Woman They Almost Lynched (1953) User Reviews

Very fun movie!

[michaelatkinson-97208 · 8/10 · 5 December 2022]

I do not write many reviews. However I feel compelled to write this 1 about a film I had never hear of.

I am a big fan of westerns and chanced upon this movie. And I found it a very well made and fun movie. The cast on a whole from saloon gals, to mayor and city committee, to bar employee, to confederate and union soldiers including Quantrell raiders, and city folk really seemed to enjoy their roles. My guess this film was a gas to make. The writing was good with appearances of Jesse James and Cole Younger. And directed well by somebody who had many years of experience.

Overall I gave this movie an 8. High rating for a entertaining movie!

No One Sings About Chuck-A-Luck

[boblipton · 6/10 · 6 November 2019]

On the Missouri-Arkansas border, a town has proclaimed neutrality in the Civil War. Under the rule of Mayor Nina Varela, they can get away with it, because she owns the lead mine and, as the opening narrator tells us us cheerfully, they hang anyone who violates it.... with a lynching going on as we begin.

Into this mix comes Joan Leslie, looking for her brother, Reed Hadley. He's immediately shot by John Lund, leaving Miss Leslie with a money-making saloon and lots of debts. Adding to this mess, come Quantrill's Raiders, led by Brian Donlevy, who's married to Audrey Totter, who was going to marry Hadley until Donlevy carried her away; now she's mean, and gunning for Miss Leslie, who's in love with Lund, because this is one of director Allan Dwan's movies, where symbolism carries the freight, and the dark/light twins at the center of this conflict are Miss Totter and Miss Leslie.

Miss Totter has a heck of a time, sauntering around in leather trousers with a sneer on her face, Brian Donlevy constantly putting her down. Miss Leslie is the good girl, unable to get a job as a schoolmarm, who turns readily to being, as she puts it, "a honky-tonk queen." The women running the town talk slightingly of men in a way that sounds photo-feminist, but with Union troops to the north and Southern troops to the south, and all the men in town the dregs of society -- who drink a lot but are very respectful of the women -- it's an uneasy equilibrium, a stasis that will last until the end of the War, Can Miss Varela hang enough people who threaten the situation to last until then?

When people talk about the weird symbolic westerns of the 1950s, they usually talk about JOHNNY GUITAR. This one is even crazier, because the people in this movie think they're sane.

Unusual Western ruled by Women!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 21 November 2017]

The immortal silent movie's director Allan Dwann still alives in talked movies and made a outstanding and prolific career with more than 400 movies, probably never will be surpassed nowadays, this western wasn't any kind of forgotten gem or something like that, just a different kind, where the women are the major stars, Joan Leslie as new Saloon's owner, Audrey Totter as a evil and bitter Quantrill's wife and Nina Varela as the City's Mayor, all them strong and powerful, the story is usual, took place during the civil war!!

Resume:

First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

Forget JOHNNY GUITAR, this is the female western you've been waiting for

[BrianDanaCamp · 6 March 2015]

WOMAN THEY ALMOST LYNCHED (1953) opens with a bang and never lets up for its entire running time. I don't think I've ever seen a Republic western as good as this one, packed with incident, filled with a great cast of performers, several of them playing famous outlaws, smoothly directed and expertly edited, and boasting an array of powerful female characters like you've never seen in one western before. I would say that Audrey Totter as bloodthirsty Kate Quantrill steals the show but then I'd be giving short shrift to Joan Leslie who more than holds her own against Totter right up to the end. The two characters start out as fierce antagonists who get into a shouting match at the scene of a massacre of Union soldiers and it only gets worse from there, descending into a spectacular barroom catfight and eventually into a gun duel on the town's main street that doesn't resolve things at all. It gets even more interesting as it goes along and we learn more about both women and watch as the anger subsides and they come to more than one level of understanding. Totter even gets to sing two lovely songs in the film, although I can't confirm that she did her own singing.

