Customer Reviews for
A Lawless Street
A poor script sinks this Randolph Scott western. Even Angela Lansbury can't do much with the lines she's given
"This town is like a wild animal in chains, Molly," says Marshal Calem Ware to his landlady while she fries his bacon and eggs for breakfast. "It doesn't fight back right away. It just lies there and snarls, waiting for a chance to pounce on you."
"Be careful, Calem," is Molly's helpful advice.
A Lawless Street is the story of Calem Ware (Randolph Scott) and his determination to bring law and order to Medicine Bend. Unknown to Ware, there is a faction in town determined to run things wide open. Money -- big money -- is involved. This means Ware has to be taken care of. A hired killer with a draw as fast as Calem's might be the answer. Complicating matters for Ware is the arrival of Tally Dickerson (Angela Lansbury), a music hall singer engaged to play with her troupe at the town's new opera house. Nine years ago the two were man and wife, then Tally left him. They're still married. "I didn't know what it was like for a man to make his living with his gun," Tally tells Calem when they meet again, "walking the streets a living target. I died a little more each day and I died more at night." Even Lansbury can't do much with lines like that.
The movie is packed with such poor writing that we don't believe a minute of it. The script is full of characters who tell each who they are and what motivates them, instead of demonstrating this. At frequent intervals an out-of-breath minor character rushes up to Calem to announce another crisis is at hand. Thank goodness we have Scott's steadfastness to believe in and the smiling sleaziness of John Emery, playing one of the bad guys, to enjoy. The writing is so poor it makes even a fine actress like Angela Lansbury sound like someone from a daytime soap opera. We have Lansbury singing and dancing once, but I'd swear her singing was dubbed, a strange decision.
Although I thought the movie might be interesting with the odd duo of a 57-year-old Randolph Scott with the 30-year-old Angela Lansbury, the pairing seemed uncomfortable and unlikely. The film's modest pleasures come from a handful of long-time character actors, such as Wallace Ford, who died a memorable death in a steam room in Blood on the Sun, Ruth Donnelly, always good in many movies as the often irascible but good-hearted motherly type, and, of course, Emery. I always admired the way he tried to put the moves on Ingrid Bergman in Spellbound.
The color DVD looks all right. There are no extras. The movie only lasts 78 minutes.A Lawless Street
A Great Randolph Scott Movie
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.netA Lawless Street
Superior western
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 loversA Lawless Street
"A Lawless Street (1955) ... Randolph Scott ... Columbia Pictures Classic Western"
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
A Lawless Street 1955
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 . RecommendedA Lawless Street
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