I quattro cavalieri dell'Oklahoma

Starring Dan Duryea as Al Jennings, this is another routine Columbia quickie, filmed in the foothills of southern California. The script and film look like they were put out in about 10 days, and boring clichés abound.

Al Jennings used to be a lawyer until circumstances forced him to kill a man and cross over to the other side of the law. From what I understand, this film had nothing to do with the real-life Al Jennings who served time in prison for armed robbery. He wasn't as romantic a cad as Duryea makes out to be.

And the fistfight scene between Duryea and John Dehner in the courtroom looked laughingly bad and amateurish. Awful. Truly awful...which is a real shame since Duryea has appeared in some excellent westerns like WINCHESTER '73 (1950), RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO (1954) and NIGHT PASSAGE (1957).

With Dick Foran who stands around and smiles a lot, and Gail Storm as the love interest, this oater is pretty dull stuff with nothing to make it stand out from the dozens of others Columbia put out in the 50s.

2 out 10 for causing a few zzzz's...

Although based on his own book, the real Jennings' face must have been a picture when he learned who was going to play him. But Duryea is plainly relishing the chance for once to be playing a two-fisted hunk who gets the girl.

Lawyer Al Jennings discovers he likes robbing better than lawyering, but then tries to straighten out. Yet the past has a way of catching up, especially if there's a relapse back into robbing.

Badly flawed western, with a spotty screenplay, uninspired direction, and indifferent acting. Pairing ace villain Duryea with malt-shop Storm is like pairing Dillinger with Shirley Temple. Unfortunately, Duryea pretty much walks through his role as Al Jennings. Too bad, because given a good script and quality direction, few could deliver more memorable performances than slick-haired Duryea. Yet it looks like his career was on a downturn here since he went into TV (China Smith) the following year (IMDB).

I just wish director Nazarro could have heightened the drama with a few close-ups. Instead, his camera remains at an impersonal distance, which doesn't help. Then too, there's sloppy attention to detail. Note how after the wild buckboard chase, Storm looks like she just stepped out of a fashionable beauty salon. Even her over-sized hat is un-windblown. Sure, this is minor, but it all adds up, including sloppy staging as when the posse tries to catch the gang at the Diamond B ranch.

In my little book, the oater's a bland waste of talent, whose best feature may be the Technicolor photography, even if action never leaves LA environs. Too bad all around, especially for fans of the great Dan Duryea.

I highly prefered dan Duryea in Spencer Gordon Bennet's THE BOUNTY KILLER where he played a tenderfoot turned a bloodthirsty killer, and still a "villain" who remained more sympathetic than pathetic for the audiences. Here, the story is inspired by an actual character, Al jennings, a outlaw turned lawyer, or the contrary, I don't know and I also don't care. It is boring, lousy, not my stuff at all. OK, I think that unusual destiny had to be told, it's so surprising, but I don't care. Dan Duryea was never better than in a villain or ambiguous, ambivalent character. I agree that in this movie, he is also ambivalent but I definitely don't make it with this however good Ray Nazzaro's feature.

For 1951, not a bad little Western, with some bright colour photography, but after it was over I thought there was little substance to it. A quick Google confirms that Jennings wasn't much success as a crook and that the film took lots of liberties with his story, though I couldn't determine whether the reward for his capture every topped $20,000, as shown in the film. What made his life interesting was his political career after release from prison, but I guess that wouldn't have added much to an "action" Western.

Having fled Oklahoma because he fears being betrayed by his fellow gang members, Jennings returns to them, which didn't seem too bright. And the botched final raid on the train and its meagre rewards seem to sum up his career as a bad man. But the posse wasn't too bright, either, with its 20 or so members failing to capture the depleted Jennings gang at the ranch, though at least this led to a chase and final showdown.

It was good to see a youngish John Dehner, and Guinn Williams in a role where his character wasn't too empty-headed.