Born Reckless

A typical rodeo film. fistfights, bronc riding. ten gallon hats. Stars mamie Van Doren and Jeff Richards. Van Doren has a VERY interesting bio on imdb, if you have a couple minutes... makes for a fun read. pretty x-rated. Richards had a much quieter life; had started as a baseball player, but moved into acting after getting an injury. Some songs sung in the nightclubs. maybe some of them were actually sung by VanDoren. Arthur Hunnicutt is the sidekick. Hunnicutt was oscar nominated for Big Sky... always played the western character, and usually with the big beard. When Kelly (Richards) meets interloper Liz (Carol Ohmart), things get tense. Will that put an end to Jackie? (VanDoren) This Warner Brothers film has many similarities to UA's The Misfits (Gable, Monroe), but Reckless was first! Misfits would come a couple years later, with bigger stars, but the stories are almost the same. Reckless written by Richard Landau... had started out by writing short documentaries; worked up to films and then television series. little bits and pieces of various shows. Directed by Howard Koch; had some pretty big achievments in his life: was president of the Academy, was head of production at Paramount Studios, and was VP of Sinatra Enterprises. not a bad life!

Shapely saloon singer Mamie Van Doren (as Jackie Adams) is ogled by many man. After a performance, she is assaulted by a particularly amorous admirer. Handsome rodeo rider Jeff Richards (as Kelly Cobb) saves Ms. Van Doren. She partners up with Mr. Richards and his companion, Arthur Hunnicutt (as "Cool Man"), on the rodeo circuit. Although Richards seems more interested in other women, like Carol Ohmart (as Liz), he and Van Doren become attracted. Van Doren continues to arouse other men with her full, tightly-attired figure and platinum blonde looks. Seeing whether or not they can work it out and settle down is not very exciting.

**** Born Reckless (11/58) Howard W. Koch ~ Mamie Van Doren, Jeff Richards, Arthur Hunnicutt, Tom Duggan

Mamie Van Doren often played bad girls in 1950s films such as "High School Confidential" and "Guns Girls and Gangsters". However, in a strange twist, here she plays a nice girl....something that just seemed weird!

When the story begins, Jackie (Van Doren) is being sexually assaulted by a jerk following a rodeo. Rodeo star Kelly Cobb (Jeff Richards) sees what's occurring and belts the guy...and soon a giant fight breaks out. Kelly, Jackie and Kelly's partner, Cool Man (Arthur Hunnicutt) make their escape and soon the trio are friends and they travel together to other rodeos. However, over time, Jackie is frustrated as she's a nice (and sexy) girl and Kelly chases after a different lady. What's next?

The acting and dialog are pretty silly in this one. My daughter hated it, but I felt it was a watchable time-passer....though seeing Van Doren in such a role seemed silly as did her many (too many) musical numbers. For Van Doren fans mostly.

Born Reckless (1958)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Rodeo star Kelly Cobb (Jeff Richards) and singer Jackie Adams (Mamie Van Doren) team up to head across the country getting into various rodeo contests to win money. Usually Cobb takes a beating by not only the bulls but the various men who are constantly trying to get their hands on the sexy Adams. If you're looking for high art then BORN RECKLESS certainly isn't going to be for you but if you're looking for some fun, cheap "B" movie stuff then there's quite a bit here to enjoy. The screenplay really doesn't have too many brains working for it because we've basically got a ten-minute movie that just keeps repeating itself over and over and over again. In fact, we basically have the same thing happen meaning that Cobb and Adams arrive in a new town, he tries to win money, she gets hit on and he has to fight the guy hitting on her. This here is basically the entire movie and it's funny that the screenplay didn't try anything but instead just kept this format going throughout the picture. I really didn't mind the repeat business because it was rather funny seeing all of these guys putting their hands all over Van Doren who would then try to get away only to have to be rescued. I'm sure some might see this as rather sexist entertainment but it's at least got some campy charm to it. Richards and Van Doren don't offer excellent performances but they're good enough for a film like this. The two of them share some nice chemistry together, which helps keep the film moving. Arthur Hunnicutt nearly steals the picture as the sidekick who always has something funny to say. The soundtrack includes a decent song from Tex Williams and Van Doren also gets to do about four different numbers but none of them are memorable. BORN RECKLESS isn't a classic but I think fans of the actors should enjoy it even with all the silly stock footage.

This is a pretty good feature about some rodeo competitors and its best assets are a typically amusing hayseed performance by Arthur Hunnicutt, some sharp black and white rodeo competition photography by Joseph Biroc and Mamie van Doren's shiny blouse.

A good script allows the actors to give good performances, including Miss van Doren, who was often used as little more than a peroxide job and a large, pointy bra. A sense of anomie suffuses the production as everyone grabs a few happy moments in a tough, dying world. The following year's THE MISFITS, starring another pneumatic platinum blonde is acclaimed, but this unassuming second feature makes the same points and has more range.