Bat Masterson

Liberal is a town in Kansas that is rapidly descending into lawlessness. That is until local "Billy Jones" (Gabby Hayes) gets his pal "Bat Masterson" (Randolph Scott), a federal marshal, to come and try to sort things out. With the help of "Harper" (Robert Ryan) and dancing girl "Ruby" (Anne Jeffreys) he sets his sights on "Maury" (Steve Brodie) and his manipulative henchman "Carmody" (Billy House). The only thing that distinguishes this from a whole slew of others of this type, is that Ryan manages to discover a wheat that is resistant to drought - a pretty perennial problem here - and that galvanises the farmers who are on the verge of giving up. Otherwise, it is a pretty routine adventure peppered with a few shoot-outs and a bit of romance. Scott and Ryan do their jobs OK, and the story moves along quickly enough but if you've seen one, then I'm afraid you've seen them all as far as this is concerned.

Except for two things, it's a fairly routine Scott Western, which means it's still better than most horse operas. First, I'm betting the drought resistant strain of wheat that keeps the farmers on the land is fact-based. Anyway, it's an interesting take on farming for a city boy like me, and is woven effectively into the plot. The second thing is Robert Ryan, one of my favorites. Now, I've seen him as a scary bad guy or a hard-looking good guy in a thousand movies. But I've never seen him as a nice guy until this movie. He's not only good, but nice too, and even gets the girl as a reward. It's Ryan as you've likely never seen him before (It's also early in his career, 1947).

Scott's his usual strong-jawed self, and a persuasive Bat Masterson, while the one-and-only Gabby sports a beard that looks like it's eating his face. And check out the obscure ingénue Madge Meredith's (Susan) bio in IMDb. There's a reason why she's obscure. Then too, the 300-lb. Billy House makes a slimy bad guy and a can't miss six-gun target. I guess my only reservation is with Steve Brodie as the chief baddie. He doesn't have quite the gravitas to be a chief, which is likely why most of his career was as a henchman.

Anyhow, it's a well-stocked horse opera with good action and a nicely worked-out script. For Scott fans, myself included, it's an enjoyable 90-minutes.

Trail Street is directed by Ray Enright and adapted to screenplay by Norman Houston and Gene Lewis from the novel of the same name written by William Corcoran. It stars Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George Hayes, Madge Meredith and Steve Brodie. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by J. Roy Hunt.

Bat Masterson (Scott) is called to the town of Liberal in Kansas to act as Marshal because a range war has erupted.

It's the trail riders versus the farmers with Bat Masterson in the middle, perfect for Randy Scott then. Trail Street is a very honest Oater, sturdy of formula and played for genre compliant rewards. Clearly of no historical worth, mind, it's however a further reminder about one of the "names" that stand through the test of time from the Old West.The land war as a central plot device is always fascinating, for the two sides of the argument angle keeps things on the high heat. In the mix here comes corruption, romantic sub-plots (with 2 ladies of different social standings) and of course law and order as a force of nature.

Ultimately it's good fun entertainment, the cast themselves seemingly enjoying their respective parts and working for this director. Hayes brings the froth, Brodie the slimy menace, and the girls are not just token fodder. Scott isn't in it as much as we would like, but once arriving in town he dominates with genre gracefulness in what was soon to become his total career pathway. While Ryan is wonderfully fresh faced and lights up his scenes with distinction.

Enright has a good feel for character development, and when the pic begins to sag he pulls it back on track with a nifty action sequence. Rounding out the tech credits we have Hunt's (Crossfire) photography, which is spiffing and marries up smartly with the visual themes that Enright favours, while Sawtell keeps it safe and standard for aural pleasure. The ending is worth waiting for, with guns a toting and stunt men a falling from a high, and a very dark act is carried out to set us up for a boffo finale.

This is hardly a must see or must have in your Westerns collection, but it's above average and has an unassuming feel that's most pleasing for the genre faithful. 7/10

I am a fan of Randolph Scott Westerns. While some of them are amazingly clichéd (as are most Westerns of this era), his easy delivery and style really elevate the films to classic and near-classic status. While this film features yet another example of real life Western heroes being exploited after their death by Hollywood (in this case, Bat Masterson), the film works well due to him as well as excellent supporting characters. One is the always strong acting of Robert Ryan--an excellent actor who is sadly almost forgotten today. The other is the ubiquitous Gabby Hayes who has one of his best roles as the crusty and very colorful deputy. Here he is more enjoyable than in his many supporting roles for Roy Rogers and John Wayne--mostly because his part is better written and he's given more to do.

The plot is pretty much the plot of half the Westerns ever made. There are some baddies who hire a bunch of thugs to run roughshod over the locals and it's up to a do-gooder (Scott) to restore the peace and kill off the villains. However, how the plot is executed is much better than average and due to this the film is still watchable fun. Just don't expect a whole lot of innovation or uniqueness--unless you want to see what might just be Gabby Hayes' best performance.

After cleaning up Dodge City (with a little help from Wyatt Earp) Bat Masterson goes to Liberal, Kansas where they've got a nice little range war going. Plus a rather interesting scheme of sharecropping.

Randolph Scott is Bat Masterson and he's after villains Billy House and Steve Brodie who are driving homesteaders off their farms. The homesteaders they are driving off are in a sharecropping scheme financed by Robert Ryan. Seems as though he's staking the various farmers to a parcel of land to homestead for a percentage of profit from their crop. Ryan's about to lose his shirt as a result of all the shenanigans.

As portrayed by Scott, Bat Masterson is a stand-up western hero who has a passion to go east and become a reporter which we all know he did later in life.

Anne Jeffreys and Madge Meredith are involved in a romantic subplot involving Brodie and Ryan which is a little silly and does detract from the action. Anne Jeffreys does sing nice though.

Of course Gabby Hayes as always provides the great comic relief.

A good addition to the Randolph Scott collection of westerns. Also interesting because his later western films don't have him as wearing a hat as white as the one here.

This review is dedicated to Kasey Hayes of the Professional Bull Riders who is a proud resident of Liberal, Kansas, a town with a great tradition whether Bat Masterson marshaled there or not.