Themes: Sibling Relationships, Sheriffs and Outlaws, Train Rides
Main Cast: Randolph Scott, Janis Carter, Jerome Courtland, Peter Thompson, John Archer
Release Year: 1951
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
Plot
The creative team of producer Harry Joe Brown and star Randolph Scott turned out some of the best westerns of the 1950s, and Santa Fe is no exception. Set in the years following the Civil War, the film casts Scott as Britt Canfield, one of four ex-Confederate brothers who head West to carve out a new life. While his three siblings (Jerome Courtland, Peter Thompson and John Archer) cast their lot on the wrong side of the law, Britt accepts a job with the Santa Fe Railroad. Inevitably, Britt is obliged to bring his wayward brothers to justice, though he knows full well that the person responsible for their downfall is "untouchable" gambling boss Cole Sanders (Roy Roberts). In a well-staged climax, Britt squares accounts with the evil Sanders and his hulking henchman Crake (Jock O'Mahoney). Curiously, many TV prints of Santa Fe were processed with the soundtrack slightly out of sync with the action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Santa Fe covers almost too much ground, literally and figuratively speaking. There are disgruntled former Confederate soldiers doing what they can to prevent their former enemy from building a railroad; a rail organization attempting to cross a Colorado pass before the competitor; Native Americans forced to come to grips with a modern world; and Randolph Scott romancing a war widow (the delectable Janis Carter), who at first sees him only as the enemy. Director Irving Pichel does not always have a firm grip on the would-be epic nature of this Western, and the writing is a bit muddled at times, with too much footage awarded to the antics of a couple of comedic train engineers. But Scott is as stalwart as ever as the Virginia gentleman building not only a railroad to Santa Fe, but also a new life. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Walter Holscher - Art Director, Irving Pichel - Director, Gene Havlick - Editor, Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Charles Lawton - Cinematographer, Harry Joe Brown - Producer, Louis Stevens - Screen Story, Kenneth Gamet - Screenwriter, James Vance Marshall - Book Author
In the years following the Civil War, Britt Canfield (Randolph Scott), one of four ex-Confederate brothers, heads west for a new life. Britt accepts a job with the Santa Fe Railroad, whilst his three brothers find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Britt is eventually obliged to bring his brothers to justice, but the real man behind their criminal activities is gambling boss Cole Sanders (Roy Roberts).
