Customer Reviews

Santa Fe

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here we have dependable Randy Scott in a good railroad Western flick, well worth watching from time to time. The supporting cast is fine, and Columbia Studios did an excellent job in their production; good color print.

Columbia Pictures presents "SANTA FE" (1951) (87 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Randolph Scott, Janis Carter, Jerome Courtland, Peter M. Thompson & John Archer --- Directed by Irving Pichel and released in April 1, 1951, our story line and film, Set in the years following the Civil War, the film centres on Britt Canfield, one of four ex-Confederate brothers who head West to carve out a new life. While his three siblings 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 gambling boss Cole Sanders. In a well-staged climax, Britt squares accounts with the evil Sanders and his hulking henchman Crake --- take note when the Indian chief complains that the train is making too much noise, so Scott allows him to drive the locomotive, to feel that he is in control ... classic tales of "The Iron Horse" on, the building of the railroads was always a great theme for westerns and Santa Fe tell its story with plenty of good action scenes --- 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.--- And Mr. Scott was secure enough in his stardom that he gave good lines and depth to the younger actors in the film.

Under Irving Pichel (Director), Harry Joe Brown (Producer), Kenneth Gamet (Screenwriter), James Vance Marshall (Book Author),Louis Stevens (Screen Story), Charles Lawton (Cinematographer), Morris W. Stoloff (Musical Direction/Supervision), Gene Havlick (Editor), Walter Holscher (Art Director) - - - - the cast includes Randolph Scott (Britt Canfield), Janis Carter (Judith Chandler), Jerome Courtland (Terry Canfield), Peter Thompson (Tom Canfield), John Archer (Clint Canfield), Warner Anderson (Dave Baxter), Roy Roberts (Cole Sanders), Billy House -(Luke Plummer), Olin Howland (Dan Dugan), Allene Roberts (Ella Sue), Harry Cording (Moore Legrande), Sven Hugo Borg (Swede Swanstrom), Frank Ferguson (Marshal Bat Masterson), Irving Pichel (Harned), Harry Tyler (Rusty), Paul E. Burns (Uncle Dick Wootton), Chief Thundercloud (Chief Longfeather), Jock Mahoney (Crake) - - - - 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. Janis Carter
Date of Birth: 10 October 1913 - Cleveland, Ohio
Date of Death: 30 July 1994 - Durham, North Carolina

3. Jerome Courtland
Date of Birth: 27 December 1926 - Knoxville, Tennessee
Date of death: Still Living

4. Irving Pichel (Director)
Date of Birth: 24 June 1891 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 13 July 1954 - Hollywood, 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: 87 min on DVD ~ Sony Pictures Video ~ (9/06/05)

very enjoyable escapist saturday afternoon old technicolor flick. "routine" is also what Leonard Maltin has termed this movie but i agree with someone online at Amazon that says he can be a snob at times. I enjoy certain 2 and 3 star films as much as some of the highly lauded ones and this falls into that category. If u like the old western good guys against the bad decently done this will fit the bill superbly

In the aftermath of Civil War Britt Canfield (Randolph Scott) the eldest of four brothers late of the Confederate Army head west from Virginia looking for a fresh start. In a small town saloon they run into a small bunch of ex Union soldiers following a few hot words shooting breaks out and one of the Union soldiers is killed. The brothers escape the town and with luck manage to get on board a Santa Fe Railroad flatcar taking new recruits for laying tracks from Topeka across Kansas to the Colorado border. Britt joins the Santa Fe Railroad Company whilst his three brothers tie in with a bunch of no good crooked gamblers and would be payroll thieves led by Cole Sanders (Roy Roberts). Look out for a moustachioed uncredited Jock Mahoney (Range Rider) as Crake, Sanders right hand man. Troubles come and go for Britt not least trying to cover for his brothers whilst being right-hand man to Santa Fe Rail boss Dave Baxter (Warner Anderson), The love interest is provided by Union war-widow Judith Chandler (Janis Carter). The storyline is very similar to another Scott vehicle the superior WESTERN UNION (1940) but with Rail Tracks instead of Telegraph Lines!

As always Randolph Scott assumes an air of authority without seeming to do very much although without doubt he is the best thing in it, all the supporting cast are perfectly adequate without being outstanding. Unfortunately it leaves the feeling of being a poor mans version of Cecil B. De Mille's epic western UNION PACIFIC (1939) starring Joel McCrea. Santa Fe was another Scott-Brown Production for Columbia Pictures. Good quality color transfer to DVD. Well worth a look.

The four Canfield brothers - Britt (Randolph Scott), Clint (John Archer), Tom (Peter Thompson) and Terry (Jerome Courtland) - are making their way west just after the Civil War. Oldest brother Britt is trying to help his more hot-headed younger siblings keep the peace, but it doesn't work very well when they are taunted in a saloon in Kansas, and end up killing a soldier. On the run from the law, they assume new names and by happenstance are soon working on the Santa Fe railroad on it's march west to build the Transcontinental Railroad. Britt finds a sympathetic friend in an ex-Union officer he had fought against, Dave Baxter (Warner Anderson) and soon becomes his right-hand man, acting as a troubleshooter against Indians, drink and gambling that threaten to slow down the progress of the railroad, which is on a race against time to get to the Kansas-Colorado border. His brothers, unfortunately, end up siding against him, working for the scheming Cole Sanders (Roy Roberts) running gambling tables - and eventually taking to more dangerous pursuits.

