Rachel and the Stranger

1948

1h 19m

Western

Comedy

List

67%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the Ohio wilderness during pioneer times, widower David Harvey (William Holden) wants a wife to help rear his young son (Gary Gray). He purchases indentured servant Rachel (Loretta Young) for $18, and they are soon wed. Unsurprisingly, the three don't make a happy family. Harvey only views the marriage as a convenience, while his son resents his new mother. But when Harvey's friend (Robert Mitchum) takes a liking to his new wife, he realizes he might feel something for Rachel after all.

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Bob Thomas

Associated Press

It's an intelligent, tasteful drama.

Feb 9, 2019

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Mood of the picture is pleasant but is so even that interest isn't too strong.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

A.H. Weiler

New York Times

Rachel and the Stranger may not be history precisely, but as a cinematic footnote it certainly is far more palatable than most texts.

Aug 8, 2006

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: B-

Mar 8, 2013

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

The leisurely told cornball tale of frontier love makes for a pleasant and unassuming film.

Rated: B

Nov 9, 2008

Full Review

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Audience Member

Very good family watching here Lorretta Young at her vest. I highly recommend it, James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas, August 3, 2023.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good movie set in the first half of the 1800s. William Holden and Robert Mitchum are both excellent. Loretta Young is lovely as the patient frontier second wife, slow to gain acceptance by Holden and his young son. Mitchum is cast as a visiting Hunter who complicates the relationship between Holden and Young. Features an extremely exciting conclusion, trying to fight off a Shawnee attack.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

kevin w

Set in the days when Ohio was far West in the United States, here is a little frontier tale, a romance no less, about two squinty characters (William Holden and Loretta Young) who are twice shy and for whom "relationship" is a big and difficult undertaking. Charisma is everything in a story like this and the whole cast brings it home. The drama quotient is capably handled as well delivering a tale sure of its talents and skills and played as such. A B-movie with class.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Holden, Young and Mitchum. Those are three good reasons to watch. The story not-so-much.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Frances H

I have always loved this movie and has not really become dated at all! It is still exciting and funny and heartwarming as it was the first time I saw it on The Early Show that was always on soon after we came home from school and played wonderful classics, like the Erol Flynn Robin Hood and Paul Henried and Maureen O'Hara in Spanish Main. We loved the old classics they showed and most are still just as good today, just like this one!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/16/20

Full Review

Audience Member

I always enjoy this when it shows up on TV. Prior to first viewing I'd been unaware that indentured servitude existed in the West's pioneer days; added to which, few are the Hollywood Golden era producers who deem as box-office-worthy any story involving the role of American frontier women. The film benefits from a spare, illuminating script and respectful direction. As for cast, Loretta Young shines. I consider her to be consistently underrated - a fine actress, beautiful, talented and capable of considerable range. Although William Holden's golden good looks were clearly calculated to appeal, he was unfortunately still something of a greenhorn acting-wise; however, his matinee idol beauty, undeniable charm and the odd moment of genuine feeling go some way in mitigation. Mitchum is Mitchum as ever. He and Young have quite some onscreen chemistry - Young in particular is the soul of subtlety when it comes to projecting veiled humour with eyes and mouth. Definitely not a waste of anyone's time.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

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Norman Foster

Director

Loretta Young

Rachel Harvey

William Holden

David Harvey

Robert Mitchum

Jim Fairways

Gary Gray

Jim Fairways

Tom Tully

Parson Jackson

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Synopsis

In the Ohio wilderness during pioneer times, widower David Harvey (William Holden) wants a wife to help rear his young son (Gary Gray). He purchases indentured servant Rachel (Loretta Young) for $18, and they are soon wed. Unsurprisingly, the three don't make a happy family. Harvey only views the marriage as a convenience, while his son resents his new mother. But when Harvey's friend (Robert Mitchum) takes a liking to his new wife, he realizes he might feel something for Rachel after all.

Director: Norman Foster
Producer: Jack J. Gross
Screenwriter: Waldo Salt
Production Co: RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre: Western, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017
Runtime: 1h 19m

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