The Dalton Gang (1949)

Director:

Ford Beebe

Writer:

Ford Beebe (written by)

Release Date:

21 October 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

Outlaw Hunt!... for the most daring bad men of a dangerous era...

Plot:

Deputy Marshall Larry West goes undercover to find out who has been terrorizing the territory, Navajos or the Dalton Gang.

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Missouri | Killing | Murder | Rancher

Cast

Don 'Red' Barry	...	Marshal Larry West posing as Rusty Stevens (as Don Barry)
Robert Lowery	...	Blackie Dalton aka Blackie Mullet
James Millican	...	Sheriff Jeb
Greg McClure	...	Guthery Dalton aka Missouri Ganz
Julie Adams	...	Polly Medford (as Betty Adams)
Byron Foulger	...	Amos Boling
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Judge Price
George J. Lewis	...	Chief Irahu (as George Lewis)
Ray Bennett	...	J. J. Gorman
Marshall Reed	...	Joe - Wounded Man
Cliff Taylor	...	Doctor
Cactus Mack	...	Stage Driver Ed
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Victor Adamson	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Chuck Baldra	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Al Haskell	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Hendricks	...	Gang Member with Note (uncredited)
Ray Jones	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Bob McElroy	...	Gang Member (uncredited)
Jack Montgomery	...	Gang Member (uncredited)
Lew Morphy	...	Buck Rawlins (uncredited)
George Morrell	...	Old Timer Townsman (uncredited)
Bill Nestell	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Stanley Price	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Lee Roberts	...	Emmett 'Mac' Dalton (uncredited)
Matty Roubert	...	Gang Member (uncredited)
Wally West	...	Gang Member (uncredited)

Directed by
Ford Beebe

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ford Beebe		written by

Produced by
June Carr	....	associate producer
Ron Ormond	....	producer
Ira Webb	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Ernest Miller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Hugh Winn

Art Direction by
Fred Preble

Set Decoration by
Ted Offenbecker		(as Theodore Offenbecker)

Makeup Department
Paul Stanhope	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Austen Jewell	....	assistant director (as Austin Jewell)

Sound Department
Glen Glenn	....	sound
Earl Snyder	....	sound

Special Effects by
Ray Mercer	....	special effects

Stunts
Carol Henry	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Matty Roubert	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Wally West	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Archie R. Dalzell	....	camera operator (as Archie Dalzell)
Noble Craig	....	grip (uncredited)
James Doolittle	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alfred Berke	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Walter Greene	....	musical director

Other crew
Moree Herring	....	script supervisor
Robert L. Lippert	....	presenter
Gloria Welsch	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• Donald Barry Productions
• Lippert Pictures

Distributors

• Screen Guild Productions (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (as Lippert Pictures Inc.)
• Kit Parker Films (2004) (USA) (all media) (copyright owner)
• VCI Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Blair & Associates  DVD package design
• Glen Glenn Sound Company  sound (as Glen Glenn Sound Company)

Also Known As:

"Outlaw Gang" - USA (TV title)

Runtime:

58 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #14016)

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Donald Barry Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: Although there was an Emmett Dalton, there was no Guthrie or Blackie. Bob and Grat were the other notorious brothers. There is also no mention of another brother, Frank Dalton, who became a lawman.

Quotes:

Amos Boling:[Kidding Larry and Polly] you ought to get married, you two thigs, and raise a whole crop of knuckleheads.

The 'non-de-plume' Daltons Ride Again.

This "Donald Barry Production", an ego (for Barry)/marketing tagline only devised by Producer Ron Ormond, and Ormond is the ONLY credited Producer on this film, starts off with about three minutes of newspaper headlines detailing robbery, murder and general mayhem in Missouri escapades of The Dalton Gang, backed by montage stock footage scenes, interlaced with escalating reward posters for Guthrie (Lee Roberts), Blackie (Robert Lowery) and Emmett (Greg McClure) Dalton. When next seen, Emmett is "Missouri" Ganz, Blackie is Blackie Mullett and Guthrie is just plain Mac, all working for J. J. Gorman (Ray Bennett) somewhere many miles west of Missouri in Navajo country.

The real/reel story starts when U. S. Marshal Larry West (Don Barry), sent to investigate the goings-on in Navajo country, finds a wounded cowhand named Joe (Marshall Reed) on the trail, and takes him to town. The Gorman Gang (formerly the Dalton Gang), disguised as Navajo Indians, ambushed Joe thinking he was the Marshal they had been tipped off about by gang member Ray Henderson, whose role name was not 'Delivers message'. So, West asks the none-too-bright Joe to pose as West, so that he, the real West can poke around unobserved using the name of Rusty Stevens.

This ruse only lasts about three minutes before Mac (the former Guthrie Dalton), who knows West, arrives and blows the cover. The rest is punch and counter-punch before West and town Sheriff Jeb Marvin (James Millican) join forces with the beleaguered Navajos to put an end to the Dalton Gang, now known as the Gorman Gang.

Once past the meaningless prologue, this one is heads-and-shoulders above the usual Ron Ormond-June Carr offerings, mainly because Julie Adams shows real quick she wasn't destined to remain long on Poverty Row; J. Farrell MacDonald's and Byron Foulger's performances, and the excellent camera work by the under-rated Ernest Miller who, for a change of pattern on Ormond productions, was given a chance to employ many set-ups on various scenes, including lots of close-ups, even in the action scenes.

Walter Greene's music is his usual bass-thumping mess, which still makes it better than what some guy named Barber tossed in on some of the revisionist-version tapes on John Wayne's Lone Star westerns.