Badman's Territory

Before Quinto became part of the Union, it was a tough, lawless place - the refuge of such notorious desperadoes as Frank and Jesse James , the Dalton brothers, Belle Starr and Sam Bass. Into this outlaw stronghold rides Texan sheriff Mark Rowley on the trail of the James boys, and Henryette Alcott, a crusading newspaper editor determined in her campaign to make Quinto part of the Oklahoma territory.

The town of Quinto is sure a colourful place, its filled with bad men, such as Jesse James, Belle Starr and the Dalton gang, but the main villainy is a US Marshal who frames Scott's lawman and his brother as being in cahoots with the bad men. Morgan Conway as the crooked marshal does some scene stealing - he's truly a character you love to hate. The disapproving look Scott gives him is priceless. Scott was always an expert in using his stoic visage to his advantage. It's a colourful western with a steady plot and enough action to keep you "a leeetle mite", as Gabby Hayes would say, happy.

One element in the enormous impact of B Westerns such as with Hopalong Cassidy, is the old school Western sidekick archetype, patented by George F. Hayes, an archetype of a free American recognizable right up to today. This Randolph Scott Western has a bigger budget, higher quality and longer running time than a B, but checks the boxes that make B's fun to watch. Gabby gets a major starring role and with good direction here gives, for him, a classic performance. This is set mostly in town but there are enough outdoor scenes, stunts, musical interludes and an extraordinary scene with an impressive band of friendly Native Americans on horses taking over the town, and is well acted. Lawrence Tierney is excellent as Jesse James and the ambiguity between who is good or bad fits the noir period of 1946. Isabel Jewell fits perfectly in this Western setting and gives a good example with Ann Richards of independent women on the frontier. This setting of ungoverned land provides a unique challenge for the mastery of Randolph Scott.

This is a fine western, one of the better ones of its era and one that, sadly, is hardly known. Generally speaking, it''s a fun movie that should have a big audience. You can't find it on VHS or DVD and few people have ever heard of it. Just look at how few reviews there are on this website.

The story is fast-moving because of a nice mixture of action, suspense, romance and even some comedy. Randolph Scott, Gabby Hayes, Ann Richards and Ray Collins are all fun to watch. Scott acted with Shirley Temple and with Astiare & Rogers, etc., but a western is where he looked the most comfortable. As a bonus, we get tough-guy film noir man Lawrence Tierney playing Jesse James!

Not super, but a solid old western.

Badman's Territory is a unique Randolph Scott film in that it has as its chief villain, a bloodthirsty United States Marshal in the person of Morgan Conway. Other than playing Dick Tracy this might be Mr. Conway's finest moment on screen.

Randolph Scott is a local sheriff who's aiding Conway in pursuit of the James gang. When they get away, each blames the other, but Conway shoots Scott's brother James Warren who then is taken by the James gang to the Oklahoma panhandle, better known as the Badman's Territory. It's that because it is unorganized with no established law and therefore a haven for the famous outlaws of the west.

They do flock there, everyone, the James gang, the Dalton gang, Belle Starr and Sam Bass. In real life none of these characters ever met, but this is Hollywood. Randy goes into the territory and finds all kinds of adventure and a little romance with Ann Richards.

Conway's portrayal anticipates what Kirk Douglas did on screen many years later in his acclaimed western Posse. Conway's a bloodthirsty man who's got big ambitions for that strip of territory. Some of his actions indicate a man on horseback and in the post World War II era that would have struck a resonating tone with the movie going public.

Of course it's outlaw Bruce Dern that brings Douglas down in Posse and in 1946 you had to have an honest sheriff in Randolph Scott do the deed. Still with Code restrictions in place, Badman's Territory is a good Randolph Scott western. And I'm sure made a few dollars for RKO back in the day.

Hollywood and History do not, as a rule, go well together.

Once again a western movie is damaged by over-saturation of big-name outlaws -- real people but who lived and died very differently from the script's portrayal.

Frankly, I watched with trepidation, but was soon more than placated by the very high quality of cast -- and, shucks, the presence of Randolph Scott alone will usually save any movie.

Here he is assisted by Gabby Hayes, in an unusual but surprisingly moving characterization, and by an actress of whom I know nothing, Ann Richards, a very lovely woman, but whose allegedly English accent never did sound quite right. Turns out she is from Australia.

The bad guys were played by some, not just veterans, but champions, people such as Lawrence Tierney, Tom Tyler, Steve Brodie, and Nestor Paiva.

A character named Belle Starr just captivated, just stole each scene she was in, and looking later at the list of players I realize why: She was played by the great Isabel Jewell.

Several more wonderful actors did not even get credit, and once more we have to pause and say a little prayer of thanks for IMDb.com. There are John Hamilton, Buddy Roosevelt, Kermit Maynard, Emory Parnell, who even has some lines, and Elmo Lincoln.

The great and unheralded Bud Osborne has a pivotal role early in the film, but no credit.

Despite the foolishness in using some of the outlaw names, the script has a lot of very good dialog, and it moves, with lots of characters having lots of action.

"Badman's Territory" is, finally, a very good movie.