Rachel and the Stranger

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Rachel and the Stranger
Directed by	Norman Foster
Produced by	Richard H. Berger Jack J. Gross
Written by	Howard Fast (novel) Waldo Salt
Starring	Loretta Young William Holden Robert Mitchum
Music by	Roy Webb
Cinematography	Maury Gertsman
Editing by	Les Millbrook
Distributed by	RKO
Release date(s)	September 20, 1948
Running time	80 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] External links

• Rachel and the Stranger at the Internet Movie Database
• Rachel and the Stranger @ Rotten Tomatoes