The Cimarron Kid (1952)

Unjustly accused of robbing the train he was riding home, Bill Doolin re-joins his old gang, participates in other robberies and becomes a wanted outlaw.

Director:

Budd Boetticher

Writers:

Louis Stevens (screenplay), Louis Stevens (story)

Stars:

Audie Murphy, Beverly Tyler, James Best

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Audie Murphy	...	Bill Doolin / The Cimarron Kid
Beverly Tyler	...	Carrie Roberts
James Best	...	Bitter Creek Dalton
Yvette Duguay	...	Cimarron Rose (as Yvette Dugay)
John Hudson	...	Dynamite Dick Dalton
Hugh O'Brian	...	Red Buck
Roy Roberts	...	Pat Roberts
David Wolfe	...	Sam Swanson
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Bob Dalton (as Noah Beery)
Leif Erickson	...	Marshal John Sutton
John Hubbard	...	George Weber
Frank Silvera	...	Stacey Marshall

Storyline

Audie Murphy comes into his own as a Western star in this story. Wrongly accused by crooked railroad officials of aiding a train heist by his old friends the Daltons, he joins their gang and becomes an active participant in other robberies. Betrayed by a fellow gang member, Murphy becomes a fugitive in the end. Seeking refuge at the ranch of a reformed gang member, he hopes to flee with the man's daughter to South America, but he's captured in the end and led off to jail. The girl promises to wait.

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Plot Keywords:

violence | brunette | fire | love interest | love triangle | 

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Taglines:

He led the last great outlaw raids !

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 April 1952 (France)

Also Known As:

À feu et à sang

Filming Locations:

Tuolumne County, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of William Reynolds.

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Quotes

Bill Doolin: I've got a rule of my own that might do you good to remember: there will be no killing unless it's forced upon us.

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Crazy Credits

James Best and Hugh O'Brien, who performed in this movie, were set to perform in the movie "Old Soldiers" but both passed away while the movie was in development.

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Connections

Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005)

User Reviews

They Made Audie A Criminal

Parolee Audie Murphy violently resists a crooked district attorney's latest attempt to railroad him, based on his friendship to members of the notorious Dalton gang. Breaking parole, he ends up having to join the gang for real and becoming the new leader.

Though not quite as good or well-written as director Budd Boetticher's later series of Randolph Scott pictures, The Cimarron Kid is still a fairly entertaining, muscular pulp-western, with Boetticher's usual flair for excellent photography.

With his good looks, youthful appearance, and short stature (not to mention his hero status), I'm a little surprised at how many times Audie Murphy was given a chance to play an anti-hero (Night Passage, The Texican) or even a nasty villain (No Name On The Bullet). He's charming enough though, that the audience forgives the Cimarron Kid long before the law ever does.

Noah Beery Jr. gives an amiable, though far-too-short performance as the fun-loving Bob Dalton, while a young James Best and Yvette Dugay are pretty good too as a fellow member of the gang and his beautiful, though savvy love interest.