Colorado Territory (1949)

In Colorado territory, outlaw Wes McQueen escapes jail to pull a railroad robbery but, upon meeting pretty settler Julie Ann, he wonders about going straight.

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

John Twist, Edmund H. North

Stars:

Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, Dorothy Malone

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joel McCrea	...	Wes McQueen
Virginia Mayo	...	Colorado Carson
Dorothy Malone	...	Julie Ann Winslow
Henry Hull	...	Fred Winslow
John Archer	...	Reno Blake
James Mitchell	...	Duke Harris
Morris Ankrum	...	United States Marshal
Basil Ruysdael	...	Dave Rickard
Frank Puglia	...	Brother Tomas
Ian Wolfe	...	Homer Wallace
Harry Woods	...	Pluthner
Houseley Stevenson	...	Prospector

Storyline

Outlaw Wes McQueen is sprung from jail to help pull one last railroad job. He doesn't like his new partners - except dance-hall girl Colorado - and anyway fancies Julie Ann newly arrived from the east to set up home with her father. Maybe time to get out. Unfortunately he also has a $10,000 reward on his head, dead or alive.

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Plot Keywords:

outlaw | train | train robbery | chase | sheriff | 

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Taglines:

Here their love brings them ... a man with a price on his head and a girl with a price on her kisses !

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 June 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

North of the Rio Grande

Filming Locations:

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Colorado, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first American movie to be banned in West Germany, due to being 'an example of gangster films which glorify anti-social elements'.

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Goofs

At 37:00, McQueen goes to visit his old partner. He sits down at a table with him and takes put a pouch of tobacco and rolling paper. He opens the pouch & sprinkles tobacco onto the paper, then pulls the drawstring on the tobacco pouch with his teeth and throws the pouch on the table. Seconds later, in the next scene, the pouch is back in his hand and he repeats the same process.

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Quotes

Fred Winslow: Are you new to this land, Mr. Rogers? The Promised Land, that's what it is. My father used to say, "The sun travels west... and so does opportunity."

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Mouth 3 (2018)

User Reviews

One More Heist

Just one, before our aging outlaw's final retirement and start of a new life.

But there are complications--crafty colleagues, traitor accomplices and--women.

One woman turns out to be helpful, the other merely selfish. But that's just the start of our antihero's problems.

It's a Raoul Walsh film, and by golly, if any director knew how to make a movie move, it's Walsh. Made the same year as his classic, "White Heat," this western also ends with an "On Top o' the World" finale.

Joel McCrea is an intriguing actor. A sort of neutral entity that could be cast in any kind of role and come off looking and sounding natural and acceptable. No one ever especially went to see, nor stayed away from a picture because of him. He was just there, always doing a dependable job. And what an array of fine directors used him.

Likewise, Virginia Mayo is a solid pro, and this role allows her more opportunity than merely being decorative. Her character work is most convincing.

Taking what could have been a routine script, Walsh turns it into a picture that, once one starts watching, one cannot stop till the end. It moves, surprises and stimulates.

Some directors just have it, and Walsh is clearly strutting his stuff in "Colorado Territory."