American Empire (1942)

Director:

William C. McGann

Writers:

J. Robert Bren (story) and
Gladys Atwater (story) ...

Release Date:

11 December 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

The spectacular romance of America's Greatest Adventure

Plot:

Two men join forces to build a cattle empire, and battle rustlers, bad weather and each other. |

Plot Keywords:

USA | Barbecue | Fiesta | Texan | Rustling

Cast

Richard Dix	...	Dan Taylor
Leo Carrillo	...	Dominique Beauchard
Preston Foster	...	Paxton Bryce
Frances Gifford	...	Abigail 'Abby' Taylor, Dan's Sister
Robert Barrat	...	Crowder, Small Rancher (as Robert H. Barrat)
Jack La Rue	...	Pierre, Beauchard Henchman
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Sailaway (as Guinn Williams)
Cliff Edwards	...	Runty
Merrill Rodin	...	Paxton Bryce Jr. (as Merrill Guy Rodin)
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Augustin, Beauchard Henchman (as Chris Pin Martin)
Richard Webb	...	Crane (small rancher)
William Farnum	...	Louisiana Judge
Etta McDaniel	...	Willa May, Bryce's Maid
Hal Taliaferro	...	Malone

Also Known As:

My Son Alone (UK)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Wide Range System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8113) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Kernville, California, USA

Company:

Harry Sherman Productions

Trivia:

Originally made by Paramount but sold to United Artists for release.

Quotes:

Paxton Bryce: At least we had some excitement when we owned the old Hattie T.
Dan Taylor: Wasn't it your idea to swap her for this?
Paxton Bryce: Yeah, but the whole set-up has changed! There was a war on - a man could make some real money. Or don't you remember?
Dan Taylor: Oh, I remember all right. I remember getting a broadside from a Union gunboat amidships and taking splinters from my, um, hide for two weeks.
Paxton Bryce: You got a hundred dollars for each splinter.
Dan Taylor: That's right - in Confederate money!

Soundtrack:

Little Pal

Ambitious Epic of Post Civil War Texas

"American Empire" is another of a series of modestly budgeted features produced by Harry "Pop" Sherman, who also was responsible for the highly successful Hopalong Cassidy series. This one deals with the emergeance of the cattle ranches in Texas in the years following the Civil War.

Two soldiers of fortune, Dan Taylor (Richard Dix) and Pax Bryce (Preston Foster) are ruuning a freight business from their riverboat. One day they meet up with the unscrupulous Dominique Beauchard (Leo Carillo) who is driving cattle to his home state of Louisiana. The boys agree to transport the cattle to their destination for a set fee. When Beauchard fails to pay up they keep the cattle and decide to go into the cattle ranching business.

Into the mix comes Taylor's sister Abby (Frances Gifford) with whom Bryce falls in love and marries. They soon have a son Pax Jr. (Merrill Rodin) and Pax Sr. becomes more and more ambitious as time goes on, much to the chagrin of his partner Dan. He has angered the smaller ranchers by refusing them permission to drive their cattle across his land. The ranchers decide to stampede the cattle through but Pax Jr. is killed in the stampede.

Bryce becomes distraught and decides to erect barb wire fences around the ranch which forces Dan to dissolve their partnership. All this is resolved at the end when all realize that progress must prevail over the ambitions of one man.

Also in the cast are Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Cliff Edwards as the comic relief, Jack LaRue and Chris-Pin Martin as Carillo's henchmen, and veterans William Farnum and Hal Taliaferro in other roles.

Foster is really the star of the movie despite being billed third. He delivers a solid performance. Dix, who was top billed, is really only a supporting player. Gifford looks lovely as the heroine. The action is well staged and there's one dandy of a gunfight at the climax of the film.

A good western.