Truly Dreadful Film

Simply A Masterpiece

Admirable film.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Bill and Sam Mayhew have been driving cattle to market. At the end of the trail, Sam tries out a rodeo horse, but fails. He punches someone, and the sheriff takes him to jail, where he's supposed to spend 30 days. That's too long in Bill's mind, so he ties a strong rope to the bars of the cell window, and the other end to his horse. Soon, there's a loud noise , as much of that wall lays in a heap, allowing Sam to exit. They quickly ride out of town. The next town, young Sam gets in an argument about the Civil War, punches his prospective employer and shoots the bartender. Again, he and Bill hustle out of town, with a posse following. At rest, Bill tells Sam they're spitting up, as the is tired of being involved in Sam's loose cannon episodes. It happens that both decide to head for Denver from NM, and from there westward to the gold-mining town of Central City.(Historically, there was such a town, that much shrank after the gold ran out.). Bill soon gets a job with John Sutter, who runs the livery stable, while Sam(Tom, now) gets a job as a gunslinger with the ambitious Jim Donovan(Lee Cobb), who owns the town saloon. Sutton plans on starting up a stage run from Central City to Denver. Donovan decides this would be a profitable undertaking. Instead of trying to beat Sutton to the punch, he decides to try to sabotage efforts to get the stage line running, or sabotage the stage once it gets running. Thus, he has his henchmen steal a bunch of horses that were earmarked to pull the stages. But, Bill and sidekick Whipsaw(Andy Clyde) recapture them. When Donovan learns of a significant gold shipment on the first stage run, he plans to have his men steal the gold, thereby ruining the reputation of the fledging company. Donovan arm twists Bill , who will be the stage driver, to cooperate in facilitating the heist. Bill does transfer a strongbox from the stage to a buckboard driven by Donovan's men, but when the box is opened in Donovan's office, they are in for a surprise. Bill is present at this opening, and draws on the surprised group. His gun is knocked off target, and a free for all follows, which is the most exciting 'action' in the film, as it spreads to the stairs and downstairs. Brother Sam(Tom) then draws his gun on Bill. I leave the rest of that story for you to see. ....During their stay in Central City, the brothers have a friendly competition over Sutton's unmarried daughter Elizabeth(Mona Freeman). It's soon clear which one she prefers....... To me, John Payne just seldom feels like a western star, often looking too wimpy to be such a star. Lee Cobb has it all over him, in terms of charisma. Even Skip Homeier, as brother Sam, often outshines Payne. Andy Clyde, as whipsaw provides some light humor, and 'old timer' charisma. Lee Van Cleef plays one of Donovan's henchmen.....This was filmed in Republic's Trucolor process, which supposedly degrades over time, but I didn't detect a problem here.

Several reasons to comment on this entertaining but otherwise pretty routine Western. Scope out the saloon at the beginning. It may be the only Western watering hole I've seen with actual pink accents for inside and outside decor. How the heck did that happen in a macho horse opera. Maybe Republic had a few gallons left over from a Vera Hruba Ralston flick. Also, note how those early scenes along the sagebrush trails resemble the wistful Frederick Remington paintings of the early West. They're subdued pastels and in my book, quite striking, especially with the light snow cover unusual for any Western. Then there's Skip Homeier creating another of his cocky young punk characters he was so expert at. Working at lowly Republic would never get you an Oscar in snooty Hollywood. But in my book, Homeier was as good at etching memorable characters as any of the higher-priced talent. Too bad he eventually matured out of these roles, but here he's near his peak as the hot- headed young Sam Mayhew.The movie starts off fast, but sags somewhat in the middle—probably to accommodate the stagey skills of Broadway heavyweight Lee J. Cobb. (Notice that he has no outdoor scenes, holding forth instead from his saloon headquarters. That was probably in his contract so he wouldn't have to travel to Utah locations.) I was really impressed with the screen presence of Ray Middleton as the limping John Sutton. He's such a quietly imposing character that exudes integrity and strength. He certainly qualifies for a bigger career. Much of the movie's appeal comes from the cast, even Mona Freeman as the sweet young thing. She may be miscast, snuggling up with 43-year old Payne, but she does have a winning personality. All in all, it's a worthwhile little Western with a positive message of the sort that unfortunately they don't make anymore.

If anyone is thinking this is another journey for Bob and Bing, forget it. The Road To Denver is your average western from Republic in its declining years after John Wayne was free of the contract and the B western star stable had gone or moved to television.The bread and butter of Republic Pictures were those B films of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the rest of the gang. By 1955 only Rex Allen was still doing films for them and he was in his final year. But that's what Republic did best so they kept doing it until the studio closed in a couple of years.The Road To Denver is about a pair of estranged Confederate veteran brothers from Texas, John Payne and Skip Homeier. Homeier is playing his usual young punk who brother Payne has to keep bailing out of trouble. Payne gets tired of that soon enough and the brothers part.But both travel different roads to Denver and wind up on different sides of a feud in the town. Payne hooks up with Ray Middleton who wants to start a stagecoach line and Homeier allies himself with town boss Lee J. Cobb who wants nothing in that town he doesn't have a piece of. Both Payne and Homeier have eyes for pretty Mona Freeman who is Middleton's daughter.The Road To Denver is directed by Joseph M. Kane who with William Witney was the favored director of studio boss Herbert J. Yates for his cowboy stars. Quantity was the byword at Republic not quality and Kane delivers his usual workman like product.I think the film had potential to be something better if someone like Howard Hawks or John Ford or Henry Hathaway got a hold of it. The ending is far from satisfactory as well.Still for the die-hard western fan The Road To Denver should satisfy. And John Payne is always good.

Although this western is an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, everything in it is so predictable and the acting so mediocre that does not really worth anybody's time. True, it has some ideas, but it prefers the easy solutions right from the beginning. I have given it 4 out of 10.