Fort Worth (1951) User Reviews

Printer's Devil.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 3 November 2010]

Out of Warner Bros, Fort Worth is directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by John Twist. It stars Randolph Scott, David Brian, Phyllis Thaxter, Helena Carter, Dickie Jones & Ray Teal. A Technicolor production, the exteriors are shot on location at Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles & Warner Ranch, Calabasas, California. Photography is by Sidney Hickox & David Buttolph scores the music.

Former gunfighter Ned Britt (Scott) sets up shop as a newspaper printer in Fort Worth, Texas. But he may have to come out of gunman retirement since a gang of outlaws are intent on running things their way. Not only that but Ned is falling for Flora Talbot (Thaxter), the fiancée of a former friend, Blair Lunsford (Brian).

This was actually Edwin L. Marin's last film before he would sadly pass away the same year. No more than a jobber director, he was, however, very capable in crafting a Western story; particularly when Scott was his leading man. Such is the case here. On first glance the plot has that familiar and unadventurous look to it. Hell, sometimes all we want from our 50s B grade Westerns is Randy Scott taking up arms and slaying some ruffians. Yet Twists' story throws up a number of interesting points of worth, notably the core weapon in the narrative of the pen being mightier than the sword (or 6 shooter in this instance). It also launches itself from an attention grabbing tragedy, from which Scott's character really has to take stock of things once he gets in town.

True enough to say this is more talky and character forming than the many "yeehaw" histrionic based Western B's from the 50s. But this does have enough adrenalin boosting scenes to see off any charge of it being mundane. Train robberies, a stampede, shoot outs and plenty of shifty stalkings put in an appearance. While it also has some extremely cool moments to digest: a switch gun manoeuvre between Scott & Brian is cheekily great; and the sight of Scott finally strapping on his pearl handled guns is akin to Clark Kent donning the red underpants and cape. Seriously. Technically there's some stock footage that only itches rather than hinders (if you have seen Dodge City it's déjà vu), but by and large this is a gorgeous production; one that's got a tremendous transfer on to DVD.

Attention to detail in its narrative and smartly acted by the principals, Fort Worth is well worth the time of the discerning Western fan. 7/10

The Pen is Mightier Than The Six Gun!

[bsmith5552 · 6/10 · 4 December 2006]

"Fort Worth" is another of those fast moving 80 minute westerns that Randolph Scott turned out in the 1950s.

Scott plays Ned Britt a newspaperman who has laid down his guns in favor of the pen. With his partner Ben Garvin (Emerson Treacy) and assistant Luther Wick (Dick Jones), he is going to San Antone to open a newspaper. Along the way, an old flame, Flora Talbot (Phyllis Thaxter) joins the wagon train. We learn that she plans to marry Britt's old pal Blair Lunsford (David Brian) in the town of Fort Worth.

Gabe Clevenger (Ray Teal) and his gang of cattle thieves hear of Britt's return. One of his thugs (Zon Murray) starts a stampede when he tries to goad Britt into a fight. In the stampede, a young boy Toby Nickerson (Pat Mitchell) is killed. Stopping off in Fort Worth, Lunsford convinces Britt to start his paper in Fort Worth as the railroad is coming and the town will prosper as a result.

Britt learns that Lunsford has been acquiring land around the town dirt cheap and suspects that he is in league with Clevenger. When Garvin is murdered by Clevenger assassin Castro (Paul Picerni), he straps on the sheriff's guns and takes out the killers.

It turns out that Lunsford is not in cahoots with Clevenger but has aspirations to become governor. Britt intends to stop him. This leads to the final showdown and..........................................

As in most of Scott's westerns, his is supported by a fine cast of veteran players. In addition to those already mentioned, the cast includes, Michael (billed as "Lawrence" here) Tolan, Bob Steele and Kermit Maynard as Clevenger hench men, Chubby Johnson as the spineless sheriff, Walter Sande as his deputy, Helena Carter as Amy Brooks, Lunsford's ex flame and Bud Osborne as what else, a stagecoach driver.

A not great but nonetheless enjoyable western.

Despite some grainy old footage, it's a very good western

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 24 October 2009]

Randolph Scott was such a wonderful actor that his films were always at least a notch above the rest. While this is about average for a Scott film, it's clearly head and shoulders better than a typical western. Even with the overuse of old footage from another Warner Brothers western (DODGE CITY, 1939), the film still manages to shine. Most of the old footage works just fine, though some is indeed grainier and a few times actors from the second film change hat and clothes when they switch to actors from the old film!! Pretty sloppy...but it can be overlooked.

