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Kansan [VHS]

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After stopping a robbery, a wandering cowboy is elected marshal of the small town of Broken Lance. Before long, though, he finds himself at loggerheads with an unscrupulous businessman and town leader.

Richard Dix plays the cowboy turned marshal THE KANSAN, a better-than-average western from 1943. The businessman, who is squeezing the townspeople and passing cattle drivers out of every red cent possible, is played by veteran heavy Albert Dekker. Rounding out the strong cast is Victor Jory as Dekker's gambler brother, Eugene Pallette - on a horse and clad in chaps, no less! - as a friend of Dix and extorted cattle boss, and Jane Wyatt (Margaret Anderson on `Father Knows Best') as the love interest.

The plot gets a little heavy - Dekker is cheating the town, brother Jory is an accomplice who may or may not betray his brother, Wyatt is a pretty hotel owner over whom Jory and Dix inevitably compete, a satchel of cash must be deposited in Dekker's bank by 5pm or something terrible will happen. A little much for 80-minutes of b-movie escapism, but the mood is lightened by a couple of unexpected musical scenes. The King's Men, a Sons of the Pioneers type group, sing `Lullaby of the Herd' around a campfire, and showgirl Beryl Wallace gives a stirring rendition of `When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again' in the Golden Nugget saloon. The script is complicated, if not necessarily smart, and the production values are high enough.

The mystery is why this movie fell to a public-domain recycler like Alpha. Richard Dix may have been a bigger star in the silent era than he was by 1943, but he exudes an acceptable amount of jowly authority. My guess is that this movie was orphaned because of the unfortunate appearance of Willie Best, an African-American actor from the thirties and forties. Best's character is named Bones, which ought to tell you as much as you need to know about how the script handled him. Bones is shuffling, trembling, bug-eyed and thick as porridge. This heavy a stereotype is uncomfortable to watch today, and thankfully not universal in movies of that era. At least Best got a paycheck out of it, and was credited under his real name - my favorite internet movie site informs us that Best was credited in some movies simply as `Sleep `n' Eat.' Mind-boggling. Besides that bit of unfortunate casting, THE KANSAN was pretty good, with a number of familiar faces to liven things up. The Alpha print is in good condition, too.

THE KANSAN appeared in 1943, and was for all intents and purposes, the last major role for actor Richard Dix. Dix had starred in the 1931 classic CIMARRON, and throughout the 1930s and early '40s starred in some well-done Westerns. Perhaps his biggest role came in Republic Pictures' MAN OF CONQUEST (a retelling of the Sam Houston saga). THE KANSAN is one of his better Westerns, and certainly deserves a viewing from time to time. The present video release, THE KANSAN, is a traditional Western yarn, released by UA, with good production values, and a strong cast, including Jane Wyatt, Albert Dekker, Victor Jory, Rod Cameron, Eugene Pallette, Clem Bevans, and Willie Best (who adds comic relief). The action is swift and true to form. Dix is very solid as the marshall out to clean up the town and undo the machinations of the corrupt clique that originally put him in power. All in all, enjoyable.
This release is in Standard Play speed, and the video quality is fairly decent.

This "small" western has the unusual plot of a town marshall turning on the corrupt politicians who put him in place and equally battling them and the usual outlaws. Dix is fine in the role. Jane Wyatt is love interest. Victor Jory suave as the all too human villain. Oscar nom for Original Score.

It is not a B-series film, but rather a C-series film, or even something somewhat more advanced in the alphabet. But you will get the crooks and the good marshall, the rotten apple in the community, in this case the banker, and we know that from the very beginning, the calvacades and other chases in the « wild » landscape with many horses and quite a few casual or planned casualties, a love affair and even a sacrifice for a woman, a lot of drinking and some card-playing, and all other typical western elements. But do not ask for subtlety in this film : even the timeline is not very correct and some shortcuts are longer, quite longer, than the longcuts, but, well, we can do with that. It is funny.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

The Kansan, 1943 film

This is adapted from Frank Gruber's novel "Peace Marshal". The film begins on a street with a tall tree. A man yells a warning about Jesse's gang. Men on horseback ride into town shooting pistols. A new man in town shoots at this gang, some escape. "Who is that man?" John Bonniwell is elected town Marshal. He is a Civil War veteran. The Banker and Leading Citizen wants an "efficient administration" (to do his bidding). Eleanor Sager, the landlady of the respectable hotel convinces Bonniwell to remain. The Banker Steve Barratt collects tolls from travelers. The railroad put Broken Lance on the map as a site for loading cattle for shipment to the East. Banker Barratt owns the lands around the town and charges $1 each for the cattle headed to the railroad. Barratt owns the town legally and needs an enforcer. [This is all perfectly legal.]