And they're not the only strong women in the cast. The mayor of the town is a big woman named Delilah Courtney (stage singer Nina Varela), who owns the local lead mines and rules over things with an iron hand, resorting to hangings when anyone breaks the rules of neutrality. Then there are the saloon girls at the Lead Dollar Saloon, who worked for Leslie's brother (Reed Hadley) and then for Leslie's character, Sally Maris, and give her all sorts of advice and assistance throughout the film. One of them is none other than Ann Savage, most famous as Vera, the hard-bitten femme fatale from Edgar G. Ulmer's B-noir classic, DETOUR (1945). Fans of that film will be pleasantly surprised at how charming and attractive Savage could be in other roles. Also on hand is Virginia Christine, a veteran character actress who usually played housewives and suburban moms, but handles herself quite adequately in her saloon role.

The setting of the film is quite unusual. The time is 1863, at the height of the Civil War, and the locale is a little town in the Ozarks that straddles the border between Missouri and Arkansas, one Union state and one Confederate state. Mayor Courtney declares strict neutrality and orders the Union and Confederate troops to stay at least five miles away from town. One of her lead mines supplies the North and the other supplies the South. John Lund, top billed, plays a Confederate officer working undercover as a mine foreman. Brian Donlevy plays Colonel Quantrill, who leads a renegade force of rebel fighters working chiefly on their own and violates the neutrality rules when he brings his men into town. These men include Frank James (James Brown), Jesse James (Ben Cooper) and Cole Younger (Jim Davis). The town is full of men from both sides of the war and the slightest provocation could trigger a violent confrontation on the spot. In fact, the catfight between Kate and Sally begins because Sally is adamant about preventing Kate from singing "Dixie" in the saloon.

Also in the large and colorful cast are Minerva Urecal and Ellen Corby as outspoken town ladies; Richard Simmons ("Sergeant Preston of the Yukon") as a Union army captain whom Kate tries to charm; Gordon Jones (Mike the cop from "The Abbott and Costello Show") as a Union army sergeant; Richard Crane ("Rocky Jones, Space Ranger") as a Union Army lieutenant; and Reed Hadley ("Racket Squad") as Sally's brother, who still suffers heartache from losing Kate to Colonel Quantrill two years earlier. Donlevy had played Quantrill quite memorably three years earlier in KANSAS RAIDERS for Universal. Jim Davis went on to star in the Republic-produced TV series, "Stories of the Century," in which his character, railroad investigator Matt Clark, went after famous outlaws like the ones depicted here, in episodes that used stock footage from Republic westerns like this one. In fact, the opening montage of this film, showing Quantrill's murderous raid on Lawrence, Kansas, relies on footage taken from an earlier Republic western, DARK COMMAND (1940), in which Walter Pidgeon played a character based on Quantrill.

The direction is by Allan Dwan, who'd been directing by this point in his career for 42 years. The screenplay is by Steve Fisher, a specialist at different kinds of pulp genre films (LADY OF THE LAKE, DEAD RECKONING, THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO) and he juggles the different characters and plot elements so well that no one gets lost or cut from the action. Every major character, and I count at least a dozen of them, gets their share of great scenes. Only one is written out early on to pave the way for the bold actions required by another.

Republic brought over auteur favorite Nicholas Ray to direct JOHNNY GUITAR the following year, in lurid Trucolor, with Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge as dueling female antagonists and that film has always gotten extraordinary attention from western scholars and feminist film critics seeking to focus academic respectability on a film rich with Freudian themes and flamboyant theatricality. My sixth sense tells me that ordinary western fans would prefer WOMAN THEY ALMOST LYNCHED. I wish this film were better known and better appreciated.

Breaking the traditional storytelling

[colagold · 7/10 · 18 October 2023]

The film presents a clearly feminist message, in which it is the women who must resolve all conflicts and even save the lives of their male counterparts. This dynamic continually challenges the expectations of fans of traditionally male westerns.

But this idea of breaking with traditional storytelling is not limited to that, and is reinforced with other really interesting elements.

From the introduction of some characters with a level of detail that makes us think they will be protagonists or key elements of the plot, and who are gunned down a few minutes after meeting them (I think of the protagonist's brother and the soldier who escorts her at the beginning of the film, with whom a certain sexual tension is established), to the total absence of punishment for the villains of the film. Even a lead mine robbery is promised, which occupies not a few scenes, but ultimately never takes place.

