Tonight's Movie: Honky Tonk (1941) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

HONKY TONK (1941), an excellent example of '40s MGM star power, was just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

Clark Gable stars as Candy Johnson, a con man of sorts who arrives in a new frontier town with his partner Sniper (Chill Wills) and promptly falls head over heels for young Elizabeth (Lana Turner), whom he'd first met on the train.

Elizabeth believes her father (Frank Morgan), whom she hasn't seen in years, is a respectable judge, but he's actually an old friend of Candy's who has a crooked past himself.

Candy gradually wins over Elizabeth, especially after he donates money to a church, and they marry, to the dismay of her father.

It's a long, winding road to Candy and Elizabeth finding happiness, not to mention Candy finding honesty, but by the end of the movie's 105 minutes, they seem to finally have made it.

The screenplay was written by Marguerite Roberts and John Sanford and a host of uncredited contributors, including James Edward Grant.

The story honestly could have had more substance, as it somewhat meanders along; that said, the film is mostly given over to the Gable-Turner relationship and they absolutely sizzle together, so I suppose that's really all that matters!

One wonders if the theme of the sweet young girl inspiring a rascal to reform had strong input from writer grant, given the theme of his great John Wayne-Gail Russell Western ANGEL AND THE BADMAN (1947) later in the decade.

I've loved HONKY TONK since my teen years but have to admit Gable's "up to no good" Candy hasn't worn well in some ways, given that he spends most of the movie as an unethical trickster; however, he does have a nice character arc where various circumstances, including the realization of how his behavior has negatively impacted the woman he loves, finally lead him to turn over a new leaf.

And oh, is he ever handsome! Gable's dazzling smile could sell anything. I've written it here before, but truly, he was the King of Hollywood.

As for Turner, her acting here isn't especially developed, but she's absolutely adorable, and she wears beautiful dresses designed by Kalloch; at one point Candy tells Elizabeth "You're prettier than a little white kitten with a blue ribbon on it," and that's more than apt.

In addition to Wills and Morgan, the supporting cast is topped by the great Claire Trevor as a saloon gal with feelings for Candy; Trevor doesn't have enough to do but, as always, she adds to every scene in which she appears.

In the book CLAIRE TREVOR: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF THE QUEEN OF NOIR by Derek Sculthorpe, the author writes that Trevor liked making the film and thought she'd given a good performance, but she was horrified when she attended the premiere and saw how her part had been edited: "I felt they had massacred my part." Despite Trevor's fears it would negatively impact her career, she continued to work steadily, with her great years in film noir still ahead of her.

Marjorie Main is also a key cast contributor, along with Albert Dekker, Henry O'Neill, and Cliff Clark.

The movie was directed by Jack Conway, scored by Franz Waxman, and filmed in black and white by Harold Rosson and the uncredited William H. Daniels.

IMDb indicates the railroad station scenes were filmed in Jamestown, California; as it happens, I was at the famed movie location Railtown in Jamestown just last week and didn't recognize any of the train scenes as being filmed there, though it's possible they were shot at Railtown with temporary sets. For the most part this is very much an "MGM backlot Western."

HONKY TONK was originally released by the Warner Archive Collection on DVD back in 2009.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray print is from a 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative. The print is so clear and sharp that I found myself carefully examining the background in the early train station scenes; was it a matte painting or a giant mural? The movie looks and sounds great.

Extras consist of the trailer; the Tom and Jerry cartoon THE MIDNIGHT SNACK (1941); the Our Gang short FIGHTIN' FOOLS (1941) directed by Edward L. Cahn; and most importantly, to my thinking, the Lux Radio Theater (4/8/46) production of HONKY TONK starring Lana Turner, John Hodiak, and Nina Foch. It's interesting that the radio version didn't appear for half a decade after the movie's release; Turner and Hodiak had previously costarred in MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR (1944).

Is HONKY TONK the strongest Western ever made? No, but it's nonetheless steadily entertaining, and fans of Gable and Turner will be more than pleased with this great-looking Blu-ray disc.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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