The Badlanders (1958)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Delmer Daves

Writers:

W.R. Burnett (novel)
Richard Collins (writer)

Release Date:

18 December 1958 (West Germany)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Plot:

Two men are released from the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma in 1898. One, the Dutchman, is out...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Scheme | Gold Theft | Arizona | Stagecoach

Cast

Alan Ladd	...	Peter Van Hoek ('The Dutchman')
Ernest Borgnine	...	John McBain
Katy Jurado	...	Anita
Claire Kelly	...	Ada Winton
Kent Smith	...	Cyril Lounsberry
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Vincente (The Powder Monkey)
Robert Emhardt	...	Sample (bar owner)
Anthony Caruso	...	Comanche
Adam Williams	...	Leslie (Prescott deputy)
Ford Rainey	...	Arizona Territorial Prison warden
John Daheim	...	Lee (as John Day)

Runtime:

85 min | UK:83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | USA:Approved (PCA #19001) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Arcola Pictures

Quotes:

The Marshal: Unless you want to see your own gravestone on your way to hell, you'll be on the next stage. Now that leaves here tomorrow at sundown. And you're going to like it. It crosses the desert at night. It's cooler then.

Movie Connections:

Version of Cool Breeze (1972)

A superior horse opera that needs a pro music score!

Allen Ladd and Ernest Bourgine did outstanding work in this horse opera. The plot, the acting, the sets, all work well. This is one of Ladds better films, Bourgnine always adds to a film, Katy Jerado of "High Noon" fame is just great, and the rest of the cast work well. It is just a little gem of a film.

The one distraction is a no longer so often heard stock soundtrack of less than "A" feature quality. Maybe they were newer when the film was released, and maybe they have been given a rest so newer viewers will not recognize them, but I have heard these sound cuts far too often in many a 1960's western, TV show, horror film, documentary, and what not. I wonder how much better it would have been with a Dimitri Tiomkin, a Lionel Neuman, a Bernard Herrmann, or John Williams soundtrack. If they ever restore this, and it is worth restoring, I would have a new soundtrack done for it.

Still, this is a good film, a great western, and worth a watch. It is out of print right now but you can catch it on cable or get a used VHS print on E bay. Superior horse opera!