Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.

Luecarou What begins as a feel-good-human-interest story turns into a mystery, then a tragedy, and ultimately an outrage.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

JohnHowardReid Stephen McNally (Steve Davis), Alexis Smith (Mary Williams), Howard da Silva (Cavanaugh), Ed Begley (Warden Haynes), Dan Riss (George Armstrong), Roy Roberts (Charles DeHaven), Whit Bissell (Sam Wallace), Armando Silvestre (Indian Joe), James Arness (Russell), Richard Jaeckel (Nate), Frankie Darro (Rufe), Felipe Turich (Pete), Gene Evans (Shep), Richard Egan (Beale), Frank Fenton (Gilson), Emerson Treacy (Ben), Harry Tyler (Pap), Charles Evans (senate committee chairman), Ed Cassidy (sheriff), Jay Barney Zed), Eric Alden, Ralph Brooks (mail clerks), John L. Cason (Red Monte), Wheaton Chambers, Howard M. Mitchell (conductors), Chick Chandler (waiter), John Cliff, John Indrisano, Herbert Naish (guards), Ed East (blacksmith), Roy Engel (ticket seller), Captain Garcia, Jennings Miles (prisoners), Harold Goodwin, Guy Wilkerson (cowboys), Charles McAvoy (spectator), Forrest Matthews (Edmund), Grandon Rhodes (Senator Dowell), Frank Richards (prison contact), Harry Wilson (losing bettor), Frankie Van (referee), Tony Roux (Mexican proprietor), and Forbes Murray, Edward Rickard, Sayre Dearing, Fred Aldrich.Narrated by Gerald Mohr.Director: REGINALD LeBORG. Screenplay: Harry Essex, Leonard Lee. Story: Robert Hardy Andrews. Photography in Color by Technicolor by Russell Metty. Film editor: Edward Curtiss. Music director: Joseph Gershenson. Art directors: Bernard Herzbrun, Hilyard Brown. Set decorators: Russell A. Gausman and John Austin. Costumes designed by Bill Thomas. Make- up: Bud Westmore, assisted by Gene Hibbs. Hair styles: Joan St Oegger, assisted by Helen Turpin. Technicolor color consultant: William Fritzsche. Songs: "Endlessly" (Smith) by Kim Gannon and Walter Kent; "Take Me To Town" (chorus) by Dan Shapiro and Lester Lee. Choreographer: Harold Belfer. Camera operator: Philip H. Lathrop. Still photographs: Max Nippell. Grip: Dean Paup. Continuity girl: Dorothy Hughes. Assistant director: Ronnie Rondell. Production manager: Jack Gertsman. Sound recording: Leslie I. Carey and Frank Moran. Western Electric Sound Recording. Producer: Aubrey Schenck.Copyright 4 October 1950 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. A Universal-International Picture. New York opening at Loew's Criterion: 21 October 1950. U.K. release: 20 November 1950. Australian release: 28 December 1950. 87 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Post office trains are threatened by well-organized outlaws.NOTES: Switching from Warner Brothers, this film marked Alexis Smith's first venture under her Universal contract.COMMENT: A top western in all departments. Most entertaining, richly produced, excitingly staged, reasonably suspenseful, handsomely photographed and gorgeously costumed, it also boasts a fascinating cast of interesting players. Even Reginald LeBorg's direction ranks way above his usual level of so-so competence. Naturally, train buffs will be in seventh heaven, but I also enjoyed all the telegraph lore, the awesome natural scenery, the lavish period props and interiors, the well-honed music score, not to mention the peppery dialogue and novel bits of business, plus the action, fights, hard riding and stunts.

