Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

Montana (1950)
5/10
Presentable but uninspired!
13 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
An El Cheapo western if ever there was one, with a climax made up entirely of stock footage - and not particularly exciting stock footage at that - either used as is or very obviously projected on a back screen.

Still it's hard to put a good cast down - Flynn even gets the opportunity to sing a song. He's as charming as ever and Alexis Smith makes a colorful foil for his attentions. S.Z. Sakall dominates the first quarter-hour or so, and then unaccountably disappears, while Douglas Kennedy makes an indifferent villain. Fortunately, Ian MacDonald makes an ugly enough henchman and Paul Burns is more than okay as Flynn's Walter Brennan type sidekick. Enright's direction is competent if undistinguished, - at least he keeps the film moving. Karl Freund's photography (provided it isn't being used as a foreground to back projection) is as colorful as a postcard. But it lacks style. But then so does the rest of the film. The players give it a bit of class, but otherwise it's on its own.

The script is no more than adequate. Maybe the plot and the characters were less familiar back in 1950 but I don't think so. Still at 76 minutes and by "B"-feature standards, it's a presentable enough offering.
2 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed