LeonLouisRicci
Name Dropper of a Western including...Billy the Kid...The Daltons...The Sundance Kid...and The Youngers.All of this Means absolutely Nothing in terms of Story or Plot. The Names are there for Sizzle and to make the Movie seem more Important than it is. None of this was Necessary because this RKO Western is Above Average with Randolph Scott (the good guy), Robert Ryan (the baddest of the Badmen), Anne Jefferies as a Pistol Packin Mama (Cheyenne), and a Gang of Familiar Faces that add some Spice to this sometimes Brutal Oater.The Cinematography is in Sharp Black and White with some Attention to Atmosphere, Cheyenne's Tomboy Violence, a Psychotic Sundance Kid, and if it's to Your Liking, Gabby Hayes as a Motormouth Banker for Comedy Relief, all make this a Notch Above Standard Stuff.Anne Jefferies and Jacqueline White spar for Randolph Scott's attention and Robert Armstrong gives one of His Better non "King Kong" (1933) Outings. Overall, it's Darker than most Westerns of its Time, thanks to that RKO Noir-ish Style and Wide Open Casting makes this Worth a Watch even for Non-Western Fans.
tynesider
Legendary western outlaws by the score (almost), are faced down by lawman Vance (Randolph Scott) in this routine picture from Ray Enright. Two heroines, one a reformed bad girl, Cheyenne, (Anne Jeffreys)who becomes a telegraphist for part of the film, (now that's a new one); the other heroine reluctant banker John Pettit's (Gabby Hayes) widowed daughter Madge (Jacqueline White). These ladies fight for the attentions of Scott though Madge is already engaged to him.The eponymous bad men cause problems for banks in the usual fashion and number some old favourites among their ranks (the Youngers, the Daltons, Billy The Kid, Wild Bill Doolin and the Sundance Kid (Robert Ryan). Ryan is portrayed as a really nasty piece of work, he shoots men in cold blood and seems more interested in killing than robbing.The shoot out in the ghost town where the outlaws have organised a dance (another first?) is nicely done and the black and white photography makes it work.Liked also, old reliable Gabby Hayes' scene with Randolph Scott in which he warns of the futility of shaving "you realise you lose four full days out o' your life every year - just hackin' your whiskers off?" The two female leads are attractive, with contrasting personalities, White is demure but with a steely resolve, while Jeffreys is vivacious, stubborn, plays tough but has a soft feminine centre. They are both central to the plot and not just pretty faces.The Doolin (Robert Armstrong) character is interesting too, a hard but pragmatic outlaw who is just about able to keep Sundance under control.All in all a fair B Western with some nice touches.
mschrock
This movie surprised me. I don't care for Randolph Scott, and reading the description of the movie to include Billie the Kid, Youngers, Sundance Kid, and the Daltons, etc. This seemed like a joke. Clearly a bad movie to waste time on, but I couldn't resist watching it start to see all these headliner bad guys in one gang. I expected to rate the movie no higher than 3.....if I even made it past the first 30 minutes.
Turns out, the movie caught me off guard. In the context of a B Western, it actually works. Seeing Gabby in a 'non-side-kick' role wasn't the disappointment I expected. Seeing them "throw" bullets out of the guns (the classic snap the gun down and fire in one motion), and taking about 2 seconds from pistol blast till the bullet strikes the rock in front of the bad guy, was ok, cause that's classic B Western stuff, and after all this was B Western in the 1940's.If you're looking for a good old B Western that doesn't have the Duke in it, try this out. I gave it a 7 in spite of myself.
jetan
Pretty fair horse opera set during Oklahoma land rush. Features Randolph Scott along with just about every "B" star in business such as Anne Jeffries (Tess Trueheart), Tom Tyler (Captain Marvel) and Lex Barker (Tarzan). Outlaws, calvary, bandit queens, the works. Scott does his usual Oscar-caliber imitation of a cigar store Indian.
AD
