The Rawhide Years (1955)

After working as a shill for a crooked gambler (Donald Randolph), a young man (Tony Curtis) attempts to go straight but he is falsely accused as an accomplice in the murder of a respected rancher (Minor Watson). He goes on the run but eventually returns to claim the woman (Colleen Miller) he loves. Big mistake as his past comes to the forefront. Universal churned out a lot of westerns in the 1950s and most of them are routine but a few of them are just about good enough to hold your interest. THE RAWHIDE YEARS is one of them. There's nothing special about it whatsoever but its narrative is clever enough to keep you watching and the young Tony Curtis is quite appealing. If you're a westerns fan, you should be quite entertained if you go in with your expectations restrained. Directed by Rudolph Mate (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE). With Arthur Kennedy as one of those con men that we're supposed to find lovable, William Demarest, Peter Van Eyck, William Gargan and Leigh Snowden.