El Paso (1949)

Fantastic!

A Disappointing Continuation

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

"El Paso, a Pine/Thomas production has a large cast and plenty of violent action to satisfy the most demanding western fan. However, most of the real violence happens off screen to appease the censors.Clay Fletcher (John Payne) goes to El Paso to have Judge Henry Jeffers (Henry Hull) sign some legal documents for his grandfather Judge Fletcher (H.B. Warner). Clay also hopes to see his lost love Susan Jeffers (Gail Russell) as well. On his journey he becomes acquainted with bewhiskered Pesky (Gabby Hayes), a peddler.What Clay finds is a lawless town run by landowner Bert Donner (Sterling Hayden) and his corrupt sheriff La Farge (Dick Foran). Clay himself a lawyer, witnesses a mock trial of a prisoner accused of murder presided over by an intoxicated Judge Jeffers. The prisoner (Keith Richards) is quickly found guilty by a jury composed of Donner and his men. Clay goes to see Susan and the two try to find a way to sober up Judge Jeffers.Farmer John Elkins (Arthur Space) is told that his ranch is being sold for unpaid taxes. When he resists a deputy is shot in the scuffle. Ellis escapes to the hosienda of Mexican Don Nacho Vazquez (Eduardo Noriega) for protection. Clay decides to defend Elkins and hatches a plan to have, with Pesky's help, the Judge sobered up. At the trial, Elkins is found innocent but consequences ensue. The Elkins ranch is raided by La Farge's men who burn down their home and murder Elkins and his wife. Their son Jack (Bobby Ellis) witnesses the attack. At the same time, Judge Jeffers is dragged to death.When Clay learns of this he loses it and forms a gang of vigilantes to exact their revenge. Young Jack identifies some of the attackers who are promptly strung up. Unfortunately, Jack identifies an innocent man who is killed before the error is discovered.Judge Fletcher comes to town and he and Sally try to reason with Clay to stop his attacks. He agrees to do so but relents when Judge Fletcher's body is brought to him. This incites the final showdown with Donner and La Farge and................................................................................The finale for some reason, takes place in a sand storm which makes it difficult for the viewer to see all of the action. The brutal deaths of the two judges even though they occur off screen, are shocking.Payne and Hayden are convincing in their roles and the tragic Russell looks absolutely beautiful here. Gabby Hayes nearing the end of his long career, turns in another typical Gabby performance. But the big surprise is the casting of Dick Foran as the brutal sheriff. He normally was a good guy so this about face caught me off guard.The most surprising thing about this picture is the fact that Payne and his cohorts are not punished for the murder of the innocent Minister.Also in the cast are Irving Bacon as a stagecoach passenger, Mary Beth Hughes, Chief Yowlachie and Dewey Robinson as the bartender (what else?).

When all else fails out come the Colts and Winchesters. Fine upstanding ex - Confederate officer Mr John Payne tries to Clean Up The Town by lawful means but has to resort to violence in the face of endemic corruption. The end justifies the means,eh,John? If "El Paso" has a moral message that appears to be it. Aided,if that's the word by Gabby Hayes and Gail Russel,hindered by the great Henry Hull,with heavyweight "help" such as Sterling Hayden,Mr Payne finds that friends in need are friends indeed. Mind you,nobody said either he or Haynes was clever judging from the ease with which " Stagecoach Nellie" parts then from their wallets before they arrive in town. I watched a horrible orange and grey print of this on Freeview the other night and it is a tribute to the performers that stayed to the end. The odd Fordian touch kept me from grabbing the remote but overall it's potboiling stuff all round I'm afraid.

I think El Paso started out to be a much more ambitious western than it eventually turned out. There was a lot more potential there than for what did eventually make it to the screen.Except for a short subject he did at Warner Brothers in 1939 El Paso was the first western that John Payne did and he definitely seemed comfortable in the genre. He plays a lawyer and former Confederate veteran who goes west to El Paso from Charleston, South Carolina in search of an old friend of Payne's grandfather H.B. Warner.That friend is Henry Hull who went west with his daughter Gail Russell for health reasons and is now a drunken pawn of town boss Sterling Hayden. With Hull as judge and sheriff Dick Foran to enforce some trumped up foreclosures, Hayden's grabbing all the real estate he can in and around El Paso from veterans who were not paying taxes while they were fighting in the Civil War. Payne tries it the legal way, but he's learned a few things as well in those war years. When it doesn't work he finds himself leader of a guerrilla band who are exacting justice after a couple of murders of cast members sympathetic to Payne.Editing was pretty botched in El Paso. There are references during the film to scenes that were obviously cut out. The film also seemed to be building to a terrific climax and the end was quite a let down. You'll see what I mean if you view the film.El Paso was produced by Pine-Thomas Productions, two guys with the first name of William. William Pine was Cecil B. DeMille's associate producer on several of his earlier epics from the Thirties and I think he was expecting a DeMille like budget and didn't get it. So cuts were made that I think spoiled the overall quality of the film.Still fans of the western and of John Payne will like it. Note the comic relief performances of Mary Beth Hughes as Stagecoach Nell and Gabby Hayes for once an Easterner in a western.

This Cinecolor Western from 1949 boasts a terrific cast and an interesting storyline. John Payne stars as a gun-toting attorney who takes on the so-called "lawmen" of El Paso. Sterling Haytden and former singin'cowpoke Dick Foran have fun roles as the bad-guys running the town. With the help of a drunken Judge, they rule with an iron fist .... until Payne arrives !Gabby Hayes has a featured role and is as endearing as ever. This film is fun and well-produced, but is a little long & drags a bit in the middle.Those with patience and a 100+ minutes to spare should enjoy this old-fashioned cowboy movie.