Terra di conquista

I'm sure that the folks on the Texas/Louisiana border must have had a a good laugh or two when Paramount's B picture unit inflicted this one on the war time public. Very simply the area along the Sabine River where the film opens is cotton country just like the rest of the Deep South or at least the Deep South was post Civl War. No big cattle empires there, they're much farther west in Texas, farther than Richard Dix and Preston Foster could ride to set up their empire.

The film begins with the two of them partners in a riverboat and when Leo Carrillo tries a theft of their services by not paying them for hauling his cattle, they keep the cattle. And that's the beginning of the big Ponderosa like ranch they start.

Along the way Foster marries Dix's sister played by Frances Gifford and feuds with his much smaller neighbors. They also have some further run ins with Leo Carrillo.

Anyway, us easterners who like westerns usually don't bother with geographical trifles and it's still a good western from the production mill of Harry Sherman who produced all those Hopalong Cassidy westerns for Paramount. The climax is a blazing, and I mean that literally, gun battle that should have maybe been used on an A production.

But I wouldn't have any but western fans look at it.

Good action and an interesting story make this Western good entertainment despite a few minor flaws. The characters aren't very deep, but they're interesting, and the pace moves along very nicely as it builds up the tension and leads up to a good and often exciting climactic sequence. Richard Dix helps a lot with a pretty good performance as the key character.

The story sets up a situation with a lot of possibilities. On the one hand is the hard-headed Bryce, head of the big cattle empire. Then there are the rest of the ranchers, whom Bryce has alienated and angered by his aggressive policies. Finally there is the wild card, the crafty rustler Beauchard, out only for himself. In the middle of all the conflicts is Dix's character Dan Taylor, trying to hold things together. As the story develops from there, Dix generally underplays to good effect (making a nice contrast with, for example, his better known but rather overblown performance in "Cimarron"), and lets the situation speak for itself when it should. Only some shallow characterizations and some ineffective comic relief hold it back a little at times. Otherwise, it gets pretty good mileage out of its potential, and has most of the things you could ask for in a Western.

This is the old time basic Western, and one interesting aspect about it is how it is one of the "models" for most later TV series.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is by the star billing. Dix and Carillo are top billed, yet it is obvious from the start that Preston Foster and Frances Gifford are the lead romantic interests.

Romantic leads were not always the standard. Top billing in "THEM!" went to the chief characters of Gwynn and Whitmore as the eccentric show stealing scientist and the policeman who was followed throughout the story. In "THE RAVEN" the two young romantic lovers play second fiddle to three with star billing in Karloff, Price, and Lorre.

So it's not new. What is important is that the character played by Dix is the one who is the strong, solid, stable influence. This is the character who would be the mainstay of just about every TV Western series to follow, and most other TV shows. He was Cheyenne, Bronco, Matt Dillon, Ben and Adam Cartwright.

Foster was the mistake prone fellow who lacked the solid fundamentals. He learns some bitter lessons the hard way. Unfortunately, as in real life, it is other people who pay for them. In this case, his first born son does.

The villainy of the Mexicans is on the racist side. One interesting bit is that when the two good guys meet up with the villain Carillo, it is their own man who is at fault for the troubles, but they are men of experience and savvy, and recognize Carillo for what he is.

Frances makes a very nice entrance, and she is very stunning. She appeals to both the male libido and the female intellect.

Dix, though seemingly shadowed in the background, is no more shadowed than Bronco or Ben Cartwright were in their endeavors. They were the main character, because they were not just one man, but representative of a lot of men who would try to make things work. They weren't "Everyman". They were "Everymen".

Richard Dix and Preston Foster give up their Mississippi paddlewheeler to become co-owners of the largest ranch in Texas, with Dix's sister, Frances Gifford, marrying Foster. Pressures ensue. Foster wants to forbid other ranchers from crossing their immense territory, and won't grant rights for the railroad to cross their ranch, while Dix wants to leave room for the little guy. Meanwhile, Cajun Leo Carrillo raids their cattle to become the largest rancher in Louisiana.

There are some anachronisms in this movie, like entire herds being whitefaced Hereford; the breed was only being introduced into Texas when the latter portions of this movie take place. Nonetheless, it is an exciting movie, with three battle scenes. Rough humor is provided by 'Big Boy' Williams and Cliff Edwards as two of their crew who move from shipboard life to ranch life without much trouble. Edwards also sings a couple of songs.

"American Empire" is another of a series of modestly budgeted features produced by Harry "Pop" Sherman, who also was responsible for the highly successful Hopalong Cassidy series. This one deals with the emergeance of the cattle ranches in Texas in the years following the Civil War.

Two soldiers of fortune, Dan Taylor (Richard Dix) and Pax Bryce (Preston Foster) are ruuning a freight business from their riverboat. One day they meet up with the unscrupulous Dominique Beauchard (Leo Carillo) who is driving cattle to his home state of Louisiana. The boys agree to transport the cattle to their destination for a set fee. When Beauchard fails to pay up they keep the cattle and decide to go into the cattle ranching business.

Into the mix comes Taylor's sister Abby (Frances Gifford) with whom Bryce falls in love and marries. They soon have a son Pax Jr. (Merrill Rodin) and Pax Sr. becomes more and more ambitious as time goes on, much to the chagrin of his partner Dan. He has angered the smaller ranchers by refusing them permission to drive their cattle across his land. The ranchers decide to stampede the cattle through but Pax Jr. is killed in the stampede.

Bryce becomes distraught and decides to erect barb wire fences around the ranch which forces Dan to dissolve their partnership. All this is resolved at the end when all realize that progress must prevail over the ambitions of one man.

Also in the cast are Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Cliff Edwards as the comic relief, Jack LaRue and Chris-Pin Martin as Carillo's henchmen, and veterans William Farnum and Hal Taliaferro in other roles.

Foster is really the star of the movie despite being billed third. He delivers a solid performance. Dix, who was top billed, is really only a supporting player. Gifford looks lovely as the heroine. The action is well staged and there's one dandy of a gunfight at the climax of the film.

A good western.