- Overview
Ex-confederate officer Clay Fletcher jumps at the chance to reunite with his once lady-friend, Susan Jeffers, when his father, Judge Fletcher, sends him on an errand to El Paso, Texas to get the signature of Susan's father, Judge Jeffers, on a legal document. Once there he finds the judge has become a drunk and a laughing stock, doing the bidding of local magnate Bert Donner and his running dog, Sheriff La Farge. Just as Clay starts straightening out the town's problems, events occur which force him to abandon the legal system and instead adopt the murderous tactics of a vigilante.
- Release Date
22 March 1949
- DirectingHoward Pine
- Budget
$0.00
- Revenue
$0.00
- Stars
Videos
User Reviews
See moreJohn Chard
16 May 2024
Legal Eagle and the Johnny Rebels. El Paso is directed by Lewis R. Foster and Foster also adapts the screenplay from a story written by J. Robert Bren and Gladys Atwater. It stars John Payne, Gail Russell, Sterling Hayden, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Dick Foran, Eduardo Noriega, Henry Hull and Mary Beth Hughes. Music is by Darrell Calker and cinematography by Ellis W. Carter. Location filming is at the Iverson and Corrigan Ranches and El Paso and Gallup. El Paso, and lawyer and ex-Confederate captain Clay Fletcher (Payne) is forced to go against his principles and go outside the law to bring order to the town. It's a town where the judge is alcoholic and manipulated by the corrupt sheriff and a nefarious landowner. In the mix here is a very decent film, and certainly there's a story that if given a bit more meat could have been most potent. Unfortunately it's a bit choppy in its telling and execution, while the Cinecolor it was shot in looks washed out and cheapens still further what was already a picture being made without a big budget. Thematically it's strong, there's a vigilante thread that's attention grabbing, with some nice suggestive shots used by the director, and a theme of ex-soldiers returning from the war - only to find their land and rights being vanquished by the self imposed powers that be - carries with it some pertinent sting. There's also some good humour in here, notably a running gag involving Hughes' Stagecoach Nellie. Cast are fine, with Hayden and Payne fronting up for their fans, Hayes does another grand grizzled old coot turn, and Noriega, in spite of being under used, is excellent. Crude back projection work undermines some half decent action sequences, whilst the extended shoot-out finale is nicely played out during a dust storm - which may be to hide some flaws in the production? But regardless it has good effect. Frustrating picture for sure, but for Western die-hards there's enough here to enjoy and not feel angry about. 6.5/10
More Like This
The Wild Bunch
An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
See more
The Iron Sheriff
Frontier peacekeeper Sheriff Galt faces a crisis of conscience in The Iron Sheriff. In the aftermath of a robbery-murder, Galt follows the trail of...
See more
Wedding Thrashers
When dashing outlaw Brett Harris (Nick Olson) and dimwitted sheriff Frank Hopperkin (Jalen Jensen) learn their siblings are getting engaged, the...
See more
Open Range
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
See more
Jesse James' Women
Jesse James leaves Missouri for Mississippi, and immediately charms all the women in Mississippi out of their bloomers and garters. His first...
See more
Colorado Serenade
Duke Dillon has his gang robbing stagecoaches carrying gold which is then melted down by his father. But Eddie and his sidekick Soapy are on the...
See more
Tom Horn
A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his...
See more
The Pecos Pistol
A partial remake of and using footage from 1941's "Rawhide Rangers" this Western short is about a ranger who pretends to turn outlaw in order to...
See more
Support Your Local Sheriff!
In the old west, a man becomes a Sheriff just for the pay, figuring he can decamp if things get tough.
See more
The Quick and the Dead
A mysterious woman comes to compete in a quick-draw elimination tournament, in a town taken over by a notorious gunman.
See more
Hands Across the Rockies
Wild Bill Hickock and Cannonball help two young people in love and bring the murderer of Cannonball's father to justice.
See more
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the...
See more
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
In late 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy is the affable, clever and talkative leader of the outlaw Hole in the Wall Gang. His closest companion is the...
See more
Stagecoach
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo, and learn something about each other in the...
See more
High Noon
Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon...
See more
Will Penny
Will Penny, an aging cowpoke, takes a job on a ranch which requires him to ride the line of the property looking for trespassers or, worse...
See more
The Big Country
Retired wealthy sea captain Jim McKay arrives in the Old West, where he becomes embroiled in a feud between his future father-in-law, Major Terrill...
See more
Carambola's Philosophy: In the Right Pocket
Len and Cody are two friends who can not spend more than two minutes without arguing. These crazy gunmen snatched a Confederate colonel charged an...
See more
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K...
See more