''The Raiders'' is a 1952 American Technicolor Western film directed by Lesley Selander and starring Richard Conte and

Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the da ...

. It was produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. It was later reissued as ''Riders of Vengeance''.

Plot

Going west where gold is being found, Jan Morell and wife Mary meet in the Napa, California, valley with his prospector brother Frank, but soon hired gunmen Jack Welch and Hank Purvis steal the gold they have panned and kill Mary. In town, Frank is killed, as well, and Jan seriously wounded. He is cared for by Felipe de Ortega and sister Elena, who explain that Welch and Purvis work for dishonest Mayor Thomas Ainsworth, who also stole the Ortega family's land and property. An approval of statehood for California could restore law and order, as well as citizens' rights. Elena fears for their safety, but Jan joins forces with Felipe's men to create havoc in Ainsworth's life, rustling horses and stealing money. A new U.S. marshal, Henderson, places a $5,000 reward on him, but Jan nevertheless captures Purvis and threatens to lynch him if he does not confess to Ainsworth's misdeeds. Elizabeth Ainsworth now begins to understand her father's corrupt ways. As the gunfighting intensifies, both Welch and Felipe are killed. Jan is arrested and faces the hangman, but Henderson believes in his innocence and is able to release him when statehood wins approval and a general amnesty is granted. Jan and Elena plan a new life together.

Cast

* Richard Conte as Jan Morrell *

as Elena de Ortega *

Barbara Britton Barbara Britton (born Barbara Maurine Brantingham, September 26, 1920 – January 17, 1980) was an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Western film roles opposite Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Gene Autry and for h ...

as Elizabeth Ainsworth * William Bishop as Marshal Bill Henderson * Hugh O'Brian as Hank Purvis * Morris Ankrum as Thomas Ainsworth * Margaret Field as Mary Morrell * Richard Martin as Felipe de Ortega * William Reynolds as Frank Morrell * Gregg Palmer as Marty Smith (as Palmer Lee) * John Kellogg as Jack Welch * Frank Wilcox as Sam Sterling * Carlos Rivero as Ramon *

I. Stanford Jolley Isaac Stanford Jolley (October 24, 1900 – December 7, 1978) was an American film and television actor. He starred in the 1946 film serial ''The Crimson Ghost'', in which he played the role of Doctor Blackton and also voiced the title cha ...

as Mountain Jim Ferris * Neyle Morrow as Juan * Francis McDonald as Mr. John Cummings *

George J. Lewis George J. Lewis (December 10, 1903December 8, 1995) was a Mexican-born actor who appeared in many films and eventually TV series from the 1920s through the 1960s, usually specializing in westerns. He is probably best known for playing Don Aleja ...

as Vicente (as George Lewis)

References

External links

* * * 1952 films 1950s English-language films American Western (genre) films 1952 Western (genre) films Films directed by Lesley Selander Universal Pictures films 1950s American films {{1950s-Western-film-stub