EL PASO (1949)

‘Brand New HD Master from a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original 2-Color Negative & Positive Separations!,’ is the copy on Kino-Lorber’s DVD packaging. So, presumably about as close as we can get to what this CineColor Western looked like on release. With colors ranging from tawny orange to tawny blue (better in the great outdoors), and just occasionally showing the technical limitations inherent in the CineColor process working for the image. Check out a museum-worthy portrait shot (at 1'14") with John Payne comforting a grieving boy: mottled blue sky, orange kerchief, cobalt blue shirt; and the kid with auburn hair & buff ragweed shirt. Stunning. Later, action in a dust storm where dampened colors add to the drama. But curiosity in the color is the only reason to watch. An insufferable Western, overplayed in acting, plot & comic relief under journeyman megger Lewis Foster. John Payne, bouncing around studios after ankling 20th/Fox, stars as a Confederate vet/lawyer who heads to El Paso to see client (Henry Hull) and old flame (Gail Russell) in a lawless town run by corrupt Sheriff Sterling Hayden & henchman Dick Foran. After failing to clean up the town legally, Payne goes rogue, turning as corrupt & vicious as his opponents. Everyone’s practicing hanging justice. Payne’s ‘good guys’ lynching anyone ‘fingered’ as an enemy, even stringing up a preacher by mistake. Naturally, he comes ‘round at the end, but a lot of murders go unpunished. Where’s the Hollywood Production Code when you need them?

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID/DOUBLE-BILL: Compared to the old 2-strip TechniColor process (1922 - 1933), CineColor comes up short. Note how every Ladies’ Accessory the same damn orange tint. When restored with original film elements, early TechniColor was capable of sharper images & cleaner colors. See Criterion’s new KING OF JAZZ/’30 DVD which, at its best, looks amazing.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: From penny-pinching indie producers Pine-Thomas for Paramount release, this hardly lives up to the Pressbook promise (see above) of: The New Production Policy of “Big Pictures Only!” Paramount’s response to the frightening post-war downturn in attendance.