ABILENE TOWN
DIRECTED BY EDWIN L. MARIN
GUILD PRODUCTIONS INC.
JULES LEVY PRESENTS
UNITED ARTISTS
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Plot Summary
In the years following the Civil War, the town of Abilene, Kansas
is poised on the brink of an explosive confrontation.
A line has been drawn down the center of the town where the homesteaders
and the cattlemen have come to a very uneasy truce.
The delicate peace is inadvertantly shattered when a group of new homesteaders
lay down their stakes on the cattlemen's side of town,
upsetting the delicate balance that had existed thus far
and sparking an all-out war between the farmers,
who want the land tamed and property lines drawn, and the cowboys,
who want the prairies to be open for their cattle to roam.
Written by Jean-Marc Rocher
Cast
Randolph Scott ... Dan Mitchell
Ann Dvorak ... Rita
Edgar Buchanan ... Sheriff 'Bravo' Trimble
Rhonda Fleming ... Sherry Balder
Lloyd Bridges ... Henry Dreiser
Helen Boyce ... Big Annie
Howard Freeman ... Ed Balder
Richard Hale ... Charlie Fair
Jack Lambert ... Jet Younger
Dick Curtis ... 'Cap' Ryker
Earl Schenck ... George Hazelhurst
Eddy Waller ... Hannaberry
Hank Patterson ... Doug Neil
and many more...
Directed
Edwin L. Marin
Writing Credits
Ernest Haycox ... (novel)
Harold Shumate ... (screenplay)
Produced
Herbert J. Biberman ... associate producer
Jules Levey ... producer
Music
Gerard Carbonara
Albert Glasser ... (as Al Glasser)
Charles Koff
James Mayfield
Max Terr
Cinematography
Archie Stout ... director of photography (as Archie J. Stout)
Trivia
The town marshal of Abilene in 1870 was Tom "Big Bear" Smith,
who was murdered and decapitated on November 2.
He wounded one of his two murderers, who were caught and served a life term.
His successor was famed lawman Wild Bill Hickock in 1871.
Film debut of Paul Brinegar.
Although barbed wire was invented in France in 1860 and a double-wire version
was invented in and patented by the inventor in 1865,
it wan't until 1873, when four large-scale firms in the US began to turn it out,
that the wire became widely accessible.
Film debut of Chubby Johnson.
Although born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower,
commander in chief of allied forces in western Europe during World War II,
considered Abilene, Kansas, to be his hometown. He grew up in Abilene.
Film debut of Helen Boyce. NOTE: She was a one-time vaudeville entertainer
and owner of the "Coconut Grove" nightclub in Santa Monica, CA.
Abilene, Kansas, began as a stagecoach stop in 1857.
In 1867 the Kansas Pacific Railway developed cattle pens there,
and between 1867-71 the Chisolm Trail ended there.
At one point Sheriff Trimble, played by Edgar Buchanan, is musing about leaving his job and says,
"Maybe I could go back to dentistry". Prior to becoming an actor, Buchanan had been a dentist.
Goofs
Plot holes
Although 400 homesteaders build houses and fences out of wood,
it is never explained where the wood comes from. The land looks arid,
and the only trees seem to be in town, where there is no millwork.
Filming Location
Agoura Ranch, Agoura, California, USA
Watch the Movie
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