The Road to Denver (1955)

not horrible nor great

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Bill and Sam Mayhew have been driving cattle to market. At the end of the trail, Sam tries out a rodeo horse, but fails. He punches someone, and the sheriff takes him to jail, where he's supposed to spend 30 days. That's too long in Bill's mind, so he ties a strong rope to the bars of the cell window, and the other end to his horse. Soon, there's a loud noise , as much of that wall lays in a heap, allowing Sam to exit. They quickly ride out of town. The next town, young Sam gets in an argument about the Civil War, punches his prospective employer and shoots the bartender. Again, he and Bill hustle out of town, with a posse following. At rest, Bill tells Sam they're spitting up, as the is tired of being involved in Sam's loose cannon episodes. It happens that both decide to head for Denver from NM, and from there westward to the gold-mining town of Central City.(Historically, there was such a town, that much shrank after the gold ran out.). Bill soon gets a job with John Sutter, who runs the livery stable, while Sam(Tom, now) gets a job as a gunslinger with the ambitious Jim Donovan(Lee Cobb), who owns the town saloon. Sutton plans on starting up a stage run from Central City to Denver. Donovan decides this would be a profitable undertaking. Instead of trying to beat Sutton to the punch, he decides to try to sabotage efforts to get the stage line running, or sabotage the stage once it gets running. Thus, he has his henchmen steal a bunch of horses that were earmarked to pull the stages. But, Bill and sidekick Whipsaw(Andy Clyde) recapture them. When Donovan learns of a significant gold shipment on the first stage run, he plans to have his men steal the gold, thereby ruining the reputation of the fledging company. Donovan arm twists Bill , who will be the stage driver, to cooperate in facilitating the heist. Bill does transfer a strongbox from the stage to a buckboard driven by Donovan's men, but when the box is opened in Donovan's office, they are in for a surprise. Bill is present at this opening, and draws on the surprised group. His gun is knocked off target, and a free for all follows, which is the most exciting 'action' in the film, as it spreads to the stairs and downstairs. Brother Sam(Tom) then draws his gun on Bill. I leave the rest of that story for you to see. ....During their stay in Central City, the brothers have a friendly competition over Sutton's unmarried daughter Elizabeth(Mona Freeman). It's soon clear which one she prefers....... To me, John Payne just seldom feels like a western star, often looking too wimpy to be such a star. Lee Cobb has it all over him, in terms of charisma. Even Skip Homeier, as brother Sam, often outshines Payne. Andy Clyde, as whipsaw provides some light humor, and 'old timer' charisma. Lee Van Cleef plays one of Donovan's henchmen.....This was filmed in Republic's Trucolor process, which supposedly degrades over time, but I didn't detect a problem here.

"The Road to Denver" being a Republic Trucolor western is better made than most of westerns being made by other studios, but just routine for them. Directed by veteran Joe Kane it is rather predicable as the story unfolds.John Payne and Skip Homier play brothers Bill and Sam Mayhew. Bill is ever getting his hot tempered brother out of trouble. After breaking Sam out of jail the brothers decide to separate and go their separate ways. Bill is befriended by John Sutton (Ray Middleton) who is planning to start a stagecoach line and who also happens to have an attractive daughter Elizabeth (Mona Freeman).As luck would have it, Sam turns up in town and hires on as a gunfighter for town boss Jim Donovan (Lee J. Cobb). Naturally the brothers both take an interest in the comely Elizabeth. Meanwhile Sutton has made Bill a partner while Donovan plans to take over the new stage line. This leads to the inevitable showdown.As in most Republic westerns the supporting cast is made up of many recognizable western veterans. In addition to those already mentioned we have Andy Clyde along for comedy relief, Lee Van Cleef and Glenn Strange as Donovan henchmen, and Robert Burton, John Dierkes, Hank Worden, Francis McDonald, William Haade, Dick Alexander and Emory Parnell in various roles.Director Kane keeps thing moving and there is a dandy fight featuring the Republic stunt men. The acting is so so. Payne is one dimensional in the lead role and cannot hold up against the superior talent of Cobb, who although wasted here gives his usual great performance. Homier made a career out of playing the hot headed young gunfighter. Mona Freeman does what she can with a limited role.I think the film would have benefited from a stronger actor in the lead role.

If anyone is thinking this is another journey for Bob and Bing, forget it. The Road To Denver is your average western from Republic in its declining years after John Wayne was free of the contract and the B western star stable had gone or moved to television.The bread and butter of Republic Pictures were those B films of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the rest of the gang. By 1955 only Rex Allen was still doing films for them and he was in his final year. But that's what Republic did best so they kept doing it until the studio closed in a couple of years.The Road To Denver is about a pair of estranged Confederate veteran brothers from Texas, John Payne and Skip Homeier. Homeier is playing his usual young punk who brother Payne has to keep bailing out of trouble. Payne gets tired of that soon enough and the brothers part.But both travel different roads to Denver and wind up on different sides of a feud in the town. Payne hooks up with Ray Middleton who wants to start a stagecoach line and Homeier allies himself with town boss Lee J. Cobb who wants nothing in that town he doesn't have a piece of. Both Payne and Homeier have eyes for pretty Mona Freeman who is Middleton's daughter.The Road To Denver is directed by Joseph M. Kane who with William Witney was the favored director of studio boss Herbert J. Yates for his cowboy stars. Quantity was the byword at Republic not quality and Kane delivers his usual workman like product.I think the film had potential to be something better if someone like Howard Hawks or John Ford or Henry Hathaway got a hold of it. The ending is far from satisfactory as well.Still for the die-hard western fan The Road To Denver should satisfy. And John Payne is always good.

I'm giving 'The Road to Denver' a 7 because the story is not fantastic but it is entirely logical and watchable, certainly as much so as say a typical Western TV show. The acting is perhaps a bit better than others have said. I enjoy Skip Homeier in almost every movie he's in - he is in my opinion one of the all-time great Western character actors. Why he didn't share top billing with John Payne is a mystery to me.The story is a fairly basic one, two brothers trying to make their way in the old West but the younger one (Homeier) is just too much of a handful, causing fights and getting into trouble. The brothers argue and split up, landing on opposite sides of the law, with the older one (Payne) becoming part owner of a stage line and the younger one joining up with group of crooks trying to rob the stage and take over the business. One thing in this movie's favor is that it was shot in color, always a bonus. There are some truly beautiful outdoor scenes, and this film seems to have been shot at the onset of winter since there are also scenes with some snow on the ground. It's really a pretty movie to watch. I might normally rate a movie like this as a 6 but it gains a point because of Homeier. Get me a beer and some popcorn and I'll gladly watch this one again.