Warner Anderson Movies
Warner Anderson claimed that he made his first film appearance as a four-year-old juvenile actor in a 1915 Charles Ray vehicle. His first stage credit, Maytime, came two years later. During his early adulthood, Anderson worked as a straight man in vaudeville and burlesque. In the 1940s, he came to prominence as announcer for radio's Bell Telephone Hour. While most of his film roles were supporting, Anderson was starred in the early special-effects-fest Destination Moon. Warner Anderson's TV credits include a four-year run as Lt. Ben Guthrie on Lineup (aka San Francisco Beat) in the mid-1950s, and a lengthy tenure as newspaper editor Matthew Swain on the 1960s nighttime serial Peyton Place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The splashy, star-studded This is the Army is based on the Irving Berlin Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was a reworking of Berlin's WW1 "barracks musical" Yip Yip Yaphank. In both instances, the cast was largely comprised of genuine servicemen, many of them either recently returned from fighting or on the verge of heading off to war. The Hollywood-imposed storyline concerns Jerry Jones (George Murphy), a member of the original 1918 Yip Yip Yaphank cast. His showbiz career curtailed by a leg injury, Jerry becomes a producer during the postwar era. When the US enters WW2, Jerry gathers together several other cast members from the 1918 Berlin musical to help him stage a new all-serviceman show, titled (what else?) This is the Army. The show-within-a-show framework is able to accommodate a romantic subplot, involving Jerry's son Johnny (Ronald Reagan, later a political comrade-in-arms of George Murphy) and Eileen Dibble (Joan Leslie), the daughter of Yip Yip Yaphank alumnus Eddie Dibble (Charles Butterworth). Some of the best moments in This is the Army are from the Broadway production itself, though the lengthy Alfred Lunt-Lynn Fontanne imitation and incessant "gay" jokes may have been too smart for the room in 1943. Guest stars include boxer Joe Louis, Kate Smith (singing "God Bless America", naturally) and Irving Berlin himself, who steals the show with his plaintive rendition of "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning". All profits for the stage and film version of This is the Army went to the Army Emergency Relief Fund, which also controlled the rights to the film. Long withheld from TV distribution, the film finally hit the small screen when it lapsed into Public Domain in the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Murphy, Joan Leslie, (more)
Though its purely propagandastic aspects are never far from surface, Destination Tokyo must rank as one of the most intelligent and objective of wartime thrillers. Cary Grant is a tower of strength as Captain Cassidy, skipper of an American submarine bound for Tokyo harbor. Its mission: to allow a Navy meterologist to survey Japanese weather conditions, in preparation for a major Allied assault. Many of the individual incidents in Delmar Daves' script are based on fact, notably an episode in which a pharmacist's mate is called upon to perform an emergency appendectomy. Admittedly, some of the secondary characters are WWII stereotypes, but they're never played that way. Particularly good isDane Clark, in his first important screen role; also registering well as a radio man is John Forsythe, in his first screen role ever. From the sub's embarkation in San Francisco to its climactic retreat from Japan, there's not a single solitary dull moment in the 135 minutes of Destination Tokyo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, John Garfield, (more)
- 1945
This tender but fluffy romantic comedy centers on the romantic travails of a beautiful European princesss who goes to New York to find the newspaper reporter she fell for when he was visiting her mythical country. She stays at the Big Apple's finest hotel and while there finds herself mistaken for a maid by a sweet-natured bellhop. Charmed by his confusion, she insists that he become her personal escort. She does not realize that the impressionable fellow has fallen in love with her and so misconstrues her every kindness. When not with her, the bellhop is visiting a beautiful invalid, who is secretly in love with him. Meanwhile the princess eventually finds the reporter. She makes him a proposition, but he, believing them to be too different, rejects the offer. Later, she takes the bellhop and goes to the reporter's favorite bar in hopes of seeing him. Unfortunately, the joint gets raided and she ends up in jail until the reporter shows up to bail her out. Soon afterward, she learns that her father has died and that she is now queen. Things get sticky then, as both the bellboy and the new queen find themselves faced with choosing between wealth and power or true love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hedy Lamarr, Robert Walker, (more)
