Abilene Town

Plot

Dan Mitchell (Randolph Scott) is the town marshal of Abilene, KS, in the turbulent years after the Civil War and the start of the big cattle drives out of Texas. The town is growing faster than a lot of citizens are prepared to deal with it, especially as homesteaders start moving in, fighting for space with the cattlemen. Dan has kept the peace, such as it is, by keeping the saloons, gambling, and guns on one side of Main Street and the shop-owners, farmers, women, and children on the other. He's also been walking a tightrope in his own life, conducting a sometimes turbulent romance with Rita (Ann Dvorak), a saloon singer and co-owner, while also not discouraging the attentions of Sherry Balder (Rhonda Fleming), the "nice girl" daughter of one of the town's leading businessmen, who would love to marry Dan if only he would settle down. A new wave of homesteaders is arriving, and the cattlemen, cowboys, and saloon owners want them driven out and the town kept wide open, fearing the homesteaders' religious beliefs and the arrival of families, which means schools, building, and encroaching "respectability." Trouble breaks out and people are killed, with Dan caught in the middle. Using his guile and a good deal of bravery, and the unwitting help from the cowardly county sheriff (Edgar Buchanan), Dan manages to get the shop owners onto the side of the homesteaders, and plays a dangerous game of divide-and-conquer with the saloon-keepers and cowboys. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Review

Ideally, one wants originality in a film, but sometimes a picture works quite well simply by doing everything that is expected of it, and such is the case with Abilene Town. It's a Western, one of a number that focus on the conflict between cowmen and homesteaders, and it includes all the ingredients one expects: a law man that has to find a way to keep the peace between the two conflicting sides, saloons (and saloon girls), shoot-outs, a stampede and a pure-of-heart heroine to contrast with the not quite so pure gals of the saloons. But it's in this last area that Abilene pulls a neat little twist, as our noble marshal chooses the lusty saloon singer over the "nice" girl. At any rate, what makes Abilene such a fun flick is the way all the expected pieces go together and the little details that scenarist Harold Shumate adds along the way (such as the manner in which the merchants switch sides between the herders and the homesteaders as they figure out which side can give them more profit). It also helps that director Edwin L. Marin keeps the film moving at a lively clip and knows how to highlight the big scenes for maximum impact. In the lead, Randolph Scott is just about perfect, and Ann Dvorak is a huge plus as the dame that gets him. Rhonda Fleming is a bit miscat, her sophistication working against the "everyday"-ness of the character, but Lloyd Bridges is quite good. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Randolph Scott - Dan Mitchell
• Helen Boyce - Big Annie
• Ann Dvorak - Rita
• Edgar Buchanan - Sheriff Bravo Trimble
• Dick Curtis - Cap Ryker
• Rhonda Fleming - Sherry Balder
• Lloyd Bridges - Henry Dreiser

Howard Freeman - Ed Balder; Richard Hale - Charlie Fair; Jack Lambert - Jet Younger; Hank Patterson - Doug Neil; Earl Schenck - Hazelhurst; Eddy Waller - Hannaberry; Walter S. Baldwin - Train Conductor

Credit

Duncan Cramer - Art Director, Sammy Lee - Choreography, Peter Tuesday - Costume Designer, Edwin L. Marin - Director, Victor Heerman - Editor, Otho Lovering - Editor, Albert Glasser - Composer (Music Score), Nathaniel W. Finston - Musical Direction/Supervision, Kermit Goell - Songwriter, Fred Spielman - Songwriter, James Barker - Makeup, Victor Heerman - Cinematographer, Otho Lovering - Cinematographer, Louis Clyde Stoumen - Cinematographer, Jules Levy - Producer, Harold Shumate - Screenwriter, Ernest Haycox - Book Author

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