A Ticket to Tomahawk Reviews

Lighthearted western comedy starring Calhoun as a gunslinger hired by stagecoach owner Hugo to halt the oncoming railroad by any means available because his business will be ruined if the train makes it to Colorado. The clever Calhoun uses everything from Indians, holdup men, and dance hall girls (a young Marilyn Monroe among them) to thwart the iron horse, but the train workers prove braver than Calhoun expected. Led by female sharpshooter Baxter, with help from ambitious salesman Dailey, the train people eventually defeat the bad guys and see their efforts pay off when the railroad company establishes a franchise in Tomahawk. A fast, lively film, with a good cast and a lush Technicolor production. Monroe's part in her fourth film was minor but extremely decorative, the review in Variety calling her group of dance hall girls "a comely quartet of terpers." Along with Dailey, they performed a number called "Oh, What a Forward Young Man You Are" (Ken Darby, John Read). "A Ticket to Tomahawk" was another tune in the movie.