Johnny Reno (DVD)

Rough road to justice

Johnny Reno
Cast: Dana Andrews, Jane Russell, Lon Chaney Jr, Tom Drake, John Agar, Lyle Bettger
Written by Andrew Craddock, Steve Fisher
Direction: RG Springsteen
Videomaster

For a fault, every one in Johnny Reno is old. The heroes, the villains and even the heroine looks too tired and haggard to be doing a trigger-happy Western.
But then the film, made in the mid-60s, was more of Paramount's tribute to the Western icons of the early Hollywood era. And as a tribute to them all, the film has a very elementary fun to it: It is loveably unpretentious.
There are no grey shades, no moral dilemmas involved in this film. Good must triumph and Johnny Reno embodies what Western film heroes always stood for: Courage, valour, justice and truth.
The film charts two days in the life of Johnny Reno (Dana Andrews), a US Marshall on his way to Stone Junction, perhaps, to meet his old lover Nona Williams (Jane Russell).
Two "convicts" on the run, the Conners brothers mistake him to be after them and shoot at him. In the gunfight that ensues one of them is killed and Joe Conners (Tom Drake) is took prisoner.
The Conners are wanted both by the townspeople of Stone Junction as well as by the Indians. They had allegedly murdered the Indian chieftain's son.
As a committed Marshall who must uphold justice, Reno is in no mood to comply. He wants to take Conner to Kansas city for a fair trial. But the mayor of Stone Junction is already scheming of ways to snatch Conners from Reno. Sheriff Hodges (Lon Chaney Jr) plays along initially but is convinced by the steely determination of Reno to protect Conners and take him to Kansas City.
The distrust and hatred he faces in the town provokes Reno to probe further and he realises that the Conners could after all be innocent. What follows is a battle of wits and gunfight at the end of which good triumphs over evil and Reno also gets to win back Nona.
The "pistol-packing action" and "gun-blazing showdown" promised by the DVD are all in place but what is lacking is a little of youthfulness. But then, when was country Westerns about ravishing robustness? You need tough men calling the shots and Johnny Reno is no less tough. Only the tough guys are a trifle too old.
At abut 80 minutes, Johnny Reno, however, is not a total letdown. What you get is what you expect: A flick that speaks through the gun's barrels.