Streets of Laredo (1949)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Leslie Fenton

Writers:

Charles Marquis Warren (screenplay)
Louis Stevens (story) ...

Release Date:

27 May 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

No man can kill a Texas Ranger... and get away with it!

Plot:

Texas, 1878: cheerful outlaw-buddies Jim, Lorn and Wahoo rescue spunky orphan Rannie Carter from rustling racketeers...

Plot Keywords:

Texas Ranger | Showdown | Western Tune | Shootout | Shot In The Back

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

William Holden	...	Jim Dawkins
Macdonald Carey	...	Lorn Reming
Mona Freeman	...	Rannie Carter
William Bendix	...	Reuben 'Wahoo' Jones
Stanley Ridges	...	Major Bailey
Alfonso Bedoya	...	Charley Calico
Ray Teal	...	Henchman Cantrel
Clem Bevans	...	Pop Lint
James Bell	...	Ike
Dick Foote	...	Texas Ranger Pipes
Joe Dominguez	...	Texas Ranger Francisco
Grandon Rhodes	...	Phil Jessup
Perry Ivins	...	Mayor Towson

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #13310) | West Germany:16 | Spain:T | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The montage of newspapers and Wanted posters portraying Lorn Reming's solo outlaw career includes a newspaper headline with the word "Dicipline".

Quotes:

Jim Dawkins: I figure that a man's friendship for another man is about as honest as anything that comes along.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Married Life (2007)

Soundtrack:

STREETS OF LAREDO

Better Than Average Western Enlivened By The Acting

Three happy-go-lucky Western outlaws, fresh from robbing a stage, stumble on a particularly nasty land grab and break it up, and win the heart of the young girl living on the ranch. Circumstances intervene and two of the outlaws become Texas Rangers and the other becomes a notorious outlaw. Complications ensue, when our new rangers are called upon to arrest the notorious outlaw.

This is a perfectly decent Western, though the plot is extremely generic. The first half-hour or so, showing our three charming outlaws and our young heroine is thoroughly bland -- interesting only that McDonald Carey is really the lead in this portion of the movie, and he is a charming one at that. William Holden plays his role as "youthful sidekick" and Willam Bendix (!!) has the Gabby Hayes part.

As the movie goes along, something fairly unusual in a genre film happens. The characters grow and change. Holden becomes the stalwart hero torn between friendship and duty. William Bendix is forced to choose which of his two friends he will support. McDonald Carey goes from charming outlaw to charming black-hearted villain. All the actors pull it off well. The heroine -- who goes from feisty youngster to babe in cowboy boots, doesn't do so well This ain't John Ford. But it is a pleasant surprise once the plot get going.