Dallas Film Now.

Randolph Scott, David Brian and Phyllis Thaxter star in director Edwin L. Marin’s oater.

Sometime after I moved from downstate New York to the suburbs of Fort Worth in the late 1990s, I began working at a firm in Sundance Square. 

Beyond the pleasant working environment and my enjoyable new co-workers, what I loved best about the job was that it was within walking distance of the AMC Palace 9 and the AMC Sundance 11 (which closed in 2008). The theater featured large movie posters on its exterior, including one for Fort Worth (closest to the entrance), which I’d never heard of before.

Since I attended many movies while working there, I saw that poster many times, and always wondered about its title. What did that movie have to do with the Fort Worth where I was now living and working? I looked for it at local Blockbuster Video stores, but never saw it. After I moved away from Fort Worth and the years passed, I forgot about it entirely. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw it listed as a “new” title for streaming on a service for which I had a subscription! Naturally, it comes via the TCM channel on HBO Max, and I realized the film has probably been available for years on Turner Classic Movies — critic Sean Axmaker wrote an excellent article about it — and perhaps other services; I just never saw it before. 

The film begins with a printing press in the back of a covered wagon that is being transported across hostile territory. Ned Britt (Randolph Scott) is in charge; his experience as an experienced gunman is identified by a woman who joins the party as they ride into Fort Worth. 

Like Ned Britt, the woman, named Flora, is also a native of Fort Worth. (She is played by Phyllis Thaxter, who was memorable starring opposite Van Heflin in Act of Violence and then made an impression as a faithful wife to John Garfield in The Breaking Point the year before this film.) Flora is engaged to Blair (David Brian), an ambitious businessman who wants to see Fort Worth grow from Cowtown into a major city. 

Intending to only stop briefly in his hometown before moving onto greener pastures, where his chain of newspapers can gain many more readers and truly flourish, Ned is convinced to stay in Fort Worth and begin publishing a local edition, The Fort Worth Star. (The film is set in 1876, about 30 years before the real-life The Fort Worth Star published its first edition on February 1, 1906.) 

Once established in town, Ned finds himself opposed by Gabe Clevenger (Ray Teal), who wants his herd of cattle to grow more than he wants more people to come to town. Gabe is supported by the usual gang of quick-firing, quickly-angered henchmen. Meanwhile, Flora finds herself attracted to her childhood chum Ned, which doesn’t sit well with her fiancee Blair, who may be more corrupt than he appears to everyone. 

With a degree of moral complexity added to the expected mix of gunfights and a great railroad caper that goes wrong, revealing true intentions, Fort Worth is a solidly entertaining Western that exceeded my expectations from first seeing the movie poster, all those years ago. 

The film is now streaming on HBO Max.