Land ohne Gesetz

Most of the best movies were made in the 1940's, and that includes most of the best Westerns. 1946, a particularly good year for Hollywood pictures, saw the production of a number of spectacular, top-dollar "A" Westerns which have since become classics, such as My Darling Clementine, Duel In The Sun, and Canyon Passage. While the more modestly produced Badman's Territory starring rugged second-tier leading man Randolph Scott was not designed to compete with those aforementioned blockbusters, it was tremendously popular in its own day, spawned a sequel, attained a durable popularity, and is now a minor classic in its own right. It also set Scott on the trail to greater stardom and top box office drawing power as a Western only specialist.

I first saw Badman's Territory in the edited-down re-release version when I was a kid in the early to mid-1950's. They didn't waste a good Western back in those days, and this picture was shown repeatedly as a Saturday matinée. The same 79-minute version started showing up on television also in the 'fifties. For this reason, I suppose, it has come to be thought of as a low-budget "B" movie for kiddies. The overly cute plot device of having a large number of notorious real-life old West outlaws anachronistically thrown together in the same place and time may bolster that impression. Actually Badman's Territory was more of a medium budget production with authentic, well turned out sets and costumes, with a large cast, and assigned to reliable medium budget director Tim Whelan. The original 98-minute running time tells you it was not a "B" picture in the context of a programmer. Though Scott was a second magnitude star, he was near the top of that class. He was billed ahead of John Wayne in the two pictures they made together in the 'forties.

Though this was apparently his first Western, Whelan handles the project nimbly, getting one of Scott's best performances out of him. He likewise skillfully manages Gabby Hayes, as marshal Scott's outlaw likable sidekick. Gabby is as cantankerous and amusing as ever but not quite so over-the-top and distracting. Badman's territory is fast paced, precisely edited, colorfully scored by Roy Webb, handsomely filmed in beautiful, old nitrate black and white by Robert De Grasse with lots of starkly shadowed night scenes giving the picture a touch of the noir mood. The cinematography may be difficult to appreciate now. The Warner Archive DVD version is far from perfect with lots of "snow" spots showing up from time to time especially in the night scenes. But it is pretty good over all and as good as we are likely to get. Since the original prints and reprints were shown over and over again as already mentioned, its not likely a completely clean copy can be economically reconstructed. I can remember watching films just as beat up in the movie house as a kid, especially with those re-releases. By the time they made the rounds to the theater in the small town where I lived, they had been run through many projectors.

Too much has been made of the James Boys, the Dalton gang, and Sam Bass all impossibly getting together in one picture. Such time and place compression to get historical personages together in a fictional setting is a time honored, if dubious, literary device going back as far as Homer's Iliad. But no one has even bothered to mention that the evil U. S. Marshal (Morgan Conway) persecuting Scott started out as a captain in the "Texas State Police" with the time being about 1890. Only a Texan up on his state history would know, but Texas has not had a state police since the late 1870's. But it was appropriate in the context of this movie to make the, brutal bloodthirsty marshal a member of that much despised organization, which was regarded as a gang of repressive bully boys enforcing scalawag Governor E. J. Davis' brutal dictatorship. His police force was disbanded as soon as he was voted out. But that's another story, and you'll have to watch another movie if interested -- try Wild Bill Elliot opus, The Fabulous Texan (1947). None of this is worth fretting about in any case. Only the hopelessly literal-minded care about a Western dotting its historical P's and Q's. This is a fiction, for entertainment purposes, and most of us when wanting to be entertained by a movie, do not let a small matter like a character (Jesse James in this case) actually being dead for ten years get in our way.

And Badman's Territory does answer in the entertainment department. Scott and love interest Ann Richards seem to have good chemistry. This was when he was still young enough, his leading ladies didn't look like his granddaughters. Solid supporting cast includes, as well as Hayes, Ray Collins of Perry Mason fame, tall James Warren as Scott's wavering brother, and pretty Isabel Jewell as Belle Starr. Outstanding are movie and real-life bad boy Lawrence Tierney as a tough but gentlemanly Jesse James, the ubiquitous Nestor Paiva as Sam Bass, and Andrew Tombes as a boozy, absent-mined doctor.

Intelligent script, engaging story, sharp, colorful dialog, fast moving with lots of action, though not overly violent, Badman's Territory is a top-notch Western in every way. Slick, smooth, satisfying entertainment from one of the platinum years of Old Hollywood's Golden Era.