Scott plays a tough newspaper man who moves back to his old home town of Fort Worth. The city is dying due to two men. One is an obvious bully and leader of a gang of thugs who break laws with impunity. The other, played by Film Noir favorite David Brian, is an opportunist who is buying up land right and left--at pennies on the dollar from people who are leaving the violent town in droves. While the first guy is an obvious baddie, Brian is a cypher. Scott thinks Brian is evil and a megalomaniac but again and again throughout the film Brian proves he really is interested in the town. Could Scott be wrong? And, can Scott print the truth without getting his head blown off instead?! The film does well because the plot is more original than most westerns. Also, Brian is a very good heavy--not as predictable and nasty as most. Overall, this is a must-see for Scott fans and would be enjoyable to most.

Well worth the time and the price

[clore_2 · 26 November 2006]

Warner Brothers had a thing for "city westerns" ever since the success of DODGE CITY in 1939. In its wake followed VIRGINIA CITY, SAN ANTONIO, CHEYENNE, DALLAS, CARSON CITY and this 1951 tale, the last film of director Edwin L. Marin. Marin and star Randolph Scott had previously worked on many films together, including some oaters for RKO as well as Christmas EVE, Scott's last non-western. Here they were doing a follow-up to their successful COLT 45 for Warners in 1950.

In this one, Scott stars as a reformed gunman, now "shooting" lead type from a printing press rather than bullets from a six shooter. Not intending to set up shop in his old home town, when he comes across a nearly vanquished Ft. Worth, and spurred by the death of a child which was the result of a cattle stampede caused by the errant shot of of member of the Clevenger Gang, Scott opts to use the power of the press to bring settlers back to the city and achieve justice for the slain boy. The death of a child is a plot turn that goes back to the first in the series, DODGE CITY. In that film the child was played by Dickie Jones, here, twelve years later, Jones plays Scott's reporter Luther Wick, soon he'd be on his way into the hearts of millions of kids in the series THE RANGE RIDER, followed by BUFFALO BILL, JR.

David Brian co-stars as a man banking his future on the future of Fort Worth by buying up options on properties abandoned by those terrorized by the Clevenger gang. But as Scott's mentor wonders, if Brian cares so much for the town, why is he letting its population dwindle from 5000 to less than 1000? Could it be to be able to secure more options, is he in cahoots with Clevenger? Plot twists cause he and Scott to take on an alliance at times, while at others, they're inches away from gunning each other down, and rivals for the hand of Phyllis Thaxter.

Clevenger is played by Ray Teal, known to most as Sheriff Coffee from BONANZA. Often villainous in these things, he outdoes himself here by occasionally being quite charming in his delivery - perhaps his glee at being given more dialog than he usually gets and more screen time also. Another fine performance is given by Emerson Treacy as Ben Garvin, Scott's partner in the Fort Worth Star and his teacher in ways of the press. Usually uncredited in scores of films, he makes the most of his screen time.

The DVD offers glorious Technicolor, the detail right down to Scott's pearl-handled pistols is a sight to behold. The film is packaged with two other Randolph Scott features, COLT 45 and TALL MAN RIDING. and at 15 bucks list price, they're one of the great bargains a Scott fan is likely to find.

Good Randolph Scott Vehicle

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 25 August 2009]

Better than average script-writing, good production values and some nice twists helps Fort Worth rise above the usual B-western effort.

The plot is somewhat reminiscent of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, though it precedes it by a decade!

Randolph Scott, having hung up his guns following the Civil War, returns to his hometown of Fort Worth to start a newspaper. His first target is a group of murderous cowboys who killed a boy in a deliberate stampede. Soon he begins to suspect he's being manipulated by his old friend, a shifty businessman who would benefit greatly from the elimination of the cowpokes.

David Brian gives a good performance as Scott's friend/nemesis and the film does a good job at keeping his character ambiguous right up till near the end.

Lively horse-opera distinguished by the forthright playing of a hard gunslinger , Randolph Scott

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 9 July 2015]

When the Lone Star Sate was split wide open , the Civil War veteran and former newspaper man called Ned Britt (Randolph Scott) linked it together with lead . As Ned returns back to Fort Worth after the war is over and finds himself fighting an old friend , Blair Lunsford (David Brian) , who's grown ambitious . The conflict between the two men roars across the Western plains and railway . With the numerous presence of homesteaders this town called Fort Worth prospered , stabilized and grew , its lawabiding citizens decide to hire a new sheriff , Ned Britt who is also a newspaper editor . Meanwhile , Britt is distracted by girl-next-door Flora Talbott (Phyllis Thaxter) and attractive Amy Brooks (Helena Carter).

This exciting picture gets Western action , shootouts , thrills , a love story , and results to be quite entertaining . And the pace of action , tightly edited , never drops . The film is totally set in Fort Worth , Texas , which was one of the main railhead cattle towns till railway arrival . The movie has great scenarios , adequate production design and appropriate settings . However , three train scenes are taken directly from Dodge City (1939) , as the race with the horse-driven stagecoach along the tracks; the burning carriage and subsequent escape on horseback ; the triumphal arrival of the train in town, right at the end . Veteran Western star , Randolph Scott , once again proves that his roles are tough to double-cross or murder in this acceptable Western . Scott is supported by David Brian , he is ideally suited to the character of the suspicious friend who may or may not be on the side of Law and Order . Secondary cast is pretty good such as seductive Helena Carter , baddie Ray Teal , Michael Tolan , Walter Sande , Bob Steele and special mention for goodie as well as fatty Chubby Johnson as likable but coward sheriff .

Thrilling and atmospheric musical score by David Buttolph . Glamorous and glimmer cinematography in Technicolor by Sidney Hickox . This bullet-a-minute Western about bandits attempting to hold up the progress of a railroad was directed in sure visual eye by Edwin L. Marin , at his final film . As he died two months before its release . He realized a variety films of all kind of genres , though especially Western , the best are starred by Scott , all well screen-written (as Abilene town , Canadian Pacific , Cariboo trail , Fighting man of the plains) . In fact his last films were Westerns until his early death at 52 . Rating : 6.5/10 , a nice feature horse-opera in every respect .

"I've Heard That Song Before," But It's Still Okay.

[zardoz-13 · 6/10 · 24 July 2008]

"Abilene Town" director Edwin L. Marin teamed up with Randolph Scott in the fourth of their seven westerns for the 80-minute, Technicolor, town-taming tale "Fort Worth," with David Brian as Scott's chief adversary Blair Lunsford. The bluff Brian cultivated a reputation in the 1950s playing splendidly-apparelled villains, and he goes face-to-face and bullet-to-bullet with our stalwart hero. Ray Teal, who achieved fame as Sheriff Roy Coffee on TV's "Bonanza," makes a memorable impression as unsavory second-string villain Gabe Clevenger. Actually, Clevenger is more interesting than Lunsford because the former proves to be such a scoundrel. "Colorado Territory" scenarist John Twist wrote some incisive and catchy dialogue for this oater; earlier, Twist penned two other Randolph Scott westerns, "Man Behind the Gun" and "Best of the Badmen." Scott's sturdy performance, succulent dialogue, and enough smoking gunplay qualify this as an adequate western that holds its own without breaking new ground. The use of interior sets for exterior sets detracts from its' overall production value.

"Fort Worth" opens with stock footage of a wagon train bound for San Antonio trundling past a scenic lake. Ned Britt (Randolph Scott) and his associates, veteran newspaperman Ben Garvin (Emerson Treacy of "Adam's Rib") and typesetter/reporter Luther Wicks (Dick Jones of "Rocky Mountain") are heading for San Antonio to set up shop. Britt and Garvin own a chain of newspapers in Kansas and have acquired a sterling reputation for themselves, even in the eyes of Clevenger and his hoodlums. Meanwhile, during the trip, Ned has befriended an orphaned urchin, Toby Nickerson (Pat Mitchell of "Northwest Territory"), that he treats as if he were his son. They go for rides on the prairie.

A woman on horseback meets the wagon train in the middle of nowhere and receives permission to join it. Flora Talbot (Phyllis Thaxter of "The Breaking Point") is traveling back to Fort Worth. Once Flora falls in with the wagon train, she strikes up a conversation with another woman who is driving one of the wagons, and they provide important exposition about the larger-than-life hero—Ned Britt. According to Flora, Britt rode alone into Texas about 20 years ago. She points out that his only friend was his six-gun and it kept him alive and fed. Initially, Flora's description of Britt clashes with what the woman driving the wagon knows about him. She claims that Britt has nothing but contempt for firearms and believes that guns are only for heathens that cannot read. On the other hand, Flora remembers Britt as "a one-man arsenal" who rode off to join the Southern cavalry.

Meanwhile, Ned and Toby ride double beyond the wagon train and spot a cattle herd bound for Dodge City; Gabe Clevenger (nefarious Ray Teal) owns this herd. Clevenger hates Britt, but he respects Britt as a man of integrity and he knows better than to make a martyr out of the newspaperman. Clevenger has no desire to play into Ned's hands by provoking him or any other 'quill pusher.' One of Clevenger's trigger-happy drovers, Happy Jack Harvey (Zon Murray of "The Great Plane Robbery") invades the wagon train and pulls his six-gun on Britt. Our hero warns the drover that a shot will stampede the herd. He fires a shot anyway and the herd overruns the camp and tramples helpless little Tobey. This recalls a similar urchin in the Errol Flynn oater "Dodge City" who had to die before law and order could be established. Toby's death pits Ned squarely against Gabe Clevenger, but it doesn't keep our hero from denouncing violence to settle violence. Says he,". . . the presses are a thousand times more potent than gunpowder." Predictably, Ned will change his mind and resort to the six-gun.

Initially, Britt refuses to settle in Fort Worth, but Lunsford convinces him that the town has a future. Britt and he start out as friends, but their relationship changes as Lunsford reveals his true colors. First, unbeknownst to Britt, Lunsford stole his girlfriend, Amy Brooks (Helena Carter of "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye") away from him during the Civil War when Lunsford took risks selling his beef to the South but turns a profit. Second,he has been secretly obtaining options for real estate from owners who cannot make their payments. Eventually, Britt and he wind up at odds with each other, though occasionally they team up to thwart Clevenger's gang. Inevitably, ranch lady Flora Talbot comes between them, but if you've seen enough of these sagebrushers, you'll know that Scott's Britt need not break a sweat about it. "Fort Worth" concerns Britt's use of a six-shooter to solve his problems. He doesn't like the idea of gunplay, but he resorts to it.

The gunfight at the stockyard when the sheriff, his deputy, and Lunsford try to arrest Clevenger is the best thing about "Fort Worth." Shorty (Bob Steele) gets the drop on everybody with a rifle as Britt approaches the stockyard. Britt believes that the sheriff has Clevenger at gunpoint. Instead, things are the other way around. This is when Lunsford and Britt perform a feat that enables them to disarm themselves on orders from the badmen and sling their pistols to each other and then open fire on the villains. Clevenger and his cohorts scatter.

Later, Ben Garvin is found murdered in his newspaper office with a knife stuck in his back. Ned straps on his six-guns, marches down the street and guns down three of Clevenger's henchmen without blinking an eye. Moreover, he violates the western hero's code of waiting until the villains clear leather before he draws on them! "Fort Worth" isn't anything sensational, but it is solidly virile.

Randy Rides Yet Again

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 10 June 2011]

Randolph Scott plays a pacifist who has given up the gun for the pen – or the printing press – and he's not entirely convincing, perhaps simply because we're so used to seeing him blazing away at the bad guys in the seemingly endless succession of Westerns he made in the 1940s and 50s. He returns to Fort Worth with his business partner to start up a local newspaper with the prime objective of ridding the dying town of slimy bad guy Clavenger (Ray Teal) who is riding roughshod over the place and driving away the peace-loving residents. Scott's character also re-unites with Blair Lunsford, one of film history's more ambiguous villains in the reassuringly swaggering form of David Brian. Lunsford is capitalising on Clavenger's terrorising of the locals by buying their property cheap when they decide to move out.

The story is fairly unusual and not without interest, but it's Brian's character who leaves the most lasting impression. Is he a bad guy, or just an ambitious man making the most of the misery of others without actually contributing to that misery? The film never really tells us, and doesn't really seem able to make up its mind. He genuinely likes Scott's ramrod-straight good guy, and only turns when he finds himself backed into a corner. Anyway, despite its rather unique storyline, the film's conclusion is fairly predictable.

"We're going to delouse this burg."

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 5 September 2014]

Retired gunslinger Randolph Scott has hung up his guns for to become a newspaper reporter. He returns to his hometown to find old friend David Brian has become a corrupt politician. This is a western so you can bet Scott won't be stopping Brian by writing scathing articles.

An obvious but watchable oater. Scott fans will enjoy it most. He's good as usual. The baddie's played by David Brian, an actor I'm not a big fan of. He was a stage actor that was brought to Hollywood by close friend Joan Crawford. Some of his biggest roles were Crawford movies. I always found his performances weak. He has a habit of chewing scenery but lacks the screen presence to make that fun to watch. Ray Neal, the sheriff from Bonanza, plays Brian's partner in crime. Phyllis Thaxter is the female lead. She's fine but nothing special. Use of obvious sets for outdoor shooting as well as lots of stock footage makes the film look cheap. It's not a great western but a decent time-passer.

"...let's spin the wheel and see what comes up."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 26 November 2016]

Is it just me, or did anyone else have trouble following the convoluted relationship between Ned Britt (Randolph Scott) and Blair Lunsford (David Brian)? It didn't help when former Britt gal pal Amy Brooks (Helena Carter) showed up to throw a little gasoline on the fire at the Lunsford Ranch when she arrived for dinner with Britt. After that she wasn't even a factor in the story, so what gives with her showing up at all, other than to throw another monkey wrench into the works.

