Gangster der Prärie (1948)
25KGangster der Prärie: Directed by Sidney Lanfield. With Dick Powell, Jane Greer, Agnes Moorehead, Burl Ives. When two US cavalrymen transporting a gold shipment get killed, US Army Intelligence investigator John Haven goes undercover to a mining and logging town to find the killers.
“Dick Powell was a musical comedy star in the 30u0026#39;s who in 1944 made a dramatic career change when he switched to hard-boiled private eye/cop roles. Station West, his only western, is basically this character in a western setting. Make no mistake, Station West is a good western.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePowell plays an undercover army officer trying to find out who murdered two soldiers while stealing a gold shipment (No not the Gold Diggers of 1933). Along the way he meets Jane Greer as a business like saloon owner who may not be what she seems to be. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne of the best moments in the film is the knock down drag out fight Powell has with Guinn u0026quot;Big Boyu0026quot; Williams, playing a villain this time around. At first, after Powell knocks him down in the saloon, Williams utters a classic line: u0026quot;Youu0026#39;re too small to have made such a big mistakeu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOther notables in the cast include Raymond Burr as a cowardly lawyer, Agnes Moorehead as Powellu0026#39;s u0026quot;contactu0026quot;, Tom Powers as the army commander, Powell regular Regis Toomey as an undercover agent and an unbilled Burl Ives as a guitar strumming hotel clerk.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe black and white photography is excellent, particularly in the outdoor scenes. Station West raises the question as to why Powell didnu0026#39;t make more westerns. This was a good one.”