- 1945
Weekend at the Waldorf is an unabashed remake of MGM's 1932 Oscar-winner Grand Hotel: in fact, at several points in the story, the cast makes pointed references to the earlier film. The posh Waldorf Hotel in the heart of New York is the setting for several plots and subplots. Ginger Rogers plays the Garbo counterpart, a successful but severely depressed movie star who wants to be alone. Walter Pigeon steps into John Barrymore's role, sort of; whereas Barrymore was a thief posing as nobility, Pigeon is a war correspondent posing as a thief. Hotel stenographer Lana Turner (originally Joan Crawford) latches onto tycoon Edward Arnold (originally Wallace Beery) in hopes of a life of luxury. And, in the film's biggest adaptation stretch, Van Johnson is cast as a war hero who, about to undergo life-threatening surgery, wants to thoroughly enjoy what may be his last days on earth. It takes a while to figure this out, but Johnson is supposed to be the character played in Grand Hotel by Lionel Barrymore: the meek clerk who, upon discovering that he's dying, blows his life savings on one last fling. On the whole, Weekend at the Waldorf is a lot more light-hearted than Grand Hotel, as indicated by the expository character played by humorist Robert Benchley, not to mention the presence of Xavier Cugat as the Waldorf's orchestra leader. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, (more)
- 1945
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The last of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's three MGM features, Abbott & Costello in Hollywood is a loose remake of Buster Keaton's Free and Easy. Bud and Lou play a pair of Tinseltown barbers who dream of becoming high-priced showbiz agents. Their first clients are Frances Rafferty and Robert Stanton, whose careers may be over before they begin when A&C manage to antagonize powerful producer Donald MacBride and stuck-up film star Carleton Young. The plot serves only as a clothesline upon which to hang several sidesplitting comedy routines: Abbott teaching Costello how to give a shave, Lou vainly trying to get a good night's sleep, a "stunt man" bit involving the tremulous Costello and hulking Mike Mazurki, and a wild roller-coaster finale. MGM contractees Lucille Ball, Jackie "Butch" Jenkins, Preston S. Foster and Robert Z. Leonard make guest appearances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
- 1945
In this a briefcase containing four wills is found next to the unconscious body of a man. He lies beside a plane crash. Each of the wills is made out to the man. Meanwhile a recent widow and a man work together to get the money her husband died for. They almost get it when they are accosted by the man who was found lying beside the planed. He claims to be a Nazi spy who is trying to get the money and use it to escape to Germany. The couple captures the spy and donates the money to their government. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Craig, Signe Hasso, (more)
A few corny moments aside, Objective Burma must rate as one of the best combat films of WW2. Errol Flynn stars as Captain Nelson, who leads a hardy band of paratroopers behind enemy lines in Burma, for the purpose of destroying a Japanese radar station. Their mission accomplished, Nelson and his men prepare to make their escape by plane, but this proves to be impossible. It is therefore necessary for the surviving paratroops to make a grueling 150-mile journey by foot through the Japanese-held jungle, in hopes of eventually reaching their own lines. With the exception of Henry Hull, who delivers a mannered, strained performance as an Ernie Pyle-like war correspondent, the performances are uniformly excellent, with Flynn, George Tobias and William Prince standing out. Director Raoul Walsh and cinematographer James Wong Howe stage the combat scenes (filmed on the "Lucky" Baldwin Santa Anita ranch) with brutal efficiency, showing little but conveying a lot in the way of gore and carnage. The strangest sequence (at least to modern viewers) has the paratroopers expressing horror and disgust at a vicious sneak attack by the Japanese-which occurs only a few reels after the Americans have staged an equally merciless attack on a Japanese unit! In England, Objective Burma was taken to task by newspaper journalist who felt that the Americans were unfairly taking full credit for the success of the Burmese campaign. The ensuing hue and cry compelled Warner Bros. to issue an apology, and to withhold the British release of the film until 1952, at which time it was accompanied by a lengthy prologue title extolling England's contribution to the Burma invasion. Originally released at 142 minutes, Objective Burma is usually shown on TV in its 128-minute reissue form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Henry Hull, (more)
