South of St Louis is a Western film created in 1949. It was directed by Ray Enright and starred Joel McCrea. The film chronicles the friendship between three ranchers, whose ranch is destroyed by raiders led by the infamous Luke Cotrell.
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The plot revolves around three ranchers: Kip Davis (Joel McCrea), Charlie Burns (Zachary Scott) and Lee Price (Douglas Kennedy) who are run out of business by the guerilla raider Luke Cottrell and his goons. In retaliation Kip, Charlie and Lee run Cottrell out of Texas, initially working under the guise of a Yankee renegade, Cottrell defects to the Confederate cause supplying weapons to them from out of Mexico. Lee joins the Confederate army, while his two friends compete with Cottrell in the gunrunning business. Davis unwittingly distances himself from his fiancée Deb (who works as a nurse tending to casualties of the American civil war), leaving her alone on long periods: the absence of Kip allowing her to fall into the arms of Lee (who eventually rises from the rank of sergeant to lieutenant in the Confederate army).
Soon divisions begin to form within the friendship, exacerbated by the presence of a former guerilla of Cottrell's (Slim) within Kip and Charlie's business and the constant competition with Luke Cottrell. Ultimately the three go their separate ways; the pivotal spark in their separation is Deb refusing to return to the ranch with Kip instead choosing to stay to pursue a relationship with his friend, Lee; coupled with Charlie allowing the massacre of Confederate troops while his gang are disguised as Yankees. This in turn sets off a chain reaction in which Cottrell retaliated by ordering the murder of Bronco, a close friend of the three former ranchers; Kip decides to avenge this murder by "bringing Cottrell back to see the destruction he's caused and let him hang himself.", just as Cottrell begins to warn Kip of an unknown danger, his former subordinate Slim kills him with a knife, implying that Charlie has allowed a snake in the grass into his beloved gunrunning business.
After the war, Lee becomes a Texas Ranger who is employed to survey his old friend Charlie and his less than scrupulous dealings. When a showdown appears inevitable, Deb rushes to find a down and out Kip who has hit the bottle hard and has eloped with the sultry singer 'Rouge' (actually christened Charlotte). Initially reluctant, Kip rushes to cool down the situation. It becomes apparent Charlie has no intention of firing on his old friends and joins forces with them one last time to fend off his gang, Charlie is then shot by Slim.
The film ends with Kip finally returning to his old ranch (named Three Bell Ranch, as its three owners all wore bells upon their spurs throughout the film) with Rouge in tow.
Joel McCrea as Kip Davis
Zachary Scott as Charlie Burns
Douglas Kennedy as Lee Price
Art Smith as Bronco
Victor Jory as Luke Cottrell
Alexis Smith as Rouge de Lisle
Nacho Galindo as Manuel
Dorothy Malone as Deborah Miller
Alan Hale as Jake Everts
Bob Steele as Slim Hansen
Monte Blue as Captain Jeffery
The film is yet to be released on DVD, however there is a petition located at Turner Classic Movies, although with a small number of votes as of yet. South of St.Louis is available on VHS and is occasionally featured on Television.