El regreso del forajido

Two things really distinguish this otherwise typical Scott/Hayes western - Unbelievable cinematography - I cannot believe how lovingly and lushly this film was photographed - amazing evidence of how much impact cinematography alone can have on an otherwise average motion picture.

The other thing is a gleefully ruthless performance by a young Robert Ryan playing The Sundance Kid as one mean, ornery sonuvabee. To say that he put a different spin on the character than Robert Redford did is putting it mildly. Robert Ryan is one of my favorite actors and there is clear evidence here that he had the goods from the very beginning. Just don't turn your back on him.

This film is available as part of the Warner Archive collection and a solid addition to any Western film library.

In good historical fiction as in good sci-fi what is revealed must be possible, even if not likely. Though a superior B shoot-'em-up, "Return of the Badmen" plays havoc with the history of the Old West, not only in location but also in time period. Billy the Kid was never in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). It is highly unlikely that the Sundance Kid was ever in Indian Territory. The Bill Doolin Gang with the Arkansas Kid are depicted fairly accurately as far as place is concerned. Doolin called his band of cutthroats "The Wild Bunch" so maybe the writers confused Doolin's gang with Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. It is also true that the Dalton Gang rode with the Doolin Gang in Indian Territory (Bill Doolin began his outlaw career with the Dalton Gang). The Younger Brothers with Frank and Jesse James hid out in Indian Territory but did not venture as far west as Guthrie. Cole Younger allegedly had a child (Pearl Starr) with Belle Starr in the area of today's eastern Oklahoma around Eufaula.

The time line is also out of sync. Billy the Kid was killed in 1881, Jesse in 1882. When Frank turned state's evidence, the Youngers left alive went to prison. The Coffeyville, Kansas, blunder was in 1892. The 1890's was the time of the Doolin Gang's peak activity, joined by remnants of the Dalton Gang. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were active at the turn of the century. As the later classic western, "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" shows, Cassidy's version of the Wild Bunch was the last notorious outlaw band of the Old West.

The Oklahoma Land Rush that led to the founding of Guthrie, Oklahoma, took place in 1889, several years after Billy the Kid's death. The part of the film showing Guthrie growing overnight to 10,000 inhabitants is historically accurate. The lawman who takes Cheyenne (Anne Jeffreys) into custody to deliver her to the federal court in Fort Smith, Arkansas, had a long journey before him. It is today an almost three-hour drive by car from Guthrie, Oklahoma, to Fort Smith, Arkansas.

I have read that because horror film producers were successfully grouping monsters together in one film, producers of westerns thought audiences would turn out to see oaters that grouped badmen together in one flick. If "Return of the Badmen" overdid it a bit, the concoction does make for an entertaining picture. At the crux of the story is the conflict between Marshal Vance Cordell (Randolph Scott) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Ryan). These two skilled actors make the whole hodgepodge work. The Sundance Kid is portrayed as a hothead who is more interested in killing the Marshal than in robbing banks. Ryan's concept of the Sundance Kid is quite different from Robert Redford's later incarnation of the badman. Redford's Kid is jovial, fun-loving, yet deadly when provoked. Ryan's Kid is dead serious, at heart a cold-blooded killer. As to be expected at the center of the rivalry is a woman, Cheyenne, a reformed outlaw, niece to Bill Doolin. To complicate the situation, the Marshal is already betrothed to the banker's daughter, Madge Allen (Jacqueline White), not the sweet, innocent young thing one might expect, but certainly with higher morals than the resourceful Cheyenne.

George "Gabby" Hayes, still a bewhiskered windbag, expands his sidekick characterization to include being a respected banker. This time around, rather than being the brunt of many a joke, Gabby is a good-hearted leading citizen standing up for law and order. He becomes a help to the Marshal, not a hindrance.

Director Ray Enright keeps the film moving with plenty of action, including a final shootout involving a burning cart of hay. "Return of the Badmen" is exciting and should please fans of B westerns of the 1940's.

Return of the Badmen is directed by Ray Enright and co-written by Charles O'Neal, Jack Natteford and Luci Ward. It stars Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George Hayes and Jacqueline White. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by J. Roy Hunt.

