Renegade Girl (1946)

Director:

William Berke

Writer:

Edwin V. Westrate (original screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance | War | Western

Tagline:

SHE-DEVIL in war----ANGEL in LOVE! (original ad - several caps)

Plot:

Jean Shelby, a member of a family of Confederate sympathizers in Missouri during the Civil War, has...

Plot Keywords:

Confederate | Gang | Civil War | Indian | Raiders

Cast

Ann Savage	...	Jean Shelby
Alan Curtis	...	Capt. Fred Raymond
Edward Brophy	...	Bob Crandall
Russell Wade	...	Jerry Long
Jack Holt	...	Maj. Barker
Claudia Drake	...	Mary Manson
Ray Corrigan	...	William Quantrill
John 'Dusty' King	...	Cpl. Brown (as John King)
Chief Thundercloud	...	Chief White Cloud (as Chief Thunder Cloud)
Edmund Cobb	...	Sgt. James
Dick Curtis	...	Joe Barnes, raider (as Richard Curtis)
Nick Thompson	...	Tom Starr
James Martin	...	Bob Shelby
Harry Cording	...	Burly Raider with Mustache
Ernie Adams	...	Gang Member Ted

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

Affiliated Productions

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Ann Savage's stylishly blonded and bobbed hairstyle is strictly 1946, and relentlessly out of place in the 1864-1865 time frame in which the story is supposedly taking place.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Court-Martial (1928)

Fast Start, Good Ending, Rather Slow in the Middle

A Western with a semi-historical Civil War setting, "Renegade Girl" gets off to a fast start and has a good ending, although in between it slows down quite a bit. It has an interesting story and leading character.

Ann Savage stars as Jean Shelby, a Confederate sympathizer in Missouri late in the Civil War. She and her family have been helping provide information to Quantrill's raiders, so the Union Army is trying to find the Shelbys, assisted by an outcast Indian who has his own grudge against the family. Things get complicated when Jean and Union Captain Fred Raymond fall in love with each other, raising difficult questions about their loyalties and futures.

The film gets off to a pretty good start, with a lot of action that is mostly plausible, especially given the complex historical situation. It slows down then for quite a while, and starts to drag a bit. But it picks up towards the end, and the final sequence is pretty good, and not predictable. Savage does rather well in the lead, making her character mostly believable. Most of the other characters are routine (especially the Indians, portrayed in a very unfavorable light), aside from Edward Brophy as a gregarious member of Quantrill's gang.

There's nothing spectacular here, but it's a decent film and should be worth watching either for fans of old Westerns or for those interested in movies about the Civil War era.