Badman's Territory (1946)

Director:

Tim Whelan

Writers:

Jack Natteford (original screenplay) and
Luci Ward (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 April 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

See Them ALL...IN ACTION -- IN ONE PICTURE! The James Boys - The Daltons - Belle Starr

Plot:

After some gun play with a posse, the James Gang head for Quinto in a section of land which is not a part of America...

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Oklahoma | Outlaw | Indian | Indian Tribe

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	Sheriff Mark Rowley
George 'Gabby' Hayes	...	Honest Jim Badger / The Coyote Kid
Ann Richards	...	Henryetta Alcott
Ray Collins	...	Colonel Farewell / Narrator
James Warren	...	Deputy John Rowley
Morgan Conway	...	Captain William 'Bill' Hampton
Virginia Sale	...	Meg
John Halloran	...	Hank 'Mac' McGee
Andrew Tombes	...	Doc Quillan / Doc Grant
Richard Hale	...	Ben Wade
Harry Holman	...	Hodge
Chief Thundercloud	...	Chief Tahlequah
Lawrence Tierney	...	Jesse James
Tom Tyler	...	Frank James
Steve Brodie	...	Bob Dalton

Runtime:

97 min | USA:79 min (re-edited version) (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #11200) | UK:U

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Ben Johnson appears uncredited as a member of Marshal Hampton's posse. He even has a line or two of dialogue. He and the marshal and another deputy dismount and enter a building on location. In the next shot, the studio interior, Hampton and the deputy come through the door, but not Ben, he has disappeared and is seen no more.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of the movie a man states this is the end that Jesse James had been shot by Bob Ford and Frank James had been captured. While technically accurate, Jesse was killed over 10 years before the Coffeyville raid. Jesse was killed on Apr. 3, 1882 and the Coffeyville raid took place on Oct. 6, 1892.

Quotes:

Doc Grant: Men that put away their guns can't argue with the men that still carry them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Long Night (1947)

Undiscovered, Nicely-Filmed Western

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.