El Paso (1949)

This is a message post-Civil War western. Unfortunately, it espouses 2 conflicting messages: (1)When the local judicial system is inadequately present, or present in a corrupt or prejudicial form, it is a natural right of the injured and threatened to defend themselves or extract equal revenge against the perpetrator(s).(2) No matter how inadequate, corrupt or prejudicial the local judicial system is, it is the duty of individuals harmed by it or by others to submit to the existing judicial system. Those who attempt to take the law into their own hands are subject to prosecution no matter how seemingly valid their reason. After exercising the first of these messages, the film ends upholding the second message. I suspect the production code people weren't about to pass a film which glorified rebellion and vigilantism as sometimes necessary to achieve real justice........John Payne, in his first western, is the main protagonist. He's a lawyer, newly arrived from Charleston, S.C., who objects to the methodology of the first trial he sees here. After several killings of his friends and the judge for thumbing their noses at the corrupt Sheriff Lafarge(Dick Fortran), he becomes the leader of a sizable group of rebels who go about searching for, killing and perhaps burning the houses of the friends of the Sheriff(whom I will refer to as loyalists). The climax of the film consists of an all out gun battle in the middle of El Paso between the rebels and loyalists. This is complicated by the occurrence of a very violent dust storm that made visibility and walking difficult. After a number of each are killed, the two groups ride out of town, meeting at a river, where the loyalists, outnumbered, surrender. Several are about to be strung up when Clay arrives with the demand that the ropes be taken off their necks. He's a born again legalist, advocating that the sheriff and other loyalists be tried for real or suspected crimes. Thus, from the viewer's viewpoint, the film ends on a rather unsatisfactory note, as the sheriff is neither dead nor visibly in jail, while the victors march down the street in parade formation. ........Gail Russell, the female lead, plays Susan Jeffers, daughter of the usually inebriated judge. She's Clay's girlfriend, a relationship threatened by his sojourn into vigilantism. She is a major voice warning him that this is not the solution...... One of the victims of the loyalists is Clay's grandfather: a judge from Charleston. Just why he came to El Paso is not discussed. Perhaps this was detailed in some discarded footage? Edwardo Noriega played Nacho Vazquez, who saved Clay from a tormenting saloon crowd, and taught him how to be an effective gunslinger..... Much bewhiskered Gabby Hayes generates some amusement playing a simpleton trader, who's always getting cheated by Mexican Joe......Stagecoach Nellie(Mary Beth Hughes) is another clownish character. She devised an inventive way to practice pickpocketing. While riding in a stage, she emphasizes that Indians or bandits often attack the stage, then offers to hide the men's wallet in her things. If the man forgets to retrieve his wallet at the end of the run, she takes it to her room and divests it of currency. If the man complains, she pleads that there was no money in it. Of course, this only works under ideal conditions of a novice, no tattletale in the stage, and forgetful victims.

Way too many familiar faces, plotlines, plot twists, graveyard plots and potholes on the streets of this Rio Grande River locale. John Payne takes the opportunity after the end of the civil war to move out west from Savannah and finds himself in trouble with the law while fighting against the corruption. This Pine/Thomas western, beautifully filmed in color, has the potential of being a great saga of settling and civilizing, but overstuffs everything like a 10 layer burrito. When the plot is set up with a pretty stagecoach con-artist Mary Beth Hughes hoodwinking the passengers, the predicted plot goes nowhere and her character simply vanishes until an appearance at the end. For romance, there's pretty Gail Russell; for conflict, Sterling Hayden, and for the bulk of the laughs, George "Gabby" Hayes. The white folks live peacefully among the Spanish folk, joining in their fiestas and picking up their culture. There's hardly any racial tension, just the fights for justice between the good guys and bad guys. It is impressively filmed, but for a good majority of this 100 minute film, I pondered the basic plot, and could only come up with a simple story with a bunch of conflicts, and nothing to really tie them together. There's a touching cameo by the ancient H.B. Warner as Payne's worried grandfather, and a shootout amongst a giant windstorm, but those are "moments". The lack of a continuity factor is the nail in the coffin of this not bad but obviously missed opportunity western

El Paso is directed by Lewis R. Foster and Foster also adapts the screenplay from a story written by J. Robert Bren and Gladys Atwater. It stars John Payne, Gail Russell, Sterling Hayden, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Dick Foran, Eduardo Noriega, Henry Hull and Mary Beth Hughes. Music is by Darrell Calker and cinematography by Ellis W. Carter. Location filming is at the Iverson and Corrigan Ranches and El Paso and Gallup. El Paso, and lawyer and ex-Confederate captain Clay Fletcher (Payne) is forced to go against his principles and go outside the law to bring order to the town. It's a town where the judge is alcoholic and manipulated by the corrupt sheriff and a nefarious landowner.In the mix here is a very decent film, and certainly there's a story that if given a bit more meat could have been most potent. Unfortunately it's a bit choppy in its telling and execution, while the Cinecolor it was shot in looks washed out and cheapens still further what was already a picture being made without a big budget.Thematically it's strong, there's a vigilante thread that's attention grabbing, with some nice suggestive shots used by the director, and a theme of ex-soldiers returning from the war - only to find their land and rights being vanquished by the self imposed powers that be - carries with it some pertinent sting. There's also some good humour in here, notably a running gag involving Hughes' Stagecoach Nellie.Cast are fine, with Hayden and Payne fronting up for their fans, Hayes does another grand grizzled old coot turn, and Noriega, in spite of being under used, is excellent. Crude back projection work undermines some half decent action sequences, whilst the extended shoot-out finale is nicely played out during a dust storm - which may be to hide some flaws in the production? But regardless it has good effect.Frustrating picture for sure, but for Western die-hards there's enough here to enjoy and not feel angry about. 6.5/10

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.