kelsci

There is a very good reason for this. The crew who worked on this western is the same crew who were doing the THREE MESQUITEERS series. As such, this movie seemed almost like a "MESQUITEERS" western, but with Gene Autry in it. That's what makes this one so darn good. The action and dialog is brisk, fast and sharp. The music cannot be beat. I must say that Republic Pictures is the true AMERICANA studio of music IMHO. Republic pictures in most cases tried to entertain you and they did and IMHO they still do even in the 21st century. I am glad that there has been an effort to preserve their films such as the Autry series that he made for them during the 30s and 40s. Just think if they had invited THE THREE MESQUITEERS over to assist Gene in this one; what a crossover western this one would have made; but I bet nobody though about it.

I never watched this film before. I am originally from Queens,N.Y. so it did bring back memories,subway memories that is. I believe that NYC transit cops were riding the trains at that time. I noted the fare was 20 cents which had risen from 15 cents perhaps not too long before this film was produced. These were the last years that these particular kinds of subway cars were used on the subway lines of NYC. There were so many breakdowns that the city had to buy new cars not long after this film was made. I loved those old cars though. They had such a nice smell to them. On top of that, I loved the sound that they made. The sound people for this film captured that to a tee. I felt like I was riding in one of these cars again for just the moments that the movie was on. I got the feeling of an art film here as well. The black and white photography gave perfect atmosphere to this movie. Here it is 2007, and one cannot deny that Sheen and Bridges look good for their age and continue working in the industry. I never rode on the 3rd Ave. El but I remember it being in existence at that time. A good film of multi-characters;perhaps a good alternative title is "strangers on a New York subway train".

AMC just premiered this film on their network. One can see that it came from a well cared for 35mm print. It appears the picture and sound were digitally mastered. It looked great in all its sweeping black and white glory. It is the best print I have ever seen of this film and compares very favorable to the other prints of this series shown on AMC.

Personally, I like John Wayne as an actor in this series of films as Stony Brook then the A pictures he would soon start to make. Who cannot like that corny dummy Elmer. There is a kind of humor in these movies made by Republic that I have never seen from any other studio. My gut feeling is that it is a Americana feeling, and I like that. As in PALS OF THE SADDLE, Wayne's character as Killer Madigan is right on target while being slightly offbeat and wonderful at the same time.

Great music, sound effects,humor and a rousing adventure make this a nifty film.