Las calles de Laredo

I first watched this 1949 Western unremarkably ditected by Leslie Fenton in the mid-1970s. I was then around 17, and I did not like it, finding among other things that Mona Freeman looked too young for the part, that mediocre color cinematography did not make the most of mountains and other landscapes, that the dialogue seemed trite and stale, among other minuses.

McDonald Carey delivers a suave, villainous, deceptive performance that steals the show. He abandons his stagecoach-robbing partners, William Bendix and Holden, to seek better pay with cattle rustler and criminal kingpin Alfonso Bedoya (whose role is surprisingly short, considering his unforgettable part in TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE one year earlier).

Watching STREETS OF LAREDO a second time nearly 50 years later, this time I enjoyed it more, though I still see it as a rehash of ideas in Westerns at the time, the dialogue stale in parts, Holden underused. But this time Freeman seems to grow up into an adult woman during the movie.

Good pace, some humor - especially by dimwitted Bendix - make it worth watching at least once 7/10.

Of course it is a flawless western, but so predictable, despite this excellent cast, directing, performances.... For once, I appreciated a lot Macdonald Carey in a role where he doesn't appear as bland, wooden, as usual in other features. Here, his character is thicker than we could expect, whilst William Holden, on the other hand, brings no surprise at all. But, as I have always said, villains - or at least ambivalent or ambiguous characters- are far far more interesting than hte good ones, the white knights in their shining armors....fABULOUS Victor Young's score belongs to the qualIty of this movie directed by British actor Leslie Fenton, who also gave us WHISPERING SMITH.

Three outlaw friends find themselves on opposite sides of the law when two of them join the Texas Rangers to get themselves out of a tight corner.

Lively western basking in splendid technicolour and very good performances, especially by MacDonald Carey, who plays a smug outlaw with villainous ambitions. His character becomes more cold blooded towards the end. The film has enough drama, tension with the three friends splitting in different directions, and Mona Freeman - who had a crush on MacDonald's character at first - eventually changes her mind when seeing his true colours and prefers Holden, who does well in this well-directed western.

Holden, Carey and Bendix are three bandits holding up stagecoaches until a chase separates one from the other two. Those two eventually join up with the Texas Rangers and reform, while the one keeps to his old outlaw ways. Thus, the stage is set for the final showdown. Mona Freeman is the love interest who falls for one of the bandits but eventually catches on that the man of her dreams is really someone else. I saw this one when I was a kid and the scene of one of the characters being gunned down in cold blood from beneath the table blew me away. That still packs a wallop, but after having watched "Streets of Loredo" again, I realize it is all pretty routine as Westerns go. Even so, it's full of the clichés and values that made me love them when I was growing up. A young Macdonald Carey stands out as the dashing villain dressed, of course, in black.

Despite slack direction from Leslie Fenton, this is a better-than-average Technicolor Western. At the time Holden was not yet a headline performer, while Carey never reached that pinnacle. Here, both contribute nicely, especially Carey whose bad-good guy with a toothy grin is just slippery enough to be convincing. The chemistry between him and Holden comes across effectively. Too bad that director Fenton doesn't do more to bring out the dramatic aspects of the friendship, though the final scene is both well-staged and appropriate. For me, the movie's highlight is the absolutely gorgeous Technicolor framing of the outdoor scenes. Somebody sure knew how to frame those scenes in an impressive way that adds greatly to the film's unusually riveting eye-appeal.

The story itself is a good one. The screenplay develops Holden and Bendix's transition from outlaws to Rangers in believable fashion. What is suggested is that some outlaws can be reformed by respect and an honorable code of conduct, which strikes me as a worthwhile piece of insight and good moral to the story. On the downside, Mona Freeman as the high-spirited lass comes across as too callow and stagey for the much more mature Holden and Carey to butt heads over. Then too, Alfonso Bedoya's unlikely role looks like an effort at cashing in on his Treasure of the Sierra Madre success. In passing-- note that the classic trail song "Streets of Laredo" is not the one sung in the movie. It's a disappointing something else, probably composed for the film. I wonder if the producers had trouble getting rights to use the real song. Too bad. Anyway, the movie plays better than Leonard Maltin's rather dismal professional review, especially for those who like long views, big clouds, and a sense of open horizons.