Badman's Territory is directed by Tim Whelan and written by Jack Natteford and Luci Ward. It stars Randolph Scott, George Hayes, Ann Richards, Ray Collins, James Warren, Morgan Conway, Virginia Sale and John Halloran. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Robert de Grasse.

The area known as Badman's Territory is a sort of no mans land not yet governed by statehood. No law resides there, the citizens themselves run the area, so as it stands it has become a safe haven for the outlaws and ragamuffins of the West. Into the Badman's Territorial town of Quinto comes lawman Mark Rowley (Scott), who after trailing his injured deputy brother into the area, finds a town bursting at the seams with political intrigue.

A lively Oater out of RKO, Badman's Territory is only really guilty of cramming too much onto its plate of beans. The town of Quinto is home to some of the Wild West's most notable criminals, such as The James and Dalton Gangs et al, it's also home to many shifty politician types, Indians (as it's their land), business men, a leading lady of the press (Richards) and of course Randolph Scott and his bro played by James Warren.

The writers take these character threads and try and weave them all together into a cohesive whole, thus we get an outlaw backdrop that never really materialises, a power of the press motif that apparently needed a romantic angle to push it along, and the looming annexation of the area into the Union provides the heartbeat of the story but comes off as a complex narrative piece since so much is going on. While director Whelan is required to insert a horse race, a square dance and the obligatory shoot-out to ensure nobody is bogged down by the ever present politico chatter.

Scott is as always splendid in this environment, a natural, while Richards does fine work with a pleasingly strong female lead role. "Gabby" Hayes provides the lively comic relief and Conway is suitably oily as crooked lawman William Hampton. However, again because there is so much going on, supporting actors like Lawrence Tierney and Steve Brodie (Jessie James and Bob Dalton respectively) barely get time to impact on proceedings. Which since this is called Badman's Territory is a bit of a bum steer. But in spite of the too many cooks spoiling the broth theme at work, it's watchable stuff and definitely one for Randolph Scott fans to seek out. 6/10

There are so Many Names of Outlaws and Such in this Murky Story of Bandits and Marshalls that in the End it is just One Big...Ho-Hum. This Western from RKO has a Good Look about it but what it's About is Anybody's Guess.

Randolph Scott is OK but is Not the Stoic, Sombre Presence that He Assumed in the Budd Boetticher Classics. Here He is just Randolph Scott, Tall and Unwavering. The Cast has some Familiar Faces and some Not So Familiar to Casual Moviegoers.

Gabby Hayes is just a Heartbeat from Irritating and is Most Effective with a Double Take Glance than with that Grovely, Grating Galoot of a Voice that is So Recognizable. He has Much to Do in this Mediocre Western and is as Good as Anybody here.

There is a Boring Horse Race Among other Boring Things in this Long Story that is Never Woven Together Adequately. Lawrence Tierney is Wasted as Jesse James as is just about Everyone Else. The Movie Needs more Edge and more Grit, because as it Stands it is a Plate Full of Campfire Comfort that Almost Works but Ultimately is Nothing More than Name Dropping.

Before Quinto became part of the Union, it was a tough, lawless place - the refuge of such notorious desperadoes as Frank and Jesse James , the Dalton brothers, Belle Starr and Sam Bass. Into this outlaw stronghold rides Texan sheriff Mark Rowley on the trail of the James boys, and Henryette Alcott, a crusading newspaper editor determined in her campaign to make Quinto part of the Oklahoma territory.

The town of Quinto is sure a colourful place, its filled with bad men, such as Jesse James, Belle Starr and the Dalton gang, but the main villainy is a US Marshal who frames Scott's lawman and his brother as being in cahoots with the bad men. Morgan Conway as the crooked marshal does some scene stealing - he's truly a character you love to hate. The disapproving look Scott gives him is priceless. Scott was always an expert in using his stoic visage to his advantage. It's a colourful western with a steady plot and enough action to keep you "a leeetle mite", as Gabby Hayes would say, happy.

It's the later half of the 19th century. A strip of land, in what is today the western part of Oklahoma, has been left without legal State status after the American land grab all around it. Few lawmen are willing to venture into this legal limbo and it becomes known as badman's territory. Jesse James and his gang are some of those who find shelter in the territory after their banditry. Mark Rowley (Randolph Scott) comes after them.

The opening suggests an interesting idea for the wild wild west. It's an old style convoluted western. With more clarity and being a lot more wilder, this could have been really interesting. As it stands, it's a nice concept for an old western but it's not going to stand out. Randolph Scott's mild manners don't accentuate the dangers or the thrills. The movie never reaches the highest intensity.