A woman for the marshal

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Movie
German title A woman for the marshal
Original title The Woman of the Town
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1943
length 87-90 minutes
Rod
Director George Archainbaud
script Æneas MacKenzie ,
Norman Houston (Story)
production Harry Sherman
for United Artists
music Miklós Rózsa
camera Russell Harlan
cut Carroll Lewis
occupation

A woman for the Marshall (Original title: The Woman of the Town ) is an American western by George Archainbaud from 1943. The leading roles are played by Claire Trevor and Albert Dekker , with Barry Sullivan , Henry Hull , Porter Hall , Percy Kilbride and Clem Bevans occupied.

Æneas MacKenzie's screenplay, loosely based on the true story of Dora Hand and Bat Masterson , is based on an original story by Norman Houston . The film received an Oscar nomination in the category "Best Film Music".

action

Bat Masterson, now a journalist in New York, reflects in 1919 what it was like in the American West at the time. A collector who asked him about his guns, which he carried in Dodge City at the time, sparks Bat's thoughts on the past:

Back then, while Bat was on a trip to Dodge City, Kansas to see his old friend Inky Wilkinson again, his arrival coincided with the shooting of the town's sheriff, who was shot by a Texas cowboy over a minor argument. Bat then kills the man in self-defense. At the request of the residents of Dodge City, Bat takes over the helm in the city, and the ruthless ranchers around King Kennedy, rowdy cowboys, are a thorn in his side. One of Bat's first responsibilities in the Church is to see that respectable women are not exposed to harassment. When Reverend Samuel Small asks Dora Hand, who is in the church for the first time, to join the service with her singing, Bat falls in love with the young woman on the spot. He later learns that Dora appears regularly in the "Alhambra", a honky tonk saloon. It quickly becomes clear that Dora Bats reciprocates affection and that neither of them disregards the employment of the other. However, when the Reverend learns of Dora's activity in the saloon, he has concerns about allowing Dora to continue singing in the church. Bat then anonymously writes an extremely eloquent newspaper article, peppered with quotes from the Bible, which takes prejudices ad absurdum . Reverend Small asks Dora to return to church. When it becomes known that Dora is selflessly caring for a poor, sick child, respect for the young woman, who abhors violence, grows even further.

When King Kennedy and his cowboys go to town, Bat is alarmed. Since the men leave a lot of money in Dodge City, Bat refrains from arresting Kennedy, who rode his horse into the "Alhambra" without permission. Something else troubles Bat, however, King is noticeably interested in Dora. This gives Dora a certain influence on the cowboy. Worried about Bat because of King Dora asks her uncle, who publishes a newspaper in Kansas City, to hire Bat with her. Since Dora's uncle has always disapproved of her lifestyle, he doesn't want to help at first, but then bows down on Dora's threat to appear in public under her real name in the future. Her uncle's condition is that she never return to Kansas City.

After Dora returns from Kansas, Bat proudly shows her the job offer without realizing that he owes it to her. When Bat proposes to her, Dora refuses with a heavy heart because she is bound by her uncle's promise. King, incited from different quarters that Dora is fooling him with Bat, now demands of the young woman to marry him, otherwise he will kill Bat. Driven into a corner, Dora reluctantly accepts his application, but makes the condition that she may continue to work in the “Alhambra” for the duration of her two-month contract. Mayor Dog Kelley, owner of the saloon, does not want to release Dora from her contract. A violent exchange of words between the men, in which King expresses himself disparagingly about Dora, leads to Dog King delivering a blow, who then fires a shot at him. Dogs Collie, who wants to defend his master and attacks King, is shot in cold blood by him. After his arrest, King is fined $ 100 and banned from entering Dodge City for thirty days. Veteran Buffalo Burns, who overheard King and his men, warns Bat that the gang are still planning to kill him after a fraudulent councilor promised the men a $ 1,000 reward. However, Bat succeeds in rendering the man harmless and preparing for the attack by King and his gang. When the time comes, King first goes to the hospital where Dog was admitted after the shot at him, in order to finish off the mayor. Then there is an exchange of fire with Bat in the hospital. The shots fired through the door of the hospital room tragically hit Dora, who rushed to Bat, dying and promised to lay down his weapons.

King is arrested by Bat for the murder of Dora. Almost all of Dodge City attended the funeral of the woman who was loved by many. Bat keeps his promise to Dora at the open grave and has his weapons buried with her.

production

Production notes

The working title of the film was The Gunmaster . According to a message in the film industry's magazine The Hollywood Reporter , producer Harry Sherman changed the title to The Woman of the Town to make the film more attractive to women.

