El Paso

As kids we're always told to stand up to bullies; but try putting that into practise at work with your boss! Lawyer John Payne proves similarly naïve in thinking Sterling Hayden and his brutal henchman Dick Foran will be as easily dissuaded by due process; and after 80 rather garrulous and conventional minutes this film finally makes you sit up and take notice when Payne and the rest of the townsfolk at last take the law into their own hands and fight fire with gunfire.

But did anyone ever stand trial for the accidental lynching of the newly arrived minister?

"El Paso" is an ugly looking film. I assume it looked a lot better when it first debuted, but the print from Netflix is yucky looking. Part of this might be because it used Cinecolor (a very inexpensive but far from perfect color system) and part of it surely is due to the effects of degradation over time. All I know for sure is that the film is full of sepia tones and green-grays but many other colors are absent.

The film begins just after the Civil War. A lawyer (John Payne) is sent from Charleston to El Paso to get some papers signed by a judge who used to live in South Carolina. Unfortunately, when Payne arrives, he finds that the judge (Henry Hull) is a drunk and the town is run by an evil boss (Sterling Hayden) whose aim is to steal away everyone's land. Can Payne use the law to his advantage or will he and his new friends have to take the law into their own hands?

The evil boss-man theme is a very, very familiar one in American films of this era--perhaps THE most familiar. I am pretty sure it was used long before it was in "Birth of a Nation" (this was an evil boss film despite its sick racist message). Because it's become a bit of a cliché, "El Paso" certainly lacks originality. But, despite the familiar, the film is handled well on several levels. While the boss-man story is overused, using an alcoholic judge to help make the land-grab 'legal' was an inspired change to the standard story. Additionally, Payne and Hayden are both good actors and make the most of the material. In addition, it was nice to see the way Mexicans were handled in the film. Too often, they are simpletons in westerns, but here they are both noble AND manly--with Eduardo Noriega's character being one of the better ones in this era. Along for the ride is old reliable Gabby Hayes for a nice bit of comic relief. In addition, while the film might be a bit blood-thirsty, it sure did make it exciting and better than the usually over-sanitized western of the day. The overall package manages to breath life into an ancient sort of story and makes the film a lot better than it should be. Worth seeing--particularly if you like westerns.

I think El Paso started out to be a much more ambitious western than it eventually turned out. There was a lot more potential there than for what did eventually make it to the screen.

Except for a short subject he did at Warner Brothers in 1939 El Paso was the first western that John Payne did and he definitely seemed comfortable in the genre. He plays a lawyer and former Confederate veteran who goes west to El Paso from Charleston, South Carolina in search of an old friend of Payne's grandfather H.B. Warner.

That friend is Henry Hull who went west with his daughter Gail Russell for health reasons and is now a drunken pawn of town boss Sterling Hayden. With Hull as judge and sheriff Dick Foran to enforce some trumped up foreclosures, Hayden's grabbing all the real estate he can in and around El Paso from veterans who were not paying taxes while they were fighting in the Civil War.

Payne tries it the legal way, but he's learned a few things as well in those war years. When it doesn't work he finds himself leader of a guerrilla band who are exacting justice after a couple of murders of cast members sympathetic to Payne.

Editing was pretty botched in El Paso. There are references during the film to scenes that were obviously cut out. The film also seemed to be building to a terrific climax and the end was quite a let down. You'll see what I mean if you view the film.

El Paso was produced by Pine-Thomas Productions, two guys with the first name of William. William Pine was Cecil B. DeMille's associate producer on several of his earlier epics from the Thirties and I think he was expecting a DeMille like budget and didn't get it. So cuts were made that I think spoiled the overall quality of the film.

Still fans of the western and of John Payne will like it. Note the comic relief performances of Mary Beth Hughes as Stagecoach Nell and Gabby Hayes for once an Easterner in a western.

In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War a Confederate officer by the name of "Clay Fletcher" (John Payne) returns to his home in Charleston, South Carolina, to restart his law profession. Upon hearing that a former sweetheart named "Susan Jeffers" (Gail Russell) and her father "Judge Henry Jeffers" (Henry Hull) have moved to El Paso, Texas, he volunteers to take some important legal papers to him. When he gets to El Paso he finds that a group of thugs have taken control of the small town and are manipulating the alcoholic judge to enforce their corrupt interests. Now, rather than detailing the entire story, I will just say that this film had a "Grade B" feel from start to finish. None of the actors distinguished themselves, the plot was shaky and some of the scenes seemed a bit corny at times. To be fair though, some of these criticisms can be attributed to the time-period in which this film was made. Even so, I thought it could have been better and so I have scored it as slightly below average.

El Paso is directed by Lewis R. Foster and Foster also adapts the screenplay from a story written by J. Robert Bren and Gladys Atwater. It stars John Payne, Gail Russell, Sterling Hayden, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Dick Foran, Eduardo Noriega, Henry Hull and Mary Beth Hughes. Music is by Darrell Calker and cinematography by Ellis W. Carter. Location filming is at the Iverson and Corrigan Ranches and El Paso and Gallup.

El Paso, and lawyer and ex-Confederate captain Clay Fletcher (Payne) is forced to go against his principles and go outside the law to bring order to the town. It's a town where the judge is alcoholic and manipulated by the corrupt sheriff and a nefarious landowner.

In the mix here is a very decent film, and certainly there's a story that if given a bit more meat could have been most potent. Unfortunately it's a bit choppy in its telling and execution, while the Cinecolor it was shot in looks washed out and cheapens still further what was already a picture being made without a big budget.

Thematically it's strong, there's a vigilante thread that's attention grabbing, with some nice suggestive shots used by the director, and a theme of ex-soldiers returning from the war - only to find their land and rights being vanquished by the self imposed powers that be - carries with it some pertinent sting. There's also some good humour in here, notably a running gag involving Hughes' Stagecoach Nellie.

Cast are fine, with Hayden and Payne fronting up for their fans, Hayes does another grand grizzled old coot turn, and Noriega, in spite of being under used, is excellent. Crude back projection work undermines some half decent action sequences, whilst the extended shoot-out finale is nicely played out during a dust storm - which may be to hide some flaws in the production? But regardless it has good effect.

Frustrating picture for sure, but for Western die-hards there's enough here to enjoy and not feel angry about. 6.5/10