Reiter ohne Gnade

What are you going to do when you are a national hero; the most decorated combat soldier of WWII? Among his 33 awards was the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery that a soldier can receive. In addition, he was also decorated for bravery by the governments of France and Belgium, and was credited with killing over 240 German soldiers and wounding and capturing many more.

Well, I guess you go kill out in the Ole West, and that is JustWhat Audie Murphy did. This is one of his early efforts and it really is not a bad one. He plays Jesse James who, along with his brother Frank, the Younger brothers and Kit Dalton join Quantrille's Raiders until they realize just what he was and become sick of the whole thing.

Tony Curtis is here - I think it may have been the second film he did.

A good shoot 'em up about a sordid chapter of our history.

Kansas Raiders is directed by Ray Enright and written by Robert Richards. It stars Audie Murphy, Brian Donlevy, Marguerite Chapman, James Best, Scott Brady and Tony Curtis. A Technicolor production, music is by Milton Rosen and cinematography by Irving Glassberg. Plot has it that the James and Younger Brothers along with Kit Dalton, join Quantrill's Raiders after witnessing at first hand some Redleg atrocities. However, after believing they would be fighting soldiers for the war effort, the men find themselves participating in equally worse war crimes - something that deeply affects the young Jesse James.

OK, it's very fanciful in the telling of a bitter and sad period of American history. Facts of the period and the characters are jettisoned in favour of making an exciting 1950s Oater. Any hope of a depth strewn historical take on William Quantrill's Raiders will only lead to disappointment - something that is all too evident with many of the venomous reviews of the film out in internet world. Yet judged on its own unfussy entertainment terms, then the film scores high for the casual Western fan as shoot-outs, knife fights and stand-offs ensure things always stay perky.

The ominous black flag of Quantrill.

On narrative terms pic provides enough of an edge to make its point, for we are left in no doubt about the "atrocity exhibition" dealt out by Quantrill's Raiders, there's also a neat thread within about the corruption of youth. Yes, for sure this be a picture low on accuracy, but crucially it doesn't soft soap the subject to hand. This is a 1950s production after all and the makers at least manage to leave us in no doubt about the nature of the crimes committed by certain factions in the Civil War. In fact, a couple of scenes really leave indelible images, and from an action viewpoint the "sacking of Lawrence" is excellent in construction and the impact that it garners.

Production wise there's good value on show, Glassberg's Technicolor photography is gorgeous, and not just for the Garner Valley and Kanab locations, but also for bringing out the quality of the set decoration (Russell A. Gausman/Ruby R. Levitt) and Bill Thomas' costuming. Cast are fine without pulling up any trees, where Donlevy is clearly the class act on show, but here as Quantrill he gets by on presence alone, the absence of outright character nastiness is sorely felt. The latter of which, however, is provided by the solid Brady as Bill Anderson. Murphy as young Jesse James has youthful exuberance and bravado down pat, while Curtis as Kit Dalton is enjoyable in amongst the five group dynamic.

Marguerite Chapman (Coroner Creek) as Kate Clarke (Quantrill's girl) has the tough task of playing the sole female in the film, and although she's well older than the character in real life (and coming off as a right cradle snatcher due to the writer's artistic licence), she does do a nice line as a sexy and wise older woman for the scenes she shares with Murphy's baby faced Jesse James. All told, historical fudging aside, this is a fine Oater that began the decade on a high for Audie's rewarding assault on the Western genre. 7/10

A handsome vehicle for up-and-coming young Audie Murphy as Jesse James with an interesting cast supporting him both old (Richard Arlen), new ('Tony' Curtis, as he was now billed, now fifth billed and finally getting close-ups) and shortly to be blacklisted (David Bauer under his Hollywood alias 'David Wolfe'). Although shot in pristine Technicolor, parts of it look positively gothic and it's even rather gory in places, the blood showing up bright red.

Most westerns set in the final days of the Civil War mention Quantrill's raiders only in passing, but here he for once takes centre stage in the imposing form of Brian Donlevy, almost twice the age Quantrell was himself, who died aged 27 far less heroically than depicted here.

Marguerite Chapman as the Colonel's robust, immaculately coifed Girl Friday (aptly described as a woman rather than a girl) in glossy red lips and amazing eyebrows is obviously in her thirties and makes baby-faced Audie Murphy looks even younger than he already does; and her interest in him throughout seems more maternal than romantic).

I'll always wonder why Hollywood could waste talent when given opportunities so golden. The raw talents of much of the cast here was completely undercut by an abbreviated, romanticized script only faintly resembling historical events. Audie Murphy, so young in this case, significantly outperforms the cheesy part he's given, sometimes acting profoundly with just his eyes and body language. His trademark speech patterns, recognizable in much of his other work in my opinion ranks equal with Gregory Peck in terms of depth and sincerity. Other young actors rise to meet his level acting above the quality of the thin and barely cohesive plot.

Secondly, the director of photography deserves praise for skill and editing, but the studio gets raspberries for location. I've been to Kansas enough times to know the erratic boulder, pine, and fir strewn mountain ridges seen in this "kansas" are nowhere in reality. California is diverse enough to provide ample locations and, I know politics and money rule, but why the heck couldn't the Central Valley be considered? With the obvious well-endowed budget this film got it just appears the studio assumes its audience was too stupid to know better at the time. I hope not.

As commented by others, it's regrettable that the writers forfeited an opportunity to correctly document a basic record of the Quantrill gang and its opportunistic co-opting of the Civil War for its own gain. Inventing the early conversion of an idealistic and noble Jesse James and gang and making a fictional romance the focus of the story seems consistent with how Hollywood made money then and to a larges extent, now.

By comparison, it's a tightly edited, almost too-well edited movie. I wished some things were better developed. But, it's not dopey like so many from the period. And, the photography, as un-Kansan as it is, is beautiful.

Kansas Raiders is a neat little film, with, one suspects, a higher budget than most Audie Murphy westerns. An interesting cast (I didn't realise Kit Dalton was from Da Bronx) and an ambitious and ambiguous premise make this a worthwhile way of passing the time.