"How would you like to get your hands on Kate Quantrill?"

[richardchatten · 9/10 · 14 March 2024]

In many ways this rollicking piece of Republic hokum resembles 'Johnny Guitar' with a sense of humour; it's tongue-in-cheek mood established at the outset by the opening narration describing America after the Civil War as a time of "rebels and renegades" followed by an exchange between a youngster and an old timer when the lad asks "Where is everybody?" and the old boy replies "Up at the lynching" and the later throwaway line "You killed five Yankee soldiers on your way into town!"

That although playing the title role Joan Leslie - who although formerly a Sunday school teacher soon shows herself pretty adept with a six shooter - only gets billed fourth does her a grave disservice; since despite the presence of famous western outlaws like Brian Donlevy as William Quantrell (for some reason here called 'Charles Quantrill'), Jim Davis as Cole Younger and Ben Cooper as a fresh-faced young Jesse James a remarkable feature of the film is the preponderance of females, from Nina Varela as the lady mayoress with robust views on capital punishment to a blonde Audrey Totter in a black hat and leather pants - definitely not a lady but certainly all woman - as Quantrill's wife Kate who engages Miss Leslie in a terrific catfight admiringly described by one onlooker as "a better fight than the war between the north and the south".

Too bad it wasn't made in Trucolor as was originally intended. Still, you can't have everything.

Ladies, Step Up to the Bar

[5November · 5/10 · 17 December 2006]

One of those unusual westerns with two women as the central characters... such as in "Johnny Guitar" and "Jubilee Trail," among others. During the Civil War in a town run by ruthless people, bad Kate has it in for darling Sally but stay tuned to the climactic ending to see how this all works out. Definitely a cheap oater with few production values, but it does have lively performances from Joan Leslie and Audrey Totter. If you know these actresses, then you know who plays whom. Fourth-billed Leslie is actually the star of this dopey-titled film and is always a joy to watch. For those who love women fight scenes, this has one of the fun ones. So glad I have it on my homemade VHS as this little-seen film is unlikely to ever be on DVD.

Audrey Totter is very sexy in her leather cowboy pants and boots

[woleary717 · 9/10 · 3 April 2002]

The movie is unusual because the ladies are the powerful ones in this movie. Audrie Totter is the cowgirl Emma Peel Because of her sexy leather pants and riding boots. Audrey is also the opposite of Emma because of her evil disposition. Warren O'Leary.

Yankee on the right, Swanee on the left, Freudian slip in the middle.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 30 December 2015]

It's a pre-Johnny Guitar battle of the bitches in this rather odd Western of a catfight that takes 90 minutes to unleash any fur. Set in a town where the woman owned saloon is built right on the Mason/Dixon line where two flags of battling brothers reveals the hatred between a once friendly public space became a political battleground. Joan Leslie, billed lower than others, is a feisty saloon owner who puts up with no nonsense with the still battling soldiers from the civil war who haven't ended the feud with the flag of surrender. Along comes a gang of the most famous bandits of the era, the most dangerous of them being the vindictive Audrey Totter who resents Leslie for beating the cheap out of her after she caused trouble by singing a confederate song. A gun duel follows, leaving one of the two women at the mercy of the other as a posse arrives to get ahold of the bandits, dead or barely alive.

This feminist themed western has its admirers, but I found it a bit pretentious in spite of good intentions. Certainly, women gained social power during the times of war when men were away but were reluctant to give it up when the men returned. I was rather put off by Totter's masculine but jealous female who simply started the feud with the livelier Miss Leslie simply out of envy.

This is a case of mistaken identity mixed with female protection when a of a sudden Leslie disguises Totter as a saloon singer, all of a sudden bringing out her feminine side.

I am surprised that Republic producer Herbert Yates didn't cast Vera Grubs Ralston in Totter's part, making her resemble her with the strange close- ups which did nothing to accelerate her looks. The male characters are secondary here even though Brian Fonlevy is billed above both Totter and Leslie. Jim Davis of "Dallas" fame and John Lund are among the other men. I will single out Nina Varela as the town's imperious matron who steals every moment she is on screen, while Minerva Urecal and Ellen Colby are among the other town biddies. This is an interesting failure that at times seems to be unintentionally funny.

