The Proud Rebel 1958 - Alan Ladd,Olivia de Havilland - Western Movies

The Proud Rebel is a 1958 Technicolor Western film directed by Michael Curtiz, with a screenplay by Joseph Petracca and Lillie Hayward that was based on a story by James Edward Grant. It is the story of a widowed Confederate veteran and his mute son who struggle to make a new life among sometimes hostile neighbors in the Midwest. Despite the implications of the title, the main character in "The Proud Rebel" does not dwell much on his Southern past, but finds his life complicated by sectional prejudice.

The film stars Alan Ladd, Olivia de Havilland, Dean Jagger, David Ladd and Cecil Kellaway and co-stars Harry Dean Stanton (credited as Dean Stanton) in an early film appearance. "The Proud Rebel" influenced the famous Indian artist Kishore Kumar to make "Door Gagan Ki Chhaon mein" in 1964. It starred his real-life son Amit Kumar playing the role of the mute son.

Storyline The Proud Rebel 1958

A former Confederate soldier, John Chandler (Alan Ladd) has come to an Illinois town with his 10-year-old son David (David Ladd) to see Dr. Enos Davis (Cecil Kellaway). The boy was struck mute after witnessing his mother's death in a fire, and hasn't spoken a word since. Dr. Davis recommends an operation by a doctor he knows in Minnesota.

With a flock of sheep blocking their path, John has their expertly trained dog Lance clear the way. The sheep belong to rancher Harry Burleigh (Dean Jagger) and his sons, Jeb (Harry Dean Stanton) and Tom (Tom Pittman), who try to steal the dog. John fights them while a passing stranger, Linnett Moore (Olivia de Havilland), holds the child. Harry knocks out John, pours whiskey on him, then tells the sheriff about being attacked by a drunk.

John must pay $30 or serve 30 days in jail. Linnett intervenes, suggesting to the sheriff, that Chandler can work off the debt on her farm. In exchange she offers to cover the fine, so that he will be released. Chandler disagrees at first, but is won over by her decency. Over the course of time, he discovers that Linnett is being pressured by the overbearing Burleigh to sell her land. It transpires that her land is blocking the easy passage of his sheep to pasture and the railroad. Gradually, John and Linnett grow closer, despite John determined to remain aloof, knowing he and his son will leave soon.

A trip to Minnesota for treatment will be expensive. John won't accept offers for the valuable dog, which the boy loves, but after the boy is taunted and roughed up by local children, John decides to sell Lance after all to finance his son's trip. He asks Linnett to accompany the boy up north while he rebuilds the barn, burned down by the Burleighs' men in an attempt to pressure Linnett to sell.

The operation doesn't work, and David is devastated to return home and find the dog is no longer theirs. John goes to the Burleighs to try to get it back and finds the dog being mistreated by them. Harry gives the dog back, but has his sons prepared to shoot John as a thief. The boy shouts out to save his father's life. In the end, John shoots Harry and his older son, then returns to Linnett with the dog and David, now able to speak.