Badlands of Dakota

Like a number of his earlier works, Badlands of Dakota assisted Broderick Crawford to develop the pained, overachieving Willie Stark he so absorbingly played in ALL THE KINGS MEN. The warpaint he occasionally dons does detract from the seriousness of his delivery but with plot twists like the finale, the paint probably was a welcome cover for his embarrassment. What I did like about the film was the restrained performance of Richard Dix as Wild Bill Hickok and the raw and bitter characterization of Calamity Jane by the exquisite and doomed France Farmer. The film is worth the time spent watching it if only to watch Farmer's swaggering scenes and to hear her deep and soothing voice.

An interesting, fairly high-budget (at least by Universal standards) western, mixing historical characters like Will Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane in a fictional environment. The cast is uniformly excellent and fairly eclectic, including Broderick Crawford and Robert Stack as brothers (and there is quite a family resemblance--NOT), Lon Chaney Jr., comedy relief by Andy Devine and Hugh Herbert, a barbershop quartet (in fact, everything including the kitchen sink), but most importantly, a radiant Frances Farmer in an impressive characterization as Calamity Jane. More luminous than Jean Arthur, and more raucous and even vulnerable than Doris Day, this is easily Farmer's best performance from the last part of her career before her unfortunate arrest and institutionalization. The film seems to have been worked on by several writers, and veers back and forth between straight narrative and some obviously interpolated comedy bits and barbershop numbers. An enjoyable, if historically laughable, western from Hollywood's golden era. Farmer fans will be thrilled.

During the golden years in Hollywood, studios created an image of the old west that was pretty much hogwash. Despite these movies, folks DIDN'T have shootouts on Main Street nor were there that many folks running about in cowboy hats. But the biggest mistake the films made was by taking real life westerners and completely fictionalizing their lives. The Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok and Wyatt Earp of film fame simply bore very little similarity to their onscreen characters. In "Badlands of Dakota" they manage something many of these films didn't do...it used several of these fictional real life characters...such as Wild Bill*, Calamity Jane** and General Custer. As long as you don't take any of this as fact, it is entertaining and features a lot of familiar character actors.

The story concerns two brothers who have a falling out over a girl in the old west. There on hand are Wild Bill and others....all helping to bring truth(?) and justice to the West.

The younger brother is played by Robert Stack. I've seen several of his early films and have noticed that he must have taken voice lessons, as his voice has a different cadence and is much higher than it was in the late 50s onward. He does NOT sound like Elliot Ness in this one! He is supported in the film by Richard Dix (Wild Bill), Ann Rutherford, Broderick Crawford (the older brother) and many character actors such as Andy Devine, Fuzzy Knight, Hugh Herbert and Lon Chaney Jr.. The quality and caliber of these actors help out the film a lot and elevate it far above the usual quickie B-western. The only cheap portion was the runaway wagon sequence...with its awful rear projection. Also, I wasn't taken by Ann Rutherford's speech about the west (just before Robert Stack snogs her)...talk about ridiculous dialog! But apart from that, on balance, it's a pretty good FICTIONAL story.

*The death of Wild Bill was accurate in the film...shot in the back while playing poker and he had what's known (because of this) as the dead man's hand (with two pair...both spades).

**Calamity Jane was NOT the pretty rootin' tootin' cowgirl who loved fightin' and shootin' like she is seen in the movies. In reality she was quite different--a cross-dressing woman who was NOT especially beautiful and was an alcoholic. She also worked, off and on, as a prostitute and even a frontier scout! But she also was apparently incredibly kind and accounts of her helping the poor and destitute abound. I actually think the real Calamity would be the great subject of a film!

1941's "Badlands Of Dakota" is a higher budgeted 'B' Western from Universal, with a fascinating cast. Top billed Robert Stack gives the least interesting performance (not really his fault), as Jim Holliday, freewheeling brother of tough saloon owner Bob Holliday (Broderick Crawford); when Bob finds that his girl back east (Ann Rutherford) has decided to marry Jim, he falls in with Deadwood villain Jack McCall (Lon Chaney), whose gang commits raids disguised as native Indians. Of greater interest are the supporting players, Richard Dix as Wild Bill Hickok, and especially Frances Farmer as Jane (minus the 'Calamity'), who carries a torch for Bob, and must play a part in his downfall. With Hugh Herbert, Andy Devine, and Fuzzy Knight, we have an abundance of comic relief, and future Frankenstein Monster Glenn Strange is among Chaney's gang. Broderick Crawford and Hugh Herbert were coming off the comic Poe "The Black Cat"; Chaney and Crawford would work together again in "North to the Klondike," "Not as a Stranger," and "Big House, U. S. A."; Richard Dix soon reunited with Chaney in "Eyes of the Underworld." But in this film, no one can steal the thunder from Frances Farmer, whose commanding presence and captivating beauty prove to have been unique and unforgettable.

"Badlands of Dakota" is one of those compact little westerns, running about an hour and a quarter, that Universal churned out in the forties. As was the case with most of them, it is filled with lots of recognizable faces. Usually the leads were up and comers or second leads from the studio's bigger budgeted features.

The story briefly, starts out with rough and tough saloon owner (Broderick Crawford) sending his seemingly meek brother (a very young Robert Stack) back east to fetch his intended bride (Ann Rutherford). On the return journey they meet Wild Bill Hickock (Richard Dix) and fall in love and marry much to Crawford's chagrin. Crawford becomes bitter and joins up with Jack McCall (Lon Chaney Jr.) and his gang after arranging to have Stack appointed town marshal. You can probably figure out the inevitable ending.

The beautiful and troubled Frances Farmer appears as "Jane" (for some reason they dropped the rather obvious "Calamity"), and gives an excellent performance as the frontier gal Crawford tries to leave behind. Along for comic relief are Hugh Herbert as the Fire Chief/bartender, Andy Devine as the mayor and Fuzzy Knight as the stagecoach driver. Riding with Chaney are the likes of Glenn Strange, Carleton Young and Richard Alexander. Addison Richards appears as Colonel Custer. Poor old Charlie King is around just long enough to be gunned down by Dix. Also,look for Kermit Maynard as a card player.

Stack does OK as the hero and Ann Rutherford fresh from the Andy Hardy series, makes an appealing heroine. Dix does what he can with a limited role, Crawford growls as usual and Chaney is good as the chief bad guy, but it is Farmer who virtually steals the picture. One can only wonder how really great she could have been.

There is plenty of action including chases, stage holdups, fights, comedy and a slam bang Indian attack of the town at the film's climax. A really entertaining little western.