L'ange et le bandit

Original title: Bad Bascomb

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Wallace Beery and Margaret O'Brien in L'ange et le bandit (1946)

A notorious outlaw befriends a young girl while hiding out in a Mormon wagon train headed for Utah.A notorious outlaw befriends a young girl while hiding out in a Mormon wagon train headed for Utah.A notorious outlaw befriends a young girl while hiding out in a Mormon wagon train headed for Utah.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

566

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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User reviews21

6.8566

Featured reviews

10murdockceo

Excellent Trio

I have always loved old movies and most are the kind you can watch over again and again this is one of them! The last time I watched it I caught something new and thought was so cute Emmy (Maragret o'Brien)is dressing in a pretty dress to surprise Zed Bascomb (Wallace Beery)and her grandmother gives her two handkerchiefs and she tells her "Here is one for show and one for blow." I believe actors from this era were true artisan of their craft, something I find lacking in actors today.

For More Fun between Beery and Main I recommend Jackass Mail 1942 & Wyoming 1940. For You Margaret O'Brien fans one movie you must see is Our Vines Have Tender Grapes.

8dpoppyman1

A movie about redemption

Bad Bascomb is a bad man. A very bad man. So is his sidekick, Bart Yancy. They are remorseless in all of their criminal activities, including the heartless murder of an elderly scout for a Mormon wagon train headed west. Hunted men, they take cover in the wagon train to avoid capture.

While undercover, "Bad" Bascomb's heart is stolen by pure love and trust from an 8 year old girl who l-o-v-e-s him without reservation and in spite of his coarseness and even cruelty.

The transformation is amazing to watch. Beery and O'Brien steal every scene and leave you anxious for their next one. Their banter is at times hilarious yet still remains poignant.

I understand the criticism of some of the action sequences. They seem hurried if not careless. The scene of the wagon train crossing the river, however, is excellent. This is a low budget programmer so I refuse to criticize a lot of the technical short comings. As is true of most of these low budget films, this one is elevated by the performances of unmatched character actors like Marjorie Maine, J. Carroll Naish, and Sarah Haden. In the end though, Wallace Beery and Margaret O'Brien will steal your heart forever.

7cutter-12

A Charmer

By all accounts, Wallace Beery was a coarse and miserable A-hole off camera. It's no surprise the man lacked refinement, just look at him, but I hope he wasn't quite the jerk biographers have painted him since his death in 1949. I've always enjoyed watching Wallace Beery movies, if his personality was something less than desirable in real life you'd never know it from many of his films, where the man is just simply...lovable. And if it was only that way on screen, then that's all that really matters I guess. Beery played a persona that made him a good living, and he always delivered the goods once the cameras rolled.

In Bad Bascomb, Beery is hilarious. He spits as many mouthfuls of funny dialogue as he spits his food. He also shows himself to have been a far better actor than he's remembered for as he emotes menace, sweetness, redemption and morosity with his craggy mug as good as any actor of his day. I defy anyone to dislike Beery in this film.

The movie itself is at times unbalanced...moves between a children's film and a more conventional western, with all its back shooting nastiness, a little unseamlessly. But it was all shot outdoors on location and as Wagon Train movies go, this one has a fairly authentic look to it.

Maybe not a great western, but it's great fun to watch Beery and Margaret O'Brien play off each other. The kind of sweetness reminiscent of Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood in Miracle in the 34th Street. One of Beery's must see roles. Well worth your time if you come across it on TCM.

10logan-hill

Bad Bascomb is a Classic & should be shown more often

Bad Bascomb is a true Western Classic. Wallace Beery was a great actor of his time; although there are other movies of his that my family and I liked, this one is the best.

Marjorie Main & Margaret O'Brien are also a great asset to this film. I am sorry to say this movie is not shown on TV very often and is not available on VHS/DVD; hopefully in the near future.

