American Empire (1942)

Two men join forces to build a cattle empire, and battle rustlers, bad weather and each other.

Director:

William C. McGann

Writers:

J. Robert Bren (screenplay), Gladys Atwater (screenplay),

Stars:

Richard Dix, Leo Carrillo, Preston Foster

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Dix	...	Dan Taylor
Leo Carrillo	...	Dominique Beauchard
Preston Foster	...	Paxton Bryce
Frances Gifford	...	Abigail 'Abby' Taylor
Robert Barrat	...	Crowder (as Robert H. Barrat)
Jack La Rue	...	Pierre- Beauchard Henchman
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Sailaway (as Guinn Williams)
Cliff Edwards	...	Runty
Merrill Rodin	...	Paxton Bryce Jr. (as Merrill Guy Rodin)
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Augustin- Beauchard Henchman (as Chris Pin Martin)
Richard Webb	...	Crane
William Farnum	...	Louisiana Judge
Etta McDaniel	...	Willa May
Hal Taliaferro	...	Malone

Storyline

Two men join forces to build a cattle empire, and battle rustlers, bad weather and each other.

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Plot Keywords:

empire | 1880s | texan | usa | louisiana | 

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Taglines:

The nation-blazing epic of America's westward march!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 December 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Muralha de Fogo

Filming Locations:

Kernville, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Harry Sherman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Wide Range System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally made by Paramount but sold to United Artists for release.

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Quotes

Dan Taylor: The war's over Pax. We can't start another one, just because you're restless.

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Soundtracks

"Little Pal"
Written by Lew Pollack
Sung by Cliff Edwards

User Reviews

Ambitious Epic of Post Civil War Texas

"American Empire" is another of a series of modestly budgeted features produced by Harry "Pop" Sherman, who also was responsible for the highly successful Hopalong Cassidy series. This one deals with the emergeance of the cattle ranches in Texas in the years following the Civil War.

Two soldiers of fortune, Dan Taylor (Richard Dix) and Pax Bryce (Preston Foster) are ruuning a freight business from their riverboat. One day they meet up with the unscrupulous Dominique Beauchard (Leo Carillo) who is driving cattle to his home state of Louisiana. The boys agree to transport the cattle to their destination for a set fee. When Beauchard fails to pay up they keep the cattle and decide to go into the cattle ranching business.

Into the mix comes Taylor's sister Abby (Frances Gifford) with whom Bryce falls in love and marries. They soon have a son Pax Jr. (Merrill Rodin) and Pax Sr. becomes more and more ambitious as time goes on, much to the chagrin of his partner Dan. He has angered the smaller ranchers by refusing them permission to drive their cattle across his land. The ranchers decide to stampede the cattle through but Pax Jr. is killed in the stampede.

Bryce becomes distraught and decides to erect barb wire fences around the ranch which forces Dan to dissolve their partnership. All this is resolved at the end when all realize that progress must prevail over the ambitions of one man.

Also in the cast are Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Cliff Edwards as the comic relief, Jack LaRue and Chris-Pin Martin as Carillo's henchmen, and veterans William Farnum and Hal Taliaferro in other roles.

Foster is really the star of the movie despite being billed third. He delivers a solid performance. Dix, who was top billed, is really only a supporting player. Gifford looks lovely as the heroine. The action is well staged and there's one dandy of a gunfight at the climax of the film.

A good western.