A Ticket to Tomahawk *** (1950, Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter, Rory Calhoun, Walter Brennan, Marilyn Monroe) – Classic Movie Review 7528

Director Richard Sale’s sprightly, enjoyable and lighthearted 1950 Western A Ticket to Tomahawk stars Dan Dailey as Johnny Behind-the-Deuces, a travelling salesman caught up in a race between a stagecoach and a train across the Colorado Rockies en route to Tomahawk.

Also in the interesting cast are Anne Baxter as a deputy marshal Kit Dodge Jr, Rory Calhoun as the stagecoach promoter Dakota, Walter Brennan as Terence Sweeny, Connie Gilchrist as Madame Adelaide, boss of the showgirls on the train, and the then still starlet Marilyn Monroe in a walk-on cameo as a chorus showgirl called Clara.

Also on the menu are jolly escapist songs, wide-open-spaces scenery with scenic filming in southwestern Colorado and lovely Technicolor cinematography by Robert Bassler. The showgirls join Johnny for ‘Oh, What a Forward Young Man You Are’ (Written by Ken Darby and John Read), so it is performed by Marilyn Monroe, Marion Marshall, Joyce Mackenzie, Barbara Smith and Dan Dailey. The traditional ‘Pat Works on the Railway’ is sung by Dan Dailey on the train while playing the mandolin.

With its genial tone and atmosphere, A Ticket to Tomahawk is all quite fun, so it is safe to take a ticket to ride.

A Ticket to Tomahawk also features Charles Kemper, Arthur Hunnicutt, Victor Sen Yung, Will Wright, Chief Yowlachie, Mauritz Hugo, Raymond Greenleaf and Harry Carter.

A Ticket to Tomahawk is directed by Richard Sale, runs 91 minutes, is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Mary Loos and Richard Sale, is shot by Harry Jackson, is produced by Robert Bassler and is scored by Cyril J Mockridge.

The same year, Baxter and Monroe went on to appear in All About Eve together.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7528

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