utgard14 Marshal Randolph Scott is the only thing standing between the town of Medicine Bend and lawlessness. Corrupt businessmen in town hire gunmen to get Scott out of the way. Meanwhile, Scott's estranged wife Angela Lansbury shows up, having left him years before due to his violent lifestyle.Scott and Lansbury are fine. Solid support from Wallace Ford, Jeanette Nolan, and Michael Pate. One of Jean Parker's last movies. She's reduced to a minor part as a married woman having an affair with one of the villains. Predictable western. A couple of nice action scenes. Nothing special but a decent time-passer. Ending is pretty flat.

Claudio Carvalho In Medicine Bend, Marshal Calem Ware {Randolph Scott} is the man that brought law and order to the town, supported by the powerful rancher Asaph Dean (James Bell) and his reputation; his skill with his gun is frequently tested by gunners that unsuccessfully challenge him. When the greedy local businessman Hamer Thorne (Warner Anderson) brings the actress Tally Dickenson (Angela Lansbury) to perform a show for the locals, Calem is haunted by his past since Tally is his wife that left him in Apache Wells due to his dangerous way of life. Meanwhile Thorne associates to the scum Cody Clark (John Emery) and together they hire the outlaw Harley Baskam (Michael Pate) that is considered the fastest gunner in the region to duel with Calem and kill him and leave Medicine Bend ready for their dirty businesses. "A Lawless Street" is a good western about a man that makes the difference in a small town. I am not a great fan of this genre, but I like a lot the elegant Randolph Scott, an actor that successfully performs the typical sheriff or cowboy in these movies. His characters have usually the same characteristics of a honest man with a past. Angela Lansbury is an actress that I used to see ad an old lady, and is it nice to see her with thirty year-old only. Michael Pate, Warner Anderson and John Emery perform great villains. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Obrigado a Matar" ("Forced to Kill")

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This western has a good story and many excellent action scenes. There is quite a fistfight between the Marshal (Scott) and Dooley Brion (Don Megowan), a very strong guy. The gun duels are unusual and well staged. Marshal Calem Ware is a man who lives not knowing if he will survive that day, because of gunfighters that keep showing up to kill him. There are two women of strong character in the film: Tally (Angela Lansbury)who used to be the Marshal's wife but left him because she could not stand the constant fear and Cora who is the wife of Asaph Dean, and the mistress of Hamer Thorne. Thorne wants to take Asaph's place as the most important man in town. I enjoyed every minute of this film which was probably influenced by "High Noon" and must have influenced "The Fastest Gun Alive".

Eric Chapman Sort of an early "Unforgiven" in some ways. Also similar to director Lewis' "Terror in a Texas Town" though thankfully not as goofy or campy. You get a real sense of the wild west slowly being tamed, of it making the uneasy transition from a violent, lawless land to a reasonably civilized place where law and order stand a chance. I liked Randolph Scott's metaphor for the town, that it's like a wild animal that keeps getting kicked, and sooner or later it's going to do more than just snarl and growl miserably; it's going to bite back. Scott makes a good, twinkle-eyed loner hero and Angela Lansbury is quite attractive as his leggy showgirl love interest, (though she would begin playing mothers of grown children just a few years later) but their romance is rather obligatory and uninspired. Both the villains are effective, Warner Anderson as the unscrupulous (what else?)womanizing businessman and Michael Pate as the sinister gloved gunman (Lewis seems to have a thing about gunman wearing gloves). Anderson's line deliveries are extremely flat and matter of fact, which just makes him that much more detestable somehow. He's like a greed machine, no heart, no emotion whatsoever.At first glance this may seem like no more than just another passable western, but it's got some meat on its bones. And Lewis really shines when it comes to building the suspense leading up to the inevitable bar room showdown between the bad guy and the good.