Trail Street (1947)

It’s cattlemen versus farmers in Liberal, Kansas.

And the cowpokes, led by Logan Maury (Steve Brodie) are getting the better of the homesteaders, backed by land agent Allan Harper (Robert Ryan).

In fact, Maury will stop at nothing to chase the farmers off the land so his cattle have room to graze.

Many families, tired of trying to grow crops in the Kansas heat and drought, are packing up and leaving, selling their deeds back to Harper.

Then old-timer Billy Burns (Gabby Hayes) sends an urgent plea for help to an old friend.

Soon, Bat Masterson (Randolph Scott) arrives in town. He pins a deputy’s badge on Burns, then sets out to prove that times have changed in Liberal, that law and order have come to stay.

He’s also determined to put one of Maury’s men on trial for murder so the real truth about his lawlessness comes out in the open.

The man who was killed had discovered a secret to farming success in Kansas. Harper figures that secret could be the key to the territory’s future.

Review:

Entertaining 1940s Western, thanks in no small measure to a rambunctious performance by Hayes, who will entertain anyone willing to listen with tall tales about an old friend named Brandyhead Jones.

Two women also play a key part in this Western tale. There’s the straight-laced Susan Pritchett (Madge Meredith). She’s the subject of Harper’s affections, but she’s not sure she wants to stay in the West; Logan Maury presents a tempting option.

Then there’s Ruby Stone (Anne Jeffreys), saloon singer and childhood friend of Harper’s. She’s in love with Logan Maury, at least until she realizes the level he’ll stoop to in order to make a buck.

The fact that both women suspect the other of wanting to steal her man adds some sparks to the proceedings while a bemused Randolph Scott, steady as ever, looks on.

In real life, this was the last film Meredith made before a stint in prison for conspiring in the assault of her manager and his bodyguard. Twenty-five at the time, she was sentenced to five years and wound up serving four before a court ruled she had been framed by her manager, who wanted possession of her home.

Directed by:
Ray Enright

Cast:
Randolph Scott … Bat Masterson
Robert Ryan … Allan Harper
Anne Jeffreys … Ruby Stone
George “Gabby” Hayes … Billy Burns
Madge Meredith … Susan Pritchett
Steve Brodie … Logan Maury
Billy House … Carmody
Virginia Sale … Hannah
Harry Woods … Larkin
Phil Warren … Slim
Harry Harvey … Mayor
Jason Robards Sr. … Jason

Runtime: 84 min.

Memorable lines:

Allan Harper: “What do you know about women?”
Billy Burns: “Who? Me? Why I’ve had women from Arkansas to Zanzibar. No matter what they’re thinkin’, I’m just a jackrabbit hop ahead of them.”

Billy Burns: “Why, Allan, you talk about wind and cyclones, back where me and Brandyhead Jones was born, one time the wind blowed so hard, it blowed the feathers right off the chickens onto the ducks and the duck feathers onto the chickens. Funniest thing you ever saw.”

Bat Masterson, of Liberal, Kansas: “This town might prove interesting.”
Billy Burns: “Interestin’? Well, if you find murderers, robbers and cattle rustlers interestin’, you’re gonna enjoy yourself here.”

Bat Masterson to Carmody, one of Maury’s allies: “Listen, fella, there are two kinds of people allowed to call me Bat — good friends and people I like. You don’t belong in either group.”

Billy Burns: “Larkin, you’re gonna get 30 days for that killin’. Then we’re gonna hang ya.”

Carmody: “If a stray bullet should happen to catch Masterson, accidentally, I got an idea there’d be a big reward for a man who could shoot so bad.”

Harry Woods as Larkin, a man who kills for Maury and winds up in jail in Trail Street (1947)

Harry Harvey as the mayor, hoping for a more quiet Liberal, Kansas, in Trail Street (1947)

Gabby Hayes as Billy Burns and Randolph Scott as Bat Masterson in Trail Street (1947)

Steve Brodie as Logan Maury, firing a shot at someone who betrays him in Trail Street (1947)