Bill Collins Movier Collection - Rachel And The Stranger (VHS)

About

Norman Foster's Rachel and the Stranger is a charming comedy-drama set in the Ohio backwoods in the late 18th Century. The source of Waldo Salt's screenplay was a story called Rachel by Howard Fast (Sparticus), an indication that the drama has more to it than the emotional developments. Rachel is a boundwoman, "purchased" cheaply by Big Davey, a widower who needs a woman about the house to look after the chores, his son and himself. As his wife, in name only, she is treated like a servant and minds her place, until the tall, handsome stranger comes along. When Big Davey's friend Jim, a wandering Minstrel, trapper and scout, pays one of his regular visits, he indirectly upsets the status quo established by Big Davey. He treats Rachel with the love and respect she deserves, Big Davey becomes - a suprise for him - resentful and jealous. The men are rivals for Rachel's affection.

Without glamour in physical appearance, Loretta Young's natural charm glows in her winning portrayal of the bondwoman who not only finds but makes her place. Loretta has never been lovelier than this film. William Holden plays the reserved Big Davey, a man getting affection and a woman's love but to morose to realize and do something positive about it. Gary Gray plays Little Davey, who first rebels against Rachel's attentions and succumbs to her charm more readily than his father.As Jim, the stranger, Robert Mitchum casually comes near to stealing the picture from the others with the kind of performance which seems an extension to his personality, He also sings, to his own guitar accompaniment, a few songs written by Roy Webb and Waldo Salt, including one or two accompanied by Loretta. Maury Gerstman's camerawork enhances the appeal of Rachel and the Stranger, a rare and wonderful entertainment.

-- Bill Collins.

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Archive

Internet Archive, in The VHS Vault

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Credit

CEL Video

Subtitles

Automatic subtitles

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