Customer Rating: 
Summary: Texas set Western
Comment: Lone Star was scripted by Borden Chase whose name adorns many an outstanding Western -notably Red River;Bend of the River and The Far Country .Lone Star is not in the same class as these movies partly because they had directors with exceptional talent in Hawks and Anthony Mann , while Lone Star is directed by the studio hack Vincent Sherman.In part the reason lies with the script .Chase was the co-founder of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals ,a body designed to worship at the altar of the repulsive Senator McCarthy and his script here is biased and one sided in its consideration of the issues posed by the movie.
The setting is Texas in the 1840's when the then independent Republic is torn between maintaining its status or becoming part of the Union.Texan cattle baron Burke -played with customary forthrightness by Gable-is sent by President Jackson to locate the missing Sam Houston and get him to side with the faction calling for admission to the Union .He meeets up with Broderick Crawford on the way and Crawford is fanatical about Texan independence and indeed dreams of an even bigger Texas ,one that occupies most of the land below the Mason-Dixon line ,a state in alliance with Mexico and Britain and in a position to cahallenge the Union itself as the chief power in North America.
Gable falls in love with a newspaper proprietor -played by the fetching Gardner and the feeling is returned ,which complicates matters since she is close to Crawford and others on the independence faction.Events move at a brisk pace to the final siege of the legislature with Crawford trying to influence the vote on a key treaty, and indeed the action is well staged throughout,and a cast of solid supporting actors lend weight to proceedings.What stops it from being better than it is is a plodding quality to the direction and a lack of any real spark between the leading players who are competent but not charismatic enough to lift matters.
Okay but nothing special and for Western lovers only
Customer Rating:
Summary: How can a movie with Ava Gardner not be a hit.
Comment: Gable is hired to bring Texas into the union. Crawford plays villian. Gardner looks great and has to choose between two men. Good 'horray for texas' movie.
