Last night's movie was "Train to Tombstone"(1950). Now that's how you do a one hour western! An eclectic group of passengers boards a train, which is delayed by a telegraph message. Is there trouble ahead? The conductor thinks so, but he won't reveal any information. The passengers discuss it. They include a spiritualist/alcoholic auntie (Minna Phillips) and her paralyzed niece (Barbara Stanley), a doctor (Tom Neal), a corset salesman (Wally Vernon), a US Marshal (Robert Lowery) and his deputy (Claude Stroud), two tough-talking prostitutes (Judith Allen and Nan Leslie), and a minister (Bill Kennedy). Some think an Indian attack is coming. Others say it's an ambush by train robbers. The conductor and engineer pass out rifles to everyone aboard. "Be prepared to defend yourselves", is all the conductor will say. The journey starts off quietly (except for some hijinx from the corset salesman), and we get to know everyone's story.
Then suddenly, in the desert, a man is riding hell bent for leather on a horse. He's being chased by another man, and they shoot it out. Then the first man jumps aboard and tells everyone not to worry. "My name's Len Howard (Donald Barry). I'm from Tombstone. That other man was trying to rob me". The conductor finds a Wanted poster for Howard in the luggage car. He has the Marshal arrest him.
But then comes the trouble: it is an attack by Indians. They're on the rampage and the conductor needs all the help he can get. The passengers have rifles, but half are women who have never been in a gunfight. Len Howard talks the Marshal into removing his handcuffs. "I'm an expert shot. You need me if you don't want everyone else to die". He almost single-handedly stands the Indians off. But as it turns out, the Indian attack is not what the telegraph message was warning of. There's a quarter million dollars in gold on the train. The conductor is supposed to keep it a secret, which is why he can't tell anyone about a robbery attempt that's supposed to lie ahead.
Meanwhile, in the downtime, a romance develops between Len Howard and the paralyzed gal. She thinks he's a hero for saving everyone from the Indians, and in truth, he seems like a good guy. Something doesn't square with the details on his Wanted poster. He could've escaped when the Marshal let him shoot, but he didn't. He saved the passengers and was true to his word. Something is afoot with the subplot about the gold. Could one of the passengers turn out to be the robber?
I kept thinking Tom Neal would be the bad guy, because he often played villains (and he was a bad guy in real life, read his bio). He plays the doctor here, and I thought he would turn out to be the gold robber in disguise. I won't tell you if I was right or wrong. The photography is terrific in this well-produced film. There are many great action shots of the train smoking down the tracks, with white mountains in the background. The mix of characters is entertaining on a number of levels. The corset guy is the right kind of comic relief, subtle, not heavy handed, and then you have Aunt Abby and her communications with the spirit world, and with her bottle of spirits! The prostitutes talk about their plans to open a brothel, while the minister reminds them of the wages of sin. All of this is written and acted with a light touch, but the shootouts are serious business (there are two, both extended).
"Train to Tombstone" gets Two Huge Thumbs Up. It's a ten on all counts. It's highly recommended, and while the picture is very good, it calls for a Criterion restoration. /////
The previous night, we saw another fantastic Western, "Sunset Pass"(1946), part of the Zane Grey series that was put out by RKO. This one also begins on a train. James Warren stars as "Rocky", a Wells Fargo security agent who is riding the train, along with his sidekick "Chito Rafferty" (John Laurenz), to protect a gold shipment (just like in "Train to Tombstone"). A gang of robbers led by a gunman named "Cinnabar" (Harry Woods) sets up an ambush and and steals it. In the shootout, Rocky is injured. He re-alicecooper-ates at the Ash Preston ranch. While there, he falls for Ashs's sister "Jane" (Nan Leslie again). She knows that Ash (Robert Clarke) was in on the train robbery. The Preston ranch is in debt. This puts Ash at the mercy of Cinnabar and his cohort "Slagel" (Steve Brody), the Wells Fargo bank clerk who helped Cinnabar stage the robbery.
They hide the stolen loot under a tree outside of town, but another rancher's son sees them and Cinnabar shoots him. When Ash tries to quit the gang, Cinnabar threatens to frame him for the murder. At some point, Ash is gonna have to come clean to Rocky, and own up to his part in the robbery, to clear himself of the murder.
Man, these Zane Grey's are great, if Sunset Pass is an indication. The RKO production values are top notch, with tremendous black and white photography set against the Alabama Hills location. The character of Chito Rafferty originated in the Tim Holt series that we watched a couple years ago (when did we watch it? everything before the pandemic is a blur). The original Chito is funnier than the one in this movie, but John Laurenz isn't bad in the role, and there's a romantic subplot involving him and Jane Greer (famous for "Out of the Past"). She plays a dance hall girl, and both she and Chito sing a few numbers, so there's a musical aspect also.
I'm glad we're mixing in a few Westerns lately. It looks like we've exhausted the supply of available Ann Savage movies, but you never know, she might turn up again, like John Agar or Ron Foster do, just when we think we've lost them. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Sunset Pass". The picture is razor sharp. If you watch it on a double bill with "Train to Tombstone", you'll have a classic Western evening and you'll finish in exactly two hours. ////
That's all I know for tonight. I hope your week is going well, and I send you Tons of Love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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