A woman struggling to rebuild her life becomes the victim of uncharitable rumors in this sudsy drama. After the recent death of her husband, and with her sons away at school, Jessica Drummond (Barbara Stanwyck) is lonely and out of sorts -- and uninterested in the potential suitors her mother, Mrs. Kimball (Lucile Watson), chooses for her. Jessica joins her close friend Ginna Abbott (Eve Arden) on a skiing trip and meets Maj. Scott Landis (George Brent), a handsome man who is clearly attracted to her. Jessica makes it clear that she has no interest in a short-term fling, and upon returning home, she meets Frank Everett (Warner Anderson), a sweet but dull man whom she begins dating. Frank is willing to marry Jessica, but by chance she meets Scott again, and while she's not willing to be seduced by him, she finds him more exciting and alluring than Frank. As Jessica debates the merits of passion vs. security, she becomes the subject of mean-spirited gossipmongers who speculate that her relationship with Scott has become inappropriately intimate for a new widow. My Reputation was shot in 1944, but it wasn't released until 1946, as the studio believed that it would be better received after the end of WWII. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, (more)
- 1946
In this romantic comedy, a soldier is granted a two-week furlough and returns home to discover that his girlfriend is engaged to someone else. At first, on the advice of her friends, the girl tries to hide her betrothal from the soldier, but it is not long before she recalls why she loved him in the first place. Conflict ensues when he discovers her deception. Eventually, they manage to straighten out the situation and things come out alright. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donna Reed, Tom Drake, (more)
- 1946
Bad Bascomb is an expensive MGM western, tailor-made for the blubbery talents of Wallace Beery. Beery plays the badman of the title, whose heart is softened by a sweet little child (Margaret O'Brien at her most cloying). Just about to make a clean getaway, Beery realizes that the child is in danger of being killed by marauding Indians. He rides back to warn the cavalry, which results in his arrest but saves the girl. Sentenced to be hanged, Beery tearfully sends O'Brien off to her foster parents, never letting the precocious little tot know that he's about to have his neck stretched. Bad Bascomb is at its best whenever Beery shamelessly pulls every trick in the book to steal scenes from the estimable Margaret O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Margaret O'Brien, (more)
- 1946
Even if the film had been released without opening and closing titles, it wouldn't have been hard to identify Three Wise Fools as an MGM production. Margaret O'Brien stars as Sheila O'Monhan, a wide-eyed Irish colleen who insists that she sees leprechauns (as, indeed, does the audience). She enters the lives of three dour, crusty old gentlemen: Dr. Richard Gaunght (Lionel Barrymore), Judge Thomas Trumbull (Lewis Stone), and industrialist Theodore Finley (Edward Arnold). Thanks to a curse imposed upon them by Sheila's grandfather, the three men have all found success at the expense of personal happiness. But there's still a chance for their salvation, and that chance manifests itself in an old tree which Sheila believes is the home of the leprechauns. The finale finds Gaunght, won over by Sheila's childish faith in The Unexplained, chaining himself to the tree to avoid its removal by Finley and Trumbull. Anyone who can't guess how this little bit of blarney turns out should have his or her film-buff card revoked. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret O'Brien, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
- 1947
In the sixth and final Thin Man whodunit, Nick (William Powell) and Nora Charles (Myrna Loy) look into the mysterious killing of bandleader Tommy Drake (Phillip Reed). The police quickly hone in on the owner of a gambling ship, Phil Brant (Bruce Cowling), who was about to lose Drake's band to a competitor. Also among the many and varied suspects are: Phil's new wife, socialite Janet Thayar (Jayne Meadows); the band's voluptuous vocalist, Fran Page (Gloria Grahame); and the troubled clarinetist, Buddy Hollis (Don Taylor). With the assistance of jive-talking "Clinker" Krause (Keenan Wynn) and the clever terrier Asta, Nick and Nora are soon able to gather all the suspects at the reopening of the floating gaming establishment. In between the skullduggery and the usual wisecracks, Gloria Grahame performs a sultry version of Herb Magidson and Ben Oakland's "You're Not So Easy to Forget." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Ames, Warner Anderson, (more)
