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Lone Star

Lone Star (1952)

October. 24,1952
|
6.1
|
PG
| Western

Rip-roaring big star, big budget semi-historical story about cattle baron Devereaux Burke, who is enlisted by an aging Andrew Jackson to dissuade Sam Houston from establishing Texas as a republic. Burke must fight state senator Thomas Craden, in the process winning the heart of Craden's newspaper-editor girlfriend Martha Ronda.

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TinsHeadline
1952/10/24

Touches You

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Neive Bellamy
1952/10/25

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

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Staci Frederick
1952/10/26

Blistering performances.

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Billy Ollie
1952/10/27

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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classicsoncall
1952/10/28

There's enough of a story line and quite enough action to lift this Western above the average B programmer, but as another reviewer on this board points out, this one's not going to make it as a main eventer. What you have is a broad outline of the arguments, pro and con, of Texas becoming a part of the United States. Set in 1945 with Texas facing annexation, elements arise to conspire against that eventuality, with power brokers, led by Tom Craden (Broderick Crawford), attempting to set up their own Republic - "Why should we give up an empire just for statehood"? For purposes of history, Clark Gable's character Deveraux Burke winds up on the right side of the story, but it's made fairly clear he's in it for personal gain as much as Craden is for his side. Between the two frontiersmen stands Martha Ronda (Ava Gardner), a journalist who seems to take on the character of her newspaper as the Austin Blade.History buffs will likely relate to the character of Andrew Jackson, portrayed here by Lionel Barrymore. Pro-Union as they come, I was left scratching my head trying to figure out how his housekeeper Minnie (Beulah Bondi) beat Dev Burke to Austin. And for all of the emphasis given to Sam Houston's (Moroni Olsen) importance in deciding which way Texas would go, the character has only a minor on-screen presence in the story.With all that, the picture is fairly watchable with a good mix of action, adventure, and the inevitable romantic entanglement among the principals - Gable, Gardner and Crawford. Others on this board have expressed a necessary suspension of disbelief with the conclusion to the story, but what the heck, haven't we seen that before?

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jpheifer1966
1952/10/29

I can't believe all the great stars in this movie. Beulah Bondi, Lionel Barrymore (lookin' like hell), Broderick Crawford, William Conrad (playing a Frenchman) and Clark Gable. I hope I look that good when I'm 50. It's before he became the caricature of himself that he became in later movies. When he puts on his "Clark Gable face," I just cringe. I don't know what it is about Ava, but I can't bear to watch her. She doesn't gnaw on the scenery in this one, so, it's better than, say, Mogambo, or The Hucksters, but still. I think it's my loyalty to Frank Sinatra. It's a lovely movie and I really wish it was filmed in color. Does anyone know where this was filmed?

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kyle_furr
1952/10/30

A movie set in 1845 Texas that deals with Texas either joining the union or going off and becoming an independent republic. Lionel Barrymore plays Andrew Jackson is who for joining the union and so is Clark Gable. Broderick Crawford and Ava Gardner want Texas to become an independent and Crawford wants to be the leader. Both sides are waiting for what Sam Huston has to say, but he is out helping the Indians form a peace treaty. Crawford is willing to do anything to get what he wants and Gardner begins to fall for Gable. At the end, of course, there is a big battle between Gable and Crawford's army and then a fight between the two of them. Clark Gable is the same as always and Broderick Crawford is miscast in this role. Ava Gardner is only OK and Lionel Barrymore is only in two scenes.

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westerner357
1952/10/31

I afraid even with the starpower involved in this one since there's not much they can do with a poor script.Convoluted plot about the annexation of Texas into the union, it involves the opposing forces of Gable and Broderick Crawford in a fight to see whether Texas will become a state, or an independent republic.Although there's plenty of action, too much of the film gets bogged down in the romance between Gable and Gardner. I guess MGM needed another vehicle for the two of them after THE HUCKSTERS (1947) or MOGAMBO (1953) And the battle scene and what happens to Crawford at the end is unreal. It turns into a 'Let's all unite for Texas' kinda of a thing that looks implausible, especially after what's been going on for the previous 94 minutes.If they had a better script it might have turned out to be something more entertaining. 4 out of 10

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