"This is a better fight than the one between the North and South"

[estherwalker-34710 · 8/10 · 24 March 2022]

The quote in my title, uttered by one of Quantrill's anarchic paramilitary raiders, refers to the mega-catfight between 'bad girl' Audrey Totter(as Kate Quantrill) and 'good girl' Joan Leslie(as Sally Maris). I'll have to admit that it's the most entertaining cat fight I've seen on film, and the most memorable scene in this memorable western, which is cast near the end of the Civil War, in and around Border City, on the border between Arkansas(Confederate) and Missouri(Union). The town is run with an iron first by a stout, middle-aged, woman: Mrs. Courtney, who owns the important nearby lead mines, and claims she was appointed as mayor, with the authority to determine the outcome of all civil and criminal cases, and the sentence. She's known as a 'hanging judge' and we see an example soon into the film. Some of the townfolk look upon them as lynchings, rather than legal hangings. The mayor has declared the town neutral in the war, and doesn't allow troops of either side within 5 miles of the town. Anybody she considers a troublemaker she kicks out of town or, if serious enough, hangs them(since there is no jail nor sheriff).

Into this town, Michigan-bred prim young Sally Maris arrives by stage, incongruously accompanied by Quantrill's gang, which includes young Jesse James, his brother, and Cole Younger. The gang had shot to pieces the Union cavalry that had been accompanying the stage, presumably in a robbery, causing the stage to fall on it's side and be dragged a ways by the horses. Some rescued Sally, unhurt, from the stage, and she gets her first look at tomboyish, but good-looking, brassy Kate Quantrill, who sizes her up as a bookish greenhorn, to be sneered at. Kate used to be the singer for the main saloon/hotel in town, owned and operated by Sally's brother Bill, which is the reason Sally ventured to this town. In fact, Kate was slated to become Bill's wife when she was kidnapped by Quantrill(Brian Donlevy), who made her one of the gang and his wife. As a result, Bill became a drunkard and amassed huge gambling debts.

Soon after Kate enters Bill's saloon with the gang, she begins to taunt Bill by singing a song: presumably one she used to sing there. While singing, she goes around flirting with various men, ending with Bill, whom she spends the most time circling around. Bill becomes enraged and soon announces that she deserves to be shot. He draws his pistol, but an arm knocks it away. He aims again, but before he can shoot, he is shot dead by the mayor's lead mine manager: Lance Horton(John Lund). Sally descends from her room and finds out that Lance shot her brother, in defense of Kate. She's very angry with both. Sally's animosity toward these 2 will persist for some time. But, gradually, her hate will turn to pity or love and, in the end, Kate literally saves the necks of Sally and Lance, before fleeing a Union cavalry to the safety of a Confederate camp, in a complicated, but ultimately satisfying finale. According to Sally, Kate fled to her hometown of New Orleans, where she was achieving her dream of again becoming a saloon singer.

I should mention that , after the murder of Bill, Sally reluctantly took over management of his saloon/hotel, transforming her external personality from schoolmarmish to that of a 'honky tonk queen' greeter, eventually paying off all of Bill's gambling debts, so that she could sell the business and accompany Lance to somewhere in the South, as implied at the end.

I should also point out that, in addition to the mega-catfight, Sally and Kate engaged in probably the first stereotypical street showdown gun duel between 2 women, in a western. The very next year, this would be repeated in the much better remembered western "Johnny Guitar", which I have yet to see. After I see it, I will make comparisons.

In conclusion, despite some minuses, this is a western worth seeing for it's complicated plot, and for its lead women, as well as 3 saloon girls I didn't mention. A very blurry copy is available at You Tube. I chose to buy a very good copy by Olive Films. It's a B&W film from budget films Republic Studios, originally slated to be shot in Trucolor. Too bad this was cancelled. Republic also sponsored "Johnny Guitar", shot in color, almost like the present film was a warmup for that film.