O Passo do Ódio

I am a fan of Randolph Scott Westerns. While some of them are amazingly clichéd (as are most Westerns of this era), his easy delivery and style really elevate the films to classic and near-classic status. While this film features yet another example of real life Western heroes being exploited after their death by Hollywood (in this case, Bat Masterson), the film works well due to him as well as excellent supporting characters. One is the always strong acting of Robert Ryan--an excellent actor who is sadly almost forgotten today. The other is the ubiquitous Gabby Hayes who has one of his best roles as the crusty and very colorful deputy. Here he is more enjoyable than in his many supporting roles for Roy Rogers and John Wayne--mostly because his part is better written and he's given more to do.

The plot is pretty much the plot of half the Westerns ever made. There are some baddies who hire a bunch of thugs to run roughshod over the locals and it's up to a do-gooder (Scott) to restore the peace and kill off the villains. However, how the plot is executed is much better than average and due to this the film is still watchable fun. Just don't expect a whole lot of innovation or uniqueness--unless you want to see what might just be Gabby Hayes' best performance.

I watched this film a few days ago and realised that the scene where Robert Ryan is given a glass of milk and the lady rancher elevates the horizontally hinged panel beside the table to reveal a field of waving wheat was an image that had stuck with me for over 55 years without me being able to remember the film's title. I saw this film in my local picture house as the featured film of a saturday matinee about 1960 -the image was indelible but the title and actors were a total blank -until a few days ago. Do cinematographers/directors realise they are creating a haunting image when they set up shots like this?The film itself is watchable but not a classic - apart from the image of the wheat

Liberal is a town in Kansas that is rapidly descending into lawlessness. That is until local "Billy Jones" (Gabby Hayes) gets his pal "Bat Masterson" (Randolph Scott), a federal marshal, to come and try to sort things out. With the help of "Harper" (Robert Ryan) and dancing girl "Ruby" (Anne Jeffreys) he sets his sights on "Maury" (Steve Brodie) and his manipulative henchman "Carmody" (Billy House). The only thing that distinguishes this from a whole slew of others of this type, is that Ryan manages to discover a wheat that is resistant to drought - a pretty perennial problem here - and that galvanises the farmers who are on the verge of giving up. Otherwise, it is a pretty routine adventure peppered with a few shoot-outs and a bit of romance. Scott and Ryan do their jobs OK, and the story moves along quickly enough but if you've seen one, then I'm afraid you've seen them all as far as this is concerned.

This is a fairly good B western that is upgraded almost to A by the presence of Randy Scott, Robert Ryan, and Anne Jeffreys, unusual in that it concentrates on developing new farming methods to make Kansas the breadbasket of America rather than the usual open range issue in the wars between cattlemen and nesters, although that too is touched on. Gabby Hayes was noted for his tall tales. He even had an early television show centered on that talent. Many times his tall tales were lame but this go around the stories are actually humorous. Helping out in this department is the emphasis on a supposedly mythical character Brandyhead Jones. This running joke has a good finale making it even more intriguing. Character actor Harry Harvey as the mayor is a good foil for Gabby.

Randy Scott plays the historical Bat Masterson with emphasis on Bat's hidden talents as a writer. The real Bat Masterson ended his life as sports editor for the Morning Telegraph in New York City. Bat was also good with the six-shooter and was a lawman from time to time. Apart from this the rest of "Trail Street" is mainly fiction based loosely on fact here and there.

Unlike the average B western, the title of this film relates directly to the story being told. Trail Street is the main street of Liberal, Kansas, the end of the trail for drovers who herd the cattle to the stockyards for shipment to Chicago. The farmers are threatening to turn Trail Street into Wheat Street. Maury (Steve Brodie) and his toady Carmody (Billy House) the saloon operators are determined to get the land for themselves and keep the new farming methods and new strain of wheat out of the hands of the farmers. House makes an excellent sycophant. Madge Meredith delivers the goods as well as the soiled dove with the heart of gold who also has a filial relationship with Allen (Robert Ryan), the local financier who tries to help the farmers. Meredith had a rather brief screen career. Too bad for she was a skilled actress if this movie is any indication of her abilities.

A bit confusing is having two heroes rather than one. Bat and Allen work as a team. Both are pals to Billy (Gabby Hayes) which almost makes this into a Three Mesquiteers outing. Fans of Randolph Scott and Gabby Hayes should enjoy this oater. Others may get bored in places, though there is a good shoot out at the end which reminds the viewer of the later John Wayne saga Rio Bravo.

After cleaning up Dodge City (with a little help from Wyatt Earp) Bat Masterson goes to Liberal, Kansas where they've got a nice little range war going. Plus a rather interesting scheme of sharecropping.

Randolph Scott is Bat Masterson and he's after villains Billy House and Steve Brodie who are driving homesteaders off their farms. The homesteaders they are driving off are in a sharecropping scheme financed by Robert Ryan. Seems as though he's staking the various farmers to a parcel of land to homestead for a percentage of profit from their crop. Ryan's about to lose his shirt as a result of all the shenanigans.

As portrayed by Scott, Bat Masterson is a stand-up western hero who has a passion to go east and become a reporter which we all know he did later in life.

Anne Jeffreys and Madge Meredith are involved in a romantic subplot involving Brodie and Ryan which is a little silly and does detract from the action. Anne Jeffreys does sing nice though.

Of course Gabby Hayes as always provides the great comic relief.

A good addition to the Randolph Scott collection of westerns. Also interesting because his later western films don't have him as wearing a hat as white as the one here.

This review is dedicated to Kasey Hayes of the Professional Bull Riders who is a proud resident of Liberal, Kansas, a town with a great tradition whether Bat Masterson marshaled there or not.