Zwei Mädchen und die Doolin-Bande

"Cattle Annie and Little Britches" is, believe it or not, based on real characters. Yes, two weird women, Cattle Annie and her friend, Little Britches, were actually members of the famous Doolin Gang and were responsible for a short reign of terror in the latter days of the old west.

Apart from casting the way too elderly Burt Lancaster as the gang leader, Bill Doolin, the movie is good...though also not especially memorable. The biggest problem is that in the film, these criminals don't do a whole lot and they also aren't very sympathetic. I don't know about most viewers, but I just found I didn't care about anyone in this movie. It's competently made but curiously uninvolving as well.

Good old-fashioned Western movie with a good shot of comedy. A great production and fine working cast (Diana Lane and Amanda Plummer are all too gorgeous as drifters) make this one a gem for everyone who like Western movies a la True Grit, Cat Ballou, Waterhole and so on.

I know shamefully little about Lamont Johnson, other than he worked mainly in the TV medium. An ageing Burt Lancaster plays the part of Bill Doolin, leader of the Dalton-Doolin gang, which robs trains and banks and is chased by Marshall Tilghman, well portrayed by Rod Steiger.

John Savage also shines as a half-breed, but Amanda Plummer as Annie and Diane Lane as Little Britches steal the show as Doolin's most loyal supporters, even when the gang appears to be defunct.

Burt Lancaster was a great actor and he is the life of the film despite putting on smug facial expressions, wide gestures reminiscent of his TV Moses reaching the promised land, and clearly enjoying the love of underaged Little Briches. Meanwhile, his character as Bill Doolin veers constantly between good sense and uprightness on one hand, and robbing all he can and leading a bunch of outlaws on the other. When he notices the disappearance of the latest robbery's proceeds (dollar notes put away in the trousers of a lawman), at the cost of some of his men, he laughs like Walter Huston upon realizing that it is fool's gold, not the real thing, in TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (US 1948). I did not like that sequence, or the ending, but I must admit that the film keeps an enticing pace throughout.

Scott Glenn seems sadly underused while John Savage begins substantially enough but somehow sinks into near invisibility after taking Cattle Annie swimming.

Strong cinematography by Larry Pizer, interesting soundtrack. 7/10.

Two teen girls (Amanda Plummer & Diane Lane) hook up with the Doolin-Dalton Gang in 1890's Oklahoma Territory, but Bill Doolin (Burt Lancaster) is tired and the gang's heyday is behind them. Meanwhile Marshal Tilghman (Rod Steiger) is intent on putting the kibosh on the wild bunch. Scott Glenn and John Savage are on hand as members of the gang.

"Cattle Annie and Little Britches" (1981) is similar in tone to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) and, like that film, was based on the real-life account, albeit loosely. "Young Guns" (1988) and "Young Guns II" (1990) did the same with the Billy the Kid story. The film starts off like "Bad Company" (1972) mixed with the fun spirit of "Butch Cassidy," but becomes weightier as it moves along with some pretty moving moments.

Plummer was 23 during filming while Lane was only 15. The former is utterly convincing as the sassy Annie and Savage is notable as her taciturn quasi-beau. The superb folk songs by Sahn Berti & Tom Slocum are stirring and sometimes profound. It's an inexplicably obscure Western, hardly promoted and barely released. I guess studios were gun shy after the devastating failure of "Heaven's Gate" (1980).

The film runs 1 hours, 37 minutes, and was shot in Durango, Mexico, about 1200 miles southwest of the real-life events.

GRADE: B

Amanda Plummer and Diane Lane are perfect complements in the title roles. Cattle Annie, as played by Plummer, is assertive, questioning, and somewhat rambunctious. In contrast, Lane's character is a lot like Barbara i One Day At A Time. The two young ladies get in the middle of Legendary Marshal Bill Tilghman's attempts to take the gang led by Burt Lancaster. The dialogue is sensational, and the acting, including terrific performances by Scoot Glenn and John Savage, could not be better. This is one to savor.