Bob Baker was never a huge B-Western Star....but his easy going style endeared him to legions of B-Western Fans over the decades........His Dual role in "The Black Bandit"1938, was done by many Western Stars over the years.....What makes this B-Western stand out from all the rest, was a sensable script, and above all, one of the most Pleasant Musical Scores in B-Western History, by Frank Sanucci......Baker's Musical interludes were most enjoyable, and Sanucci used to them to great advantage in scoring the film.....An added plus, was the presence of Veteran Actor Hal Talliaferro, aka: Wally Wales, Floyd Alderson(his real name)....Add Old Pros, Jack Rockwell, Glenn Strange, Carleton Young, and Tom London, and you had the whos who of B-Westerns.......Romance was supplied by the fair Marjorie Reynolds in this above par Universal B-Western.......If you are ever looking for a pleasant and enjoyable Old Time B-Western, you cannot go wrong with the very enjoyable "Black Bandit"---If only it were more available on Video and dvd....With Respect For the Genre----sasheegm-1
2 Reviews
An Intelligent B-Movie Western With A Veiled Reference to Marihuana!
zardoz-1324 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Cowboy star Bob Baker plays twin brothers in "Wolfman" director George Waggner's "The Black Bandit," an above-average but formulaic law & order morality oater about cattle rustling and mistaken identity. Appropriately, Bob Ramsey wears a white Stetson, while Don Ramsey sports a black Stetson. Scenarist Joseph Westactually a pseudonym for Waggnercorrespondingly color codes the horses that each character has. For example, Bob rides a pinto, and Don straddles a black steed. Interestingly, the early parts of this western occurs in 1892 while the latter half of it takes place in 1907, with a mention in between to justify the dates that the hero's father died while serving with the Rough Riders in the Spanish American War. Although it resembles the typical, low-budget, B-movie sagebrushers lensed in the late 1930s, Waggner's solid writing and directing, Baker's sturdy acting as both hero and villain, and a strong supporting cast make this outdoors yarn an entertaining feature to watch with only about three songs. For the record, Baker warbles only two of them. Composer Frank Sanucci's music contribution to this lively little B-western bolsters the drama.
The story opens with Dad Ramsey (Arthur Van Slyke of "Black Aces") and Weepy (Hal Taliaferro, a.k.a. Wally Wales of "Ramrod") and three other riders spotting a herd of 300 wild mares. Actually, it appears that Waggner has spliced in stock footage of the horse herd and skillfully cross-cut shots of the cowboys with them. Initially, Weepy has nothing complimentary to say about the mares. In fact, he thinks Dad and he are wasting their time. "What's the government going to do with 300 head of mares?" "Breed them," Dad replies. At this point, Waggner treats us to a lesson in horse breeding after Weepy dismisses the mares as little use to anybody. Dad corrects him, "That's what makes standard bred colts." Dad explains that "combining the toughness of the range mare with the blood of a thoroughbred stud" yields the kind of horse that the U.S. Government wants. Dad and Weepy spot a young pinto colt and a black colt. Dad observes that they would be ideal for his sons. This allows Waggner to differentiate Bob and Don with Weepy opining, "Them twin boys of yours may look alike but they're as different as the black and the pinto." The next day, Don refuses to accompany Dad, Weepy, and Bob on the round-up. and Bob lassos the two colts. When he offers Don the pinto, Don smacks him with a stick and tries to claim the black. This is an interesting sequence that the Hays Office must have objected to because we see Don raise the stick to strike Bob. When Don actually strikes Bob, however, a saddled horse obstructs the view. Don accuses his twin brother of being his parents' favorite. Later, Don steals the black horse and rides away to become a rustler. The years pass, going from 1892 to 1907; Dad has died in the Spanish American War, and Bob has become sheriff, while Don rides the owlhoot trail as an outlaw nicknamed 'the Black Bandit' for his black outfit. Don and company try to rustle cattle and a sheriff with a posse light out after them. Don draws them away from his gang and gallops across the state line. Sheriff Robert Warner (Forrest Taylor of "Sagebrush Heroes") cannot legally pursue Don, but he rides to warn the sheriff about Don's presence. Warner gets the shock of his life when he meets Bob and observes that Bob shouldn't travel at night because somebody might be mistake him for Don. Later, Bob and company visit Luke Johnson's cattle camp. Johnson (Glenn Strange of "House of Frankenstein") shares his coffee with them. Not long afterward, Don's gang rustles Johnson's cattle, and Johnson shrugs off the idea that he saw Bob at the head of the rustlers. Meanwhile, Don concocts a plan to rustle a big-time rancher. "How does that sound?" Don asks his second-in-command. Cash (Carlton Young of "The Gallant Hours") makes a veiled reference to marihuana in his opinion of Don's outrageous scheme: "Like you been smoking that loco weed?"
Meanwhile, we learn about Bob's girlfriend Jane Allen (Marjorie Reynolds of " Holiday Inn") that he plans to marry. Jane and her cattle rancher father Boyd (Jack Rockwell of "Son of Dracula") cannot believe that Bob would rustle cattle. When the cattlemen come to question Bob about the rustling, he refuses to accompany them to the U.S. Marshal's office to clear himself. It seems that Bob has kept it a secret that he has a twin brother. Naively, Bob hopes to turn Don around. However, it is too late. Bob rides out to corner Don with the posse hot on his trail. The stratagem that Bob adopts consists of swapping clothes, but Bob cannot fool Cash because he refuses to smoke a cigarette and then makes a statement about the whereabouts of the rustled herd that betrays his real identity.
