Randolph Scott (Bat Masterson), Robert Ryan (Allen Harper), Anne Jeffreys (Ruby Stone), George "Gabby" Hayes (Bill Burns), Madge Meredith (Susan Pritchett), Steve Brodie (Logan Maury), Billy House (Carmody), Virginia Sale (Hannah), Harry Woods (Lance Larkin), Phil Warren (Slim), Harry Harvey (mayor), Jason Robards (Jason), Ernie Adams (Eben Bowen), Frank Mills (saloon patron), Jessie Arnold (Jason's wife), Stanley Andrews (Ferguson), Frank Austin, Joe Brockman, Roy Butler, Paul Dunn, Sam Lufkin, Dick Rush, Carl Wester (farmers), Guy Beach (Doc Evans), Elena Warren (Mrs Brown), Larry McGrath, Billy Vincent, Glenn McCarthy, Howard McCrorie (henchmen), Forrest Taylor (Dave), David Olson, Eugene Persson (boys), Sarah Padden (Mrs Ferguson), Al Murphy (dealer), Frank McGlynn (Tim McKeon), Si Jenks (Charlie Thorne), Betty Hill (dance hall girl), Lew Harvey (saloon gunman), Kit Guard (drunk), Chris Willow Bird (Indian), Warren Jackson.Narrated by Ray Collins.Director: RAY ENRIGHT. Screenplay: Norman Houston, Gene Lewis. Based on the 1937 novel Golden Horizon by William Corcoran. Photography: J. Roy Hunt. Film editor: Lyle Boyer. Art directors: Albert S. D'Agostino and Ralph Berger. Set decorators: Darrell Silvera and John Sturtevant. Costumes designed by Adele Balkan. Music: Paul Sawtell. Songs: "You May Not Remember" (Jeffreys) by Ben Oakland, George Jessel; "She's Not the Only Pebble on the Beach" (Jeffreys) by Stanley Carter and Harry Braisted. Montage editor: Harold Palmer. Music director: Constantin Bakaleinikoff. Special effects: Russell A. Cully. Assistant director: Grayson Rogers. Sound recording: Jean L. Speak, Terry Kellum. RCA Sound System. Producer: Nat Holt. Executive producer: Jack J. Gross. Copyright 15 March 1947 by RKO-Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Palace: 9 April 1947. U.S. release: 19 February 1947. U.K. release: 15 December 1947. Australian release: 24 July 1947. 7,730 feet. 84 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Bat Masterson tames Liberal, Kansas.NOTES: Number three of RKO's top profit-makers for 1947. (Crossfire held down the number one spot, followed by The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer). COMMENT: A formula western, but a very entertaining one. All the standard ingredients are here, including the late-arriving peace officer (a memorable portrait by Randolph Scott), the restless heroine (played by the charming Madge Meredith), the go-getting hero who is unjustly accused of murder (Robert Ryan in his post-war debut), the warm-hearted saloon girl (the delightful Anne Jeffreys), the sleazy villain (marvelous Billy House), and last (but fortunately least), the comic relief (long-winded "Gabby" Hayes). These familiar trappings are given a terrific boost in Trail Street by high production values and superlative technical credits (in which the attractive camera-work, the richly appointed sets and the wonderfully in-period music score really stand out).

The town of Liberal, Kansas needs a fightin' marshal and they get one as soon as Bat Masterson (Randolph Scott) shows up, hired on to settle things down between the cattle faction and the farmers who find it tough to make a living in the parched mid-Western landscape. It's an often used formula for these era Westerns, this one kept afloat by the presence of Robert Ryan as a businessman who wants to see the farmers succeed, and George 'Gabby' Hayes in his usual stock in trade role as the teller of tall tales and all around deputy assistant to the new town marshal.There's also a couple of pretty gals on hand, Madge Meredith as the somewhat conflicted Susan Pritchard, who would like to improve her station in life, and Anne Jeffreys as saloon gal Ruby, who's heart is in the right place but has to work out her minor feud with Susan before the story runs it's course. Say what you will, but I never think it's a good idea for a bad guy to shoot a woman in the back, but that's what happens here when Logan Maury (Steve Brodie) finds out Ruby burned up the mortgages he held on the farmer properties when they cashed out. I'm not altogether sure that mortgage business would have held up legally, but it played out believably enough for the ranchers to make their comeback.The story line is peppered with references to Bat Masterson's journalistic ambitions while he was plying his trade as a lawman. As the story closes, Bat's about to head East to become a newspaper writer for real, though it's never mentioned that he went to work as a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph. And after Gabby's character made all those frequent quips about the fabled Brandyhead Jones, it was a blast to see who showed up aboard a stagecoach for the closing scene - good old Brandyhead, bearing a most remarkable resemblance to Gabby himself.

I am a huge Randolph Scott fan, so I was surprised and disappointed to find he is barely in this film! The movie really belongs to Robert Ryan, who is the hero in the jam, and the one embroiled in the love triangle. Good grief, Gabby Hayes gets more screen time than Mr. Scott in this movie!! For many viewers, that is not a problem, but I am from the Walter Brennan school of sidekicks, not Gabby Hayes...although I will say that his lines were a bit more humorous than annoying in this film than in many of his films with Randolph Scott and John Wayne.Personally, I found the movie very slow going, with a convoluted plot that was muddied even more by the unnecessary romance subplot. By convoluted, I don't mean impossible to understand or figure out, I just mean too messy for its own good.The direction is uninspired, and the two main bad guys have the most unsatisfying come-uppance at the end. The whole movie comes across as fake, unrealistic, and poorly filmed.Just so you don't think I can't find anything good here...On the plus side, Anne Jeffreys is very sexy in her all-too-brief parts of this film. Not sure if it is actually her singing, or someone else, but whoever it was had a very pretty voice. Ms. Jeffreys also had a couple of nice acting moments. The script needed either a lot more of her, or to remove her character altogether. As it was, her nice few moments weren't enough to help the film.Lastly, there is Mr. Scott. He looks fantastic in this film and is the no-nonsense lawman out to set things right. Some folks complain that his characters prior to 1950 were too goody-goody perfect, but that's never bothered me at all. I'll take him goody-goody pre-1950, or gritty and violent post-1950...either way, Randolph Scott was a real Western hero.It saddens me to have to say it, but I would have to recommend passing this film by, unless you are a die-hard fan...there are so many better Scott films out there that this one won't be missed.

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*** TRAIL STREET is an average western that distinguishes itself by possibly being the inspiration for the highly praised Howard Hawks-John Wayne extravaganza RIO BRAVO (1959). There are many close plot similarities between the two films, and several characters are nearly identical as well. A greedy land grabbing villain is running all the farmers off their homesteads so that he can build a cattle empire in Kansas. Randolph Scott plays the heavily outnumbered marshal Bat Masterson, trying to hold the leader of a "regulator" gang in jail for trial. Helping him is shotgun-wielding deputy Gabby Hayes. Substitute John Wayne for Scott, Walter Brennan for Hayes, add a teenage idol (Ricky Nelson), some color film, and you've got RIO BRAVO.TRAIL STREET is also notable for the casting of Robert Ryan in an against type good guy role. Overall, TRAIL STREET is worth a look for fans of the western genre, but others will probably lose interest.