- 1947
After 15 entries, MGM's "Dr. Kildare" series came to a quiet end with Dark Delusion. Although Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore), crusty chief surgeon at Blair General Hospital, is officially the leading character, most of the footage is devoted to Gillespie's outspoken protégé, Dr. Tommy Coalt (James Craig). The film's central crisis involves Cynthia Grace (Lucille Bremer), a spoiled socialite suffering from a blood clot. Not unexpectedly, Tommy falls in love with Cynthia (much to her parents' dismay), and soon he's drawing up plans to marry the girl and setting up private practice in a smaller town. Coincidentally, this was the same sort of dilemma facing Gillespie's most famous protégé, Dr Kildare, in the initial series entry Young Dr. Kildare (Perhaps MGM was hoping to bring things full circle with a new "Dr. Coalt" series) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Anderson, Art Baker, (more)
- 1947
On the whole, the films of producer-writer-director Arch Oboler seldom came up to the lofty standards of his radio work, but each of his movie projects had a few meritorious moments. One of the better Oboler film efforts was The Arnelo Affair, produced by MGM in 1946. Frances Gifford delivers what may be her best performance as Anne Parkson, the loving but neglected wife of busy Chicago attorney Ted Parkson (George Murphy). Upon meeting one of Ted's clients, shady nightclub owner Tony Arnelo (John Hodiak), Anne finds herself inexorably drawn to the charismatic Arnelo. He in turn is equally fascinated by Anne, but his fascination deepens into love. Upon realizing that Arnelo is essentially a cold-blooded thug, Anne tries to break off their relationship. But Arnelo has murdered his cast-off mistress Claire Lorrison (Joan Woodbury), and has arranged the evidence so as to implicate Anne in the killing. To Arnelo's way of thinking, if he can't have Ann, no one can-certainly not her scrupulously honest husband, who has gone on record insisting that he'd prosecute any criminal to the fullest extent of the law, even if that criminal was a friend or relative. Told in Arch Oboler's traditional stream-of-consciousness manner, the story comes to a violent but logical conclusion when Arnelo exhumes his own long-suppressed sense of decency. Despite competition from the three stars, and from such reliable supporting players as Eve Arden and Dean Stockwell, The Arnelo Affair is stolen by Warner Anderson as a soft-spoken, philosophical Chicago detective. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hodiak, George Murphy, (more)
- 1947
Filmed not long after the actual events, The Beginning or the End is a sober, intelligent account of the development and deployment of the Atom Bomb. Step by step, the film details the progress of The Manhattan Project, from its inception in the early stages of the war through the dawn of the Atomic Age over the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Brian Donlevy stars as Brigadier General Leslie Groves, assigned by President Roosevelt (Godfrey Tearle) to act as military supervisor of the top-secret project at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After a grueling trial-and-error period, the first atomic bomb is tested before an assemblage of scientists and military personnel-even though there's the disturbing possibility that the explosion may cause a chain reaction that will wipe out all mankind. Woven into the proceedings is an unnecessary but innocuous romance between idealistic young scientist Matt Cochran (Tom Drake) and his new bride Anne (Beverly Tyler), who cannot understand why she and her husband are forced to live in isolation with scores of other scientists and their families because Matt, like his associates, has been sworn to total secrecy. Though the Cochrans are fictional, many real-life participants in the Manhattan Project are depicted herein, including J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Hume Cronyn), Enrico Fermi (Joseph Calleia), Albert Einstein (Ludwig Stossel) and Col. Paul Tibbetts (Barry Nelson), pilot of the bomb-bearing Enola Gay. Refreshingly free of propagandizing, Beginning or the End would make an excellent companion feature to Fat Man and Little Boy (1990), a highly politicized retelling of the same events. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Anderson, Brian Donlevy, (more)
