Tough Assignment (1949): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1949, Tough Assignment is an action, crime, adventure and western film directed by William Beaudine, running about 64 minutes. “An Action-Packed Expose of Cattle Rustling Today” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. A meddlesome reporter sporting a young bride takes on a gang of modern day cattle rustlers. Donald "Red" Barry plays Dan Reilly, a newspaper reporter just returned to LA with his wife, photographer Margie (Marjorie Steele). Margie insists on taking pictures of everywhere they go, and so as she's walking into a butcher shop she poses for Dan - while at the same time three thugs make their way quickly out after beating up the proprietors. Soon Margie and Dan are involved in investigating an illegal meat operation that rustles cattle and forces butchers to buy it - or else. Dan gets beaten up a couple of times, but is undaunted in pursuing the great story - and hey, he's only got 64 minutes to do so, he'd best get cracking!

Who’s in it. Tough Assignment stars Don Barry as Dan Reilly, Marjorie Steele as Margie Reilly, Steve Brodie as Boss Morgan and Marc Lawrence as Vince, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.0/10, Tough Assignment has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Tough Assignment page.

If you liked it. Fans of Tough Assignment tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Inception and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.