Abilene Town | |
---|---|
Directed by | Edwin L. Marin |
Written by | Ernest Haycox (novel "Trail Town") |
Screenplay by | Harold Shumate |
Produced by | Jules Levey |
Starring | Randolph Scott Ann Dvorak Edgar Buchanan Rhonda Fleming Lloyd Bridges |
Cinematography | Archie Stout |
Edited by | Richard V. Heermance |
Music by | Gerard Carbonara Albert Glasser Charles Koff James Mayfield Max Terr |
Production companies | Guild Productions Jules Levy Presents |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Abilene Town is a 1946 American Western film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Randolph Scott, Ann Dvorak, Edgar Buchanan, Rhonda Fleming and Lloyd Bridges. Adapted from Ernest Haycox's 1941 novel Trail Town, the production's plot is set in the Old West, in the cattle town of Abilene, Kansas in 1870. [1] [2]
In the years following the Civil War, the state of Kansas is increasingly divided by opposing economic and social forces. Homesteaders are moving into the West, trying to start new lives, and their increasing presence is clashing with the established commercial interests of cattlemen, who had settled in the region before the war. Abilene, a major cattle town, is on the brink of armed conflict between the cattlemen and the homesteaders, and the town marshal, Dan Mitchell, strives to keep the peace between those two groups as well as maintain the uneasy coexistence between Abilene's townspeople and the ranchers with their legion of cowboys. For years, the town had been literally divided, with the cattlemen and their supporters occupying one side of the main street and townspeople occupying the other side. Mitchell likes it this way; it makes things easier for him, and prevents dangerous confrontations from arising between the two factions. However, when homesteaders decide to lay stakes on the edge of town that existing balance is upset and leads to a deadly showdown.
The leader of the homesteaders is Henry Dreiser, a reasonable young man with common sense. The county sheriff, "Bravo" Trimble, is a lawman who would rather play cards than get involved in any real or potential unrest in Abilene. Mitchell, however, does strive to prevent the upcoming confrontation while also dealing with a clash in his personal life, which is divided as well between Rita, a flashy showgirl who works on the cattle drovers' side of the street, and Sherry, the modest, churchgoing daughter of a shopkeeper on the other side of the street.
The film received generally positive reviews in newspapers and trade publications in 1946. In its January 9 review that year, the widely read New York-based entertainment paper Variety called the production a "rip-snorting, spectacular meller" that is action-packed with a "tight screenplay". [3] The Film Daily, another trade paper at the time, judged the production to be "a super-western" that succeeded "in capturing the hell-roaring spirit that marked the expansion of the United States westward". [4] The reviewing service Harrison's Reports was more understated in its assessment of the film, characterizing it as a "fairly good Western", although the trade journal did admire its "fast-moving" plot and Randolph Scott's steadfast performance, observing that he "plays the fearless marshal with conviction". [5] Mae Tinee, the critic for the Chicago Tribune in 1946, headlined her January 24 review "'Abilene Town' Among Better Western Films". [6] In that appraisal Tinee compliments the production's attention to detail but expresses disappointment with the latter portion of the film, especially with regard to its ending:
For the first two-thirds of this film, it is a better-than-average western. Adapted from a novel by Ernest Haycox, "Abilene Town" has a capable cast. This story of the fight between the cattle men and the homesteaders has a good deal of authenticity as to detail. The saloons look like saloons. The chorus girls are lumpy and not expensively costumed. They do the same show, featuring the same songs and musical numbers for a couple of nights running. Ann Dvorak dances in white high buttoned, high heeled shoes which actually look as tho [ sic ] they might have been the height of fashion in 1870. The bad man looks really bad. The hero stops to rest, panting and sweating, after a rough and tumble fight with the villain...It is only in the last part of the picture that the corn starts to flourish, and the ending is too sweet for words. There is plenty of shootin' and fightin' and a very realistic cattle stampede. The average Western fan undoubtedly will be happy with "Abilene Town." [6]
Lloyd Bridges, whose career was temporarily derailed as a result of the blacklist, was the father of actors Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges.
Abilene Town was released on Region 0 DVD by Alpha Video on July 27, 2010. [7]
Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The screenplay by Dudley Nichols is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. The film follows a group primarily composed of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.
The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range conflict that took place in Johnson County, Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged rustlers in the area, many of whom were settlers who competed with them for livestock, land and water rights. As violence swelled between the large established ranchers and the smaller settlers in the state, it culminated in the Powder River Country, when the ranchers hired gunmen, who invaded the county. The gunmen's initial incursion in the territory alerted the small farmers and ranchers, as well as the state lawmen, and they formed a posse of 200 men that led to a grueling standoff which ended when the United States Cavalry on the orders of President Benjamin Harrison relieved the two forces, although further fighting persisted.
Abilene is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and the Greyhound Hall of Fame.
Thomas Horn Jr., was an American scout, cowboy, soldier, range detective, and Pinkerton agent in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West. Believed to have committed 17 killings as a hired gunman throughout the West, Horn was convicted in 1902 of the murder of 14-year-old Willie Nickell near Iron Mountain, Wyoming. Willie was the son of sheep rancher Kels Nickell, who had been involved in a range feud with neighbor and cattle rancher Jim Miller. On the day before his 43rd birthday, Horn was executed by hanging in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Ann Dvorak was an American stage and film actress.
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Ernest James Haycox was an American writer of Western fiction.
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Edwin L. Marin was an American film director who directed 58 films between 1932 and 1951, working with Randolph Scott, Anna May Wong, John Wayne, Peter Lorre, George Raft, Bela Lugosi, Judy Garland, Eddie Cantor, and Hoagy Carmichael, among many others.
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Allan "Rocky" Lane was an American studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV shows in a career lasting from 1929 to 1966. He is best known for his portrayal of Red Ryder and for being the voice of the talking horse on the television series Mister Ed, beginning in 1961.
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