There’s a dandy idea to this B+ budgeted Western from Warner Bros., but director Raoul Walsh can’t quite make the unfocused script stick. Dennis Morgan, a bit worn, a bit thicker in the middle*, is the soft-spoken card-sharp who’s gambled himself into a job with Pinkerton Agents, forced to go undercover and pose as notorious stagecoach bandit ‘The Poet’ to clear his record. It sets him up against a nasty gang of robbers led by Arthur Kennedy, eager to move in on ‘The Poet’s’ territory; and possibly against Jane Wyman, ‘The Poet’s’ wife who may or may not be working with him. Add in dance hall gal Janis Paige (in delicious form), ‘inside’ man Bruce Bennett and Alan Hale as a reticent second deputy and you hardly know which way to turn all thru the pic. Nice. But Alan Le May’s script plays like an early draft that hasn’t nailed down the plot turnabouts or character motivation, covering up holes with sexy banter and too much forced whimsy. The latter abetted by a Max Steiner score that either giggles along or relentlessly thumps out its main theme. Pleasant in spite of the faults, but this might have been something special.
DOUBLE-BILL: *An underrated performer, see Morgan at his best in THE HARD WAY/’43 which also shows Ida Lupino, Joan Leslie, Jack Carson & director Vincent Sherman at their best.
No comments:
Post a Comment