La Cicatrice

A cowboy heads for the town where his father was murdered to find out who is reported nsible. Only way to identify the killer is through a scar on the right allow

Johnny Mack Brown is excellent in the role as a cowboy looking for his father's murderer. It is slightly offbeat due to the scar in the elbow identifying the murderer, and it's not too hard to guess who the culprit is, but it's fun getting there. It's an engaging western that can be hampered by too much humor.

I will be honest I watched this grade Z western only because it is directed by one of the most interesting B movie director of all times; I mean Joseph H Lewis, the GUN CRAZY maker. The story here is already deleted from my memory, because it looks like thousands of others of this kind. But I wanted to see something, anything, from this director, to detect any trademark from him, any unusual and terrific camera angle that he will use later in his filmography. Anyway, for each cult film director, the scheme is the same, a rare film from a mythic movie maker - even a lousy film - will be purchased, or chased, tracked down by the die hard moviegoers.

When the story begins, Jim (Johnny Mack Brown) stops the stage at gunpoint. However, it turns out NOT to be a robbery but a left arm check! Huh??!! Yes, it seems that years ago, a masked man killed Jim's father and shot Jim in the back and the only evidence he has about the killer is that he has a huge scar on his left arm. When Jim later arrives in town, all sorts of minions are waiting to kick his butt...because their boss IS the man with the scar. This scarred man also is a state senator from their state of Wyoming....and he's always careful to keep his scar hidden. In fact, when the local doctor sees it, he is murdered to prevent him telling anyone! Surely Jim's gonna have a hard time pinning down this slick villain!!

Along for the ride is Brown's sidekick played well by Fuzzy Knight and the film is fun. My only complaint was all the singing...just too much. Plus Brown wasn't a singer and that is one of the big reasons I generally like his westerns...but this one was jam-packed with yodeling fools...for good or for bad.

By the way, in the election in the film you see a woman running for office and women out voting for her. Well, this is NOT historically inaccurate, as although in most of the USA women were denied the vote until the early 1920s, it was a done deal from the time it was a territory.

Better than average little oater, thanks mainly to several offbeat touches by cult director Joseph H. Lewis. Known later for such noir classics as Gun Crazy (1949), he livens up the screen here with some good action. Note the several punches thrown at the camera that had me ducking, or the imaginative overhead angles on the barroom brawl, or the surprising stage holdup to start the movie. Such small clever touches show an engaged approach even for a matinée programmer.

The supporting cast is better than average as Silver (Brown) searches in the middle of a town election for the man who backshot his father. All he knows is the shooter has a scar on his arm. I especially like Grace Lenard's dance hall girl Queenie. She's got real personality. Also, Brown makes for a likable cowboy hero, while Knight's comedy relief doesn't annoy. All in all, it's a pleasant glimpse of the Old West as we might like it to be.

(In passing—catch songstress Nora Lou Martin. She manages some falsetto trilling the likes of which I've never heard.)