As the story progresses, former gunslinger Britt intends to persuade his fellow citizens that the printing press is a thousand times more potent than gunpowder for settling disagreements and ridding the territory of thugs like the Clevenger (Ray Real) gang. I've seen Teal on both sides of the law in these old time Westerns, but it's still unusual to catch him in the role of a heel after all those Bonanza episodes in which he appeared as Sheriff Roy Coffee. It's akin to Paul Fix playing an outlaw before and after portraying Marshal Micah Torrance in the 'Rifleman' series.

Even though Lunsford seems to be an on and off good guy/bad guy, it was still interesting to see him and Britt perform that gun flip distraction to the disadvantage of the Clevenger bunch. I don't think I'm buying that something like that could be pulled off for real, but it looked pretty cool in the execution. Seems like Lunsford pulled Britt's fat out of the fire more than enough times for Britt to come around.

The topper for me was how quickly Miss Flora Talbot got over her romance with Lunsford when all was said and done. You would think there would have been a bit more angst over his demise, especially after she admitted shooting him, although that scene was cast in doubt with the appearance of Clevenger. Still and all, the new sheriff didn't waste any time making his mark in Fort Worth, finding just enough spare moments to welcome a new Toby on the way for Mrs. Britt to close out the story.

A bit of action and lots of talk!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 14 November 2017]

Randolph Scott (Ned Britt), David Brian (Blair Lunsford), Phyllis Thaxter (Flora Talbot), Helena Carter (Amy Brooks), Dick Jones (Luther Wick), Ray Teal (Gabe Clevenger), Lawrence Tolan (Mort), Paul Picerni (Castro), Emerson Treacy (Ben Garvin), Bob Steele ("Shorty"), Walter Sande (Deputy Waller), Chubby Johnson (the sheriff), Don C. Harvey.

Direction by EDWIN L. MARTIN. Written by John Twist. Photography by Sid Hickox. Art director: Stanley Fleischer. Film editor: Clarence Kolster. Sound by Oliver S. Garretson. Set decorator: G. W. Berntsen. Music by David Buttolph. Special effects by William McGann (director) and H.F. Koenekamp (photographer). Technicolor color consultant: Mitchell Kovaleski. Wardrobe by Marjorie Best. Make-up artist: Gordon Bau. Assistant director: Charles Hansen. R.C.A. Sound System. Produced by Anthony Veiller.

Copyright 2 July 1951 by Warner Brothers Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Palace: 12 July 1951. U.S. release: 14 July 1951. U.K. release on the lower half of a double bill: 7 April 1952. Australian release: 26 December 1952. 7,232 feet. 80 minutes. Re-issue title: Texas EXPRESS.

SYNOPSIS: Randolph Scott, once a famed gunfighter, decides to battle lawlessness as a frontier town newspaperman. Nearing Fort Worth, he meets Phyllis Thaxter, who is on her way to marry David Brian, a friend of Scott. In brawling Fort Worth, Scott learns that the town is menaced by the tactics of ruthless cattleman Ray Teal. Brian urges Scott to establish his newspaper there and fight Teal.

COMMENT: Fleshed out with stock footage from "Dodge City" — all the railroad material, including the fire, and the cattle stampede — "Fort Worth" features Phyllis Kirk smiling inanely throughout.

Unfortunately, the slow, talkative script actually provides little to smile about, even though it pegs in a fair amount of action, glumly perpetrated by Scott. David Brian grimaces suitably insanely, Helena Carter has a couple of brief scenes, Ray Teal appears properly villainous (with a very mild assist from Bob Steele).

Marin is at his best in the action spots. The dialogue scenes are sometimes almost laughably composed of actors hitting the mark, rooted to the floor waiting for their cues. A fair amount of money was spent on the film all the same.

The plot is easy to follow but makes little sense, thanks to one- dimensional characterizations and commonplace dialogue (with one or two bright lines: "Never pitch-fork the dead"; "Knew a woman worked on a newspaper once. Wrote the cookery column").

Overall impression — routine.

David Brian Steals Fort Worth -- The Town And The Movie!

[oldblackandwhite · 8/10 · 15 February 2012]

Fort Worth is a well turned out Technicolor Western that packs a full load of action, colorful dialog, robust character studies, and engaging plot twists into 80 minutes of running time. The formidable entertainment value of this unpretentious B-plus oater gets a considerable boost from the charismatic screen presence of second lead David Brian. Tall, brawny, and blond, the steely-eyed, gravel-voiced Brian dominated virtually every picture he was in, and this one is no exception. Michael Curtiz once said that Randolph Scott was the only gentleman he had ever known in the movie business. It is to be hoped that top-billed Scott was a good sport during the filming of Ft. Worth, because Brian almost completely stole the spotlight as the swaggering empire builder who is the old friend, sometimes adversary, sometimes ally of crusading newspaperman Scott. The screen seems to simply come alive every time Brian steps in front of the camera. The dynamic Brian was the perfect foil for the mild-mannered Scott, and their alternately tense, cordial interaction is the great asset of this picture.