- 1947
Former army pilot Robert Taylor is accused, on the basis of strong circumstantial evidence, of his wife's murder. Suffering from periodic blackouts, Taylor isn't so certain of his innocence himself. When offered a brain operation, Taylor refuses, knowing that if he is proven sane he will be executed for murder. Instead, he opts for confinement in a high-walled veteran's mental institution. A compassionate lady doctor (Audrey Totter) falls in love with Taylor, convincing him to have the operation. Even after emerging from the ether, Taylor cannot remember any of the details concerning his wife's death--but he does recall that the dead woman had recently taken a job with a publisher (Herbert Marshall) of religious books. While the killer's identity is tipped off by this revelation, the audience is never certain that Robert Taylor isn't a murderer--especially since he'd previously appeared as a homicidal maniac in the 1946 film Undercurrent. The best moment in High Wall is the casual disposal of the sole witness to the murder, via a long, dark elevator shaft. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter, (more)
- 1948
Filmed in 1946, Tenth Avenue Angel is yet another treacly vehicle for little Margaret O'Brien. The juvenile star is cast as Flavia Mills, an 8-year-old tenement dweller who insinuates herself into the lives of several down-and-outers, among them ex-convict Steve Abbott (George Murphy). Flavia's well-intentioned efforts to help Steve go straight, and to promote the blossoming romance between Steve and Susan Bratten (Angela Lansbury), are destined to hit several emotional roadblocks before the "End" title. Disillusioned by the contradictory behavior of her adult friends, Flavia eventually learns not to give up on the human race just because of a few setbacks. The Harry Ruskin/Eleanor Griffin screenplay was based on a story by Angna Enders, which in turn was based on a vaudeville sketch by veteran mystery writer Craig Rice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret O'Brien, George Murphy, (more)
- 1948
Alias a Gentleman is impeccably tailored to the slovenly talents of MGM star Wallace Beery. He's cast as Jim Breeden, an ex-convict who finds himself wealthy overnight when oil is discovered on his property. His first order of business as a man of means is to locate his long-lost daughter. Hoping to get a piece of the financial action, several of Breeden's disreputable buddies try to palm off Elaine Carter (Dorothy Patrick) as his daughter -- and he falls for the ruse hook, line and sinker. Touched by Breeden's efforts to "do right" by her, Elaine comes to love the old soak and refuses to go through with his jailmates' shakedown scheme. They retaliate by kidnapping the girl, forcing Breedin to rely on his prison instincts to affect a rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Tom Drake, (more)
Command Decision is a stagebound but consummately acted adaptation of William Wister Haines' Broadway play. Clark Gable, starring in the role essayed on Broadway by Paul Kelly, plays Air Force Brigadier General "Casey" Dennis. With time at a premium, Dennis sends waves of bomber squadrons into Germany to knock out the enemy's jet plane factories. Though Dennis seems utterly unconcerned about the fate of his pilots (even his superior officer Walter Pidgeon is appalled by the heavy losses), the audience knows that his duty is exacting a severe emotional toll on him. Thanks to pressure from a misguided US senator, "butcher" Dennis is replaced by the supposedly more humane Brian Donlevy. But Donlevy realizes that Gable's decisions were the correct ones, and he vows to continue his predecessor's "suicide missions". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
- 1949
At the last possible moment, convicted murderess Anne Marie St. Claire (Dorothy Lamour) is saved from execution. However, the newspapers have reported that Anne Marie is dead. She decides to use her status as a "corpse" to her advantage, leading to several amusing and melodramatic complications involving a gang of extortionists. Lucky Stiff is based on one of Craig Rice's "John J. Malone" stories, with Brian Donlevy as crafty, racket-busting attorney Malone. The film was produced by Jack Benny, a fact incessantly (and hilariously) plugged on Benny's radio program. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Lamour, Brian Donlevy, (more)
- 1949
