Station West

Former crooner Dick Powell carved out a career for himself as a tough guy in taut thrillers like Farewell My Lovely and Johnny O'Clock. He brought his new, darker image to this cleverly scripted RKO western based on a Luke Short tale, about an army investigator trying to sort out a series of gold heists. Jane Greer makes a feisty sparring partner, and there's a terrific fight sequence between Powell and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, but what really gives this movie some distinction is the use of clever one-liners, courtesy of screenwriters Frank Fenton and Winston Miller. This was director Sidney Lanfield's only western, and he brings to it much of the urbane sophistication that was to distinguish his later work on Bob Hope features such as The Lemon Drop Kid.