"Rachel and the Stranger" is a pleasant film that combines two genres to great advantage. On the one hand, it has the feel of a western, but it is also a tender love story. Pictures like this one were made in the Hollywood of the post-war when all the men were back and happier times seemed just on the horizon. The film reflects the hope of those years as it gave its viewers a good time for the prize of admission.

The story is simple enough. A lonely widower, David Harris, with a young son can't cope running their farm without the help of a woman. The solution is to go into the near settlement where no one knows his wife has died to try to get a woman that could come and help with the farm work. He has to resort to buy a servant woman, Rachel, for a ridiculous sum and heads back to his place. There is a best friend who takes only one look at Rachel to realize she's a diamond in the rough. Through Jim's interest in Racehl, David comes to realize what this woman is worth after she walks out on him and the farm. David will come to his senses and will realize he has loved Rachel all along.

The film unites three stars in their own right: William Holden, Loretta Young and Robert Mitchum, something that would be prohibitive by today's salaries and egos. RKO scored big with the casting alone. Norman Foster directed with his own easy style. The three principals do an excellent job in creating characters that the viewer will like.

"Rachel and the Stranger" is a good way to spend an evening when there is nothing else to do.

I have a pet peeve and before I begin I want to say a few words about it. I have done a huge number of reviews and am constantly noticing that even the most mediocre films get scores of 10 from some reviewers. While this is definitely a better than average film, no sane person could say it deserves a score akin to that of GONE WITH THE WIND or THE GODFATHER. I think it's great to love a film, but over-scoring it doesn't lend much credence to your review. Just my two cents worth and I'm sure I'll catch heck for saying it.

As for this movie, it's a nice little family film that benefits from being very unique and having several wonderful performances. In this slice of pioneer life film, William Holden and his son are left alone after the death of his wife. Needing a mother for the boy and someone to help out around their frontier homestead, he travels to the nearby fort to find a wife. There, he buys an indentured servant (Loretta Young) and brings her back home after marrying her. Not exactly a romance, I know! Unfortunately, there never really is any romance, as Holden and son treat her more like a hired hand and after a while it's obvious she resents this--especially after she works herself to the bone caring for them. Into this very unhappy situation comes "the stranger" (Robert Mitchum)--who immediately realizes the problem and proposes to take Rachel away from this drudgery--and pay Holden for her! While there is a lot more to the film, this certainly made for an unusual flick.

The performances all around are excellent and the film ended on a very good and not especially sappy note. Well worth your time and I have no serious complaints--other than the writer who indicated that Miss Young was playing a lady who was 25 (yeah, right!!). In actuality she was a decade older and she wasn't fooling anyone--but still a lovely woman regardless of the age difference.

In colonial America, widower farmer David Harvey (William Holden) lives on a remote homestead with his son Davey facing threatened attacks by Shawnee Indians. They need a woman around the home. He purchases indentured servant Rachel (Loretta Young) and marries her. She is treated less as a wife and more as household help. Frontiersman Jim Fairways (Robert Mitchum) offers to buy her contract.

Quite frankly, I'm not sure which one is better. At first, I'm more inclined to pick Mitchum since he actually wants her. The Indian attack is really intense. The fires add to the intensity. This shows a tame idea of indentured servitude and nameless savage Indians. It's old fashion like that. It probably missed an opportunity with her talking to herself. That could have been something interesting.