Station West

Even in black and white, the stunning vistas of Sedona, Arizona, are on vivid display in Sidney Lanfield’s Station West, Cathedral Rock’s sandstone butte towering over the center of town, the billowing clouds at dusk guiding a stagecoach as it races across the desert at the bottom of the screen. A relatively quiet, dark western noir, Station West is set in the gold trade of the late 19th century when “anyone with a mask” could — and did — hold up a stage or train transporting gold bars; in fact, Wells Fargo’s gold station is shut down because of the danger. Dick Powell plays military intelligence officer Haven, who arrives in town undercover (and acting like a real jerk to everyone he meets) to investigate the recent murders of two soldiers guarding a gold shipment that was looted. Briefed by Captain George Iles (Tom Powers), the commander of a nearby army post, Haven learns that a local saloon singer named Charlie (Jane Greer) also runs the region’s main gold-transporting stage line, her financial power holding sway over most of the town, including a gang of questionable men she keeps busy doing her bidding, which may include robbing inventory from the local goldmine owner Mrs. Caslon (Agnes Moorehead). What follows involves fistfights, gunfights, murder, betrayal, and an arguably underdeveloped romance between Haven and Charlie which won’t produce a happy ending. Enjoy the appearances of Raymond Burr as two-faced lawyer Mark Bristow and legendary goofball character actor Guinn “Big Boy” Williams as burly saloon bouncer Mick, who engages in a thoroughly entertaining brawl with Haven.