Tonight's Movie: Wyoming (1947)

Bill Elliott stars as a hardworking cattle baron in WYOMING (1947), a Western from Republic Pictures.

WYOMING and its tale of a range war spans many years, somewhat calling to mind an Allied Artists Western of the same era, SHORT GRASS (1950), which starred Rod Cameron.

Elliott plays Charles Alderson, who arrives in Wyoming in a covered wagon with his wife Karen (Vera Ralston) and her Aunt Maria (Maria Ouspenskaya).

Windy Gibson (George "Gabby" Hayes) gives them a place to stay, but soon thereafter Karen sadly dies in childbirth. Charles and Karen's daughter, also named Karen, is eventually sent to study in Europe with Aunt Maria, and when they return several years later, Karen (now also played by Ralston) has an accent and looks just like her mother.

Charles, meanwhile, has become Windy's partner and together they have built a huge cattle ranch.

Local homesteaders led by Duke Lassiter (Albert Dekker) want to fence off land and watering holes, heedless of the fact they're killing Charles's cattle. Charles and his reliable foreman Glenn (John Carroll), a former lawyer, disagree on tactics, with Charles living by the gun and Glenn preferring the law; this friction is complicated by the fact that Glenn and Karen have fallen in love.

WYOMING tells a meaty story, with more plot and characters than one might expect to find in an Elliott Western. Elliott is excellent as a man for whom life has sometimes been difficult but who has worked hard and is unwilling to let others destroy what he's built.

The film is also interesting insofar as range wars are often told from the perspective of homesteaders, with the land baron being an evil villain, but here we see the point of view of a man who's struggled from next to nothing to build his cattle empire and now is trying to hold on to it.

I especially enjoyed Charles's long-standing relationship with Lila (Virginia Grey), who arrives in town to run the saloon just as Karen leaves for school. The way Charles and Lila both argue and support one another over the years is touching and realistically done.

I've always liked Carroll, and he's very good in this as a man loyal to both his boss (and potential future father-in-law) and the law. I appreciated the conflict he felt, along with his devotion to Karen.

The movie was filmed in black and white by the great John Alton, so you know it looks good. It was directed by Joseph Kane. The script of this 84-minute film was by written by Lawrence Hazard and Gerald Geraghty.

The cast also includes Grant Withers, Harry Woods, Minna Gombell, Roy Barcroft, Trevor Bardette, and Charles Middleton.

This film is not currently available on DVD. I'd sure love to see an authorized set of not-on-DVD Elliott films released; I'd snap it up immediately, and I know many of my readers feel the same way.