What can the people do? A cattle stampede breaks down the gate at night. Marshal Bonniwell has a strong hand at cards. Would a jury rule for Barratt? The Hatton Gang is in town! Tom Waggoner and his boys will back the Marshal. A bar room brawl breaks out to provide action and some comedy. "Your ten minutes are up." Will bushwhackers ambush Tom Waggoner? How did Hatton and Nash get out of jail? Does Barratt have a plan to discredit the Marshal? At night a robber steals a satchel of cash. [No street lights.] A lady saw a man with a satchel go into the Sager House. Who can it be? What will Barratt do next? Horsemen chase the wagon. Jeff Barratt has a plan so Eleanor and John will escape. Will Barratt get back the land he sold? The Marshal arrives with news to overturn the judgment. Banker Barratt has a plan to conquer the town. But brother Jeff has a plan too. "Bones" races to town in a heroic effort to warn the Marshal. Forewarned, the people plan to blow up the bridge with dynamite to stop the Hatton Gang. The explosion stops the gang. The citizens form a militia to defend the town from the rest of the Hatton Gang. They succeed. There is a happy ending.

Richard Dix was a silent movie star in the 1920s who continued with talkies in the 1930s. Clark Gable resembled him. The use of "Bones" for comic relief reflects the culture of that era. The story of a town uniting against their oppressors would soon be banned from Hollywood in the 1950s. The book "The Banditti of the Plains" provides a historical example for this story.

KANSAN was made in 1943 and it is based on a book by a very good writer FRANK GRUBER whose one of the story was a base for movie BIG LAND acted by famous Alan Ladd.
In kansan (Richard Dix) played as Marshal John Bonniwell who on his way stops in a town called Broken Lance and at the same time jesse james and his gang attacks the town,Robbery was fouled by the presence of (Richard dix) who shoots some of the boys and in turns gets injured,He is Nursed by the Hotel Owner Eleanor Pager played by lovely girl (Jane Wyatt).The man who took him to hospital for his own selfish use and got him elected as town Marshal is Steve Barat played by (Albert Dekker) a fine actor Who practically owns the town by taking the land of the people in a legal bungle and people has to pay even a toll to cross a Bridge over a river.Steve wants to use the marshal to do his dirty work but legally,(richard dix) first refuses but then he stays on for the girl and the people to try free the town of the clutches of Steve Barat, Steve has a brother Jeff a gambler living on the money of his brother played by (victor Jory) he is good as always and he plays a spoild guy who is also in love with Eleoner Page (jane Wyatt)who falls for (richard dix).movie ends with a fight with big gang of Hatton boys
movie starts well but the ending seems like all rushed up (editing).

This is a very good film of its type told with plenty of energy. Note the non-speaking quick shot of George Reeves as Jesse James in the attempted bank robbery scene at the film's beginning. Perhaps his part was edited out. The only negative is the Willie Best character as the usual African-American "non-person" prevalent in that era. The continual shtick of the rattling of the dice (bones) to entice him into action is extremely annoying and insulting, otherwise it's a good western.

VCI Entertainment present "RICHARD DIX WESTERN COLLECTION" (236 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- now in Glorious Black and White --- VCI presents three outstanding films in the genre of the Western --- Excellent cast of fine actors with Richard Dix, Robert Barrat, Leo Carrillo, Cliff Edwards, William Farnum, Preston Foster, Frances Gifford, Jack La Rue, Chris-Pin Martin, Etta McDaniel, Merrill Rodin, Wally Wales and Richard Webb --- outstanding directors George Archainbaud, Lesley Selander and William C. McGann take the helm of each oater.

The first of three Richard Dix westerns - "AMERICAN EMPIRE" (Released: 11 December 1942) (82 mins/B&W), Dan Taylor (Richard Dix) and Paxton Bryce (Preston S. Foster) are two longtime friends out to make a fortune in post Civil War Texas --- Dan's sister and Paxton's wife Abby (Frances Gifford) assist them in their search, when they set up a thriving cattle business --- Paxton seeks to gain power over them all, and alienates himself from Dan and Abby. Only through personal tragedy does Paxton re-gain his senses.

Second feature - "THE KANSAN" (Released: 10 September 1943) (79 mins/B&W), has Richard Dix and Jane Wyatt reunited as western lawman John Bonniwell and rancher's daughter Eleanor Sager --- Bonniwell chases the James Gang out of town and is appointed marshal by the local bigwig Steve Barat (Albert Dekker) --- As things unfold, Barat is known to be a crook with delusions of grandeur, hoping to use Bonniwell as a glorified henchman in his rise to power --- Meanwhile, an unorthodox romantic triangle develops between Bonniwell, Eleanor, and Barat's brother Jeff (Victor Jory) --- Jory is a scene stealer whenever he's on camera and this is when he's at his best.

In the final feature - "BUCKSKIN FRONTIER" (Released: 14 May 1943) (65 mins/B&W), an action packed western adventure has good guy, railroad man Richard Dix trying to ramrod a trail right through Lee J. Cobb's land. Cobb, also owner of the local freight service, opposes the railroad. Matters are complicated when Cobb's daughter, Jane Wyatt, falls in love with the railroad man.

BIOS
1. Richard Dix (aka: Ernest Carlton Brimmer)
Date of Birth: 18 July 1893 - St. Paul, Minnesota
Date of Death: 20 September 1949 - Los Angeles, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns --- order your copy now from VCI or Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 236 mins on DVD ~ VCI Home Video. ~ (10/23/2005)