Pamela Short Carson City is a western that has an easy, but enjoyable story-line to follow. Randolph Scott pleases in his role as a engineer, taking on the assignment of constructing the railroad between Carson City and Viriginia City. However, he encounters plenty of objection and division from the residents of Carson City. Now add in the bad guys, a group of outlaws, dubbed the Champagne Bandits for their serving the bubbly drink to those they rob. Raymond Massey makes the most of his role as the gangs suave leader. Pretty actress Lucille Norman plays the girl with romantic feelings towards Scott. The film ends with a showdown between Scott and Massey. Carson City moves at a satisfying pace, with your typical saloon brawls and other action packed western activities. The color is not vivid as technicolor and the cinematography is average, but it does not distract from the performance of the actors. The combination of Scott and Massey in this film is superb, and Lucille Norman lights up the screen with her pretty blonde tresses. If you are a fan of Westerns from the early 1950s and Randolph Scott, I suggest Carson City is well worth watching.

Xjayhawker Early 50's..still thrilled with re-telling stories of the old west..a lot of us couldn't' wait for the next western to be released..whether it was Johnny Mack Brown or Wild Bill Elliott..or Hopalong Cassidy..we didn't care..but we all had our favorites..or whether they were shooting 8 or 10 shots from a 6 shooter without re-loading..it was all good fun..but when certain actors showed up in a western we seemed to pay a little more attention because these guys seemed authentic..James Stewart, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Henry Fonda..for me it was Randolph Scott and Joel McRea..now with Carson City, we have Randolph Scott who always wanted to see the other side of the mountain and meets up with his brother..the stable kind of guy with a regular job and a girl that Scott hasn't seen since she was 16 and admits to having a big crush on way back then..he's in town to build a railroad..a faster, easier way to ship all that gold coming out of the mines..Raymond Massey as the mine owner with no gold..but he always has plenty of it..you guess where it's all coming from..hold ups by a gang called the Champaigne Bandits because those robbed are well treated..fried chicken lunch and Champaigne for their troubles..there is animosity between the town folk and the railroad crews.. And a pretty good fight between Scott and one of his men in the saloon..pretty well staged..the girl in question has never gotten over Scott and she has never thought of his brother in that way..they both work for her father publishing the town newspaper until he is killed..it's got to be the railroad people, right? The way it ends reminds me of the Errol Flynn/Olivia Dehaviland western from 1939..Dodge City when someone proclaims that their railroad building days are over only to have their mind changed by a good woman..all in all there is plenty of action..some romance..some wolves in sheeps' clothing.. A good story made better with Scott..

Scarecrow-88 From the director of HOUSE OF WAX (André De Toth) comes this solid little Randolph Scott western about a roughneck engineer, with a reputation for being attracted to difficult jobs which require nerves of steel, who returns to his hometown of Carson City to build a railroad through tough, mountainous territory, encountering trouble out of AJ Davis (screen veteran Raymond Massey)and his gang of stagecoach thieves known as the "Champagne Bandits" in the papers. When Davis' partner-in-crime, Squires (James Millican) kills a stagecoach driver in the middle of a delivery of parts for an automatic drill which will help the railroad crew, in what was supposed to be a tactic to halt supplies which would help the construction project get done faster, complications ensue for Kincaid (Scott). Other subplots emerge such as Kincaid and his brother Alan's both being in love with the same woman (Lucille Norman's Susan), the murder of the local newspaper owner, Zeke (Don Beddoe), an avalanche caused by Davis' men which traps Kincaid and some of his men in a tunnel, and the attempted robbery of the new train at the conclusion of the film.Scott inhabits his hero with the right amount of charm, charisma, integrity, toughness, and playfulness, but when tested (such as a barroom brawl with a railroad worker or Squires calling him out in a duel), his Kincaid will not tolerate foolishness from those who press him. Massey is up to the task as the treacherous heel who will shoot you in the back, and not bat an eyelash, when his charade is in danger. Beautiful California locations enhanced by "Warnercolor" and plenty of the identifiable traits we come to know and love in regards to our B-westerns.

krdement Randolph Scott is 1 of 4 or 5 icons of the Western genre (along with Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, possibly Henry Fonda and...?...), and he is always worth the time it takes to watch one of his films. They're not always great, but they are the quintessence of the genre, and his granite-jawed charisma always works.This is one of the better films in the Railway Construction sub-genre. The plot device of the "champagne bandits" is a little comical, but not enough to undermine the film. Raymond Massey, an under-appreciated and versatile actor, delivers a nicely nuanced performance and devises a very good railroad heist. Both his performance and his scheme are well worth your time. It is definitely one of the cleverest railroad robbery schemes ever conceived in a Western, and it is filmed in a way that clearly depicts the various elements of the plan.Of course, Randy wins the day and he also ends up with the girl. However, it is definitely more of a case of her getting him, than Randy getting the girl.