Carson City (1952)

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Lots of plot complications in this solid little Randolph Scott western.
Sure Scott might've been considered an imitation western hero alongside
John Wayne, but I haven't found a dull movie of his out of the bunch
I've seen.

In this film Scott portrays a charming roughneck engineer named Jeff
Kincaid, hired to create a railroad system through a tough mountainous
territory located near a small town named Carson City, his home town.
Screen veteran Raymond Massey, as AJ Jack Davis, is the new villain
Scott will have to contend with, the leader of a group of thieves known
in the papers as the "Champagne Bandits", using an old mine as a front
for his nefarious activities.

What started out as robbing stagecoaches for loot results later in the
murder of a driver carrying parts for an automatic drill to assist the
railroad. Zeke(Don Beddoe), in charge of the Carson Clarion newspaper,
discovers that Davis' partner in crime, Squires (James Millican), was
the one responsible for the stagecoach driver's murder and is killed
for such knowledge, the railroad workers accused of carrying out their
grievances on him. When Davis quits using the local stagecoach driver
to move his bullion, Kincaid becomes aware that something's amiss.

All the traits of the classic B-western is here and accounted for:
• The tall and stalwart hero who can lead men and shoot a gun(Scott).
• The treacherous and conniving heel(Massey).
• The lengthy barroom brawl which has men toppling over tables, chairs broken, mirror behind the counter destroyed, blows landed, bodies pummeled until the hero is left standing (there are actually two of these featuring Scott, the first early on a humorous free-for-all, the second a serious affair where our hero must teach one of his railroad workers a lesson in manners).
• The romantic entanglements (Kincaid and his brother Alan(Richard Webb) are in love with the same woman, Lucille Norman's Susan, daughter of Zeke).
• The hero having to come to the rescue of the damsel in distress (Susan is kidnapped by Davis' gang when she catches him on the verge of detaching a car containing riches with Alan attempting to save her, as Kincaid and his railroad workers ride hard to stop the bandits).
• The instance where the hero has to draw his gun from its holster when one of the villain's men challenges him to a duel (in this case, Squires).
• The big action sequence (an avalanche caused by Davis' gang sending rocks and debris catapulting down the mountain killing a few workers, trapping Kincaid and some of his men in a tunnel) which has our hero in peril.
• And, last but not least, the hero and villain in a shootout, Kincaid losing one of those close to him in the process. As is often the case, some innocents Kincaid cares for die due to actions by the main villain who is determined to escape with stolen loot to better his living elsewhere.


Massey is up for the demands of a strong villain, perfectly loathsome,
a smile on his face after every successful stagecoach robbery. Massey's
Davis is quite assured in his tactics and organized crime, willing to
shoot anyone in the back if they interfere with his payday. The
California locations are stunning; Scott is believable as the
workhorse, confident in his own abilities, who gets dirty right next to
his men.

I've always considered Scott more than just "someone who is skilled at
riding horseback", as he is more than capable in establishing the
proper pathos and emotional duties the roles he inherited provide. Not
just surface laconic hero characteristics, Scott was also adept at
evoking pain, regret, anger, love, joy, seriousness, integrity, and
other emotions important in making his characters real and viable.
Above all, without charisma and a genuine screen presence, I doubt
Scott could have remained such a western star for so long. He can say
little and yet get his point across. Regarding dialogue, Scott—such as
one scene where Alan continues to push his buttons regarding the
railroad and the tumultuous situations which have spurned from its
territorial presence and he warns him subtly to stop—can take a few
words and add just the right bit of emphasis which informs the other
person that his tolerance for their behavior has reached the breaking
point. Some actors are gifted at speaking volumes with a certain
expression, the depth and breadth of how they feel inherent without
theatrics or overindulgence in performance. Scott, I feel, is one of
those kinds of stars. Did Scott receive Wayne's leftovers? I dunno, but
if he did, I couldn't think of anybody more talented to do so.