Outlaw's Son

Director Lesley Selander was really a good western specialist when he dared to, and above all the budget too. Dane Clark is good here, convincing, in a Mark Steven's like character. I had the same feeling with another western, precisely starring Mark Stevens: JACK SLADE. Not the same plot, not the same story, but the same kind of feeling, regarding the main lead. The perfect anti hero role, as I crave for. More than an ordinary grade B standard western. Plus, this film proves that it was possible to put the juvenile delinquency scheme into western. The character study, father son relationship, is quite interesting too.

Juvenile delinquency was a hot topic in the 50's. Here it gets a western treatment. Outlaw Dane Clark abandoned his son, Ben Cooper, at an early age, leaving Cooper to be raised by his aunt (Drew) following the abandoned mother's death. Now Clark has come back to see his 12-year old son and teach him how to use a gun and be a tough guy. Trouble is Drew and Clark clash over whose values will raise the boy. Overly concerned with Clark's fatherly influence, Drew uses an opportunity to frame Clark for a murder, sending him running back into the life of an outlaw. Ten years pass, and Cooper struggles with desire to honor his missing dad by being a tough guy as he holds down a conventional job while living with his aunt. So, when Clark again returns, the question is which side of Cooper will win out.

It's a complex psychological premise that doesn't always convince, but then I guess Cooper's inner struggle is supposed to explain. To me, it's Drew's character and her moral dilemma that distinguishes the film from other westerns of its time. There's some hard riding and poorly staged shootouts, at the same time the acting is better than usual for a western, particularly from veteran actress Drew. But what the heck happened to blonde cutie Lori Nelson-- she's high up in the cast list but has only one short scene, then disappears, her love-interest spot taken over by brunette Cecile Rogers. I expect there's a backstory there. Anyway, it's an interesting, if overlong, 50's flick, heavy on story and short on scenery.

The problems of the western genre movies that finally made it fade into movie history are many, but there are two major ones that I think that every time when I watched a western movie I hated most: The horrible soundtrack that sync every movement of the actors they played. It's so annoying, so loud, so exaggerated, and most of the time played on and on with unnecessary volume. Funny thing is during 1930 to 1970, every movie, not just the western, contracted an orchestra or a big band with conductors, the musicians to compose the soundtrack music in sync with the actions of the actors' every movement, just like what we used to see and hear in Walt Disney's cartoons, every movement, gesture was dramatically highlighted, emphasized and bombarded with soundtrack, the music never stopped, so over-the-top deafening. Almost drove me crazy when every time I tried to watch a old western movie until later when "Pale Rider" and its similar genre western, the annoying, totally unnecessary soundtracks that bombarded the ears of the audiences suddenly turned subtle and just played at the critical moments with very relevant and appropriate sound effect. But the annoying old style soundtracks used to carry out with the old western, the damage was done beyond salvage. If you don't quite catch what I said here, just try this "Outlaw's Son", then you might understand.

The 2nd thing that I often found unbearable to watch is the costumes these old western actors were wearing: A custom-tailored with modern day fabrics and patterns. Every one in the old western wore smart tailored suits or attires, wearing custom-made gun belts, custom-made jacket, jeans, and nice cowboy hats, everything looked just so fake and unrealistic. Men with guns always wore stylish custom-made tailored tight clothes to look cool. I just couldn't believe during those pioneering era, those guys or women would wear such daily laundered, steam-pressed, ironed clothes with modern styles and materials. Everybody in the western movie just looked so fake and so modern.

These two flaws constantly bothered me whenever I tried to watch the western genre movies. This Outlaw's Son is one of them, I just couldn't watch.

Nate Blaine (Dane Clark) has been gone for many years--so long that his son doesn't even know he's alive. At first, his sister-in-law wants Nate to stay away and let her raise the boy in peace but she relents when Nate appears to be trying, in his way, of turning over a new leaf. However, later after Nate teaches his son the ways of an outlaw, the aunt is so worried that she lies following a robbery--saying she saw Blaine commit the crime when he really didn't. Blaine escapes and the boy grows up in the shadow of his father's criminal ways.

Dane Clark was a very good actor--even though he's not commonly remembered today. I always remember him as the guy who looks an awful lot like Richard Conte--and, like Conte, excelled in contemporary films--especially crime films. However, very oddly, here Clark is playing, along with his Brooklyn accent, in a western--a genre for which he certainly is not well known--and after watching this film, I can understand why. It isn't that Clark is bad--he's actually pretty good. The problem is the film itself--much of it (especially the son's motivation) isn't all that good. The son's transition from lawman to criminal is so abrupt and ridiculous that it severely impacted the film. I also was annoying with the climactic fight on the stage coach--the baddie had a gun and neither did Nate or his son--yet the baddie fights them with his fists. If he's bad, then he'd shoot...unless he was very, very stupid! A time-passer at best.

Dane Clark is pretty good in this movie, but it's an unconvincing effort overall. It takes a 1950s story -- absent father trying to re-establish a connection with his son, resentful child raiser that formed the basis of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE and tries to place it in an Old West setting.

As a result, it calls attention to the fact that it's a costume drama. It gives the impression that everyone is playing Dress Up, like putting on Pilgrim costumes to talk about the Taliban. The dramatic and clearly 1950s music score doesn't help.

What does help is the clean and elegant cinematography of William Margulies. He was a cameraman in the Bs who graduated to D.P. just as the Bs were shutting down, so he went into TV work, where his style enlivened such excellent TV oaters of my childhood as HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL.