A Lawless Street

In Medicine Bend, Marshal Calem Ware {Randolph Scott} is the man that brought law and order to the town, supported by the powerful rancher Asaph Dean (James Bell) and his reputation; his skill with his gun is frequently tested by gunners that unsuccessfully challenge him. When the greedy local businessman Hamer Thorne (Warner Anderson) brings the actress Tally Dickenson (Angela Lansbury) to perform a show for the locals, Calem is haunted by his past since Tally is his wife that left him in Apache Wells due to his dangerous way of life. Meanwhile Thorne associates to the scum Cody Clark (John Emery) and together they hire the outlaw Harley Baskam (Michael Pate) that is considered the fastest gunner in the region to duel with Calem and kill him and leave Medicine Bend ready for their dirty businesses.

"A Lawless Street" is a good western about a man that makes the difference in a small town. I am not a great fan of this genre, but I like a lot the elegant Randolph Scott, an actor that successfully performs the typical sheriff or cowboy in these movies. His characters have usually the same characteristics of a honest man with a past. Angela Lansbury is an actress that I used to see ad an old lady, and is it nice to see her with thirty year-old only. Michael Pate, Warner Anderson and John Emery perform great villains. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Obrigado a Matar" ("Forced to Kill")

No need to repeat the plot since it's a pretty standard one. Considering the talent involved, the results are more than a little disappointing. I agree with other critics—Scott looks tired and less motivated than his usual self. Plus, the unlikely pairing of him with an actress 30- years younger (Lansbury) only accentuates the problem.

It's also a talky indoor western, perhaps to accommodate the many veteran actors in the cast, with only Donnelly (old Molly) showing any real spark. Those many speaking parts also make for an unwieldy storyline. And for some reason, cult director Lewis shows little engagement as the rather flat performances and impersonal climax demonstrate.

Not everything is downside. Don Megowan's hulking gun-hater comes across as an interesting character, certainly no stereotype, in a role that should have been bigger. There're also a couple of unexpected twists that help spark interest. But, the overall results remain uneven, at best. Good thing for western fans that Scott soon hooked up with Buddy Boetticher and Ranown, a combo that knew how to get the most out of the aging actor in a series of memorable classics. But despite the presence here of Ranown's producer Harry Joe Brown, this is not one of them.

As I said yesterday concerning another film with Randolph Scott and directed by Andre de Toth, this kind of western not made by Budd Boetticher has not the same taste and flavour as the latest's stuff. It remains very classic, predictable, not cliché ridden at all, on the contrary. But the directing skills of Joseph H Lewis are obvious. Though I will always prefer the last film - TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN - than this one. Good guys vs Bad guys scheme bores me more and more these days. I will always prefer Boetticher's seven westerns, the best for me starring Randolph Scott. Despite the good performance of Michael Pate as the villain. Jo Lewis put his trade mark however, with some camera work, angle and so on; such as the scene when Scott is wounded on the forehead.

A town is at the crossroads between law and order and its commercial interests, saloon owner Cody Clarke (John Emery) and mayor Hamer Thorne (Warner Anderson) choose the latter in order to maintain the surging saloon business. In order to achieve their goal they have to get rid of the competent marshal played by Randolph Scott, and hire a gunman (Michael Pate) to take care of him. Scott is wounded and widely believed to have been killed, but comes back to settle scores, while his ex-wife (Angela Lansbury) who is now a singer and dancer in a burlesque company comes into town and does a quite revealing song and dance number. Directed by B film genius Joseph H. Lewis, the film has originality, style, and quite an interesting premise, though the opportunities slip by.

Was it just me, but after Randolph Scott's Rag nomination in 1954, did he seem happier and more confident? Maybe not, but he seems to have an extra spring in his step in 1955's A Lawless Street. Every time he goes downstairs in his boarding house and enjoys breakfast with the landlady, he charms and flirts with her with a huge grin on his face; it's adorable.

Scottie McScottie Pants plays a sheriff in this movie, but one with enemies. The story arc is actually really entertaining, even though it seems simple enough. The secrets, double crosses, and surprising twists reveal themselves in perfect pace as the town turns against him. Only one person seems to be on his side, and even she has a difficult time of it because of their troubled past: Angela Lansbury. She's a dance hall girl in town for a performance, and Scottie's ex-girlfriend!

Sometimes western movies don't bother with authenticity. I always pay attention to details, like cleanliness of clothing, the outside appearance of buildings, and whether or not respectable women have platinum hair and eye makeup. A Lawless Street features a realism worth noting: the saloon performance by Angela Lansbury. Many times, old west movies glamorize the entertainment industry, showing thin, beautiful chorus girls all perfectly in step dancing to a full orchestral sound. In this movie, Angela's backup dancers weren't all thin and pretty, nor were they all perfectly in step. There were only a few instruments in the pit, and the theater itself was quite small. How refreshing! If you like seeing Scottie defy the odds when they're all against him, check out this entertaining western.