Glenn Ford first appeared under the MGM banner in The Doctor and the Girl. Ford stars as Dr. Michael Corday, scion of a highly respected family of physicians. When he marries one of his patients, shopgirl Evelyn Heldon (Janet Leigh), Corday is thrown out of his house by his tradition-bound father (Charles Coburn). Denied a posh Park Avenue practice, Corday becomes a selflessly dedicated general practitioner, while his rebellious sister Fabienne (Gloria de Haven) likewise leaves home and hearth in favor of Greenwich Village bohemianism. Father and son are tearfully reconciled when Fabienne dies as the result of a botched abortion (though her operation is never so identified). Doctor and the Girl is a toned-down, telescoped adaptation of Maxence van der Meersh's best-selling novel Bodies and Souls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Gloria de Haven, (more)
Originally conceived as a Gary Cooper western, Only the Valiant reached the screen with Gregory Peck in the lead. Peck plays Richard Lance, a strictly by-the-book Army captain. Though hated by his men, Lance is respected for his military know-how. This comes in very handy when Lance and a detachment of troops attempt to reach, and then hold, an unguarded Army garrison in the middle of Apache Country. Among the film's he-man contingent are Ward Bond, Gig Young, Lon Chaney Jr., Neville Brand, Jeff Corey and Steve Brodie, all delivering topnotch performances. The nominal leading lady is Barbara Payton, whose real-life tragedies were far more dramatic than any film she appeared in. Only the Valiant was based on a novel by Charles Marquis Warren. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Barbara Payton, (more)
Producer George Pal assembled an impressive roster of behind-the-camera talent -- including noted science fiction author Robert Heinlein and artist Chelsey Bonestell -- for this pioneering sci-fi adventure. Scientist Dr. Charles Cargraves (Warner Anderson), former Air Force General Thayer (Tom Powers), and industrial tycoon Jim Barnes (John Archer) believe that it's time that the U.S. blazed new trails and found new adventures. Convinced that exploration of space is the wave of the future (and that America's dominance in space is vitally important if they are to continue to dominate the Earth), the three men begin planning and constructing a spaceship called "Luna" in the Mojave Desert that will take the men to the moon and back. However, anti-American forces begin flooding the press with propaganda against the moon mission, and finally the men make their way to moon without the aid of the federal government. While the men are thrilled to succeed in their mission, it turns out that they miscalculated the amount of fuel needed to return -- and that the rocket needs to drop a lot of weight if it is to return to Earth. Destination Moon won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects of 1950; the film also features a brief appearance by cartoon favorite Woody Woodpecker, who helps explain how rockets work. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Anderson, John Archer, (more)
- 1951
Bannerline was Don Weis' first solo directorial credit for MGM. Keefe Brasselle stars as cub reporter Mike Perrivale, who devises a heart-tugging promotional stunt. Upon learning that crusty old history teacher Hugo Trimble (Lionel Barrymore) is dying, Mike writes up a glowing tribute, ascribing all sorts of fabricated accomplishments to the venerable Trimble. The stunt backfires when crime boss Frankie Scarbino (J. Carroll Naish), angered that some of the civic reforms credited to Trimble may put the kibosh on his own operation, threatens to make trouble for Mike. As it turns out, it is the impulsiveness of Scarbino's hired thugs which sets the wheels of reform in motion--simply by beating Mike to a pulp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keefe Brasselle, Sally Forrest, (more)
The creative team of producer Harry Joe Brown and star Randolph Scott turned out some of the best westerns of the 1950s, and Santa Fe is no exception. Set in the years following the Civil War, the film casts Scott as Britt Canfield, one of four ex-Confederate brothers who head West to carve out a new life. While his three siblings (Jerome Courtland, Peter Thompson and John Archer) cast their lot on the wrong side of the law, Britt accepts a job with the Santa Fe Railroad. Inevitably, Britt is obliged to bring his wayward brothers to justice, though he knows full well that the person responsible for their downfall is "untouchable" gambling boss Cole Sanders (Roy Roberts). In a well-staged climax, Britt squares accounts with the evil Sanders and his hulking henchman Crake (Jock O'Mahoney). Curiously, many TV prints of Santa Fe were processed with the soundtrack slightly out of sync with the action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Janis Carter, (more)
