L'ange et le mauvais garçon

A man on horseback races across the arid landscape. His horse faulters and throws the man. This is how The Angel and The Badman begins.

Wayne is Quirt Evans, a man with a past. He is rescued by beautiful Gail Russell, a Quaker girl with a strong, silent father and a marvelous, generous mother who makes donuts and cakes that melt in your mouth, but according to her are, "not very good, the flour you know...".

Poor Quirt never has a chance. He is healed body and soul by this devoted family. But not before he must taste his old way of life one more time, which leads to a dramatic conclusion.

John Wayne never looked better on film then in The Angel and The Badman. In one scene, he wakes from a coma, hears a noise, gropes for his gun, which is under the pillow and rises, gun in hand to face a startled and stunning Russell. The sight of John Wayne, shirtless, his hair un-combed and his gorgeous, almost purple eyes taking in the lovely lady in front of him, is something no woman from 6 to 106 should miss. If you are a fan already and have seen this delightful film, you know what I mean. If you are new to John Wayne, check to one out and fall in love.

Harry Carey plays the Marshal of the territory who keeps track of Quirt, not completely convinced of his conversion, until the surprising climax. Carey's quiet authority is wonderful to watch, and his sly humor a tonic.

The Dr. here over-plays his role, but he can be forgiven. The neighbor who has denied water to the Quaker settlement but is convinced by Quirt(without the force of his famous gun), to "be a good neighbor" and remove the top two boards holding back the water that used to flow into flums and irrigation ditches, is a real old west character. Films today just don't use actors with faces like his any longer. Too bad.

Yes indeed, The Angel and The Badman is a wonderful, old fashioned film. The kind they don't make any longer, but should.

John Wayne got to kiss a score of pretty ladies on screen, but his romance with Gail Russell as Penelope, the "Angel" in this story, shows the best screen chemistry I can recall. Wayne is the "Badman" Quirt Evans meaning that he settles a lot of arguments with guns a'blazin'.

He's used to fast draws, fast women, booze, bar fights, and so on. Penelope is a gentle Quaker woman living in the wilderness of the Old West. She and her parents model their lives on the teachings of scripture, especially the "Love your neighbor" ideal. Quirt gets shot in one of his many battles with gun wielding black hat bad guys; Penelope's family takes him in and nurses him back to health; during which time Quirt and Penelope get a look at each other with the obvious chemical reaction. Her sweet and vulnerable demeanor mixes splendidly with his gruff but awkwardly gentle persona.

When Wayne's nemesis Laredo (Bruce Cabot) shows up, Wayne is faced with the conflict of adapting the peaceful ways of Penelope, or reverting to his violent shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later lifestyle. Wayne's inner conflict to change his outlook on life is illustrated well, a great performance for the Duke. This all goes on under the watchful eye of the Marshall (Harry Carey), who serves as not only a foil for Wayne constantly threatening him, but almost like a self-appointed guardian who sees Quirt's potential for good, trying to steer him toward the light. Carey's humor, and good spirit plays off Wayne perfectly.

The film builds to a brilliant finish, with Quirt forced to choose between peace or violence once and for all. One of my favorite westerns. Great cast, great story.

Very different John Wayne film. A romantic western, if you will. Wayne plays notorious gunslinger Quirt Evans, who is wounded and nursed back to health by a Quaker family. The sweet and innocent daughter, Penelope (Gail Russell), falls in love with Quirt. But the gunfighter's got some bad guys to deal with, chiefly an hombre named Laredo (Bruce Cabot). Quirt will have to choose between his way and the Quaker way, which means choosing Penelope or the gun.

John Wayne is really good in this one. He's a very underrated actor that is often slighted by people that don't like the man, usually because they don't like his politics or something along those lines. But he was actually a very good actor who brought depth to most of the characters he played. Here he gets to show his softer side and it's one of his best performances from the '40s. Gail Russell is young and very pretty here. She does a great job in one of her two best-known films (the other being The Uninvited). Russell and Wayne have terrific chemistry. It's sad how her life turned out as she had the potential to be one of the greats. Harry Carey, Sr. plays a grizzled old marshal dubious of whether Quirt can change. As was often the case, he stands out above the pack. An excellent actor who could say more with a smile or a look than most could with a page of dialogue.

Amusingly there are characters in this movie named Hondo and McClintock, both names for future Wayne characters. It's a charming and enjoyable western that fans of the Duke will love but also I think people who don't normally like westerns can enjoy.

ANGEL AND THE BADMAN is a film that many John wayne fans may not have seen; nonetheless it's one of his best that shows a very different side.

Wayne as Quirt Evans is wounded and taken in by a gentle Quaker family. After he recuperates he notices their daughter--the absolutely drop dead gorgeous Gail Russell.

The plot of AATBM is remarkably similar to Harrison Ford's WITNESS (probably a remake).

But what ultimately makes this movie work is Wayne's performance, and Russell's natural "Angelic" qualities. The camera really loves her. There's one scene where she confesses' her love for Wayne, and is surprised he doesn't feel quite the same: "I never thought it could happen to one and not another." Her outright innocence in this scene is incredibly touching, and endearing, and you see how this affects Wayne in the same way.

Fun movie about a cowboy named Quirt (John Wayne) who is wants to reform his ways after he meets a sweet Quaker girl. When he is shot, the Quaker family takes care of him, and after he wakes up the daughter (Gail Russell) falls in love with him. It's goofy and cliché, sure, but there's a really fine movie to be found in the familiar setup. Writer/director Grant create many good vignettes. There are several wonderful supporting characters who add a lot of worth to the proceedings, including Harry Carey as a marshall, Lee Dixon as one of Quirt's friends and old partners in crime, Tom Powers as the local, scientific, atheist doctor, and Olin Howlin as the town telegrapher. Howlin's character is pure comic relief, very humorously claiming a long friendship with Quirt, though he only saw him once when he was almost unconscious. Then Carey's character is wryly comedic: as the marshall, he's constantly stalking Quirt. He's sure that someday he'll get to hang the guy, and he harps on it constantly. The chemistry between Wayne and Russell adds an unexpected poignancy to the film. The scene where the two pick blackberries is simply beautiful, and their wordless climactic exchange is perfectly performed. Good action sequences, as well. 9/10.