The sheriff of Kansas

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Movie
German title The sheriff of Kansas
Original title The Kansan
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1943
length 79 minutes
Rod
Director George Archainbaud
script Harold Shumate
production Harry Sherman
for United Artists
music Gérard Carbonara
camera Russell Harlan
cut Carroll Lewis
Sherman A. Rose
occupation

The Sheriff of Kansas (original title: The Kansan ) is an American western from 1943 by George Archainbaud . The traveling cowboy John Bonniwell ( Richard Dix ) prevents a bank robbery, which means that he is elected sheriff of the city. Although he wants to decline at first, he lets Eleanor Sager ( Jane Wyatt ) change his mind. But then he is confronted with the fact that the banker Steve Barat ( Albert Dekker ) only supported his election in order to make him the tool of his machinations.

The script is based on Frank Gruber's story Peace Marshal , which was first published in New York in 1939.

action

In the late 1800s, the small town of Broken Lance in Kansas was also connected to the Pacific Railroad. John Bonniwell, a sniper and Civil War veteran en route to a gold mine in Oregon , is in transit when he thwarted a Jesse James gang raid on the local bank. He kills three gang members and drives the others to flight, while himself, wounded by gunfire, ends up in the hospital. There he was told that bank president Steve Barat had taken over the hospital costs for him. At the same time he learns that Barat has got him to be named sheriff of Broken Lance. John, who does not care about such a post, wants to cancel, but lets Eleanor Sager, who takes care of him carefully in the hospital, change his mind. The young woman is the owner of the only hotel in town. However, he quickly realizes that Steve Barat expects him to always act in his own way and to regard him as a compliant object of his machinations. In Broken Lance, Barat acts like its uncrowned king.

When he messes with Barat and makes it clear to him that he is unwilling to cover his dirty actions as an official, he realizes that this can amount to a life and death fight. The first trouble is already on the horizon when Barat charges an arbitrarily exorbitant fee, which the rancher John Wagoner is supposed to pay for driving his cattle across the banker's land. Although the herd owner has refused to pay, John does not even think about arresting him, as Barat requested.

When the Hatton gang raids town and starts a brawl in the Golden Prairie saloon, John arrests the gang members for causing disturbance. The next morning, however, they are free again, Barat has provided the bail. Shortly thereafter, Tom Wagoner is dead, the banker has hired the gang to murder him. While John is investigating the circumstances that led to Tom's death, Barat fabricates a robbery on his own bank and persuades his brother Jeff to support him in his plan to discredit John. After John's return from the scene, he is informed of the mysterious bank robbery. At Eleanor's hotel he meets Jeff with a suitcase and instinctively knows that something is wrong. However, he has no handle since Eleanor gives Jeff an alibi. When Eleanor confesses to Jeff that she loves John, Jeff gives himself a jerk and brings the suitcase with the money to John and admits his brother's plan. He does this because he genuinely loves Eleanor. When Steve finds out, he knows that the sheriff now has a real handle against him. However, he does not yet know that a telegram is on the way to Bonniwell stating that he has been charged with large-scale theft by the authorities in New York and that he has fled his arrest. Again he turns to Gil Hatton, the head of the Hatton gang, who is supposed to raid the city with his gang and kill John. When Jeff learns of this plan, he issues a warning to John. John knows that the gang is using a certain bridge to get into town and has it undermined. His plan works, a large part of the gang is buried by the bursting bridge parts - Jeff is also killed in this action.

A bitter fight ensues with the rest of the gang, who have entered the city by a different route, which ends with the death of their leader and finally breaks the gang's morale. John has yet to recover from his numerous wounds in the hospital, while Steve Barat has been extradited and faces punishment. When John hears music outside and wants to know from Eleanor what is being celebrated, she replies with a smile, in addition to the peace in Broken Lance, the people also celebrated their engagement.

production

Production notes

The production company was United Artists . Filming lasted from late November to late December 1942. The working titles of the film were: Meet John Bonniwell and Peace Marshal .

occupation

The Hollywood Reporter read that Beryl Wallace was a star in Earl Carroll's cabaret and the rest of the actresses, including Eleanor Counts, Olivia Steele, Lorraine Clark, Barbara Clark, Beatrice Gray, Sylvia McKay, and June Earle, to the Ziegfield Girls counted. Beryl Wallace and Carroll were killed when their plane crashed. Wallace was only 35 years old. The gang of Jesse James is mentioned in the film, but neither Jesse James nor his brother Frank are shown separately.

The New York Times once wrote about Richard Dix that with his unspoilt athleticism and distinctive face he could havesprung from Mount Rushmore . Dix was a popular actor in the silent film era and in the early 1940s. This western was one of his last roles before he ended his career with B-thrillers at Columbia Pictures , after he wasa not insignificant westernstar at RKO Pictures , whounderscoredhis achievements with an Oscar nomination for the western Pioneers of the Wild West (1931) would have. Other pillars of the film were Jane Wyatt and other top actors of the era such as Albert Dekker, Eugene Pallette, Victor Jory and Robert Armstrong.

Cinematographer Russell Harlan had primarily worked on westerns up to this point in his career. He was later nominated for an Oscar several times. George Reeves, later known as Superman, played Jesse James in a small role. Frank Gruber, on whose story the script is based, was one of the most prolific and successful pulp fiction writers of his time. He also wrote film scripts and scripts for episodes of various television series.

Film music

publication

The film premiered in the United States on September 10, 1943. In the following year it ran for the first time in the following countries: Australia, Mexico, Portugal, Sweden. It was published in Denmark in 1947, in France in 1948 and in Finland in 1953. It has also been shown in Belgium, Spain, Finland, France, the United Kingdom and Italy and Venezuela.

In Austria the film was released under the title Der Mann aus Kansas , in Germany under the title Der Sheriff von Kansas . In the UK it is also known as Wagon Wheels .

reception

criticism

TS wrote in the New York Times of an "assembly line western" that featured the usual corruption of local groups, ludicrous persecutions by horsemen thundering across the screen, and a cast that took off faster than a credit card on Saturday night.

Dennis Schwartz from Ozus also spoke of a routine Western, but attested Archainbaud a dynamic direction and the former popular silent film star Richard Dix as an unshakable hero a solid performance. The film has the usual set pieces of a western, such as fighting in the saloon, ambush, wild flight, shootings. And of course the villain is also the most respected citizen in the city. In this respect, the film offers no surprises.

Rob Nixon, on the other hand, praised the film for its numerous and exciting action sequences and firefights, but also for the Oscar-nominated music by Gérard Carbonara.

Award

Gérard Carbonara was nominated for an Oscar at the Academy Awards in 1944 in the category "Best Film Music" (drama / comedy ) , but this went to Alfred Newman and the film drama Das Lied von Bernadette (The Song of Bernadette) .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Kansan (1943) Screenplay Info at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ The Kansan (1943) Original Print Information at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ a b c The Kansan (1943) Notes at TCM (English)
  4. ↑ a b c d Rob Nixon: The Kansan (1943) Articles at TCM (English)
  5. ↑ TS: The Kansan at the Rialto
    In: The New York Times, October 1, 1943 (English). Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  6. ↑ The Kansan - Routine Western uplifted by the lively direction of George Archainbaud at hover.net (English)