Sin Town (1942) User Reviews (2)

Incredibly familiar

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 17 September 2023]

I've seen many films which were pretty much the same as this one. In each, a larcenous guy comes to a wild west town and soon is running the place. He ultimately must decide how far he is willing to go. Although running a casino or bar is their thing and breaking a few laws here and there is just fine, will they resort to murder? And, down deep, is this rogue able to receive redemption? And, invariably by the end, his time is this city is up and he must travel to another...with his girlfriend in tow.

This time, it stars Broderick Crawford, but the same sort of thing has been made with Clark Gable, Edward G. Robinson and others. It's not a bad story...but one that has 'time passer' written all over it. Plus, if you've seen one or two of these, then seeing more isn't exactly necessary. Despite all this, the film is well made and acted and worth seeing.

By the way, oddly, Andy Devine is in the film and does NOT have his usual raspy voice. I'd read that his voice was this way as a result of some accident, but clearly he did NOT have to talk that way unless, for some reason, he was dubbed...and he didn't appear to be.

Sin Town

[searchanddestroy-1 · 23 October 2016]

That's the pure Universal Studios western of this era, the forties, in the line of those westerns starring John Wayne in his early years and Marlene Dietrich - THE SPOILERS, PITTSBURG. I mean not open spaces westerns but rather town westerns, actually not the kind of John Ford's features. Don't expect to see in those forties Universal westerns the same kind of stuff the studio will give us a decade later with Jimmy Stewart or Audie Murphy's movies. That kind of "smooth" western makes me think of some Republic Studio kind too, which took place mostly in cabarets or saloons with of course always bad guys and gunfights, but with always a bit of comedy and burlesque. That said, I am surprised that no one has commented this film yet. It's very pleasing, entertaining; with a over the top Broderick - machine gun talking - Crawford. A terrific actor at his top here. A pure delight for western lovers. But I prefer the fifties; that's only a matter of taste. Enjoy.