gordonl56 WYOMING MAIL 1950This Universal International production is set in 1869 just after the U.S. Postal Service started moving the mail by railway. These "post office on wheels," are being constantly robbed on a section or rail running through Wyoming Territory. The Postmaster hires former Secret Service operative, Stephen McNally to work undercover. McNally is sent out to Wyoming to look into the robberies. The government figures it is the work of a well-organized gang with inside info. McNally is to contact another undercover man in Cheyenne. The undercover man is killed before McNally can reach Cheyenne. McNally manages to trail some marked money to a man, Ed Begley. Begley happens to be the warden of the Territorial Prison. While digging around for info, McNally has time to romance attractive dance hall singer, Alexis Smith. With the help of a U.S. Marshall, McNally pretends to be a wanted bank hold-up man. With the aid of the Marshall there is soon a posse after McNally. McNally is grabbed up and hauled off to the prison. His new contact is Armando Silvestre, who is playing a bounty hunter of Native Indian decent. Silvestre arranges to make periodic visits to check on McNally. Besides watching the warden, McNally is trying to meet up with inmate Whit Bissell. Bissell is a former bank robber whose money they believe was taken by the crooked warden, Begley. Having collected the info he needs, McNally pulls a prison break with the aid of Silvestre. They take Bissell along to testify against Begley. Bissell however is fatally wounded during the getaway. Bissell does however put McNally onto who and where the train robbers are.It does not take long and McNally is soon part of this gang, which includes, Gene Evans, James Arness, Felipe Turich and Richard Jaeckel. Much to McNally's surprise, it turns out that Alexis Smith is also part of the gang. To top that off, railway guard Howard Da Silva is also in the criminal mix. The gang are up for another job and head off to hit the train. McNally manages to get a message to Silvestre to warn the railway of the job. The warning though is intercepted and Silvestre shot. The gang now knows that McNally is really with the law and he barely escapes by jumping off a cliff into a raging river. The robbery goes sideways with most of the gang being killed. The viewer now learns that the real inside man was railway district superintendent, Roy Roberts. Roberts has been feeding the gang inside info on big cash deliveries by the post office. Miss Smith by this time has decided that the criminal life is not to her liking. She is grabbed up and taken to the gang's cliff side hideout. There are a few quick horse chases, gun battles etc needed before the last of the nasty types is disposed of, and Miss Smith rescued. Of course McNally and Smith get married and ride off (by train) into the sunset. This is a pretty entertaining B-western that moves along at a pretty good pace. There is the odd plot problem, but the pace covers these up nicely. The nice Technicolor is an added bonus for the watcher.The director was long time B helmsman, Reginald LeBorg. LeBorg is best known for a string of Universal Studio horror films like, THE MUMMY'S GHOST, JUNGLE WOMAN, CALLING DR. DEATH and DEAD MAN'S EYES.The cinematographer on this great looking duster was two-time Oscar nominated, one time winner, Russell Metty. Metty won his Oscar for his work on, SPARTACUS. Look close and you will see future Hollywood leading man, Richard Egan in a small bit. Well worth a look if you are fan of the genre.

Robert J. Maxwell Stephen McNally is an ex Army officer now making a living by bare-fisted boxing. He's happy to get out of it when he's offered a job by the Post Office. There's a bandit gang out in Wyoming that is stealing the mail and making off with payrolls by robbing trains. McNally goes undercover as a bandido himself and worms his way into the gang, one of whose members, to McNally's dismay, is a café singer, Alexis Smith, with whom he develops a relationship. There's a shoot out at the end that reminds one of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" without the wisecracks. It ends happily.It's a little unusual because it focuses not on cow punching or marshaling but on telegraphers -- the guys who click and clack at their telegraph keys and send messages along the wires. A dozen or so seem to have given up their respectable specialties and formed a gang of their own. McNally has to learn Morse code to be inducted into the club. I don't particularly like it when telegraphers are portrayed as gangsters. I was a wireless operator myself for a few years and I'm here to say that no more than one out of five of my colleagues was a gangster. Well, maybe one out of four.Alexis Smith is wounded in the shoot out. That's a shame too. She's a beautiful red head with pale blue eyes of plumbless depths. True, the angle of her ascending ramus is marked but she's a Canadian and Canadians look a little odd. She shouldn't have gotten shot, despite her jawline. I can only say it's a darned good thing she recovered.Steven McNally isn't usually the hero. His Thespian talents are mediocre but that has nothing to do with it. The operative feature of Steven McNally's screen presence is his ominous, menacing, almost maniacal glare. His best moments come when that stare softens into thoughtfulness, as when he looks down at the dead body of a prisoner who had been friendly towards him, and then arranges to have his own pay sent to the dead man's widow. He was allowed a similar soft spot for a wounded comrade in "Split Second." The moments don't last long.There are a number of recognizable names among the supporting cast -- Howard Da Silva, Richard Jaekel, Roy Roberts, James Arness, Gene Evans -- but not of them gets much time. Ed Begley's stint as the corrupt warden of the Territorial Prison was probably shot in a day or two.The territorial prison is probably supposed to be Yuma Territorial Prison. It's still there, at least its wrecked shell, and open to the public. The time there wasn't nearly as demanding as it is in popular thought, or so say the public guides.

pkoftino I reviewed this movie and find it very strange, that after all these years this movie is still around. I was visiting my relatives in Sonora California when I was 16 years old and Universal International was filming the movie. Most of the movie crew ate at the El Nido Inn where I stayed. I was introduced to the producers and and directors and they took me into the production as a guest. Every morning I would tale the big limos to the locations. One location was the Sonora city dump transformed into a scene that didn't resemble the original location. I met actress Alexis Smith, although she was a very private person. I was introduced to her because she was from Penticton B.C. Canada only 50 miles from my home town. I recall many moments of the production. It was strange to see it later in the theatre, because most of the scenes became different than what I saw in real life. Memories still linger.