The Outcast

I saw this movie on the Westerns Channel and didn't expect much from it. But I was pleasantly surprised as it was well directed, the staging was impressive, the script was thorough and had an intriguing plot. The exterior shots were gorgeous (wonderful country, might have been Wyoming but probably the back lot somewhere.) While only John Derek was truly handsome, the cast selection and action created by the supporting cast makes this movie worth watching. The only bad thing was, Bob Steele shot a man in the back. I was horrified, having seen so many of his movies where he was the good guy. A complete change of character for him. See it.

Tremendously good B western which today would be an A western. Strong acting, tremendous direction and the kind of realism in fights you never see. I think the smack on the head by the horse was intentional and left in as Jet's way of showing Dude who was boss without using his gun. It may have been accidental but if so was left in because it worked.

Real scenery and some really cool off the backdrop shots which really worked in color.

My only problem? Where in the 1880's West does a guy come up with a name like "Jet?" I thought it was Jeb, or Jed until I saw the credits.

Recommend to any western lover and others too. Loved Bob Steele as a bad guy. He never worked for me as a good guy. I think it's certainly one of Derek's best and seeing a Young Slim Pickens on a horse at a gallop. Now that is cool.

The Outcast is set in 1880s Colorado about a man who rides into town with a gang of hired gunmen to reclaim his inheritance. But the man opposing him is none other than his uncle, who will not give up the ranch, and all that goes with it, without a fight.

A truly pleasant surprise to me this one was. Too many times I care to mention when I have sat down for a B movie Western and cringed at the banality on show. Directed by prolific B helmer William Witney and coming out of the mightily solid Republic Pictures house, The Outcast {AKA The Fortune Hunter} uses a standard story premise and expands it further with a multitude of interesting character arcs. There is so much going on in this part of Colorado, the film never has time to become boring or twee in its execution. Each character serves a purpose, if they have screen time then they are functional to the plot{s} in hand. We have feuding families, hired thugs, a pugilist blacksmith, reams of gun play, fist fights on horseback {fine stunt work here} and pretty gals pulling the male protagonists emotions left and right! All set against a lovely rolling location backdrop {sadly not able to find where at the time of writing} and filmed in the safer cheaper colour aspect of Trucolor, which looks nicer now in this day and age of HD TV.

The cast are led by John Derek (All the King's Men) and an assortment of stoic and professional Western players fill out the roll call. It does look to be either largely unseen or consigned wrongly to the B movie bin. But it's certainly a must for the Western genre fan, and definitely a film to prove that Republic Pictures did have good films in their locker. So do check it out if you get the chance 7/10

A very good performance by a young John Derek, an outstanding performance by veteran Bob Steele, beautiful scenery stunningly photographed, and action-packed, razor-sharp direction by an old pro at the top of his form make this one of the best "B" westerns to come out of Republic Pictures, which specialized in them and did them better than any other studio did. Derek plays a young man who returns home after his father dies to claim the ranch that was stolen from him, and runs into more trouble than he bargained for. Steele, a major western star in the '30s and '40s, had aged out of leading man roles and settled into character parts, often playing--as he does here--a cold-blooded gunman (watch Humphrey Bogart's 1951 "The Enforcer" to see Steele as a hired killer par excellance). He was such a good actor that he was as effective in these roles as he was in his younger days as a cowboy hero. The cast is full of familiar western faces--Jim Davis, Ben Cooper, James Millican, Slim Pickens--and ace director William Witney uses them all to their best advantage. The blazing gun battles are expertly staged, and the film as a whole moves like lightning. All in all, an expertly made, thoroughly enjoyable little "B" western, more entertaining than many films that cost 50 times as much. Highly recommended.

Spectacular western with emotion, gunfire, go riding, twists, shoot'em up and, of course, loads of action. It stars John Derek as a young avenger who figths against his uncle, nasty rancher Jim Davis, to win his rightful inheritance of his deceased father. As he attempts to take the family ranch wrongfully held by a conniving uncle and even hiring ominous gunfighters . Along the way he finds love : Joan Taylor opposite his father Frank Ferguson, as well Derek enjoys fistfights , crossfire and ordinary final duel.

Exciting and thrilling western with thrills, brawls, stampedes and lots of gunfire. John Derek is acceptable as a tough young who takes justice on his own hands. Derek is mainly known for his marriages to gorgeous actresses as Ursula Andress, Linda Evans and Bo Derek. In The Outcast John Derek provides a nice role as a violent revenger who struggles to win his rights, though he is hardly ever macho man fo his character, usually battering his knuckles and fingering his pistol. Support cast is pretty good, such as : Ben Cooper, Frank Ferguson, the always sympathetic Slim Pickens and Jim Davis later famous for his roleas patriarch Ewing in Dallas series.

Produced by Herbert j. Yates from Republic Pictures in medium budget, it was efficiently directed by William Witney, in one of the last films for Republic. This director Witney was a prolific craftsman who worked a lot for Republic, the studio where he laboured for many years churching out a series of low budget westerns, many of them starred by singing cowboys as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Witney was a fine professional who made 140 titles from the 30s .By 1936, he was script supervisor on serials and his own directorial career began the following year. The favorite shooting was the 1936 serial Zorro's fighting legion. After WWII service with US Marines, he moved to Roy Rogers films and Western genre such as : Shadows of Tombstone, Heart of Rockies, Border saddlemate, Bells of Coronado, The painted stallion, The lone ranger, Home in Oklahoma, On the Old Spanish trail, Hig time in Nevada, Gay ranchero, Helldorado, Rex Ryder, Eyes of Texas , among others. Furthermore, his television work wich included some quite trilling episodes of succesful series such as : High Chaparral, Bonanza, Laramie, Zorro, The Virginian, Wagon train and he followed to work for cinema and was capable of making acceptable movies in budget enough, such as Santa Fe passage, The Bonnie Parker story and Escaped from Devil Island. Rating : 6/10. Decent and passable western.