Trail Street (1947)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
The Liberal Kansas area is in trouble. The town is without a Marshal and the nearby farmers
are unable to grow crops due to the summer drought and trail riders that run cattle over their land.
Bat Masterson arrives to bring law and order and his Deputy accidently
finds a variety of wheat that will withstand the drought.
But the farmers are giving up and leaving and Bat must convince tham to stay.
He wants them to continue farming and also help round up the local gang of outlaws.
Written by Maurice VanAuken

Cast
Randolph Scott ... Bat
Robert Ryan ... Allen
Anne Jeffreys ... Ruby
George 'Gabby' Hayes ... Billy
Madge Meredith ... Susan
Steve Brodie ... Maury
Billy House ... Carmody
Virginia Sale ... Hannah
Harry Woods ... Larkin
Phil Warren ... Slim
Harry Harvey ... Mayor
Jason Robards Sr. ... Jason (as Jason Robards)
and many more...

Directed
Ray Enright

Writing Credits
Norman Houston ... (screen play) and
Gene Lewis ... (screen play)
William Corcoran ... (based on the novel by)

Produced
Jack J. Gross ... executive producer
Nat Holt ... producer

Music
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography
J. Roy Hunt ... director of photography

Trivia
The American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-1950,
incorrectly omits sixth credited Steve Brodie as Logan Maury,
and mixes up the roles played by Billy House, Virginia Sale and Harry Woods.
They are correct as listed above. (After being advised of the error,
the American Film Institute added Steve Brodie to the cast list
and now has the correct list in its Catalog.)

Bat Masterson mentions to Allen Harper that he has ambitions to be a journalist someday.
The real Masterson lived to be sports editor of the New York Morning Telegraph.

Opening credits: The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictional.
Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Goofs
Continuity
Steve Brodie's moustache changes several times.
One time it is solid all the way across, another time it has a 1/2" gap in the middle,
and sometimes it has a peak and other times it doesn't.

Factual errors
Although there was a drought in the area of Liberal, Kansas,
located in Seward County, Kansas, Masterson was not a U.S. Marshal there.
He was elected sheriff of Ford County. He was elected in 1877
and subsequently voted out in 1879. His brother Ed Masterson, not Bat,
was marshal of Dodge City.

Although the official credits and publicity for the movie state Masterson's middle name as Bartley,
it was actually Barclay. Randolph Scott introduces himself correctly as
William Barclay Masterson to Billy House's Carmody character when he initially enters town.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
Agoura, California, USA
Andy Jauregui Ranch - Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, California, USA
RKO Encino Ranch - Balboa Boulevard & Burbank Boulevard, Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA

Watch the Movie

[extendedmedia]

Trail Street is a 1947 American Western film directed by
Ray Enright and starring Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan,
Anne Jeffreys, and George "Gabby" Hayes.

Based on the novel Trail Street by William Corcoran, and a screenplay
by Norman Houston and Gene Lewis, the film is about the legendary
Bat Masterson who brings law and order to the town of Liberal, Kansas,
and defends the local farmers against a murderous cattle baron.

Filmed on location in Agoura, California, at the Andy Jauregui Ranch in Newhall, California,
and at the Encino Ranch of RKO Pictures, the film made a profit of $365,000.

Production
The screenplay for Trail Street was written by Norman Houston and Gene Lewis,
based on a novel by William Corcoran that was published as a serial in Cosmopolitan
under the title Trail Street. According to a news item in the Hollywood Reporter,
Barbara Hale and Lawrence Tierney were originally cast in the leading roles.

According to the August 1946 edition of Hollywood Reporter,
five hundred extras were hired for the fight scene between the farmers and the trail riders

Reception
In his 1947 review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote that Trail Street
was just another in a long line of Western about frontier marshal Bat Masterson,
"no better nor worse than most of the rest."Crowther continued:
"It is just another pistol drama in which the good marshal, played by Randolph Scott,
cleans out a nest of cowboy villains who are making life miserable on the Kansas farms.
Everything takes place on schedule, including a pious romance between a farm agent,
Robert Ryan, and a local girl, Madge Meredith.
Even the routine introduction of "Gabby" Hayes for comedy relief is as cut and dried as a cowhide.

In his review, Mike Grost wrote that although the film was no masterpiece,
Trail Street contains "fresh visual thinking' and shows "graceful mise-en-scène."
Grost continued:

One shot shows hero Randolph Scott and friend walking down the side of a bustling Western street.
Another follows a dance hall woman singer through a crowd, up the saloon staircase,
and across the balcony, where she leans over to address the crowd below.
Even when Enright is not moving his camera, many of the visuals have a kinetic quality.
People are always moving into or out of the frame. Their motions are graceful and vivid.
There is a long sequence of various couples in the plot dancing at a fete.
Even Robert Ryan, who I do not think of as the ballroom dancing type,
has a rhythmic outing with his girlfriend here. ...
Another notable sequence: when Scott rescues the old farmers that had been tied up by bad guys.
This sequence ends with an architecturally striking shot.
It looks much different from anything I've seen in a Western before.
Some fresh visual thinking is at work here.

At the time Trail Street was released, a group of RKO actors and actresses
toured several cities in Kansas to promote the film.
One of those making the tour, Nan Leslie, who subsequently was cast
in numerous movie and television westerns, was not actually in the film.

Besides Robert Ryan, look out for Duke 'Pal',George 'Gabby' Hayes

User Review

Solid Randolph Scott Western
9 December 2002 | by Craig Smith ([email protected]) (Toledo, Ohio) – See all my reviews
This one is a very solid Randolph Scott Western. He plays Bat Masterson and goes to Liberal, Kansas to clean up the town. He becomes good friends with Robert Ryan who played a very, straight up leading man role.
It was not until after this that Robert Ryan began playing much darker roles. In fact, in 1947 Randolph Scott made one other movie which was not a western and never made anything but westerns after that until he retired in 1962. This movie has good pacing and builds up to the climax steadily.
I can't say any more as it would give away the plot. Be sure to see this one. 8/10