The Kansan

1943 "SMASHING FISTS AND CRASHING BULLETS...OF DESPERATE MEN IN LOVE!"
5.6| 1h19m| NR| en
Details

Wounded while stopping the James gang from robbing the local bank, a cowboy wakes up in the hospital to find that he's been elected town marshal. He soon comes into conflict with the town banker, who controls everything in town and is squeezing the townspeople for every penny he can get out of them.

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Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen
Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
JohnHowardReid Copyright 3 May 1943 by United Artists Productions, Inc. Presented by Harry Sherman. A film of Harry Sherman Productions, released through United Artists. New York opening at the Rialto: 30 September 1943. U.S. release: 10 September 1943. Australian release: 31 March 1944. 7,149 feet. 79½ minutes. SYNOPSIS: Stranger who reluctantly accepts job as town marshal finds himself being used as a catspaw by local land baron.COMMENT: "Pop" Sherman took time off from "Hoppy" to produce this extraordinarily lavish "B" western, featuring an elaborately destructive saloon brannigan and a multi-stranded chase/shoot-out/dynamite-explosive/hard-riding/siege climax which must rank as one of the most chock-full of action ever!As if its many action highlights were not recommendation enough, Shumate has fashioned a script which allows for some meaty characterizations as well. The villains are particularly colorful: Dekker is in his element as a shady banker, while Victor Jory has one of the finest roles of his career - which he plays with such tremendous panache and style as to usurp Dix's forefrontage as the nominal hero! In fact, Jory's engagingly ambivalent Jeff becomes such a charismatic focus of our attention, the author has no option but to have him perform a Sydney Carton before the fade-out!On the other side of the fence, Jane Wyatt makes a pretty but somewhat colorless heroine. Also surprisingly bland are Eugene Pallette and Robert Armstrong - both on the right side of the law for once. Ranged against them are some splendidly venal, subsidiary, whitecollar villains (Cavanaugh, Baldwin) and thugs (McDonald, Fowley). Stereotyped Willie Best is along for a bit of outrageously offensive comic relief, while Beryl Wallace contributes lively singing to a couple of rousing production numbers including an attractively period-costumed and choreo¬graphed "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again".The Kansan packs a lot of entertainment into 79 minutes. Classy photography and extensive sets too. A pity the direction rarely rises above the merely competent and that Dix is forced into a hokey romance ("Say, are you always so pretty this early in the morning?"). But you can't have everything.
whitec-3 Any film with Richard Dix is worth a chance not only because he's a likable and powerful figure but he seemed to bounce around the edges of the studio system so that his films vary standard formulas in unpredictable ways. The Kansan's saloon sets are excellent, for instance, and the crowds well directed--other posts mention the remarkably modern dance number (with perspectival backdrops) and the extended brawl with well-choreographed sequences and character highlights. Outdoor cinematography at the toll-bridge across which several incidents of the plot transpire featured impressive depth and angle.A big stable of acting talent also raises this film's quality, but I'll let other posters provide those kudos.My only difference with other posters is their near-blanket condemnation of the Bones character played by the terrific William Best. Certainly most of the film's racial dynamics are regrettably stereotypical, but Dix and Best interact as two smart guys recognizing each other. The film's single best moment for me was when the Jory character enters Best's servant quarters at the Sager Hotel. When Jory walks in, the Bones character is READING, which suggests that not just Willie Best but his character knows that Bones's minstrel persona is an act. Further, when Jory leaves the room, the door swings shut to reveal a portrait of Lincoln.
bkoganbing The producing/directing team of Harry Sherman and George Archaimbaud who turned out a couple dozen Hopalong Cassidy movies moved away from Hoppy and the Bar 20 to give us The Kansan, an independent film from United Artists. This western stars Richard Dix as the Shane like character who takes a hand in stopping a bank robbery by the notorious James gang. Dix gets good and shot up for his troubles, but while he's on the mend he finds he's been elected town marshal.Engineering his election is town banker Albert Dekker who has many interests, legal and extralegal and he'd like a gun-hand like Dix as marshal to look after those interests. Dekker has cause for regret as Dix takes the job very seriously. Dix also starts courting Jane Wyatt the local innkeeper.That doesn't sit well with Victor Jory who is Dekker's brother. But Jory plays a lone hand in life as the film unfolds.Dix's best years on screen were way behind him when he did The Kansan, but he could and does contribute a solid western characterization and gets solid support from the cast. Eugene Palette as a visiting cattle baron looks a bit lost in the western garb, but he works through it.Western fans will recognize some distinct plot elements the Cecil B. DeMille classic Union Pacific. If you do you know exactly how The Kansan will end.
jetan This probably doesn't deserve the "B Movie" sobriquet. The production values are pretty high and it is quite heavy on the movie stars. This looks to me like it would have taken the A spot on a bill. Dix is good but Victor Jory nearly steals the show. The high point is likely one of the most over-the-top barroom brawls I've ever seen on celluloid. The script is also fine, although nothing too original. The low point in the movie....aside from a really unfortunate racial caricature.... is probably represented by a really ghastly World War II style showgirl routine based around "When Johnny Comes Marching Home". All in all, a satisfying show.