Frontier Gal

Originally meant to be a vehicle for Maria Montez who didn't like the script - allegedly the spanking scene at the end - so the part went to Yvonne de Carlo, who thought that the spanking was 'cute'. The movie is fairly predictable in its taming-of-the-shrew type of rumbustious humour with plenty of fights and a prolonged spanking of our feisty heroine's pert bottom at the end, after which, of course, all is well. Well according to Western if not #MeToo. Cute performance by the child actress who manages not to be too annoying.

This is an atypical western. Here there is more humour than suspense, and humour of a timeless nature. When a man loves a woman, or vice versa, there are always trouble spots and the inevitable consequences of the loving union. Take the timeless difficulties between the genders and the mischief of their offspring and you have quite an entertaining and engrossing story. There is a thrilling ending to this romp in the west, and definitely some exaggerated but not politically correct philosophies that reflect the attitudes prevalent in the era when the movie was made. But it is all good fun!

This film essentially begins with a drifter by the name of "Johnny Hart" (Rod Cameron) riding into a small town and upon noticing a nearby saloon decides to go inside for a drink. It's soon revealed that he is after a man who killed his partner but before he can identify the person, he becomes involved in a brawl which ends with an attractive woman named "Lorena Dumont" (Yvonne De Carlo) hitting him over the head with a whiskey bottle. Although she initially wants nothing to do with him, one thing leads to another and to their mutual surprise they get married within a couple of days. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned and not long afterward he is arrested for murder and is sent to prison. The scene then shifts to six years later with him having served his time and heading back to the same town to, once again, find the man who killed his partner. To his surprise, although his wife expresses no feelings toward him, he soon discovers that their one night together has produced a daughter-and whether they love each other or not--this creates its own unique problem that both of them have to resolve. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a rather odd Western which had a decent plot but for some reason didn't seem to quite realize its potential. I say this because the musical and comedic aspects didn't seem to mesh that well with the overall action and drama. At least, that's how it seemed to me. Be that as it may, while this certainly wasn't a bad film by any means, I believe a more serious approach should have been taken and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

I saw and forgot about countless western movies in my early years, but this is one western I recall vividly. (I picture it in Technicolor.) First, I remember fiery Yvonne De Carlo and cowboy Rod Cameron who came riding up to the establishment she owned. It was like the irresistible object encountering the immovable force. Their love-hate romance was unusual for any era, and would be almost unthinkable in today's films, but it worked for this out-of-the-mainstream movie. I've forgotten some of the details, but what impressed me most was their little girl and how she brought about the exciting conclusion of the movie and a strangely satisfying resolution to their love affair. This is one I'd like to see again, but it never turned up on TV and seems to have faded into oblivion. A pity. It was fun.

On the run after shooting one of the men who murdered his partner, Johnny Hart (Rod Cameron) stops in a remote saloon and meets vivacious singer Lorena Dumont (De Carlo). Tempers and passions flare, and Johnny and Lorena waken in the morning married and with a jealous outlaw after them. When Johnny is sent to prison for six years, he returns to find an embittered Lorena living with their young daughter.

Filmed in glorious Technicolor, this Universal studio Western stars Rod Cameron and the beautiful Yvonne DeCarlo who make a great pair with their love-hate relationship. The scene where Yvonne slaps Rod then gets kissed times four garners some face expressions from DeCarlo which shows her comic side. Frontier Gal is a light, romantic-musical western with sometimes a chauvinistic theme, but it's humorous and lively enough to overlook this. Well it's a comedy as well, bordering with slapstick. Frank Lackteen as Cherokee - Cameron's servant- is hilarious with his one line answers "How." And "you talk too much." The latter is directed to women.

Cameron's character can be a bit mean-spirited as he rejects his daughter, says he's not interested in being father, but the little sprog changes his mind with her cute charm and then takes the sprog away from his mother. But he soon learns the error of his way. Needless to say, there's not much action, it's not a typical western, but the opening sequence was great with Cameron dismounting onto a tree limb and the horse goes and hides In some bushes so the posse chasing won't them see him. Nice climax sequence that rounds things up neatly.