The film was produced by Harry Sherman Productions and distributed by United Artists . The shooting took place from May 18 to mid-June 1943. Barry Sullivan made his debut in this film.

Music in the film

  • I'm a Heavy Tipper , music: Lester Lee , text: Jerry Seelen
  • Poor Polly , music: Lester Lee, text: Jerry Seelen
Bat Masterson 1879

History, background

William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (1853–1921), a legendary figure in the American Wild West , worked as a sheriff in Dodge City from 1877 to 1880 and was allegedly a member of the Doge City gang. He was on friendly terms with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday . In 1902, Masterson became a sports journalist for the New York Morning Telegraph , where he worked with gossip columnist Louella Parsons , portrayed in the film by Beryl Wallace. You wrote columns for the Hearst newspapers. Masterson led an adventure life and also worked as a buffalo hunter , gambler , scout for the US Army and Deputy US Marshal . His parents were Irish . He had six siblings. At the time of his death at the age of 67, Masterson was New York City. He was found at his desk in his office, where he had just written his last column for the New York Morning Telegraph . A heart attack had torn him from his life. The inscription on his tombstone reads “Loved by Everyone”.

Paramount advertisements at the time indicated that Dora Hand's character was borrowed from a Dodge City newspaper report from May 1876 about the murder of a dance school girl of the same name.

More films with / about Masterson

The character Bat Masterson played a leading role in a number of Western films, including the following films:

publication

Although the film length is usually given as 87 to 90 minutes, Daily Variety stated that it was 97 minutes. The film premiered in the United States on December 31, 1943. It started in Mexico and Sweden in 1944, in Portugal in 1945, in France in 1947 and in Denmark in 1949. It was first seen in Spain (Madrid) in 1954. In the Federal Republic of Germany he did not appear in the cinema, the television premiere took place on June 27, 1986 under the title A woman for the Marshal on ZDF . On October 4, 2018, Schröder Media Handels GmbH released the film with a German audio track on DVD.

The film was also released in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Greece and Italy.

reception

criticism

Bosley Crowther's rating in the New York Times was muted. He said that the usual shooting bouts and brawls that one normally suspects in a movie about Bat Masterson have been largely replaced by a little lady played by Claire Trevor preaching reason and doing it in an all too pious manner. Albert Dekker gave Masterson, the famous marshal of Dodge City, an almost apologetic paint job. Barry Sullivan, in turn, behaves towards the handsome villain as if he were a college boy playing pranks on someone, and Porter Hall, Henry Hull and Percy Kilbride were characters in a western like in a picture collection. For real fans of westerns who should be energetic and energetic, the film is more of a horror.

The Bishops' Conference of the United States (USCCB) spoke of an intelligent Western. Directed by Archainbaud, the melodrama follows the honest advocate of the law, who has experienced the futility of violence on his own way. The violent scenes are just as at the limit as are the romantic complications.

Dennis Schwartz from Ozus 'World Movie Reviews' praised George Archainbaud for his “good direction” in this western and said that a good cast made the film worth seeing despite all the sentimentality. The western deviates from the usual form, but not so fundamentally that it is still not worth seeing for real western fans.

The film service spoke of a "conventional [n] western that violates some conventions of the genre with regard to the female lead."

The Movie & Video Guide wrote: “First class western with Dekker as Bat Masterson who must choose between love for dance-hall girl Trevor or law and order” (“First class western with Dekker as Bat Masterson, who is between his love for the in Dora Hund and Law and Order played by Claire Trevor in a saloon. ”).

Halliwell's Film Guide characterized the film as follows: "Busy, old-fashioned urban western with good entertainment values" (Busy, old-fashioned urban western that entertains well).

Award

Academy Awards 1945

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f The Woman of the Town (1943) see TCM (English)
  2. ↑ The Woman of the Town (1943) see original print information at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ A woman for the Marshall Fig. DVD case (in the picture: Claire Trevor, Barry Sullivan)
  4. ↑ Bosley Crowther : "The Woman of the Town" with Claire Trevor In: The New York Times . March 6, 1944 (English). Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  5. ↑ The Woman of the Town see archive.usccb.org (English). Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  6. ↑ Dennis Schwartz: Woman of the Town - A good cast makes it worth watching despite all the sentimentality see homepages.sover.net (English). Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  7. ↑ A wife for the marshal. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 22, 2020 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  8. ^ Leonard Maltin: The Woman of the Town. In: Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1474 (English). Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  9. ^ Leslie Halliwell: The Woman of the Town. In: Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 1128 (English). Retrieved February 16, 2019.