Customer Reviews

Lawless Street [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Director Joseph H. Lewis and veteran prodcuer Harry Joe Brownteam up with Randy Scott, a young Angela Lansbury, and some excellentcharacter actors (Wallace Ford, Warner Anderson) to offer a very fine little Western that repays re-viewing. Scott, the outwardly stern but aging Marshall Calem Ware of the Colorado frontier town Medicine Bow, keeps order in his town, "hoping to outlive his times," as he says. Unkown to him two of the town's biggest businessmen are out to get him, open the town, and undo the "march of civilization." The film boasts one of the most remarkable saloon brawls caught on camera and a shoot-out where Scott is "killed" (well, he REALLY isn't dead, but the bad guys don't know that). Add the famous touring chanteuse "Tally Dickenson" [Angela Lansbury]who just happens to be Calem's wife [!], a cattle baron (whose wife is courted by one of the bad guys], and a huge hulk of man (Dooley Bryan)who helps the wounded Scott, despite Scott having shot his brother, and well, you have all the ingredients for great action and exciting adventure, and there's a slam-bang suprise ending, to boot. Dialogue is crisp, at times you even hear some things that could be said in Scott's masterwork farewell to movies, Peckinpah's RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. So, unreservedly recommended--a real treat. END

Randolph Scott stars as Marshal Coleen Wave , a lawman who moves from town to town in Colorado Territory , ridding each of its outlaws. His dedication to his job cause causes his wife , played by Angela Lansbury (1925- ) to leav him .She will not come back to him until he has hung up his gun for good .But he is determined to clean up one last town , run by bandits , who don?t want to see the territory a state . Marvelous wester with great plot. High Quality digital transfer . Recommended

A Lawless Street is not on par with the great Westerns he made with Budd Boetticher, but it is decent in its own way.

Scott plays a marshal of a town that is barely holding on to lawfulness. His ex-wife, a traveling performer, comes to town at the same time that the two town bosses hire a killer to take care of Scott with the hope that the town will once again be wide open, and they will benefit by making lots of money.

The killer makes a play on Scott, and the town doctor allows the bad guys to think that they succeeded. The story goes from there. Scott is solid and reliable as always, and Angela Lansbury is beautiful as Scott's past and current love. This is not one of Scott's best, but it is an entertaining, fun western.

A must have for a true Randolph Scott Western movie afficiondo and collector. Randy never lets you down. Acting, as usual, is great and his cool, calm persona assures you he will come out on top. Get this one while you still can! Roy, roles68@netscape.net

Director Joseph Lewis enjoys a cult reputation and quite righly so for he made several quality B movies ,and if his best work lay in the film noir genre with movies like The Big Combo and Gun Crazy ,this is not to disparage his Westerns which include such fine taut pictures as 7th Cavalry and Terror in a Texas Town .

Lawless Street is another fine Western in which Randolph Scott plays the Marshall of Medicine Bend ,a man firecely dedicated to his job both from an abstract notion of justice and a form belief in the law .His wife (Angela Lansbury )leaves him when he refuses to abandon his principles despite being gunned down and seriously wounded .In his world view ,the influx of a gang of vcious killers is no excuse to simply walk away from his job .

The movie depicts how he sets out to deal with the problem and rally support.Directiom is lean ,economical and taut .The performances are universally excellent especially from Lansbury and Michael Pate as a likebale killer .The movie benefits indeed from such quality supporting players as Warner Anderson ,Jean Parker Wallace Ford and James Bell

This is eminently enjoyable and recommended unreservedly to Western lovers

Columbia Pictures presents "A LAWLESS STREET" (1955) (78 mins/Color/Widescreen) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Randolph Scott, Angela Lansbury, Warner Anderson, Jean Parker & Wallace Ford --- Directed by Joseph H. Lewis and released in December 15, 1955, our story line and film, Famed Marshal Calem Ware, whose strenous activities on behalf of law and order have exacted a toll on his personal life is keeping the peace in the town of Medicine Bend. Ware hopes to someday be reconciled with his ex-wife Tally Dickinson now a touring musical comedy star. Just as Tally arrives in Medicine Bend, Ware is forced to deal with big-time criminals Thorne and Clark, not to mention their hired gun Baskam. Will he do his duty and rid the town of his outlaw element, or will he hang up his guns as Tally wants him to? --- from the book "Marshal of Medicine Bend" by Brad Ward --- At first glance this may seem like no more than just another passable western, but it's got some meat on its bones ... director Joe Lewis really shines when it comes to building the suspense leading up to the inevitable bar room showdown between the villain and our hero Randy Scott --- One of the highlights is a lively saloon-hall number performed by Angela Lansbury.