For all of you Wallace Beery fans, I am happy to report, I was e-mailed the other day from Turner Classic Movies, that this movie will be shown on TCM on Thursday, December 13th, at 6:00 pm ET; so have a new tape ready for this GREAT movie.

Thank You for your time!! JAL

7moonspinner55

Aw shucks! I reckon he ain't so bad!

Wallace Beery plays Bad Bascomb, the cuddliest outlaw in the West! He's a bank robber, a cattle rustler, and he's (oh my!) left-handed! But once he joins up with a wagon-caravan of Mormons--in order to escape the law--B.B. becomes humanized, a scoundrel with a squishy heart. This is a cute western with a warm theme, the best sequences involving Beery with teary Margaret O'Brien (they meet while he's stealing chicken). Marjorie Main is always fun to have around playing Bascomb's Mormon-intended. Strictly a formula film, sentimental and "nice", although some of the action scenes are sloppily-directed and there's some curious overdubbing (when O'Brien says to Beery, "Are you gonna marry her?", Beery answers, "You really are ill!" but his lips say "sick"). Still, quite enjoyable and with some very funny lines. *** from ****

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
According to page 70 of "Notes For A Memoir", Janet Jeppson, second wife of Isaac Asimov, describes how she was acting as an extra in this movie on August 14, 1945, when Wallace Beery came out of his trailer to tell everyone on site that World War II had been declared over.

Goofs
Bascomb said that he didn't want anything to do with marriage. But in one scene with Margaret O'Brien one can see Beery's wedding ring.

Quotes
Zeb Bascomb: [after finding Emmy alone outside of camp] Why, Emmy.
Emmy: Go away, Zeke. Don't you dare touch me.
Zeb Bascomb: How do you know it's Zeke, honey? Why, you ain't even looked.
Emmy: I don't want to look. I don't want to ever see you. I just want to die.
Zeb Bascomb: That ain't no nice way to talk after all the trouble I had finding you. What made you skip out?
[He leans down to touch her]
Emmy: [Emmy turns with a shotgun] I'll shoot!
Zeb Bascomb: Well, I guess, ain't no use in asking for mercy once a woman's got her mind made up. I did think you had more feeling for me though.
Emmy: You said I was stealing and it ain't true.
Zeb Bascomb: Well, I know. I was wrong, I'm sorry.
Emmy: You were going to give me a belt in the snoot.
Zeb Bascomb: Well, I thought you knew that I was just testin' ya.
Emmy: What's testin'?
Zeb Bascomb: Seein' if you love me.
Emmy: Were you testin' when you pushed me and said you wanted me to catch the measles?
Zeb Bascomb: That is my number one test. Measles couldn't even light on you, you're too wiggly.
Emmy: You care for anybody special, Zeke?
Zeb Bascomb: What difference does it make? I ain't got long to live anyway.
Emmy: Maybe I won't shoot ya.
Zeb Bascomb: Well, what you got to do, you got to do.
Emmy: I don't know how to work this very good anyway.
[Hands him the shotgun]
Zeb Bascomb: You sure could have fooled me, alright.
Emmy: Would you have took the ring if grandma had give it to ya?
Zeb Bascomb: Why should I?
Emmy: She likes you. Why do you play cruel all the time?
Zeb Bascomb: Oh, why do you poison gophers?
Emmy: Will you marry her?
Zeb Bascomb: Now I know you're sick.
Emmy: Just sort of look after her. I may not always be around.
Zeb Bascomb: Yes, yes, you... You are gettin' mighty old. Mighty old. I kind of thought though that you was waiting for me.
Emmy: You wouldn't want a wart.
Zeb Bascomb: Didn't you know that I meant just the opposite?
Emmy: What's the opposite to a wart?
Zeb Bascomb: The op... It's a dimple, a pretty little dimple.
Emmy: A dimple?
Zeb Bascomb: Mm-hmm.
Emmy: You mean I'm a dimple?
Zeb Bascomb: That's right.
Emmy: I like that.
Zeb Bascomb: Sure.