Dallas, ville frontière

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.

Just about every noted western city shows up sooner or later as the title to a western. This certainly isn't about the early days of Dallas which was founded right after Texas came into the union and was named for the current Vice President George Mifflin Dallas. Dallas was from Philadelphia, was once the Mayor there, and never visited the city named after him.

What this is is a nice Gary Cooper shoot 'em up with a nice post Civil War plot. Hollywood abounds in those, carpetbagger rule in Texas and the men who do something about it. Red River is the best example.

Gary Cooper is outlaw and former rebel Blayde Hollister who is "gunned down" by Wild Bill Hickok so he can operate undercover and get a particularly loathsome family named Marlow who burned his former plantation in Georgia. Aiding him is Leif Erickson who plays a tenderfoot marshal from the East (hey they weren't all Hickoks and Earps). Cooper takes Erickson's identity and Erickson goes along as his own brother.

Up and coming starlet Ruth Roman plays the love interest. She's Erickson's fiancé, but Cooper has caught her eye.

Two of the Marlows are Raymond Massey and Steve Cochran. Massey's villains are always shrewd and are usually done in by circumstances beyond their control. Steve Cochran fresh from his stint as Big Ed in White Heat is the vicious, but stupid underling brother.

It's a good plot and a lot's been edited out badly. For instance at one point you see Gary Cooper in hot pursuit of Massey to Fort Worth. Then it cuts straightaway to the Fort Worth jail and no explanation of how Cooper got in there.

Leif Erickson never made it to the top. He usually was the second lead who never got the girl. Television gave him the stardom that eluded him on the silver screen with High Chapparal.

Steve Cochran usually played villains with a kind of snake-oil charm, like Big Ed in White Heat or as Doris Day's KKK husband in Storm Warning. Same here although the twist is he's not the sharpest knife in the Marlow drawer.

Today's generation thinks of Dallas and they think of the Ewing family of the 80s. This is NOT the story of their early days, but its nice Saturday matinée fare.

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.

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!

This stylized and well financed Western looks good but is light and flimsy for the genre. It can not hold a candle to other Gary Cooper vehicles like High Noon, however it is worth a view if you catch it like I did on a lazy afternoon on the Encore Western channel.

The film's setup seems contrived and the dialogue is uneven and sometimes even clumsy but it does include enough star power such as Raymond Massey, Ruth Roman, and Leif Erickson (who lend their considerable talents) to make it worthwhile.

Cooper is always a force to be seen and this is no less so in this forgettable Western but even his presence can not totally save this movie.

Watch if there is nothing else compelling on, but don't expect great Western fare like High Noon, Gunfight at the OK Corral or The Lawman. This just isn't it.

I understand why some might rate this rather mediocre film highly as it is difficult to downgrade any film in this (nowadays) under appreciated genre. But there are such amazing Western films out there that great ratings should only be reserved for the true crème de la crème so that those just dipping their toe into this wonderful pool of cinema are not mislead or unduly disappointed and consequently disenchanted with the whole Western genre.