"Carson City" is a fairly sophisticated B-movie western, starring Randolph Scott and directed with some style by Andre De Toth. The plot concerns the usual business about building railroads and warding off bandits, but the dialogue here is sharp, witty and Toth maintains a rapid-fire pace.
Unlike most of these B-movie westerns, "Carson City" eschews the usual western archetypes in favour for some fairly interesting characters. Randolph Scott, for example, plays not another gunslinger (people forget that Scott once was, more so than John Wayne, one of the actors most associated with tall, rugged Western heroes) but a talented engineer and miner more in the vein of Daniel Plainview ("There Will Be Blood"). The rest of Toth's characters are a fairly interesting network of capitalists, builders, engineers, bankers, railwaymen, stagecoach managers, newspapermen, low-income lapdogs, workers, bandits and high-ranking members of various mining cartels. Few of these B movie westerns, or even more prestigious fare of the era, tried to capture such a crisscross of interconnecting relationships.
Ending with a train heist and an obligatory happy ending, the film does eventually succumb to its B-movie, crowd-pleasing roots. Indeed, toward the end of the film, Randolph Scott even dumps his engineer's apparel for the black hat, shirt and gun belt that made him such an iconic figure (eg "The Bounty Hunter") during the 60 or so westerns he starred in across his career. At its best, though, the film hints at an intelligence and scope that most of these B-movie Westerns lacked.
But what's interesting for me is the presence of a short "Carson City" segment in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". Though the segment's audio can't be heard, the snippet in question involves talk and allusions to "punch ups", "bar room brawls", "alcoholism", "jail", "new job interviews" and "newspapers", all of which resonate with moments in "The Shining". Indeed, the characters even mention another called A. Jack Davis, which recalls "The Shining's" Jack Torrance.
Filled with intricate rhymes, mirroring patterns and breadcrumbs, "The Shining's" links with "Carson City" don't stop there. Sync "Carson City's" audio with the segment of Toff's film shown in Kubrick's, and weird synchronicities turn up, like characters on the audio answering telephones in Kubrick's film, or the mentioning of A. Jack Davis coinciding with a stack of magazines titled Avis. Visual symmetries abound too, like "Carson City's" on-screen cowboys mirroring a pair of middle management types in Kubrick's film. Then there's the fact that "Carson City" and "The Shining" take place in neighbouring states, and that Jack Torrance spouts Johnny Carson's catchphrase toward the end of the film. Mostly, though, Kubrick's interest in "Carson City" seems to stem from its cocktail of business cartels, social contracts and servant lapdogs ("Carson City" even has a bald, Kubrickean butler of sorts). It's no surprise that "Carson City's" criminals are a classy lot called the "Champagne Bandits". In "The Shining", like the real world, no one sees blood being spilt, and you're far more likely to be robbed – with civility of course - by invisible men and fountain pens.
7.5/10 – "Carson City" is a very brisk, witty and at times ambitious western. It was also the first Western released by Warner Brothers in WarnerColor.
Unlike most of these B-movie westerns, "Carson City" eschews the usual western archetypes in favour for some fairly interesting characters. Randolph Scott, for example, plays not another gunslinger (people forget that Scott once was, more so than John Wayne, one of the actors most associated with tall, rugged Western heroes) but a talented engineer and miner more in the vein of Daniel Plainview ("There Will Be Blood"). The rest of Toth's characters are a fairly interesting network of capitalists, builders, engineers, bankers, railwaymen, stagecoach managers, newspapermen, low-income lapdogs, workers, bandits and high-ranking members of various mining cartels. Few of these B movie westerns, or even more prestigious fare of the era, tried to capture such a crisscross of interconnecting relationships.
Ending with a train heist and an obligatory happy ending, the film does eventually succumb to its B-movie, crowd-pleasing roots. Indeed, toward the end of the film, Randolph Scott even dumps his engineer's apparel for the black hat, shirt and gun belt that made him such an iconic figure (eg "The Bounty Hunter") during the 60 or so westerns he starred in across his career. At its best, though, the film hints at an intelligence and scope that most of these B-movie Westerns lacked.
But what's interesting for me is the presence of a short "Carson City" segment in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". Though the segment's audio can't be heard, the snippet in question involves talk and allusions to "punch ups", "bar room brawls", "alcoholism", "jail", "new job interviews" and "newspapers", all of which resonate with moments in "The Shining". Indeed, the characters even mention another called A. Jack Davis, which recalls "The Shining's" Jack Torrance.
Filled with intricate rhymes, mirroring patterns and breadcrumbs, "The Shining's" links with "Carson City" don't stop there. Sync "Carson City's" audio with the segment of Toff's film shown in Kubrick's, and weird synchronicities turn up, like characters on the audio answering telephones in Kubrick's film, or the mentioning of A. Jack Davis coinciding with a stack of magazines titled Avis. Visual symmetries abound too, like "Carson City's" on-screen cowboys mirroring a pair of middle management types in Kubrick's film. Then there's the fact that "Carson City" and "The Shining" take place in neighbouring states, and that Jack Torrance spouts Johnny Carson's catchphrase toward the end of the film. Mostly, though, Kubrick's interest in "Carson City" seems to stem from its cocktail of business cartels, social contracts and servant lapdogs ("Carson City" even has a bald, Kubrickean butler of sorts). It's no surprise that "Carson City's" criminals are a classy lot called the "Champagne Bandits". In "The Shining", like the real world, no one sees blood being spilt, and you're far more likely to be robbed – with civility of course - by invisible men and fountain pens.
7.5/10 – "Carson City" is a very brisk, witty and at times ambitious western. It was also the first Western released by Warner Brothers in WarnerColor.