I found Fort Worth to be a very strange movie, one that ultimately doesn't work very well for me. The problem is that it takes about a half dozen classic western plots and mashes them all together in an awkward muddle. You've got the gunfighter who's trying to hang up his guns, the newspaper man who wants to help civilize a lawless town, the tycoon who's trying to cheat someone if not everyone out of their land, the lawman who's fighting a band of outlaws and rustlers, and the longtime friends who are vying for the same girl. Any one of these tropes would typically serve as the main plot for a movie, and a good movie might support two, but not even the characters can figure out how all of them work together in this one.
For example, Randolph Scott plays Ned Britt, who is passing through his old hometown of Fort Worth where he meets up with his old pal Blair Lunsford (David Brian). Their happy reunion starts to sour as Ned comes to believe that Lunsford is allowing a gang of rustlers to operate freely in order to lower land prices and drive out residents so Lundsford can buy up their land for next to nothing. For a good while, Ned can't decide if Lunsford is actually working with the rustlers, working against them, or just sitting by while they do his work for him. Rather than creating suspense or moving the plot forward, this situation just confuses the viewer as much as it does Ned. Worse, it's a red herring whose resolution changes nothing.
Equally confusing is Ned's attempt to give up his guns. His reasons have nothing to do with morality or principle. For Ned it's a practical matter. On the one hand, he's found that gunplay just brings more trouble, and for another he's found a much better and more effective weapon, the press. That brings us to another trope that is mangled by this movie -- the crusading journalist. Ned and his partner are looking for a place to start a newspaper. The partner, Ben Garvin (Emerson Treacy), actually does fit the stereotype of the crusty, principled newspaper man who is ready to tame a town. Unfortunately, Garvin appears only briefly and mainly serves to introduce an important plot point, that Lunsford is running a land-grab scheme. In fact, there's a couple of characters that are used that way. The other is one of the two significant female characters, a former love interest of Lunsford named Amy (Helena Carter) who appears in two quick scenes with the sole purpose of revealing that Lunsford is also a heel who is marrying a girl for her money.
As for the idea that Ned himself is actually a journalist, that is also little more than a plot device. Although Ned's hometown of Fort Worth certainly needs civilizing, he doesn't want to start a paper there because the town isn't big enough to provide enough subscribers for a successful paper. As a journalist, his main principle seems to be making money His idea of the role of the press is also a bit strange. He repeatedly refers to newspapers as a weapon and threatens more than once to "write {Lunsford) out of town." He never professes any other principle or motive for wanting to start a paper. He also never says or does anything that would suggest he could make a living with a pen.
Ned's relationship with gunplay is similarly confusing. Despite his claim to have given it up fpr good, it's no surprise when he is eventually forced to strap on his six shooters and summarily kill several outlaws. But what should signal a sea change in his character development is little more than fan service. The gun battle changes nothing for Ned. He just responded to the situation at hand in a practical way. His attitude and principles remain the same as they had been. There's no consequences, no introspection, and no regrets for Ned. He'll take the guns off or put them back on as needed.
Ned's relationship with women is equally strange. The other point in the love triangle with Ned and Lunsford is lady rancher Flora Talbot (Phyllis Thaxter). When we meet her she is engaged to Lunsford, and for most of the movie Ned does nothing to suggest that she is more than a friend to him. However, Flora spends the first half of the story ridiculing Ned for giving up his guns, openly questioning his manhood when he suggests he doesn't want to kill anyone. It's not until Ned is convinced that Lunsford is an opportunitic liar that Ned decides he is also romantically interested in Flora. At that point, he suggests he's always felt that way, but we've seen zero evidence of that before. Of course, the fact that both men are old enough to be Flora's father bothers no one. For her part, Flora decides she likes Ned too once he has returned to killing folks and Lunsford has become an outright villain.
