The Outcast

A very good performance by a young John Derek, an outstanding performance by veteran Bob Steele, beautiful scenery stunningly photographed, and action-packed, razor-sharp direction by an old pro at the top of his form make this one of the best "B" westerns to come out of Republic Pictures, which specialized in them and did them better than any other studio did. Derek plays a young man who returns home after his father dies to claim the ranch that was stolen from him, and runs into more trouble than he bargained for. Steele, a major western star in the '30s and '40s, had aged out of leading man roles and settled into character parts, often playing--as he does here--a cold-blooded gunman (watch Humphrey Bogart's 1951 "The Enforcer" to see Steele as a hired killer par excellance). He was such a good actor that he was as effective in these roles as he was in his younger days as a cowboy hero. The cast is full of familiar western faces--Jim Davis, Ben Cooper, James Millican, Slim Pickens--and ace director William Witney uses them all to their best advantage. The blazing gun battles are expertly staged, and the film as a whole moves like lightning. All in all, an expertly made, thoroughly enjoyable little "B" western, more entertaining than many films that cost 50 times as much. Highly recommended.

Bo Derek wasn't even born when John Derek strapped on his guns as a young man who arrives in town to an unfriendly welcome, but who ultimately manages to emerge triumphant in this good-looking Republic outer filmed on location in autumnal Trucolor which unusually employs a Chopin motif on the soundtrack.

The Outcast is set in 1880s Colorado about a man who rides into town with a gang of hired gunmen to reclaim his inheritance. But the man opposing him is none other than his uncle, who will not give up the ranch, and all that goes with it, without a fight.

A truly pleasant surprise to me this one was. Too many times I care to mention when I have sat down for a B movie Western and cringed at the banality on show. Directed by prolific B helmer William Witney and coming out of the mightily solid Republic Pictures house, The Outcast {AKA The Fortune Hunter} uses a standard story premise and expands it further with a multitude of interesting character arcs. There is so much going on in this part of Colorado, the film never has time to become boring or twee in its execution. Each character serves a purpose, if they have screen time then they are functional to the plot{s} in hand. We have feuding families, hired thugs, a pugilist blacksmith, reams of gun play, fist fights on horseback {fine stunt work here} and pretty gals pulling the male protagonists emotions left and right! All set against a lovely rolling location backdrop {sadly not able to find where at the time of writing} and filmed in the safer cheaper colour aspect of Trucolor, which looks nicer now in this day and age of HD TV.

The cast are led by John Derek (All the King's Men) and an assortment of stoic and professional Western players fill out the roll call. It does look to be either largely unseen or consigned wrongly to the B movie bin. But it's certainly a must for the Western genre fan, and definitely a film to prove that Republic Pictures did have good films in their locker. So do check it out if you get the chance 7/10

William Witney the director will be remembered as the greatest Republic Pictures serials maker. In his movies, for most of them, only the action scenes will be the best. See for instance STRANGER AT MY DOOR, an intimistic western, remember the horse sequence, with Skip Homeier? The story, very cute and unusual indeed, was rather flat but suddenly, you had a terrific action sequence, even better than any big classic Hollywood production. Even in his B westerns or thrillers - HEADLINE HUNTERS - there was a fist fight scene absolutely outstanding, for a forgettable B thriller. For this prectable western, THE OUTCAST - there is a.stampede sequence, involving wagons, and a wagon doing a stunt never seen before, some kind of a forward somersault, perious leap, a wagon laced at top speed !!!! Just in the middle of a flat western; because this story, sorry, but is flat, with a Jim Davis in a predictable villain character.

I saw this movie on the Westerns Channel and didn't expect much from it. But I was pleasantly surprised as it was well directed, the staging was impressive, the script was thorough and had an intriguing plot. The exterior shots were gorgeous (wonderful country, might have been Wyoming but probably the back lot somewhere.) While only John Derek was truly handsome, the cast selection and action created by the supporting cast makes this movie worth watching. The only bad thing was, Bob Steele shot a man in the back. I was horrified, having seen so many of his movies where he was the good guy. A complete change of character for him. See it.