Waggner does a good job of setting up dramatic situations early in the action and paying them off later. For example, he foreshadows the opposite sides of the law that Bob and Don eventually gravitate to before the final showdown. Young Bob warns young Don that a rustler will wind up with a noose around his neck, while young Don shrugs off this admonition and argues that rustlers "get rich and have fun." Further, in an early scene young Bob gets the drop on Don when they are playing lawmen and rustlers with their soap guns and Don complains about Bob's stealth. Bob dismisses his stealth with the humorous remark: "I didn't sneak up behind your back Don, you just happened to be turned the wrong way."
"The Black Bandit" is an intelligent B-movie western with good dialogue. There isn't a wasted second in its trim 58 minute running time.
The story opens with Dad Ramsey (Arthur Van Slyke of "Black Aces") and Weepy (Hal Taliaferro, a.k.a. Wally Wales of "Ramrod") and three other riders spotting a herd of 300 wild mares. Actually, it appears that Waggner has spliced in stock footage of the horse herd and skillfully cross-cut shots of the cowboys with them. Initially, Weepy has nothing complimentary to say about the mares. In fact, he thinks Dad and he are wasting their time. "What's the government going to do with 300 head of mares?" "Breed them," Dad replies. At this point, Waggner treats us to a lesson in horse breeding after Weepy dismisses the mares as little use to anybody. Dad corrects him, "That's what makes standard bred colts." Dad explains that "combining the toughness of the range mare with the blood of a thoroughbred stud" yields the kind of horse that the U.S. Government wants. Dad and Weepy spot a young pinto colt and a black colt. Dad observes that they would be ideal for his sons. This allows Waggner to differentiate Bob and Don with Weepy opining, "Them twin boys of yours may look alike but they're as different as the black and the pinto." The next day, Don refuses to accompany Dad, Weepy, and Bob on the round-up. and Bob lassos the two colts. When he offers Don the pinto, Don smacks him with a stick and tries to claim the black. This is an interesting sequence that the Hays Office must have objected to because we see Don raise the stick to strike Bob. When Don actually strikes Bob, however, a saddled horse obstructs the view. Don accuses his twin brother of being his parents' favorite. Later, Don steals the black horse and rides away to become a rustler. The years pass, going from 1892 to 1907; Dad has died in the Spanish American War, and Bob has become sheriff, while Don rides the owlhoot trail as an outlaw nicknamed 'the Black Bandit' for his black outfit. Don and company try to rustle cattle and a sheriff with a posse light out after them. Don draws them away from his gang and gallops across the state line. Sheriff Robert Warner (Forrest Taylor of "Sagebrush Heroes") cannot legally pursue Don, but he rides to warn the sheriff about Don's presence. Warner gets the shock of his life when he meets Bob and observes that Bob shouldn't travel at night because somebody might be mistake him for Don. Later, Bob and company visit Luke Johnson's cattle camp. Johnson (Glenn Strange of "House of Frankenstein") shares his coffee with them. Not long afterward, Don's gang rustles Johnson's cattle, and Johnson shrugs off the idea that he saw Bob at the head of the rustlers. Meanwhile, Don concocts a plan to rustle a big-time rancher. "How does that sound?" Don asks his second-in-command. Cash (Carlton Young of "The Gallant Hours") makes a veiled reference to marihuana in his opinion of Don's outrageous scheme: "Like you been smoking that loco weed?"
Meanwhile, we learn about Bob's girlfriend Jane Allen (Marjorie Reynolds of " Holiday Inn") that he plans to marry. Jane and her cattle rancher father Boyd (Jack Rockwell of "Son of Dracula") cannot believe that Bob would rustle cattle. When the cattlemen come to question Bob about the rustling, he refuses to accompany them to the U.S. Marshal's office to clear himself. It seems that Bob has kept it a secret that he has a twin brother. Naively, Bob hopes to turn Don around. However, it is too late. Bob rides out to corner Don with the posse hot on his trail. The stratagem that Bob adopts consists of swapping clothes, but Bob cannot fool Cash because he refuses to smoke a cigarette and then makes a statement about the whereabouts of the rustled herd that betrays his real identity.
Waggner does a good job of setting up dramatic situations early in the action and paying them off later. For example, he foreshadows the opposite sides of the law that Bob and Don eventually gravitate to before the final showdown. Young Bob warns young Don that a rustler will wind up with a noose around his neck, while young Don shrugs off this admonition and argues that rustlers "get rich and have fun." Further, in an early scene young Bob gets the drop on Don when they are playing lawmen and rustlers with their soap guns and Don complains about Bob's stealth. Bob dismisses his stealth with the humorous remark: "I didn't sneak up behind your back Don, you just happened to be turned the wrong way."
"The Black Bandit" is an intelligent B-movie western with good dialogue. There isn't a wasted second in its trim 58 minute running time.
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