Abilene Town

1946 "Ablaze with guns and guts and glory!"
6.2| 1h29m| NR| en
Details

Marshall Dan Mitchell, who is the law in Abilene, has the job of keeping peace between two groups. For a long time, the town had been divided, with the cattlemen and cowboys having one end of town to themselves, while townspeople occupied the other end. Mitchell liked it this way, it made things easier for him, and kept problems from arising between the two factions. However…

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Reviews

2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!
Ploydsge just watch it!
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
froberts73 I agree with Bill Pearson about this movie being under-rated. And, I agree with those who point out that every cliché in the western book shows up.Yes, but they are handled so well in this good guy vs. bad guy tale starring Randolph (ramrod stiff) Scott, the honest lawman to end all honest lawmen.The mix in this flick is wonderful. Edgar Buchanan plays Edgar Buchanan, a weak lawman. He plays it to the hilt. Dvorak and Fleming as the love interests are top notch. Lloyd Bridges, much younger than his kids, is fine as the homestead hero.Some of the fight scenes are excellent and, what's a western without a few?Altogether, this movie is highly recommended. There is nary a dull moment and, every moment is yours to savor.Definitely - visit "Abilene Town."
ma-cortes The film is set in 1870 , post civil war , in Abilene ( a biblical name meaning city of the plains ), the pattern of the other celebrated cow towns of the Old west . Randolph Scott is the brave sheriff of Abilene along with Edgar Buchanan , they are fighting to stifle the conflicts between homesteaders ( led by a young Lloyd Bridges ) and cattlemen who hire gunfighters ( Jack Lambert ) . Meanwhile he develops a loving triangle between a Saloon girl ( Ann Dvorak ) and a good girl ( Rhonda Fleming ). The picture gets action Western , shootouts , a love story , musical numbers ( in charge of a gorgeous Anne Dvorak ) and is quite entertaining . It's a medium budget film with good actors , technicians, production values and pleasing results . The film is totally set in Abilene ( Kansas )which was the first of the major railhead cattle towns . From 1867 to 1872 it was a booming depot , shipping some one million Texas Longhorns by railroad to Kansas City and Chicago and meat markets in the East . The place was selected as a terminus for Texas cattle drives in 1867 . Then the long drives began from Texas over the Chisholm trail . At trail's end in Abilene the rowdy,free-spending cowboys attracted saloon keepers, gamblers , brothels and all types of frontier riff-raff , the town became notorious for its lawlessness . Gunmen were hired for a time to keep the peace in Abilene ( in the film the peacemaker results to be Randolph Scott and actually Wild Bill Hickok ) . With the numerous presence of homesteaders the town prospered , stabilized and grew , its lawabiding citizens decided to discourage the troublesome cattle trade with his transient cowboys and early requested the Texas cattlemen to drive their herds elsewhere , which they soon did and Abilene's role as a wild cow town came to an abrupt ending. The motion picture is directed in sure visual eye by Edwin L. Marin . He realized a variety films of all kind of genres , though especially Western , the best are starred by Scott , all well screen-written ( as Abilene , Canadian Pacific , Cariboo trail , Fighting man of the plains ). In fact his last films were Westerns until his early death at 52 .
Bill Pearson Excellent, under-appreciated movie, which I suspect fell into public domain because only cheap copies from original prints seem to be available. Randolph Scott is rock solid in the unassuming characterization of a modest but moral man acting as a moderating influence between three distinct groups, the cattlemen, the homesteaders and the tradesmen in a frontier town. Each have their own agendas, and the most alluring enticement for Scott on the bad side of town is the brassy but captivating dance hall singer, Ann Dvorak, in one of the best performances of her career, who is so fresh and sexy in her several numbers that I can well believe a whole roomful of cowboys would just sit there, stone silent with their mouths open, staring at her as she dances and flirts through her songs. I don't know if her voice was her own or dubbed, but she could sure deliver those lyrics! There's not a dull or extraneous scene in the movie, with many well cast characters, fistfights, gunfights, a cattle stampede, romance, comedy and first-rate film noir lighting and dialogue for those who care. And besides all that, I didn't notice until about the third time I'd watched it, Scott's horse follows him around when he's on foot like a pet dog. Very subtle, never made a focus of attention by the director, one of the old-timers who had the sense to let audiences find their own points of interest. I think it's a classic.
Petri Pelkonen Randolph Scott (1898-1987) plays the Marshall Dan Mitchell who tries to keep things peaceful in town.Edgar Buchanan (1903-1979) plays the sheriff Bravo Trimble who rather gambles than shoots. Lloyd Bridges (1913-1998) can be seen as Henry Dreiser.And sure there are also some pretty ladies involved.Abilene Town from 1946 is a nice old western with great actors.There are some brilliant scenes in the movie.I recommend Abilene Town for all of you who like old black and white western movies.Or if you just don't have anything better to do.