Fort Worth

1951 "When the Lone Star State was split wide open... he linked it together with lead!"
6.2| 1h20m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 14 July 1951 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. First National
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Ex-gunfighter Ned Britt returns to Fort Worth after the civil war to help run a newspaper which is against ambitious men and their schemes for control.

Genre

Western

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Fort Worth (1951) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Edwin L. Marin

Production Companies

Warner Bros. First National

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Fort Worth Audience Reviews

Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.
Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
LeonLouisRicci You must Deduct Points for the Shameless Reuse of Three Scenes from "Dodge City" (1939). But that Cheating notwithstanding, this Randolph Scott, Technicolor, Movie has its Own Merits.The Story is more Complex than most of its Type, Scott is given an Off-Beat Role as a Newspaper Man Conflicted about what Type of Lead to use in His Fight Against Corruption and Evil, "I'll print you out of Texas.", He says at one point.David Brian makes a Formidable Friend/Foe and Matches Scott Scene for Scene, and the Two Women, Phyllis Thaxter and Helena Carter hold Their Own in the Story among the Towering Male Protagonists. Some Corny Elements Intrude occasionally, mostly with the Marriage Angle and a Teen Apprentice learning the Newspaper Trade. But these can be Overlooked.There's some Good Dialog Exchanges and a Few Set Pieces that are Outstanding, like the Stampede and some Gunfighting Standoffs that make for some Western Excitement.Overall, Above Average WB Entry at the Beginning of the Fifties Western Cycle that would, Frankly, become so Overloaded in the Decade as to make it all a Blur, to some Extent.
utgard14 Retired gunslinger Randolph Scott has hung up his guns for to become a newspaper reporter. He returns to his hometown to find old friend David Brian has become a corrupt politician. This is a western so you can bet Scott won't be stopping Brian by writing scathing articles.An obvious but watchable oater. Scott fans will enjoy it most. He's good as usual. The baddie's played by David Brian, an actor I'm not a big fan of. He was a stage actor that was brought to Hollywood by close friend Joan Crawford. Some of his biggest roles were Crawford movies. I always found his performances weak. He has a habit of chewing scenery but lacks the screen presence to make that fun to watch. Ray Neal, the sheriff from Bonanza, plays Brian's partner in crime. Phyllis Thaxter is the female lead. She's fine but nothing special. Use of obvious sets for outdoor shooting as well as lots of stock footage makes the film look cheap. It's not a great western but a decent time-passer.
JoeytheBrit Randolph Scott plays a pacifist who has given up the gun for the pen – or the printing press – and he's not entirely convincing, perhaps simply because we're so used to seeing him blazing away at the bad guys in the seemingly endless succession of Westerns he made in the 1940s and 50s. He returns to Fort Worth with his business partner to start up a local newspaper with the prime objective of ridding the dying town of slimy bad guy Clavenger (Ray Teal) who is riding roughshod over the place and driving away the peace-loving residents. Scott's character also re-unites with Blair Lunsford, one of film history's more ambiguous villains in the reassuringly swaggering form of David Brian. Lunsford is capitalising on Clavenger's terrorising of the locals by buying their property cheap when they decide to move out.The story is fairly unusual and not without interest, but it's Brian's character who leaves the most lasting impression. Is he a bad guy, or just an ambitious man making the most of the misery of others without actually contributing to that misery? The film never really tells us, and doesn't really seem able to make up its mind. He genuinely likes Scott's ramrod-straight good guy, and only turns when he finds himself backed into a corner. Anyway, despite its rather unique storyline, the film's conclusion is fairly predictable.
clore_2 Warner Brothers had a thing for "city westerns" ever since the success of DODGE CITY in 1939. In its wake followed VIRGINIA CITY, SAN ANTONIO, DALLAS, Carson CITY and this 1951 tale, the last film of director Edwin L. Marin. Marin and star Randolph Scott had previously worked on many several films together, including some oaters for RKO as well as Christmas EVE, Scott's last non-western. Here they were doing a follow-up to their successful COLT 45 for Warners in 1950.In this one, Scott stars as a reformed gunman, now "shooting" lead type from a printing press rather than bullets from a six shooter. Not intending to set up shop in his old home town, when he comes across a nearly vanquished Ft. Worth, and spurred by the death of a child which was the result of a cattle stampede caused by the errant shot of of member of the Clevenger Gang, Scott opts to use the power of the press to bring settlers back to the city and achieve justice for the slain boy. The death of a child is a plot turn that goes back to the first in the series, DODGE CITY. In that film the child was played by Dickie Jones, here, twelve years later, Jones plays Scott's reporter Luther Wick, soon he'd be on his way into the hearts of millions of kids in the series THE RANGE RIDER, followed by BUFFALO BILL, JR.David Brian co-stars as a man banking his future on the future of Fort Worth by buying up options on properties abandoned by those terrorized by the Clevenger gang. But as Scott's mentor wonders, if Brian cares so much for the town, why is he letting its population dwindle from 5000 to less than 1000? Could it be to be able to secure more options, is he in cahoots with Clevenger? Plot twists cause he and Scott to take on an alliance at times, while at others, they're inches away from gunning each other down, and rivals for the hand of Phyllis Thaxter.Clevenger is played by Ray Teal, known to most as Sheriff Coffee from BONANZA. Often villainous in these things, he outdoes himself here by occasionally being quite charming in his delivery - perhaps his glee at being given more dialog than he usually gets and more screen time also. Another fine performance is given by Emerson Treacy as Ben Garvin, Scott's partner in the Fort Worth Star and his teacher in ways of the press. Usually uncredited in scores of films, he makes the most of his screen time.The DVD offers glorious Technicolor, the detail right down to Scott's pearl-handled pistols is a sight to behold. The film is packaged with two other Randolph Scott features, COLT 45 and TALL MAN RIDING. and at 15 bucks list price, they're one of the great bargains a Scott fan is likely to find.