Raton Pass (1951)

Arriving in a new town by stagecoach, an ambitious woman (Patricia Neal) sets her sights on the son (Dennis Morgan) of a cattle baron (Basil Ruysdael). After their marriage, she's not content to play housewife and her zealous push for power will bring about bloodshed. Based on the novel by Thomas W. Blackburn and directed by Edwin L. Marin (JOHNNY ANGEL). What elevates this minor western out of the routine is Patricia Neal's Lady MacBeth on the range. There are a handful of westerns with a female protagonist (JOHNNY GUITAR, FORTY GUNS) and while the movie is no match for Nick Ray's and Sam Fuller's masterworks, Neal's chilly and calculating femme fatale is a match for Crawford and Stanwyck in the aforementioned films. Neal steamrolls over her two romantic leads (Morgan and Scott Forbes) with only Steve Cochran's cold blooded gunslinger a match for her. Western film buffs should check it out. With Dorothy Hart, Roland Winters and Louis Jean Heydt.