Rachel and the Stranger

Infobox_Film
name = Rachel and the Stranger


imdb_id = 0040720
producer = Richard H. Berger
Jack J. Gross
director = Norman Foster
writer = Howard Fast (story)
Waldo Salt
starring = Loretta Young
William Holden
Robert Mitchum
music = Roy Webb
cinematography = Maury Gertsman
editing = Les Millbrook
distributor = RKO
released = September 20, 1948
runtime = 80 min.
language = English

"Rachel and the Stranger" was a black-and-white 1948 western film starring Loretta Young, William Holden, and Robert Mitchum. The Norman Foster-helmed film was one of the few to address the role of women in the pioneer west, as well as portray early America's indentured servant trade. It was based on the Howard Fast short story "Rachel".

Despite its low budget, the film became RKO's most successful film that year, making over $350,000.

Plot

In colonial America, David Harvey (William Holden), a recent widower living in the wilderness, decides that he needs a woman to help raise his young boy Davey (Gary Gray). He goes to the nearest settlement and consults Parson Jackson (Tom Tully). David gets talked into buying the contract of an indentured servant named Rachel (Loretta Young) and marrying her.

Their marriage, however, is one in name alone. Rachel serves more as a servant than a wife and Davey resents what he sees as an attempt to replace his dead mother Susan. Jim Fairways (Robert Mitchum), a family friend (and former suitor of Susan's), visits and falls in love with Rachel. When he offers to buy her, David must fight to keep her and discovers his love in the process.

Cast

*Loretta Young "as" Rachel Harvey
*William Holden "as" David Harvey
*Robert Mitchum "as" Jim Fairways
*Gary Gray "as" Davey
*Tom Tully "as" Parson Jackson
*Sara Haden "as" Mrs. Jackson
*Frank Ferguson "as" Mr. Green
*Walter Baldwin "as" Gallus
*Regina Wallace "as" Mrs. Green

External links

*imdb title|id=0040720|title=Rachel and the Stranger
*tcmdb title|id=87528
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rachel_and_the_stranger/ "Rachel and the Stranger @ Rotten Tomatoes"]