Overrated

disgusting, overrated, pointless

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

There was something special about the dependable Randolph Scott, in his early days he could turn his talents to just about anything (a bit like Joel McCrea). When his romantic lead days were over he fitted perfectly into the Western genre and remained a stalwart into a healthy old age. I looked forward to finding a better than average vehicle for Mr Scott in 'A Lawless Street' and for the first 20mins was almost convinced it might be delivered. There were good one liners and some depthy observations about the character of pending evil. It even featured some very strong cinematography where it was obvious the D.O.P and director were working very well together. Some well staged action scenes also gave it a little more class. Then, sadly it all came to gruelling stop - the tired ole clichés were trolled out and dialog sounded like it was being lifted from a dozen sub-par TV westerns. It was as if the filmmakers had been told they were over budget and the film's release date had been moved forward. As for Scott's leading lady, a surprisingly good looking Angela Lansbury - who did a saucy saloon number in a revealing costume - also seemed above average for this movie. But here again, the script left her fumbling to convince and, she was simply far too young for the aging marshal. Some other better than average co-stars performed believably but overall, the cardboard characters and banal script - left it all in the lower B western category. Pity, I had hoped for a better outcome. Still, maybe one day I'll find a decent copy of "Westbound" - another Scott western with quality co-stars and some reasonable writing that fared better than most but, is rarely found available in any form of 'Studio Quality' DVD. Warner Archives anyone?

Anybody who knows anything about Hollywood westerns from the 1950s knows that John Wayne loathed Fred Zinnemann's "High Noon" because Gary Cooper's sheriff sought help from the cowardly townspeople and nobody other than his Quaker wife can to his aid. "Red River" director Howard Hawks and Wayne waited seven years later and made "Rio Bravo" as a corrective to "High Noon." Clearly, neither Wayne nor Hawks saw "Gun Crazy" director Joseph H. Lewis' town taming oater "A Lawless Street" (1955) with rugged, square-jawed Randolph Scott who plays a town marshal under similar circumstances. The big difference here is Scott doesn't go searching for help from the townspeople. As it turns out, the townspeople realize by fade-out that they had let their town marshal shouldered too much of the burden while they refused to behave responsibly and share the burden of maintaining safety with the town. Early, in the action, one of the villains observes that half of the people in Medicine Bend are "too yellow to fight back" and the other half are in the pocket of the villainous businessmen. Indeed, the town marshal surrenders both his star and his six-gun after he has cleaned up the town and departs in a buggy with his wife (Angela Lansbury of "Murder, She Wrote") after a lengthy separation between them because she could not tolerate the anxiety as a lawman's spouse.The town of Medicine Bend is about to take on renewed life as a mining boom town because the captains of industry are going to do the smelting in town instead of shipping the ore hundreds of miles out of town. The economic forces behind this move are unscrupulous businessman Hamer Thorne (Warner Anderson of "The Caine Mutiny") and saloon entrepreneur Cody Clark (John Emery of "Spellbound"), and they mean to get things underway by hiring a professional gunslinger, Harley Baskam (Michael Pate of "Hondo"), to liquidate the star packer, Caleb Ware (Randolph Scott of "The Tall T"), and Baskam beats Caleb on the draw in Cody's saloon. The catch is that Baskam's bullet puts a part in Caleb's skull and Dr. Amos Wynn (Wallace Ford of "Freaks") conceals this vital information from everybody. While the villains are living high, wide, and handsome, Wynn has managed to stash Caleb in his own jail to recuperate. Thorne and Clark are either buying out everybody else in Medicine Bend who supported Caleb or killing them. One irate saloon owner, Abe Deland (Frank Ferguson of "Johnny Guitar"), refuses to sell out. He grabs a gun behind his bar, but the gimlet-eyed Baskam drills him. Meantime, Thorne and Clark ride out to the sprawling ranch of Asaph Dean (James Bell of "Blood on the Sun") who initially empowered Caleb to pin on the star three years earlier. A professional town tamer, Caleb has survived many attempts on his life, and two from killers hired by the sleazy Cody. In the first instance, our stalwart hero is relaxing in a barber's chair, getting a shave, when a third-rate gunman, Dingo Brion (Frank Hagney of "Fighting Caravans"), enters, glimpses the marshal's gun and gun belt hanging up nearby out of reach, and brandishes his own six-shooter to make short order of him. Caleb surprises his adversary and plugs him twice with a derringer concealed beneath the sheet covering him. Scenes with heroes surviving shoot-outs in barber shops in westerns are numerous, such as in Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter" and Tonino Valerii's "My Name Is Nobody." The second instance involves a mustached Hispanic with a knife, Juan Tobrez (Don Carlos of "Wyoming Renegades"), who throws and misses Caleb. Under the circumstances, Hispanics could clamor about racial stereotyping because a Mexican wielded a knife. Appropriately, Cody comes to Caleb's aid and guns down the Mexican, largely because he hired the knife-slinger! Ultimately, Caleb meets his match in Baskam, and they duel in the traditional western sense in Cody's saloon. Caleb receives a serious head wound, but he doesn't die. When Baskam steps forward to deliver a coup de grace, Dr. Wynn pulls a gun on the gunslinger, and explains that Caleb is dead. Meantime, a sub-plot that smolders on a back burner involves performing artist and vocalist, Tally Dickenson (Angela Lansbury), who turns out to be Caleb's estranged wife. When he was the lawman in Apache Wells, he was constantly in jeopardy, and she couldn't handle it so she abandoned him. Thorne has imported her into Medicine Bend, but he doesn't know that she is estranged from Caleb. Some days pass, and Caleb emerges from his enforced confinement and tangles with Baskam again, but he doesn't give him a fair chance. In this respect, Caleb's action predate John Wayne's action against sharp-shooting gunslinger Christopher George in "El Dorado." Altogether, "A Lawless Street" qualifies as an intelligent, above-average horse opera with Randolph Scott that doesn't wear out its welcome at 78-minutes.

