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Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I saw this strange dark film on late night TV when I was a kid and it made an impression on me - certain intense scenes stayed with me - the rickety bridge crossings, the local man getting rabies and being brought in by ropes by the townspeople, Ford's dog mad from rabies, etc. I just saw it again and I really enjoyed it. It is well done, obviously on a low budget as part of an American/Mexican production. Ford is quite good as a depressed, drunk doctor at a rural Mexican mining town who gets bit by a dog and gets rabies - he then has to try and drive through harsh desert to make it into the next town in time to get the serum he needs to survive. Stella Stevens is a "dance hall girl" who is brought in with a troupe of gals to entertain the workers. Stevens is so damn hot in this flick - at the height of her Swinging Sixties sexiness. If you liked this film and the genre - try George Kennedy in the equally good A Cry In The Wilderness - a 1974 TV film about a man with rabies.

"Rage" is Columbia's extraordinary drama made by a primarily Mexican crew was written of in one of the better movie magazines on the news stands back in 1966, "Screen Stories." And then it took me almost 50 years to finally see it. It had a major star or two, Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens. The rest of the cast is Mexican, but they are all very good, especially David Reynoso as "Pancho" and Dacia Gonzalez as "Maria" his wife to mention a few. Cinematografica Jalisco and Joseph L. Schenck Enterprises brought to us under the direction of Gilberto Gazcon, who shared in the screenplay with Fernando Mendez and Teddi Sherman, from a story by Gazcon, Guillermano Hernandez and Jesus Velasquez. A doctor in a construction camp is bitten by a rabid dog and must get medical treatment in less than 48 hours once detected, and then the race against adversity manages to try to stop him. Filmed in Pathecolor, the film was produced by Gazcon and executive produced by Richard Goldstone. Everything else by the Mexican crew is solid, and I mention the music specifically because it is a true highlight. Gustavo Cesar Carrion composed the music and it heightens the plot aside from delivering some solid renditions of its theme, heard on the radio, and accompanying Nature as she yields to the story as well. Film Editing by Carlos Savage and Walter Thompson and Cinematography by Rosalio Solano are also outstanding. The acting is all top drawer, and I like Mr. Ford and Ms. Stevens even better than I always have because they made this film. They deserve much applause. It is just the kind of human drama that is sadly in lack of today. Some reviewers have noted it has not much of a plot. On the contrary, it is a most believable picture because it knows what to do with it. Needs to be seen to show how films should be made today. Exceptional.

Glenn Ford was VERY underrated as an actor as one other post has said. He was VERY GOOD in this movie and the story was equally enjoyable. The title says it all. If you've ever lived through the horror of MAYBE contracting rabies, this performance is VERY understandable. I saw this movie many years ago and still remember the performance that Glenn Ford gave. Now that he's gone MAYBE the Academy of Arts and Sciences will see fit to honor a great actor who should have been honored many many years ago. This man had a 4 or 5 decades worth of performances and everyone of them was top-notch. Good bye, Mr. Ford. I know that you're in Heaven and watching us at this very moment!

I remember seeing this movie when it aired on television 40-odd years ago. I found the premise intriguing. It's a shame they never released it on video or DVD because it's definitely a watchable film. The two lead actors are Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens and they both turn in tour de force performances here. Filmed on location in Mexico, the story revolves around a rural construction compound where Ford plays the company doctor, 'Doc' Reuben- a lonely, bitter, hard-drinking medical man who walks around feeling sorry for himself and doesn't seem to value his own existence or life in general for that matter.. Stella Stevens plays a very attractive and sensual "camp follower" named Perla. Her profession is not blatantly advertised but rather portrayed in a low-key understated manner. She finds herself attracted to Ford because he doesn't pursue her like every other guy within a ten mile radius. She is the prostitute with a heart of gold who knows a suffering man when she meets one. And that makes her want to get close to him, even though he appears to rebuff her at every turn. Into this situation comes an invisible enemy- invisible but deadly. An enemy whose very name inspires feelings of terror and dread. One of the Mexican laborers had a pet cat. The cat bit him. And in doing so, it delivered a death sentence. By the time the sickness manifested itself, it was too late to save him. The man is dragged into the camp bound with a series of ropes like a hogtied steer. He cries in pain and torment and has white foam around his mouth. Doc Reuben comes out and pours a glass of water on the ground in front of the man, who reacts violently at the sight of it. The man will soon be dead, the virus having reached his brain tissue. Doc Reuben will soon undergo his own trial by ordeal. He had a German Shepherd which had also been bitten by the infected feline before it succumbed. When the dog bites him and Doc Reuben learns that it was infected, he realizes he has approximately 72 hours to get to the nearest big city for medical treatment before the virus takes hold. With no automobile available, he is relegated to using a horse-drawn wagon as a means of transportation. With Perla accompanying him, they set out across the hot Mexican desert in a race against time. In stark contrast to his earlier manifestation as a washed-up drunk wallowing in self-pity, he is now a man who wants desperately to live. Now that his life may be taken from him, he quickly comes to realize just how precious life really is. Redeemed by Perla's love, he now has even more reason to want to live. But can they beat the ticking clock and the harsh desert to get to the serum in time?