and his gang realize its time to collect their loot and flee the state. The sheriff wonders where Saunders' gang is going to. The ranchers arrive in town to get Saunders. There is a chase in the country, plenty of shooting. Larry captures Saunders. "I'm the sheriff, they can't do this to me!" "They're doing it."

There is a happy ending, the loose ends remain untied. Lou gets a telegram, his terms are accepted so he can report to spring training. [Was Lou Gehrig the only major league ballplayer to act in a Western movie? He did a good job.] The classic Western of the 1930s had a plot that mirrored the economic realities of that era. How could the small ranchers stand up to the Big Corporation that usually had the mayor and sheriff in their pocket? Have things changed since then? Since the 1950s there are few owner-operated independent stores on Main Street.

This story is unusual in having the managers of the Rancher's Protective Association seizing power to exploit the people they were supposed to protect. [You can compare this to actual events in the 1930s.] Machiavelli explained why a militia of armed citizens is the correct way to protect a republic. Mercenaries, a paid army, have three faults: they can drag out a war to earn more money; they can switch sides to the higher bidder; or they can take over the government that hired them. All three occurred in Renaissance Europe, or in today's world (military coups).

This is simply good fun. It's neat to see Lou Gehrig as a cowboy, and the songs are cute and the story well-rounded.

This movie Rawhide 1938, although not nearly amongst the best written,produced or filmed westerns, is a MUST own collector for all fans of the great Lou Gehrig. I, for so many years always had the mental image of Lou's character as it was portrayed by Gary Cooper in "Pride of The Yankees" (another must see acadamy award winning movie). Although Cooper's acting was phenominal, he WASN"T Lou Gehrig. There is not much public footage of Lou, to say the least , out there on the market today. The media back then wasn't at all as abundent or available for doing post game interviews, especially being that TV hadn't hit the market yet until several years later. All in all it was almost like seeing Lou Gehrig brought back to life.