One of the Things that Elevates This One to Slightly Above Average for a Fifties Western is the Ever Present, Ever Humble, Ever Dependable, Ever Demanding, Randolph Scott, the Western Icon Who was Immortalized for His Contribution to the Genre by Mel Brooks in "Blazing Saddles" (1974),Astute Fans of the Western Know That His Collaborations with Budd Boetticher are the Highlights of His 60 Westerns, and Of Course, No One Could Forget His Curtain Call in Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962).Angela Lansbury Does a Singing and Dancing Number, but Not Much Else. There is an Extended Fist Fight Between Scott's Marshall and a Hulk of Man (said to have killed a mountain lion with his bare hands because the cat scratched his face). Some Solid Supporting Actors Like Wallace Ford and Others, and the Steady Direction from Joseph H. Lewis Help Somewhat. This Beast of a Town is There to be Tamed by Scott, but He Needs the Help of the Townspeople to Be Successful. Will They Pitch In Before It's Too Late? Good Guess.Overall, Worth a Watch for Genre Fans. It's a Notch Above Standard Fare but Nothing that Special. Starting the Next Year Randolph Scott Starts the Ball Rolling with Some Very Special Stuff with Boettcher.

Posters' reactions to A Lawless Street divide sharply between most who think it's a comfortable classic and a few who complain of its poor writing and flat acting. I'm a considerable Randolph Scott fan, and Angela Lansbury looks great in her tight period costumes, but there's little chemistry and their script doesn't help. The theme of civilizing the west is respectable, with the town as "beast" a fair metaphor, but aside from horses and drinking, the words don't become flesh as Columbia earns its rep as the cheap studio. The only interesting part of the writing is the names: Calem, Asaph, Harley. The score is strangely inappropriate, and the second half seems rushed compared to the building of character in the first half. The populous cast is of some talent and interest, but some characters look alike and appear after such long intervals that they're hard to tell apart. Still and all, Scott has the power of his generation to turn any part into his trademark character of integrity, and Angela seems like a visitor from another planet or studio.