Trail Street

1947 "Mighty Epic of a Nation's Crossroads !"
6.2| 1h24m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 19 February 1947 Released
Producted By: RKO Radio Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Bat Masterson cleans up Liberal, Kansas.

Genre

Western

Watch Online

Trail Street (1947) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Ray Enright

Production Companies

RKO Radio Pictures

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.
Watch Now
Trail Street Videos and Images
View All
  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

Trail Street Audience Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense
ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.
Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) Randolph Scott's westerns were always more serious than average, starting with himself, always speaking only the necessary. This recurring quality is what makes them still so watchable and entertaining today. Trail Street made in 1947 has Scott as a convincing Bat Masterson set up to clean the town of Liberal, Kansas. Robert Ryan is the good guy Allen Harper who is trying to bring progress through stimulating agriculture and Steve Brodie is the villain, Logan. There are two leading ladies, two beauties, Anne Jeffreys and Madge Meredith. Jeffreys is Ruby, the girl gone astray, which ran away from home, becomes the saloon singer, and is attached to Logan. Madge Meredith is Susan the materialistic "respectable"girl who is dating Allen, but is tempted by Logan's wealth which will allow her to move. Gabby Hayes is Billy Burns, comic, but also helpful to Bat and Allen. The film is fast moving, with numerous shootouts and a nice black and white cinematography.
dougdoepke Except for two things, it's a fairly routine Scott Western, which means it's still better than most horse operas. First, I'm betting the drought resistant strain of wheat that keeps the farmers on the land is fact-based. Anyway, it's an interesting take on farming for a city boy like me, and is woven effectively into the plot. The second thing is Robert Ryan, one of my favorites. Now, I've seen him as a scary bad guy or a hard-looking good guy in a thousand movies. But I've never seen him as a nice guy until this movie. He's not only good, but nice too, and even gets the girl as a reward. It's Ryan as you've likely never seen him before (It's also early in his career, 1947).Scott's his usual strong-jawed self, and a persuasive Bat Masterson, while the one-and-only Gabby sports a beard that looks like it's eating his face. And check out the obscure ingénue Madge Meredith's (Susan) bio in IMDb. There's a reason why she's obscure. Then too, the 300-lb. Billy House makes a slimy bad guy and a can't miss six-gun target. I guess my only reservation is with Steve Brodie as the chief baddie. He doesn't have quite the gravitas to be a chief, which is likely why most of his career was as a henchman.Anyhow, it's a well-stocked horse opera with good action and a nicely worked-out script. For Scott fans, myself included, it's an enjoyable 90-minutes.
krorie This is a fairly good B western that is upgraded almost to A by the presence of Randy Scott, Robert Ryan, and Anne Jeffreys, unusual in that it concentrates on developing new farming methods to make Kansas the breadbasket of America rather than the usual open range issue in the wars between cattlemen and nesters, although that too is touched on. Gabby Hayes was noted for his tall tales. He even had an early television show centered on that talent. Many times his tall tales were lame but this go around the stories are actually humorous. Helping out in this department is the emphasis on a supposedly mythical character Brandyhead Jones. This running joke has a good finale making it even more intriguing. Character actor Harry Harvey as the mayor is a good foil for Gabby.Randy Scott plays the historical Bat Masterson with emphasis on Bat's hidden talents as a writer. The real Bat Masterson ended his life as sports editor for the Morning Telegraph in New York City. Bat was also good with the six-shooter and was a lawman from time to time. Apart from this the rest of "Trail Street" is mainly fiction based loosely on fact here and there.Unlike the average B western, the title of this film relates directly to the story being told. Trail Street is the main street of Liberal, Kansas, the end of the trail for drovers who herd the cattle to the stockyards for shipment to Chicago. The farmers are threatening to turn Trail Street into Wheat Street. Maury (Steve Brodie) and his toady Carmody (Billy House) the saloon operators are determined to get the land for themselves and keep the new farming methods and new strain of wheat out of the hands of the farmers. House makes an excellent sycophant. Madge Meredith delivers the goods as well as the soiled dove with the heart of gold who also has a filial relationship with Allen (Robert Ryan), the local financier who tries to help the farmers. Meredith had a rather brief screen career. Too bad for she was a skilled actress if this movie is any indication of her abilities.A bit confusing is having two heroes rather than one. Bat and Allen work as a team. Both are pals to Billy (Gabby Hayes) which almost makes this into a Three Mesquiteers outing. Fans of Randolph Scott and Gabby Hayes should enjoy this oater. Others may get bored in places, though there is a good shoot out at the end which reminds the viewer of the later John Wayne saga Rio Bravo.
biker45 ***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*** TRAIL STREET is an average western that distinguishes itself by possibly being the inspiration for the highly praised Howard Hawks-John Wayne extravaganza RIO BRAVO (1959). There are many close plot similarities between the two films, and several characters are nearly identical as well. A greedy land grabbing villain is running all the farmers off their homesteads so that he can build a cattle empire in Kansas. Randolph Scott plays the heavily outnumbered marshal Bat Masterson, trying to hold the leader of a "regulator" gang in jail for trial. Helping him is shotgun-wielding deputy Gabby Hayes. Substitute John Wayne for Scott, Walter Brennan for Hayes, add a teenage idol (Ricky Nelson), some color film, and you've got RIO BRAVO.TRAIL STREET is also notable for the casting of Robert Ryan in an against type good guy role. Overall, TRAIL STREET is worth a look for fans of the western genre, but others will probably lose interest.