The Cowboy and the Bandit

Playing the title roles in The Cowboy And The Bandit are Rex Lease and Richard Alexander respectively. The film is an independent production and not a bad B western. I counted elements of The Westerner, The Sting, and Shane within the story of this film.

After Alexander saves Lease from a lynching on general principles Lease goes to work for Adabelle Driver and her son Bobby Nelson who are barely holding on to the ranch they have. A gang of outlaws runs the local town and they're making things rough for the two of them.

With the names of the classic films I've given you I think you can figure out a lot of the plot on your own without further information. The film is nicely paced and Lease sits the saddle well as a good cowboy hero. Sad this was not done at a major studio, The Cowboy And The Bandit had elements in it that could have turned it into a classic.

Horse thief Richard Alexander and his gang save Rex Lease from an undeserved lynching. Lease declines their offer to join them, heads across state lines and helps Adabelle Driver and her son, Bobby Nelson save the ranch. He also earns the ire of evil bar owner Alphonse Martell and the love of Bea Mehaffey.

It's a save-the-ranch plot, #2 on Frank Gruber's list of the seven western plots. However, it is nicely tricked out with Good Bad Men, and an exciting finish (I would write 'thrilling' except we go in knowing things will turn out well), that this old chestnut is very watchable. Director Albert Herman can't raise much of a performance out of anyone, but I actually take some pleasure in the realistic clumsiness when stunts are performed. If you're a fan of old B westerns, you'll find it a very pleasant hour.

Rex Lease was probably supposed to be on his way to stardom, but for whatever reason didn't make it. He stayed busy, but in smaller and smaller parts -- often really shining, though.

In "The Cowboy and the Bandit" he gave possibly his finest starring performance, handling both the more intimate moments as well as the action beautifully.

His young co-star, native Californian Bobby Nelson, pretty much stole the film, throwing himself into the role and showing himself a good cowboy, riding like a pro and handling his action too.

Leading lady Blanche Mehaffey played no shrinking violet and watching her in her biggest action scene was a real treat.

Bad guys were superbly played by -- and this is surprising -- mostly unbilled but excellent performers such as the great Lafe McKee, George Chesebro, Victor Potel, and Ben Corbett. Most of them steal their scenes, too.

Billed were Franklyn Farnum and William Desmond, among others, and however small the budget was, there was no stinting of top-notch performing talent.

They had a great script to work from, written by Jack Jevne, who had 88 credits lasting into the mid-1950s, and I want to see every one of his films. This script had humor and drama, and great attention to detail.

Paying attention to that detail was director Albert Herman, whose 194 credits extended into movies and TV of the early 1950s. The little touches he brought were not always present in this kind of low-budget Western, and he deserves a lot a praise for being part of a superlative company producing and presenting a superlative motion picture.

Westerns on the Web allows us to see this mostly unknown and seldom-seen Western, and Bob Terry and his associates really deserve our biggest Thank You. "The Cowboy and the Bandit" is one I highly recommend. You can see it at YouTube. And should.