Braxton, Oklahoma Territory, 1889, soon to be a ghost town as the impending land rush changes the West. With that comes more than just settlers, it brings outlaws too, some of the meanest there is. Under the leadership of Wild Bill Doolin has gathered the Sundance Kid, the Younger Brothers, the Daltons, Wild Bill Yeager, Billy The Kid, George Mason, the Arkansas Kid and Doolin's niece Cheyenne. Standing in their way? Vance Cordell, retired Texas Ranger, soon to become temporary marshal of newly formed Guthrie Town, and a man with a score to settle with the Sundance Kid.

Premise is simple, RKO, flush with the success of Badman's Territory the previous year, decide that more is best in this second instalment of the studio's "Badmen" trilogy (Best of the Badmen followed in 1951). They pitch some of the Wild West's baddest apples together and play them off against that bastion of stoic cowboyness, Randolph Scott. As a basic Western movie it works, film is always engaging, has a good action quota, is technically safe from the camera side of things and is driven by a pot boiling destiny showdown between Scott and Ryan. Trouble is is that so many notorious characters in one mix means the film has no chance of living up to its promise. Which in a running time of 90 minutes was always going to be impossible to achieve anyway, especially when you also have the inevitable romantic angle involving our hero, another character thread involving reform and the backdrop of the land rush as well.

Thankfully the film finds Scott and Ryan more than capable of sealing the deal, lifting the picture above the routine plotting and unrealistic nature of the set-up. It's good versus evil, where Scott's Cordell is the man in light, the man of the people, and Ryan's Sundance is the man in dark, a twitchy cold blooded psycho. Yes, there's the inevitability factor of it all, we know who is going to triumph here, but the build up is well handled and it does provide a very brisk and punch laden finale. There's nothing irritable in cast performances across the board, yes we want more from the roll call of actors playing under written villains, but story, as fantastical as it is, never sags and entertains from first minute to last. There's worse ways for Western fans to spend an hour and half, that's for sure! 6.5/10

Name Dropper of a Western including...Billy the Kid...The Daltons...The Sundance Kid...and The Youngers.

All of this Means absolutely Nothing in terms of Story or Plot. The Names are there for Sizzle and to make the Movie seem more Important than it is.

None of this was Necessary because this RKO Western is Above Average with Randolph Scott (the good guy), Robert Ryan (the baddest of the Badmen), Anne Jefferies as a Pistol Packin Mama (Cheyenne), and a Gang of Familiar Faces that add some Spice to this sometimes Brutal Oater.

The Cinematography is in Sharp Black and White with some Attention to Atmosphere, Cheyenne's Tomboy Violence, a Psychotic Sundance Kid, and if it's to Your Liking, Gabby Hayes as a Motormouth Banker for Comedy Relief, all make this a Notch Above Standard Stuff.

Anne Jefferies and Jacqueline White spar for Randolph Scott's attention and Robert Armstrong gives one of His Better non "King Kong" (1933) Outings.

Overall, it's Darker than most Westerns of its Time, thanks to that RKO Noir-ish Style and Wide Open Casting makes this Worth a Watch even for Non-Western Fans.

Randolph Scott had scored a pretty good success dealing with a whole bunch of name outlaws in Badman's Territory a few years back. Small wonder that RKO decided to repeat the same formula. Though Return of the Badmen is by no means a sequel to the original film.

Return of the Badmen finds Randolph Scott as a retired Texas Ranger looking to settle in the newly opened Oklahoma Territory. But formerly the territory known as the Indian nations was patrolled by the army with visits from occasional federal peace officers like Rooster Cogburn if John Wayne fans will remember True Grit.

A summit of outlawry has been called by Bill Doolin as played by Robert Armstrong. He brings in the Daltons, the Youngers, Billy the Kid, and the meanest of them all, the Sundance Kid as played by Robert Ryan. This is not the same guy who partnered with Paul Newman. He's a mean cuss and he's the guy that Randolph Scott eventually squares off with for reasons you'll have to see the film for.

Repeating the same formula that RKO used for Scott in Abilene Town, he's got two girls pursuing him. One is Jacqueline White who is banker Gabby Hayes's daughter who is the widow of a peace officer herself with a small son in Gary Gray. The other is a Calamity Jane type outlaw named Cheyenne played by Anne Jeffreys who is Armstrong's niece. Again you'll have to see Return of the Bad Men to figure out who Scott gets.

In true cowboy hero fashion, old peace officer Randolph Scott answers the call of the citizenry for law and order. Though Return of the Bad Men doesn't cover any new ground, it's a good western for Randolph Scott.

Or as Mel Brooks would have it, RANDOLPH SCOTT.