Under Joseph H. Lewis (Director), Harry Joe Brown (Producer), Kenneth Gamet (Screenwriter), Brad Ward (Book Author), Ray Rennahan (Cinematographer), Paul Sawtell (Musical Direction/Supervision / Composer (Music Score), Gene Havlick (Editor), George Brooks (Art Director), Jerry Antes (Choreography), - - - - the cast includes Randolph Scott (Calem Ware), Angela Lansbury (Tally Dickinson), Warner Anderson (Hamer Thorne), Jean Parker (Cora Dean), Wallace Ford (Dr. Amos Wynn), John Emery (Cody Clark), James Bell (Asaph Dean), Ruth Donnelly (Molly Higgins), Michael Pate (Harley Baskam), Don Megowan (Dooley Brion), Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. Dingo Brion), Peter Ortiz (Hiram Hayes), Don Carlos (Juan Tobrez),Frank S. Hagney (Dingo Brion), Charles Williams (Willis), Frank Ferguson (Abe Deland),Harry Tyler (Tony Cabillo), Harry Antrim (Mayor Kent) - - - - Randy Scott had a quiet gentleman nature about him which is not seen in the films of today ... Randy took his job and his responsibility to his audience very seriously ,,, would not settle for anything less than his best ... same was true in his personal life.

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:

1. Randolph Scott (aka: George Randolph Scott)

Date of birth: 23 January 1898 - Orange County, Virginia

Date of death: 2 March 1987 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

Special footnote, George Randolph Scott better known as Randolph Scott, was an American film actor whose career spanned the sound era from the late 1920s to the early 1960s ... his popularity grew in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in such films as "Gung Ho"! (1943) and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938); but he was especially famous for his numerous Westerns including "Virginia City" (1940) with Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, "Western Union" (1941) with Robert Young and "Ride the High Country" (1962) with Joel McCrea (a coin was flipped to see whether Scott or McCrea would receive top billing, and Scott won despite having a slightly smaller role) ... his long fistfight with John Wayne in "The Spoilers" (1942) was frequently cited by critics and the press as the most thrilling ever filmed; they were fighting over Marlene Dietrich ... another smash hit film together that same year called "Pittsburgh" (1942) once again with Dietrich, Scott and Wayne --- Daniel Webster defines "Legend", as being a notable person, or the stories told about that person exploits --- well by the time Randolph Scott made his best films he had long established himself as a legend in the film industry --- they say practice makes perfect, if that is true by 1958 at 60 years of age he was the master with these oaters from the 50s ... "The Cariboo Trail" (1950), "The Nevadan" (1950), "Colt .45" (1950), "Santa Fe" (1951), "Sugarfoot" (1951), "Fort Worth" (1951), "Man in the Saddle" (1951), "Carson City" (1952), "The Man Behind the Gun" (1952), "Hangman's Knot" (1952), "Thunder over the Plains" (1953), "The Stranger Wore a Gun" (1953), "Ten Wanted Men" (1954), "Riding Shotgun" (1954), "The Bounty Hunter" (1954), "Rage at Dawn" (1955), "Tall Man Riding" (1955), "A Lawless Street" (1955), "Seven Men from Now" (1956), "Seventh Cavalry" (1956), "Decision at Sundown: (1957), "Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend" (1957), "The Tall T" (1957), "Buchanan Rides Alone" (1958), "Ride Lonesome" (1959), "Westbound" (1959), "Comanche Station" (1960) --- Scott's age seemed to matter little, they only came to see another Randolph Scott film and always got their money's worth --- Scott's films were good and getting better becoming classics --- so if you wonder "What Ever Happened To Randolph Scott", just rent or purchase one of his films and you'll see he's never left us.

2. Angela Lansbury

Date of Birth: 16 October 1925 - London, England, UK

Date of death: Still Living

3. Warner Anderson

Date of Birth: 10 March 1911 - Brooklyn, New York

Date of Death: 26 August 1976 - Santa Monica, California

4. Jean Parker

Date of Birth: 11 August 1915 - Deer Lodge, Montana

Date of Death: 30 November 2005 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

5. Wallace Ford (aka: Samuel Jones Grundy)

Date of Birth: 12 February 1898 - Bolton, Lancashire, England, UK

Date of Death: 11 June 1966 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

6. Joseph H. Lewis (Director)

Date of Birth: 6 April 1907 - New York, New York

Date of Death: 30 August 2000 - Santa Monica, 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 Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, 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: 78 min on DVD ~ Sony Home Video ~ (9/06/05)

A LAWLESS STREET has at least one quirky angle that makes it stand out among other Randolph Scott vehicles: Scott apparently is "killed" about half way through the action---only to come back towards the end to insure that justice is done. A LAWLESS STREET is always entertaining, filled with the requisite action, plot twists, and surprizes...Scott is superb as the town marshal, and Angela Lansbury as the visiting "chanteuse" adds definite interest (especially to those who remember her mostly from MURDER, SHE WROTE!). This is a fine Scott Western and deserves greater currency.

Joseph H. Lewis's touch is tangible here. I really liked the gimmick of the new gunfighter arriving every morning in Medicine Bend in order to provoke Randolph Scott. Recommended.

Another good old story well worth the time watching on a day that you feel just like being a potato. Enjoy

This is an action filled Western. Scott plays Calem Ware, an efficient and skilled lawman whose main ability is to clean up lawless towns. It's already cost him the company of his wife (Angela Landsbury) who comes back into his life as a performer in Hamer Thorne's (Warner Anderson) theatre/saloon. Thorne and his business partner would like nothing more than to see to Ware's demise so they can run the town as their personal bank (the town exists due to a nearby mine which they want to reopen as soon as they can get rid of Ware).

This is a great action Western and not only Western fans, but fans of Randolph Scott will want this in their libraries.