But not the only one. A fine supporting cast is led by Ray Teal, as a smirking villain, and Phillis Thaxter, the wholesome love interest over whose affections Scott and Brian inevitably clash. Cinematography in gorgeous three-strip Technicolor by Sid Hickox, sets, and costumes all have a first rate look. John Twist's original screenplay is complex and intelligent. His colorful dialog is disarmingly amusing as his characters spout such rustic metaphors as, "You've knocked a hole in my fence all right, but you may tear your britches if you jump through it too quick!" and "Don't swing on the gate too long, or you may get a belly full of horns!" Edwin L. Marin's direction is tight and on target with nary a camera shot wasted. Marin made a career of turning out medium budget pictures, equally at home with Philo Vance mystery thrillers or Ann Sothern's light comedies. He turned to Westerns, for which he seemed to have a special touch, late in his career, beginning with John Wyane favorite Tall In The Saddle (1944). Two years later he directed Randolph Scott for the first time in the tough, "noirish" Western Abilene Town (1946), followed by a half-dozen more collaborations in the late 'forties and early fifties. Scott seemed at his best under Marin's guidance. Unfortnately Marin died suddenly in May 1951 after Fort Worth had been filmed but before its release.

For my money Fort Worth, along with Abilene Town, is one of Scott's best Westerns, fast-paced, action-packed, dramatically engaging, beautifully filmed, entertaining from beginning to end. Not a classic, but a good one from the waning days of Old Hollywood's Golden Era.

Good Story, Towering Testosterone, and Colorful Presentation

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 7 July 2016]

You must Deduct Points for the Shameless Reuse of Three Scenes from "Dodge City" (1939). But that Cheating notwithstanding, this Randolph Scott, Technicolor, Movie has its Own Merits.

The Story is more Complex than most of its Type, Scott is given an Off-Beat Role as a Newspaper Man Conflicted about what Type of Lead to use in His Fight Against Corruption and Evil, "I'll print you out of Texas.", He says at one point.

David Brian makes a Formidable Friend/Foe and Matches Scott Scene for Scene, and the Two Women, Phyllis Thaxter and Helena Carter hold Their Own in the Story among the Towering Male Protagonists.

Some Corny Elements Intrude occasionally, mostly with the Marriage Angle and a Teen Apprentice learning the Newspaper Trade. But these can be Overlooked.

There's some Good Dialog Exchanges and a Few Set Pieces that are Outstanding, like the Stampede and some Gunfighting Standoffs that make for some Western Excitement.

Overall, Above Average WB Entry at the Beginning of the Fifties Western Cycle that would, Frankly, become so Overloaded in the Decade as to make it all a Blur, to some Extent.

Confusing western juggles too many plots

[tehck · 4/10 · 18 August 2022]

I found Fort Worth to be a very strange movie, one that ultimately doesn't work very well for me. The problem is that it takes about a half dozen classic western plots and mashes them all together in an awkward muddle. You've got the gunfighter who's trying to hang up his guns, the newspaper man who wants to help civilize a lawless town, the tycoon who's trying to cheat someone if not everyone out of their land, the lawman who's fighting a band of outlaws and rustlers, and the longtime friends who are vying for the same girl. Any one of these tropes would typically serve as the main plot for a movie, and a good movie might support two, but not even the characters can figure out how all of them work together in this one.

For example, Randolph Scott plays Ned Britt, who is passing through his old hometown of Fort Worth where he meets up with his old pal Blair Lunsford (David Brian). Their happy reunion starts to sour as Ned comes to believe that Lunsford is allowing a gang of rustlers to operate freely in order to lower land prices and drive out residents so Lundsford can buy up their land for next to nothing. For a good while, Ned can't decide if Lunsford is actually working with the rustlers, working against them, or just sitting by while they do his work for him. Rather than creating suspense or moving the plot forward, this situation just confuses the viewer as much as it does Ned. Worse, it's a red herring whose resolution changes nothing.

