Kansas Raiders

Frank and Jesse James, along with the Younger brothers and their pal Kit Dalton join Colonel Quantrill's guerrillas in order to fight the Union, but soon realize they've joined an army of bloodthirsty murderers.

This colorful studio B-picture is a decent enough showcase for war-hero Audie Murphy playing a teen-aged Jesse, as well as up-and-comers Tony Curtis and James Best, who aren't given enough to do.

As William Quantrill, Brian Donlevey gives the film's most interesting performance, portraying the rebel leader as cold, calculated, and quite mundane, all at the same time! Murphy's strange attraction to and utter revulsion for him make up most of the film's conflict.

One thing that disappoints though, is the throwaway nature of Scott Brady's character. Brady was always a pretty good character actor and a pretty mean heavy. Here, he leaves the picture way too early, long before the dramatic possibilities of his character are exhausted.

Finally, during the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas, the manager of the bank being robbed by the James gang rushes at Murphy exclaiming, "You little sh...!" before being interrupted. Was he going to say what I thought he was going to say? Did the actor's ad-libbing almost go too far?

A handsome vehicle for up-and-coming young Audie Murphy as Jesse James with an interesting cast supporting him both old (Richard Arlen), new ('Tony' Curtis, as he was now billed, now fifth billed and finally getting close-ups) and shortly to be blacklisted (David Bauer under his Hollywood alias 'David Wolfe'). Although shot in pristine Technicolor, parts of it look positively gothic and it's even rather gory in places, the blood showing up bright red.

Most westerns set in the final days of the Civil War mention Quantrill's raiders only in passing, but here he for once takes centre stage in the imposing form of Brian Donlevy, almost twice the age Quantrell was himself, who died aged 27 far less heroically than depicted here.

Marguerite Chapman as the Colonel's robust, immaculately coifed Girl Friday (aptly described as a woman rather than a girl) in glossy red lips and amazing eyebrows is obviously in her thirties and makes baby-faced Audie Murphy looks even younger than he already does; and her interest in him throughout seems more maternal than romantic).

Kansas Raiders is directed by Ray Enright and written by Robert Richards. It stars Audie Murphy, Brian Donlevy, Marguerite Chapman, James Best, Scott Brady and Tony Curtis. A Technicolor production, music is by Milton Rosen and cinematography by Irving Glassberg. Plot has it that the James and Younger Brothers along with Kit Dalton, join Quantrill's Raiders after witnessing at first hand some Redleg atrocities. However, after believing they would be fighting soldiers for the war effort, the men find themselves participating in equally worse war crimes - something that deeply affects the young Jesse James.

OK, it's very fanciful in the telling of a bitter and sad period of American history. Facts of the period and the characters are jettisoned in favour of making an exciting 1950s Oater. Any hope of a depth strewn historical take on William Quantrill's Raiders will only lead to disappointment - something that is all too evident with many of the venomous reviews of the film out in internet world. Yet judged on its own unfussy entertainment terms, then the film scores high for the casual Western fan as shoot-outs, knife fights and stand-offs ensure things always stay perky.

The ominous black flag of Quantrill.

On narrative terms pic provides enough of an edge to make its point, for we are left in no doubt about the "atrocity exhibition" dealt out by Quantrill's Raiders, there's also a neat thread within about the corruption of youth. Yes, for sure this be a picture low on accuracy, but crucially it doesn't soft soap the subject to hand. This is a 1950s production after all and the makers at least manage to leave us in no doubt about the nature of the crimes committed by certain factions in the Civil War. In fact, a couple of scenes really leave indelible images, and from an action viewpoint the "sacking of Lawrence" is excellent in construction and the impact that it garners.

Production wise there's good value on show, Glassberg's Technicolor photography is gorgeous, and not just for the Garner Valley and Kanab locations, but also for bringing out the quality of the set decoration (Russell A. Gausman/Ruby R. Levitt) and Bill Thomas' costuming. Cast are fine without pulling up any trees, where Donlevy is clearly the class act on show, but here as Quantrill he gets by on presence alone, the absence of outright character nastiness is sorely felt. The latter of which, however, is provided by the solid Brady as Bill Anderson. Murphy as young Jesse James has youthful exuberance and bravado down pat, while Curtis as Kit Dalton is enjoyable in amongst the five group dynamic.

Marguerite Chapman (Coroner Creek) as Kate Clarke (Quantrill's girl) has the tough task of playing the sole female in the film, and although she's well older than the character in real life (and coming off as a right cradle snatcher due to the writer's artistic licence), she does do a nice line as a sexy and wise older woman for the scenes she shares with Murphy's baby faced Jesse James. All told, historical fudging aside, this is a fine Oater that began the decade on a high for Audie's rewarding assault on the Western genre. 7/10

Kansas Raiders was an opportunity for Universal-International to display some of its young contract players of the time to see who might have some career potential. In terms of career longevity all of them had varying degrees of success.

With Audie Murphy as young Jesse James and Richard Long as brother Frank with Tony Curtis as Kit Dalton and James Best and Dewey Martin as the Younger Brothers we see them all as young guns during the Civil War from Missouri all joining up with William Quantrill to raid, plunder, and pillage the west.

Quantrill has never really gotten a revisionist view from either history or Hollywood. He's a murdering skunk who's using the Civil War as cover for what he would be doing in civilian life anyway. But he's probably seen in the best Hollywood light possible in this film.

Brian Donlevy in this very confused story is as bad as they come, but he does take a kind of fatherly interest in all these young men who've come to join up with him. That's the problem with Kansas Raiders, Quantrill's character is so badly written you can't understand why all those young potential outlaws see in him.

Definitely for fans of the above named players only.

I would have liked to have given Kansas Raiders a slightly higher rating but for the corny script. At no time could I imagine Jesse James, as played by the legendary Audie Murphy, as having a conscience. As I understand it, James was a cold blooded individual, where here, Murphy keeps having twinges of sympathy and romantic notions. Hollywood at it's most watered down. On the up side, it's beautifully shot with some rousing and quite brutal raids on the North by Quantrill's ragbag of followers from the South, during the American Civil War. There's a nice performance by Brian Donlevy as Quantrill and on looking at the cast as the movie starts, was quite taken by seeing Tony Curtis listed as the fifth name, here playing Kit Dalton, one of Murphy's pals. Other character actors of some fame are featured include Richard Long and James Best, and two actors who went on to have some measure of fame as leading men, Scott Brady and Richard Egan. Marguerite Chapman is the leading lady, although I've never heard of her before, and average for the period. I can always watch Murphy, who always underplays with an air of authority, and I think a better actor than some gave him credit for.