Duelo de Assassinos

Wayne Morris is an outlaw and Jimmy Lydon is an outlaw in training so to speak and each can be considered a Desperado. Both are fleeing from carpetbagger justice in Texas and its infamous and corrupt Texas State Police.

That was then and the corruption of the Police was an article of faith in Texas history then. Actually the biggest sin of the Police in real life was that they let black people in the ranks.

But they o with the end of Reconstruction and Lydon goes on trial for a pair of murders e didn't commit.

Average western with a discredited point of view.

Outlaw gunslinger Sam Garrett (Wayne Morris) offers that sage wisdom to fellow fugitive Tom Cameron (James Lydon); who's on the run from the "Bluebellies;" Texas State Police officers who wield a brutal iron fist of enforcement in the early 1870s; But quick-draw; hard-bitten Garrett soon decides not to take his own advice after young Cameron heads home to surrender - and instead gets framed for a revenge murder by a jealous rival for the affections of his girl (Beverly Garland)

The Desperado is quite an engaging western, if a little slow in places. The subject matter is dark and there's a certain edge lingering - it's definitely different from other Wayne Morris westerns and his persona isn't' light and cheerful - as usual - but he's philosophical and much more serious. There's some good shootouts, you get a double serving of Lee Van Cleef and Beverley Garland gets the pulse racing.

Jimmy Lydon burns the last of his image as Henry Aldrich. He's the son of an ex-sheriff who gets in trouble with the Reconstructionist government in Texas and makes a run for it. He hooks up with gunslinger Wayne Morris, who takes him under his wing and makes Jimmy a deadly man with a gun with a couple of tips about how to wear his gun belt.

Morris is surprisingly good, as is Lee Van Cleef in a small role. Maybe it's a good movie in its main body, even thought Morris' character seems very odd for the steely and disconnected killer he is supposed to be. Maybe it's the opening, with a bunch of titles about how this was darkest period in Texas history; after all, Black people had the franchise.

Sometimes you know too much history to shrug your shoulders and go with the legend.

As a French moviegoer, even if I have heard of the Civil War in USA, Quantrill, Jesse James, William - Billy the the Kid - Bonney, Calamity Jane and many other legends of the West, I had never heard of those Bluebellies in Texas corrupted administration. So this is rather complex for me to fully understand the context of this story. But it remains watchable, agreeable, thanks mainly to Wayne Morris. It is of course predictable ten miles in advance but it remains better than the previous Thomas Carr's B westerns, made in the early fifties. With this one, Thomas Carr improved his filmography, showed a bit more ambition, and it will continue after this one; for instance several westerns starring Joel Mc Crea and some famous western figures.

I have never watched a movie that seems to have been written by a 12 year-old for a school play. Writing and acting (?) have set a new low. It's too bad though because it could have been better even though the cast was a bit better than "B" level.

Wayne Morris has made some decent films as has Lee Van Cleef. I wasn't expecting High Noon quality but I was expecting at least mid-morning. But I guess I need to lower my expectations when I turn on this type of film. Nevertheless, I live with these types films as I do get some humor out of them. After reading this revue. I hope I haven't rated it too high.