Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward star in "Rawhide"

Rawhide (1951) is an American western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward. The supporting cast members include Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger, Edgar Buchanan, Jack Elam, and George Tobias.

Tom Owens (Power) is the sophisticated heir to the J. C. Owens of the Overland Mail Company. His father sends him west to the remote relay station Rawhide Pass to learn about the business from Sam Todd (Buchanan). Tom can’t wait to get back to civilization in one week’s time.

A young woman named Vinnie Holt (Hayward) arrives at the station with her young niece Callie. Callie is the daughter of Vinnie’s deceased sister. Vinnie was traveling east to take Callie to her paternal grandparents. Before Vinnie can catch the next train, The U.S. Calvary arrives to inform the stagecoach passing through Rawhide that four convicts escaped from Huntsville prison. With this news, the Calvary refuses to let Vinnie and Callie ride the stagecoach—it’s against the law to allow children to travel in a dangerous situation.

Tyrone Power and Hugh Marlowe

Now Vinnie and Callie are stuck at the Rawhide Pass with the escaped outlaws heading their way. When Rafe Zimmerman (Marlowe) arrives at the pass with his three fellow outlaws, no one is safe.

Henry Hathaway (1898 – 1985) was an American film director and producer. Hathaway started working in silent films in 1925 as an assistant to established directors like Victor Fleming and Josef von Sternberg. His first solo directorial effort was Heritage of the Desert (1932) starring Randolph Scott. Hathaway, along with Scott, would be known for western movies. Besides Scott, Hathaway directed Gary Cooper in several films, including The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) which earned him his only Best Director Academy Award nomination. In 1940, Hathaway began working at Fox where he directed Tyrone Power in Johnny Apollo and Brigham Young (both 1940), Gene Tierney in China Girl (1942), Don Ameche and Dana Andrews in Wing and a Prayer (1944), and Call Northside 777 (1948) starring James Stewart and Richard Conte. After leaving Fox, he was one of three directors who worked on the western epic How the West Was Won (1962). He directed Steve McQueen in Nevada Smith (1966), directed John Wayne in True Grit (1968) which won Wayne his one and only Best Actor Academy Award.

Tyrone Power (1914 – 1958) was a major movie star as well as a star on stage and radio. He was one of the biggest box office draws of the 1930s and 1940s. Power was under exclusive contract to 20th Century-Fox where his image and film choices were carefully selected by studio head Zanuck. After the war, Power wanted to stretch his acting past romantic comedies and swashbuckler roles. Nightmare Alley was Power’s personal favorite of all his films. Some of Power's films include Marie Antoinette (1938), The Rains Came (1939), Jesse James (1939), The Mark of Zorro (1940), and  Blood and Sand (1941). Later in his career, he starred in Captain from Castile (1947), The Black Rose (1950), and Witness for the Prosecution (1957). Power’s favorite of all his films that he starred in was Nightmare Alley (1947) even though it was a commercial and a critical failure when first released. Its status as a classic film noir has been recently reevaluated.

Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward

Susan Hayward (1917 – 1975) was an Academy Award-winning actress for her role as Barbara Graham in I Want to Live! (1958). Hayward worked as a fashion model but traveled to Hollywood in 1937 to try out for the role of Scarlett O’Hara. She didn’t win that coveted role, but she secured a film contract. Hayward’s career took off in the late 1940s when she was nominated for Best Actress for Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947). She received four more Best Actress nominations for My Foolish Heart (1949), With a Song in My Heart (1952), I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955), and I Want to Live. Later in her career, Hayward replaced Judy Garland as Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls (1967).

Rawhide trivia

• This was Susan Hayward's first film for Fox after Walter Wanger sold her contract to the studio.
• Tyrone Power was 20 years older than his character.
• The film score was originally written for Brigham Young (1940) starring Power and Dean Jagger. It was also used for Yellow Sky (1948).
• Quentin Tarantino said this film was the inspiration for The Hateful Eight (2015).

To watch the film on YouTube, click on the link below.

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Discussion questions

1. Does this film remind you of any other westerns you've seen?
2. Did you think Tyrone Power was too old for the role of Tom Owens?
3. Were Power and Hayward a good "team?"
4. What about the supporting cast? Did anyone stand out to you?
5. Did anything about this film surprise you?