For modern viewers, Randolph Scott is a little-known and vastly under-appreciated Western hero. Although he was mostly confined to B-movies with modest budgets and second-tier casts, his performances often elevated those stories to excellence. His best vehicles had simple, tried and true plots, often using one of the tropes mentioned here. Fort Worth is not one of those movies. It's a muddled mess that not even Randolph Scott can ride in to save.
For example, Randolph Scott plays Ned Britt, who is passing through his old hometown of Fort Worth where he meets up with his old pal Blair Lunsford (David Brian). Their happy reunion starts to sour as Ned comes to believe that Lunsford is allowing a gang of rustlers to operate freely in order to lower land prices and drive out residents so Lundsford can buy up their land for next to nothing. For a good while, Ned can't decide if Lunsford is actually working with the rustlers, working against them, or just sitting by while they do his work for him. Rather than creating suspense or moving the plot forward, this situation just confuses the viewer as much as it does Ned. Worse, it's a red herring whose resolution changes nothing.
Equally confusing is Ned's attempt to give up his guns. His reasons have nothing to do with morality or principle. For Ned it's a practical matter. On the one hand, he's found that gunplay just brings more trouble, and for another he's found a much better and more effective weapon, the press. That brings us to another trope that is mangled by this movie -- the crusading journalist. Ned and his partner are looking for a place to start a newspaper. The partner, Ben Garvin (Emerson Treacy), actually does fit the stereotype of the crusty, principled newspaper man who is ready to tame a town. Unfortunately, Garvin appears only briefly and mainly serves to introduce an important plot point, that Lunsford is running a land-grab scheme. In fact, there's a couple of characters that are used that way. The other is one of the two significant female characters, a former love interest of Lunsford named Amy (Helena Carter) who appears in two quick scenes with the sole purpose of revealing that Lunsford is also a heel who is marrying a girl for her money.
As for the idea that Ned himself is actually a journalist, that is also little more than a plot device. Although Ned's hometown of Fort Worth certainly needs civilizing, he doesn't want to start a paper there because the town isn't big enough to provide enough subscribers for a successful paper. As a journalist, his main principle seems to be making money His idea of the role of the press is also a bit strange. He repeatedly refers to newspapers as a weapon and threatens more than once to "write {Lunsford) out of town." He never professes any other principle or motive for wanting to start a paper. He also never says or does anything that would suggest he could make a living with a pen.
Ned's relationship with gunplay is similarly confusing. Despite his claim to have given it up fpr good, it's no surprise when he is eventually forced to strap on his six shooters and summarily kill several outlaws. But what should signal a sea change in his character development is little more than fan service. The gun battle changes nothing for Ned. He just responded to the situation at hand in a practical way. His attitude and principles remain the same as they had been. There's no consequences, no introspection, and no regrets for Ned. He'll take the guns off or put them back on as needed.
Ned's relationship with women is equally strange. The other point in the love triangle with Ned and Lunsford is lady rancher Flora Talbot (Phyllis Thaxter). When we meet her she is engaged to Lunsford, and for most of the movie Ned does nothing to suggest that she is more than a friend to him. However, Flora spends the first half of the story ridiculing Ned for giving up his guns, openly questioning his manhood when he suggests he doesn't want to kill anyone. It's not until Ned is convinced that Lunsford is an opportunitic liar that Ned decides he is also romantically interested in Flora. At that point, he suggests he's always felt that way, but we've seen zero evidence of that before. Of course, the fact that both men are old enough to be Flora's father bothers no one. For her part, Flora decides she likes Ned too once he has returned to killing folks and Lunsford has become an outright villain.
For modern viewers, Randolph Scott is a little-known and vastly under-appreciated Western hero. Although he was mostly confined to B-movies with modest budgets and second-tier casts, his performances often elevated those stories to excellence. His best vehicles had simple, tried and true plots, often using one of the tropes mentioned here. Fort Worth is not one of those movies. It's a muddled mess that not even Randolph Scott can ride in to save.