Liberal, Kansas is in disarray. The farmers, backed by banker Allen Harper (Robert Ryan), are trying to turn the hard, dry land into fertile soil. The cattlemen, financed by Logan Maury (Steve Brodie), are trying to run them out—either by stampeding the crops into the ground or grazing them to death. And it’s working. Farmers are leaving by the day, and even Allen’s girl, Susan Pritchett (Madge Meredith), is becoming the object of Logan’s desire.

Into the tempest waltzes U.S. Marshall Bat Masterson (Randolph Scott), an officer of the law fresh from Dodge City—where he helped Wyatt Earp establish order. Masterson, a real person who lived many lives, is well represented in the western genre, but Scott’s lean and lanky figure with his lantern jaw gives Masterson an undeniable presence. When Masterson outlaws guns in Liberal, he manages to unarm the mob without firing a shot. In most movies, the cowboys surrender their firearms simply because the script requires it. With Scott, you would too. 

Based on the novel Golden Horizons by William Corcoran and directed by Ray Enright, Trail Street sports a lean narrative that rarely leaves the confines of Liberty or loses the multiple storylines. There’s the war between the farmers and the cowboys, the relationship between Allen and Susan and the town entertainer (Anne Jeffreys) who comes between them, Masterson’s deputy, Billy (George Hayes), who takes a liking to the law, and Allen’s quest to solve the mystery of Kansas farmland. That’s a lot of faces and plenty of plot for 84 minutes.

On top of all that, Enright and writers Norman Houston and Gene Lewis make room to consider the need for gun control to maintain a civilized society and the constant threat organized crime poses to ordinary citizens trying to make a buck. Add in some stellar black and white photography from J. Roy Hunt—which favors night shooting rather than the standard day-for-night filters—and you have all the trappings for a solid allegory that feels as relevant today as it did in 1947.

Trail Street (1947)
Directed by Ray Enright
Screenplay by Norman Houston, Gene Lewis
Based on the novel Golden Horizons by William Corcoran
Produced by Nat Holt
Starring: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffrey, George Hayes, Madge Meredith, Steve Brodie
RKO Pictures, Not rated, Running time 84 minutes, Opened Feb. 19, 1947

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