Customer Reviews

Lone Star [VHS]

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

 

 

Lone Star was scripted by Borden Chase whose name adorns many an outstanding Western -notably Red River;Bend of the River and The Far Country .Lone Star is not in the same class as these movies partly because they had directors with exceptional talent in Hawks and Anthony Mann , while Lone Star is directed by the studio hack Vincent Sherman.In part the reason lies with the script .Chase was the co-founder of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals ,a body designed to worship at the altar of the repulsive Senator McCarthy and his script here is biased and one sided in its consideration of the issues posed by the movie.
The setting is Texas in the 1840's when the then independent Republic is torn between maintaining its status or becoming part of the Union.Texan cattle baron Burke -played with customary forthrightness by Gable-is sent by President Jackson to locate the missing Sam Houston and get him to side with the faction calling for admission to the Union .He meeets up with Broderick Crawford on the way and Crawford is fanatical about Texan independence and indeed dreams of an even bigger Texas ,one that occupies most of the land below the Mason-Dixon line ,a state in alliance with Mexico and Britain and in a position to cahallenge the Union itself as the chief power in North America.
Gable falls in love with a newspaper proprietor -played by the fetching Gardner and the feeling is returned ,which complicates matters since she is close to Crawford and others on the independence faction.

Events move at a brisk pace to the final siege of the legislature with Crawford trying to influence the vote on a key treaty, and indeed the action is well staged throughout,and a cast of solid supporting actors lend weight to proceedings.What stops it from being better than it is is a plodding quality to the direction and a lack of any real spark between the leading players who are competent but not charismatic enough to lift matters.

Okay but nothing special and for Western lovers only

Clark Gable liked to make westerns, according to imdb.com, and I think he excels at the genre. This movie has great energy, Gable and Gardner are great together, and it's got great dialogue. On a more personal note, I think it's truly outstanding when a movie gets me more sensitized to the horror of violence, and not since I saw The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has a movie done that to me, as this one does at the end. It's interesting how Broderick Crawford, the villain, slowly grows on you as a desperate, ruthless fiend; you know he is early on, but as his determination to gain power plays out, he becomes more and more formidable. He makes a great villain.

Gable is hired to bring Texas into the union. Crawford plays villian. Gardner looks great and has to choose between two men. Good 'horray for texas' movie.

I already had a lesser copy, from Spain I believe, but this DVD is excellent, both in picture and sound
It is wonderfull that Warner Brothers reissues these old movies, now we're waiting for The Great Sinner.