Dallas

A throwback to the "old fashioned" Westerns of the 30s and 40s (such as DODGE CITY), DALLAS has a number of things going for it: Gary Cooper at his coolest, blazing Technicolor photography by Ernest Haller (GONE WITH THE WIND) and a pulse-pounding Max Steiner (KING KONG, GWTW, DODGE CITY et al.) score. In addition, there is a masquerade, mistaken identity, a faked death and more hair-breath escapes than a Republic serial. As always, Cooper defines what it is to be a man under pressure. Forget the 50s angst Western... this is pure entertainment!

See it – Although this may not be considered one of Gary Cooper's best movies, it is certainly an entertaining western. He plays a wrongfully accused outlaw who trades places with the incompetent marshal, impersonating him in order to bring his arch enemy to justice. This is by no means a comedy, but it has that light-hearted, "Errol Flynnish" feel to it that characterized so many films in the old days. For instance, there are certain things that you just wouldn't do in real life; such as throwing a bullet into the fire to distract someone, or stepping on a cat's tail so that the yelp will cause your enemy to show himself. But it's all in good fun. The down side is that a large quantity of action scenes doesn't always mean they are quality scenes. There aren't any cool, memorable gunfights or explosions in this one. But it's a good way to spend an hour and a half. 3 out of 5 action rating.

Former Confederate soldier Blayde Hollister (Gary Cooper) is looking for revenge against a group of crooked carpetbaggers. Wild Bill Hickok is the law and he shoots Hollister dead. It turns out that the two friends had faked the incident. They allow in the new Federal Marshal Martin Weatherby (Leif Erickson). Hollister and Weatherby head off together with Hollister taking Weatherby's identity.

Gary Cooper is doing his High Noon thing. I'm looking for something much more brutal. He should be laying waste to anyone remotely connected to the incident. This needs to get much darker considering it's for his family. I also don't like the loudmouth reb during the shoot-out. He is so clueless that it becomes annoying. Otherwise, this is fine.

Gary Cooper has given us much much better in his career, for instance the awesome HIGH NOON or MAN OF THE WEST. This one is directed by the bland Stuart Heisler whose film have never excited me that much, except maybe I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES. That makes me think I should watch some of his stuff again. So this one, a Warner movie, remains a good western, but a but boring because so much predictable plot with foreseeable characters and also character study. I have it in French dubbled in my collection, and the characters - with American first names in the genuine movie - are named with FRENCH first names in the French version. Such a disgrace, replacing Will, Bryan, Blayde but Guillaume, Marcel - ha ha ha - or Julien. Why, why, why? In most other dubbed westerns that I have seen in my French movie goer life, American first names are kept. But not here. Ok, that doesn't remove the interest and quality of this movie, nor add however, but that bings a comic situation, totally weird. So, to summarize my review, this is a western to be watched for Gary Cooper's fans, but not one his best.

I don't think I've ever watched a good cast work harder to make a bad script work. Which means the directing had to be good too. And, for the period, the production values are pretty high too. But the real candidate for lynching was the writer, not the bad guy in the movie.

I would have scored it lower but for the laughs I got out of the woefully bad dialog and virtually every cast member's heroic efforts to keep a straight face while delivering their bits. If you're a Gary Cooper fan, or just like to listen to Ruth Roman's sexy husky voice, the rest is worth a watch for just how funnily bad it is. Funnier than many an intentional western parody.