The Forty-Niners (1954)

Elliott, a US Marshal, goes undercover to catch three killers. In the process, he befriends one of them, Morgan, and finds out his job is not as morally easy as he thought.I was expecting a matinée western with the usual formula plot and stock characters. But this is not a formula matinée. Two of the chief characters—Morgan and Bradford—are morally ambiguous. That is, they are as capable of high deeds as well as low, sort of like real people. Also, Morgan, I believe, has more screen time than ostensible hero Elliott. I'm not sure why, maybe because Elliott is a middle-age 50, and wants to slow down. Also, it's Morgan who attracts the good-looking woman, while Elliott is all business.I suspect the 70-minutes departs from the standard since it comes at the end of the matinée era. Instead, TV was taking over the cheap western. Anyway, the film is better than its lowly pedigree indicates, and can stand on its own as a slice of sagebrush entertainment. And, oh yes, shouldn't leave off without paying tribute to Wild Bill, this being his final western. He was one of the few matinée cowboys who could act tough and make you believe it. I think it was the narrow eyes and resonant voice. Anyway, he sure gave me a lot of entertainment over the years. Good luck, Bill, wherever you are-- you went out on a pretty good little western.

Wild Bill Elliott stars in one of his last westerns for Allied Artists -- basically Monogram with a budget -- in this story about a marshal hunting for someone who is killing miners for their claims during the California Gold Rush.The story is compressed a bit by having Elliott narrate the beginning of the story. However, with his low-affect acting style and the overly full writing of the narration, it comes off like a long episode of TV's DRAGNET on horseback. Add in Harry Morgan, who spent the end of the 1960s as the second lead on the current version of the show -- well, from this distance it looks like a burlesque of Jack Webb's. In reality, it was probably simply an attempt to add some up-to-date techniques to the oldest film genre.It didn't work. Elliott would retire from the cowboy B movies -- he would switch to mysteries -- and the B westerns themselves would migrate to the television screen and then would die. The mythology of the West was no longer the myth of the country. Science Fiction was already moving in.

This western was enjoyable to watch and well acted by a cast of good actors. There's a good story line that doesn't just exist as a frame work for a lot of gun fights. The story is fairly well written. The problems start with the setting. This is supposed to be set in 1849 California. Westerns have always has problems with authenticity; but this one is way off the mark. It becomes distracting at times; and takes away from an otherwise good story, and good acting. The environment of the story is almost completely wrong. 1849 California was fairly primitive with many hardships. The town in this story looks like something out of a western set in 1870's Kansas. The wardrobe is wrong for the time. The inside of buildings are wrong for 1849 California. The fire arms are way off; and many other things. But with all that being said; I'd still have to recommend seeing this film It has a certain charm. Henry Morgan and Virginia Grey turn in their usual good performances. Bill Elliott is a little stiff; but is the kind of star that made westerns of this era fun. So inspire of the problems i outlined I still enjoyed this film. I would have given it a lower ranking if it hadn't been for Harry Morgan and Virginia Grey; they were great.

The Forty Niners may be a western, but it has the tone and documentary approach of a film like Calling Northside 777 or The House On 92nd Street modern crime dramas. It could also be compared to Dick Powell's Station West, a noir like western.Wild Bill Elliott did this one for Allied Artists and it's a no frills western with accent on characterization as opposed to action, though we have enough of that. Elliott is a US Marshal working undercover to find out who killed one of his peers. It was a modern contract killing and they've got the guy who paid to have it done. He gave up the name of the middle man who arranged the contract and Elliott searches for him to lead him to the killers.That middle man is Harry Morgan, a small time crooked gambler who has other sidelines. The rather strange bond that forms between Elliott and Morgan is what drives The Forty Niners. In fact in a way Morgan gets the girl here in the person of Virginia Grey who is married to one of Elliott's suspects. The Forty Niners which title fixes the year and place the story takes place in is a good western with some really good characterizations. It was one of Harry Morgan's best screen roles and if you see it I'm sure you will agree.