Abilene Town ** (1946, Randolph Scott, Ann Dvorak, Edgar Buchanan, Rhonda Fleming, Lloyd Bridges, Jack Lambert) – Classic Movie Review 6,439

Randolph Scott, Ann Dvorak, Edgar Buchanan, Rhonda Fleming and Lloyd Bridges star in the 1946 American Western film Abilene Town, set in the Old West cattle town of Abilene, Kansas, in 1870.

Director Edwin L Marin’s modest 1946 American Western film Abilene Town stars Randolph Scott as Dan Mitchell, the marshal trying to keep an uneasy peace between the murderous, grasping cattlemen and the peace-loving homesteaders in his Abilene, Kansas, home town in 1870.

Harold Shumate’s screenplay is based on an excellent 1941 novel called Trail Town by Ernest Haycox, whose characterisations and complexities are unfortunately largely lost on this routine Western, which sticks to a well-established formula and builds steadily to a predictable ending.

Ann Dvorak provides statuesque support as the lovely Rita. It also stars Rhonda Fleming as Sherry Balder, Edgar Buchanan as Sheriff ‘Bravo’ Trimble and Lloyd Bridges as Henry Dreiser. This hard-working cast is very welcome.

Chubby Johnson (1902–1974) makes his debut as a Homesteader.

Character actor Chubby Johnson (1902–1974) makes his debut in his mid-40s as an uncredited homesteader.

Also in the cast are Howard Freeman, Richard Hale, Jack Lambert as Jet Younger, Dick Curtis, Helen Boyce, Hank Patterson, Earl Schenck, Eddy Waller, Paul Brinegar, Stanley Andrews, Guy Wilkerson, Dick Elliott, Buddy Roosevelt, Irving Bacon, Walter Baldwin, Victor Cox, Morgan Flowers and Chick Hannon.

Abilene Town is directed by Edwin L Marin, runs 89 minutes, is made by Guild Productions, is released by United Artists, is shot in black and white by Archie J Stout, is produced by Jules Levy, is scored by Gerard Carbonara and Albert Glasser, and is designed by Duncan Cramer.

Release date: January 11, 1946 (US).

Lloyd Bridges named names before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

Lloyd Bridges’s career was temporarily derailed as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. Bridges was blacklisted briefly in the 1950s after he admitted to the House Un-American Activities Committee that he had once been a member of the Actors’ Laboratory Theatre, a group found to have had links to the Communist Party USA. He returned to acting after recanting his membership and serving as a ‘co-operative witness’ to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

On May 17, 1951, Bridges testified as a ‘co-operative witness’. During his testimony, he admitted to having been a member of the Communist Party during 1936–1937, but claimed he had left the party before it became illegal or problematic.

Crucially, Bridges identified several other individuals he had known in the party, including John Garfield (actor), J Edward Bromberg (actor), Morris Carnovsky (actor), Lester Cole (screenwriter), Dalton Trumbo (screenwriter), Ring Lardner Jr. (screenwriter), Albert Maltz (screenwriter), Samuel Ornitz (screenwriter) and Howard Koch (screenwriter).

Despite his ‘co-operation’, Bridges was still blacklisted by the major Hollywood studios for several years. He later expressed regret about the damage done to his colleagues, though he maintained that he believed his co-operation was necessary to protect his family and career.

The cast

The cast are Randolph Scott as Marshal Dan Mitchell, Ann Dvorak as Rita, Edgar Buchanan as Sheriff Bravo Trimble, Rhonda Fleming as Sherry Balder, Lloyd Bridges as Henry Dreiser, Helen Boyce as Big Annie, Howard Freeman as Ed Balder, Richard Hale as Charlie Fair, Jack Lambert as Jet Younger, Dick Curtis as Cap Ryker, Eddy Waller as Hannaberry, Hank Patterson as Doug Neil, Chubby Johnson as homesteader, Guy Wilkerson as card player, Helen Boyce, Hank Patterson, Earl Schenck, Eddy Waller, Paul Brinegar, Stanley Andrews, Dick Elliott, Buddy Roosevelt, Irving Bacon, Walter Baldwin, Victor Cox, Morgan Flowers and Chick Hannon.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6,439

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Randolph Scott with Jack Lambert as Jet Younger in Abilene Town, 1946.