STREETS OF LAREDO (director: Leslie Fenton; screenwriters: Charles Marquis Warren/from the story by Louis Stevens & Elizabeth Hill; cinematographer: Ray Rennahan; editor: Archie Marshek; music: Victor Young; cast: William Holden (Jim Dawkins), William Bendix (Wahoo Jones), Macdonald Carey( Lorn Reming), Mona Freeman (Rannie Carter), Stanley Ridges (Major Bailey), Alfonso Bedoya (Charles Calico), Ray Teal (Cantrel), Clem Bevins (Pop Lint), James Bell (Ike); Runtime: 92; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Robert Fellows; Paramount Pictures; 1949)
“Lesser remake of The Texas Rangers (1936).”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A richly visual Technicolor treat but lesser remake of The Texas Rangers (1936), that is adequately filmed. It keeps the same plot but alters the story by leaving out any Indian stories. Leslie Fenton(“The Saint’s Vacation”/”Whispering Smith“/”Pardon My Past”) agreeably directs. Charles Marquis Warren adapts the trite screenplay from a story by Louis Stevens & Elizabeth Hill.
Happy-go-lucky outlaws Jim Dawkins (William Holden), Wahoo Jones (William Bendix) and Lorn Remmin (Macdonald Carey) go on separate paths, after one last robbery, with two of them joining the newly founded Texas Rangers and Lorn continuing as the outlaw that the two must bring in.
A love story is thrown into the mix. Rannie (Mona Freeman) is the young girl the trio helped when they stopped her family ranch from being taken by land-grabbers, who years later matures into an attractive lady. When the trio separate, Jim shows his love for her but she prefers Lorn until she discovers that Lorn is a bad dude and changes her tune.
REVIEWED ON 5/7/2015 GRADE: B-
Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”
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