Equally confusing is Ned's attempt to give up his guns. His reasons have nothing to do with morality or principle. For Ned it's a practical matter. On the one hand, he's found that gunplay just brings more trouble, and for another he's found a much better and more effective weapon, the press. That brings us to another trope that is mangled by this movie -- the crusading journalist. Ned and his partner are looking for a place to start a newspaper. The partner, Ben Garvin (Emerson Treacy), actually does fit the stereotype of the crusty, principled newspaper man who is ready to tame a town. Unfortunately, Garvin appears only briefly and mainly serves to introduce an important plot point, that Lunsford is running a land-grab scheme. In fact, there's a couple of characters that are used that way. The other is one of the two significant female characters, a former love interest of Lunsford named Amy (Helena Carter) who appears in two quick scenes with the sole purpose of revealing that Lunsford is also a heel who is marrying a girl for her money.

As for the idea that Ned himself is actually a journalist, that is also little more than a plot device. Although Ned's hometown of Fort Worth certainly needs civilizing, he doesn't want to start a paper there because the town isn't big enough to provide enough subscribers for a successful paper. As a journalist, his main principle seems to be making money His idea of the role of the press is also a bit strange. He repeatedly refers to newspapers as a weapon and threatens more than once to "write {Lunsford) out of town." He never professes any other principle or motive for wanting to start a paper. He also never says or does anything that would suggest he could make a living with a pen.

Ned's relationship with gunplay is similarly confusing. Despite his claim to have given it up fpr good, it's no surprise when he is eventually forced to strap on his six shooters and summarily kill several outlaws. But what should signal a sea change in his character development is little more than fan service. The gun battle changes nothing for Ned. He just responded to the situation at hand in a practical way. His attitude and principles remain the same as they had been. There's no consequences, no introspection, and no regrets for Ned. He'll take the guns off or put them back on as needed.

Ned's relationship with women is equally strange. The other point in the love triangle with Ned and Lunsford is lady rancher Flora Talbot (Phyllis Thaxter). When we meet her she is engaged to Lunsford, and for most of the movie Ned does nothing to suggest that she is more than a friend to him. However, Flora spends the first half of the story ridiculing Ned for giving up his guns, openly questioning his manhood when he suggests he doesn't want to kill anyone. It's not until Ned is convinced that Lunsford is an opportunitic liar that Ned decides he is also romantically interested in Flora. At that point, he suggests he's always felt that way, but we've seen zero evidence of that before. Of course, the fact that both men are old enough to be Flora's father bothers no one. For her part, Flora decides she likes Ned too once he has returned to killing folks and Lunsford has become an outright villain.

For modern viewers, Randolph Scott is a little-known and vastly under-appreciated Western hero. Although he was mostly confined to B-movies with modest budgets and second-tier casts, his performances often elevated those stories to excellence. His best vehicles had simple, tried and true plots, often using one of the tropes mentioned here. Fort Worth is not one of those movies. It's a muddled mess that not even Randolph Scott can ride in to save.

Brian Shines in Solid Scott Oater

[dougdoepke · 23 December 2014]

Newspaperman Ned meets up with old friend Blair in Fort Worth where their friendship wobbles over a girl and Blair's overriding ambitions. Complicating matters is outlaw Clevenger and his gang of thugs.

Solid western, more complex than most, but with good production values. The ambivalent relationship between Ned (Scott) and Blair (Brian) is the story's core. Blair has got to be one of the most charming connivers in oater annals. So which is going to win out: Blair's liking for old friend Ned, or Blair's clever greed and scheming. I agree with another reviewer: Brian steals the film with a lively, nuanced performance. Scott, of course, is Scott, as we fans count on. That excellent actress, the rather plain Phyllis Thaxter, gets the big distaff role, while I suspect the luscious Helena Carter (Amy) was added for eye appeal.

The effects may be borrowed, but the fire aboard the moving train is a real eye-catcher, along with the cattle stampede through the wagons. I'm not surprised that action studio Warner Bros. produced the slickly done 80-minutes. Then too, Director Marin keeps things moving without cheating the plot. Unfortunately, it looks like he died soon after the film's wrap. For fans of the Saturday matinée, that diminutive dynamo Bob Steele picks up a payday as a henchman. They should have tossed more baddie screen time his way since he proved what a good cold-blooded killer he could be in The Enforcer (1951).

My one complaint is the general lack of eye-catching scenery. Nonetheless, it's solid Technicolor western of the sort they unfortunately don't make anymore.

Dodge City v Ft.Worth

[thbryn · 6/10 · 15 August 2019]

Well there isn't much competition between the two pictures. Michael Curtiz directed a Flynn/DeHaveland '39 Classic for Warners. But I noticed something in the scene "Ft Worth" ripped off from "Dodge" The burning train ending in a shootout.

It appears to me that a stagecoach segment from that scene was taken from "Dodge' and included in "Ft.Worth". Not copied, spliced into the picture. I don't think I've seen that done before? Like most have said Scott was OK in the film but Brian made it something above a mediocre western with his fine portrayal.

