Return of the Bad Men (1948)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Ray Enright

Writers:

Charles O'Neal (screenplay) &
Jack Natteford (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 July 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

THE TEN WORST KILLERS OF THE UNTAMED WEST...and the Lady they called 'Cheyenne'...on a rampage of murder and terror in the blood-red days of frontier Oklahoma!

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	Marshal Vance Cordell
Robert Ryan	...	Sundance Kid
Anne Jeffreys	...	Cheyenne (Jeanie McBride)
George 'Gabby' Hayes	...	John J. Pettit - Bank President
Jacqueline White	...	Madge Allen - Pettit's Daughter / Cordell's Fiancée
Steve Brodie	...	Cole Younger
Tom Keene	...	Jim Younger (as Richard Powers)
Robert Bray	...	John Younger
Lex Barker	...	Emmett Dalton
Walter Reed	...	Bob Dalton
Michael Harvey	...	Grat Dalton
Dean White	...	Billy the Kid
Robert Armstrong	...	Wild Bill Doolin
Tom Tyler	...	Wild Bill Yeager
Lew Harvey	...	Arkansas Kid

Also Known As:

Return of the Badmen (International: English title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #12512) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Ernie Adams' 427th and last film.

Movie Connections:

Follows Badman's Territory (1946)

A Summit of Outlawry

Randolph Scott had scored a pretty good success dealing with a whole bunch of name outlaws in Badman's Territory a few years back. Small wonder that RKO decided to repeat the same formula. Though Return of the Badmen is by no means a sequel to the original film.

Return of the Badmen finds Randolph Scott as a retired Texas Ranger looking to settle in the newly opened Oklahoma Territory. But formerly the territory known as the Indian nations was patrolled by the army with visits from occasional federal peace officers like Rooster Cogburn if John Wayne fans will remember True Grit.

A summit of outlawry has been called by Bill Doolin as played by Robert Armstrong. He brings in the Daltons, the Youngers, Billy the Kid, and the meanest of them all, the Sundance Kid as played by Robert Ryan. This is not the same guy who partnered with Paul Newman. He's a mean cuss and he's the guy that Randolph Scott eventually squares off with for reasons you'll have to see the film for.

Repeating the same formula that RKO used for Scott in Abilene Town, he's got two girls pursuing him. One is Jacqueline White who is banker Gabby Hayes's daughter who is the widow of a peace officer herself with a small son in Gary Gray. The other is a Calamity Jane type outlaw named Cheyenne played by Anne Jeffreys who is Armstrong's niece. Again you'll have to see Return of the Bad Men to figure out who Scott gets.

In true cowboy hero fashion, old peace officer Randolph Scott answers the call of the citizenry for law and order. Though Return of the Bad Men doesn't cover any new ground, it's a good western for Randolph Scott.

Or as Mel Brooks would have it, RANDOLPH SCOTT.