This 1951 production from Scott's friend and frequent collaborator Harry Joe Brown bears some surface resemblance to DeMille's Union Pacific of a dozen years earlier - Scott's job is much the same as Joel McCrea's in that film, and there's a romantic rivalry between Scott and his boss over Judith Chandler (Janis Carter) that occupies a bit of time, though Carter never comes close to having a dominant role the way Barbara Stanwyck did in the earlier film. It's not the grand big-budget spectacular that the earlier film was, but it's also no better written or better directed, and ultimately it's probably the weakest of Scott's 50s films that I've seen thus far. A lot of the problem lies in the motivations of the three younger Canfields, which never seem terribly realistic and tend to shift around wherever the screenplay demands, whether they make sense or not. Add to this some pretty dull dialogue, particularly when Britt is trying to convince his brothers to get on the right path, or the several moments of chest-thumping "this will make America great", and you have a relatively dull and obvious storyline, with a resolution that ought to come off as serious and tragic but instead is played for action at the expense of Britt's real losses.

But in the end, it's still worth seeing for Scott fans; he's quite good in it, and the comic relief provided by Olin Howland and Billy House as the two train engineers - one of whom is a secret card sharp - is better integrated than such stuff often is and really is pretty entertaining. There's pretty solid Technicolor photography by Charles Lawton Jr, and the location work is nice. Director Irving Pichel had worked with Scott once before, on 1936's She; like most Hollywood directors of the period he worked on a variety of genres but seemed to have a particular flair for the fantastic - the film he made just before this one was the first serious big-budget American science fiction film, DESTINATION MOON. I believe this was his only western, and he doesn't show any particular affinity for the genre's dusty, trailworn feel.

Again, even a weak Scott western is still worth a look I think, and this is no exception, though I doubt I'll be giving it as many rewatches as most. The DVD isn't one of Sony's best-looking in their Randolph Scott series but it's serviceable; no extras apart from English and Japanese subtitles.

First don't grade me on spelling.I am an ol cowboy.Randolph Scott is a cowboys cowboy.I can say most if not all the picture is filmed on location.Stunning scenery as most of Mr. Scotts movies are.I enjoyed this movie very much.
I would like to say movie reveiwers are just that.If you like R.Scott movies chances are you will enjoy this movie.The pop corn is on me

In Santa Fe, Scott plays an ex-Confederate soldier who ends up working for the expanding Santa Fe railroad. His brothers, who also served with him in the War, are still angry at the Union, and develop their own band of outlaws who are determine to make the Union pay for the suffering of the South. Scott is caught between his own flesh and blood and his desire to help build the railroad as it stretches through the Western wilderness.

Scott is entertaining as always, and there's some decent action in Santa Fe, but this is only an okay film.

This 1951 movie is among the weakest in which Randolph Scott starred and this in no way down to the man himself as he is in prime form, giving his usual strong performance .It is rather down to weaknesses in the rest of the package .

Scott plays Britt Canfield the eldest of 4 brothers ,all Confederate Army veterans drifting in the West after they lost the family possessions in the conflict .In addition to Britt ,there are Terry(Jerome Courtland),Tom (Peter M Thompson),and Clint (John Archer).After an altercation with and the shooting of a boorish Union sergeant in a saloon the brothers go their own ways when Britt takes a job with the Santa Fe railroad and quickly becomes a key player in the construction of the track becoming the right hand man of the chief engineer Dave Baxter(Warner Anderson)and finding time to develop a relationship with the payroll clerk Judith -played by Janis Paige .His brothers meanwhile join up with a gang intent on halting the railroad by fermenting discord with the local Indian tribes and selling rotgut hooch to track workers .Cue a busy plot involving some broad comedy and false acusations of murder and a few robberies thrown in for good measure .

The script meanders too much and the motivation of the characters is too opaque for the story to be especially interesting and the minor roles are undercast ,Janis Paige being an especially underpowered heroine ,.Ray Rowlands as the chief villain never exudes the requisite menace and it is left to a strong performnace from Jock Mahoney to provide a worthwhile opponent for Scott
The movie benefits from lush colour photography and is never dull but it comes across as a retread of the De Mille classic "Union Pacific"albeit onm a comparative shoestring budget
Its not bad -just mediocre

OK, disclaimer. I have a positive bias toward Randolph Scott's westerns. He always gives a fine performance, some better than others, and I always enjoys his films. He's somewhere between Cary Cooper and John Wayne in the western pantheon -- a rare talent.

Here he shoulders the load of the film doing what he can with the material at hand. It's not a *great* film but it *is* a very enjoyable one, given the limitations of the story. This is one of the early Scott-Brown films and I think they're just getting into stride. It's an interesting story that moves along at a good pace, so break out the popcorn and enjoy!

Three and half stars and recommended. I'm glad to own a DVD of this film and thank Columbia for releasing it!

Synopsis: Irving Pichel, well-known Hollywood narrator and director is in charge as Hollywood western legend Randolph Scot stars in Santa Fe.

Scott stars as Britt Canfield the eldest of four ex-confederate brothers who have lost the estate and are in Missouri seeking a new life. They have an inevitable altercation with drunk Yankees and must flee. Scott ends up on a train carrying laborers to the equally legendary Atichison, Topka and Santa Fe. He becomes a railway construction boss and, almost inevitably, must now struggle against the usual- weather, Indians, a hot-headed female, gamblers, and his own 'Yankee-hating' brothers, who just can't quite reform themselves.

The plot is cleche but entwines enough read history--Bat masterson of Dodge city, Colonel Holliday, and the struggle with the DRG&W over Royal Gorge and Raton Pass, to really ring true.

Some see this film as formulaic and dull-- I see it as a staple western, and a great trio to watch with Union Pacific and Kansas pacific.

Not for everyone, but Pichel, Scott, and railfans will enjoy it.
It's a nice slice of Americana and railroadiana.