Pen is mightier than the gun!! Not for long, though!!!

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 31 March 2021]

Ex-gunfighter Ned Britt returns to Fort Worth after the civil war to help run a newspaper which is against ambitious men and their schemes for control. Such men like Gabe Clevinger (Ray Teal), a crooked cattle baron, and a friend,Blair Lunsford( David Brian) stand in the way of progress with their hands soiled in lawlessness; the latter (David Brian) isn't exposed as corrupt straightaway. Things are aggravated by Britt (Scott)falling for Flora Talbot (Phyllis Thaxter), who is the fiancée of Blair Lunsford. As Clevinger resorts to violence in order to prevent the arrival of the railroad at Fort Worth. Britt has to rethink his journalistic methods to stop him and resorts to violence himself.

The pen is mightier than the gun for a short time before Scott trades his printing cartridges for .45 catridges in this above average western which is bolstered by the fact that lawlessness is fought with journalistic methods, and secondly by David Brian's complex character. He seems conflicted in his stance in regards to Scott's character, and he is sometimes an adversary and sometimes a foe. He eventually settles for the latter, his ambitiousness and jealous mindset totally turning him to the dark side. There's some good shootouts as well.

Superior Scott Oater

[herbqedi · 8/10 · 23 January 2009]

Fort Worth is fast-moving, well cast, well acted, and well executed all the way around. Scott actually has two different mentors, one Phyllis Thaxter's late father and the other a high-minded newspaperman who is knifed by a thug. He uses both of them to build and transition his character in a more layered performance than typical of the normally stoic Scott. Thaxter is terrific in every scene she's in, but better still is Brian as the magnate who persuades former boyhood friend Scott to stay in Fort Worth. He is part-villain and part-hero and extremely interesting and credible throughout. The plot is atypically complex with many threads all woven together well and wrapped up in a satisfying manner. Dick Moore (former child actor Dickie) is terrific as Scott's newspaperman who helps Scott keep alive the spirit of Ben, their mentor publisher. The thugs are all convincingly ruthless and interesting, including Ray Teal as the leader, supported by Bob Steele, Paul Picerni, and Michael TOlan among others. The color cinematography and production values are also first-rate and the pacing is perfect.

If you enjoy Randolph Scott westerns, don't miss this superior entry.

When Law And Order Breaks Down

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 21 June 2010]

With Warner Brothers having done a western entitled Dallas a year earlier with Gary Cooper it only seemed right that it produce another western with the title of that other Texas twin city, Fort Worth. Starring in this one is Randolph Scott and directing it is Edwin L. Marin who collaborated with Scott on a few other previous films. This was Marin's last film as a director. Not a noteworthy stylist, Marin nevertheless was able to do a competent and entertaining product.

Scott's in a strange occupation for him in a western, he's a newspaper editor, a partner with Emerson Treacy with Dick Jones working for them. They're picking up stakes and going to Texas and decide to settle in the city of Fort Worth which is having problems with a lawless element led by cattle trail boss Ray Teal. An old friend of Scott's, David Brian is the big mover and shaker in Fort Worth and he'd like to see a railroad come through and a meat packing plant right in the town like Chicago. That would eliminate folks like Teal and he's not about to see that happen.

Scott has an interesting character, he's become pacifistic after war service and thinks that the power of the pen will do more than the six gun. But when law and order breaks down Randy straps on the six guns like Jimmy Stewart in Destry Rides Again to restore it as surely as Stewart did in Bottleneck.

Brian though has a strange character, even after the end of the film you don't know quite what to make of him. He says he wants law and order, but tolerates an ineffectual sheriff in Chubby Johnson and allows Teal to run roughshod. Many in the cast want to know just what is his game and in the end we never really find out. Makes for an interesting piece of cinema.

Fort Worth is an interesting western with far more plot than most of these six gun shoot 'em ups have. It is one of Randolph Scott's best westerns from the Fifties, you'll become a fan of Randolph Scott after seeing Fort Worth.

Solid Randolph Scott western

[pmtelefon · 8/10 · 16 March 2019]

For me, Randolph Scott's westerns are in their own category. That is not a knock on Scott. It's just that I don't compare his movies to those made by John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart during the same period. It's not a fair fight. The budgets and supporting cast just weren't there for Scott. That said, I enjoy Scott's movies and "Fort Worth" is a good one. Scott gives one of his best performances in this movie. The villain, David Brian, also gives a very good performance. Brian is so good that when he's lying I actually find myself believing him. "Fort Worth" is a fast moving, suspenseful movie that is in my regular rotation.