Far-West 89

The reviewer "krorie" from Van Buren, Arkansas, goes to great length to point out how historically Return of the Badmen were, listing the dates the different real life outlaws, depicted in the film, were living and when they died. While your research is to be commended, you missed the whole point of the movie. It was made for entertainment not enlightenment. Most of the westerns made by Hollywood took liberties with the facts and were presented in a fashion that audiences could accept. The Return of the Badmen, like its predecessor "Badmen Territory" used the combined villainy of real life western outlaws to add appeal to the western. While both films were made in the late Forties, and television had not yet made an effect on the movie going public, the genre was slowly being burned out. Everything possible had been tried in order to boost box office appeal. Actually, the B western was already suffering from postwar production costs, and ticket prices in those years right before television. Many families, particularly those with small children, did not have the money for a babysitter and so spent the evenings at home listening to radio. The movie westerns did their best box office at the Saturday afternoon matinées when parents dropped off their children at the theater so they could go shopping. While Randolph Scott made many westerns, these two westerns, particularly Return of the Badmen, must have made an impression on producer Mel Brooks because he uses Randolph Scott's name as an in-joke in his 1974 comedy Blazing Saddles. The townspeople are reluctant to help their new sheriff, who happens to be black, combat the outlaw hoards which is coming to their town. One person speaks up in defense of the sheriff by saying "You would help Randolph Scott" whereupon the people reverently repeat Scott's name as they take off their hats and are bathed in a heavenly light which shines from above.

This movie surprised me. I don't care for Randolph Scott, and reading the description of the movie to include Billie the Kid, Youngers, Sundance Kid, and the Daltons, etc. This seemed like a joke. Clearly a bad movie to waste time on, but I couldn't resist watching it start to see all these headliner bad guys in one gang. I expected to rate the movie no higher than 3.....if I even made it past the first 30 minutes.

Turns out, the movie caught me off guard. In the context of a B Western, it actually works. Seeing Gabby in a 'non-side-kick' role wasn't the disappointment I expected. Seeing them "throw" bullets out of the guns (the classic snap the gun down and fire in one motion), and taking about 2 seconds from pistol blast till the bullet strikes the rock in front of the bad guy, was ok, cause that's classic B Western stuff, and after all this was B Western in the 1940's.

If you're looking for a good old B Western that doesn't have the Duke in it, try this out. I gave it a 7 in spite of myself.

Name Dropper of a Western including...Billy the Kid...The Daltons...The Sundance Kid...and The Youngers.

All of this Means absolutely Nothing in terms of Story or Plot. The Names are there for Sizzle and to make the Movie seem more Important than it is.

None of this was Necessary because this RKO Western is Above Average with Randolph Scott (the good guy), Robert Ryan (the baddest of the Badmen), Anne Jefferies as a Pistol Packin Mama (Cheyenne), and a Gang of Familiar Faces that add some Spice to this sometimes Brutal Oater.

The Cinematography is in Sharp Black and White with some Attention to Atmosphere, Cheyenne's Tomboy Violence, a Psychotic Sundance Kid, and if it's to Your Liking, Gabby Hayes as a Motormouth Banker for Comedy Relief, all make this a Notch Above Standard Stuff.

Anne Jefferies and Jacqueline White spar for Randolph Scott's attention and Robert Armstrong gives one of His Better non "King Kong" (1933) Outings.

Overall, it's Darker than most Westerns of its Time, thanks to that RKO Noir-ish Style and Wide Open Casting makes this Worth a Watch even for Non-Western Fans.

This greatest frontier drama since ¨Cimarron¨ deals with a marshal (Randolph Scott) carries out peace and order at a town outside the law and all the notorious badmen who fought to keep it there . An epic thrill parade down banditry's halls of infamy , violence-filled heart of the wild west and being a sequel to ¨Badman's territory¨ (1946) . Concerning the worst killers of the untamed West and the Lady they called 'Cheyenne' (Anne Jeffreys) on a rampage of murder and terror in the blood-red days of frontier Oklahoma . There Vance (Randolph Scott) is appointed Marshall who must fight against a gang of outlaws led by a sadistic Sundance Kid (Robert Ryan) .

An epic saga of a land beyond the law starred by an all-Western-star cast , including cowboy actors , great personalities and many other things . An exciting and explosive exploitation for the great big action western of 1948 . The plot is plain and simple taking place when part of Oklahoma Territory becomes officially part of the U.S. , there a sheriff has to deal with such notorious outlaws as the James and Dalton boys in a territory outside of government control . Here appears a lot of of bandits ; see them all : the most wanted outlaws : Cole Younger , Jim Younger , Bob Dalton , Grat Dalton , Emmett Dalton , Billy The Kid , Arkansas Kid , Sundance .... This is a Frontier history written by Luci Ward in the violent deeds of the most famous outlaws of the 1880s and in the grit and guns of the couraged few who dared the crimson challenge . This ¨Return of the badmen¨ belongs to a trilogy formed by the original ¨Badman's territory¨ (1946) by Tim Whelan with Randolph Scott , Anne Richards , Steve Brodie and George ¨Gabby Hayes¨ and a third part titled ¨Best of the Badmen¨ (1951) by William Russell with Robert Ryan , Claire Trevor , Jack Buetel , Robert Preston , Bruce Cabot , Walter Brennan , all of them starred by notorious bandits of the wild west . Nice acting by Randolph Scott in his usual style as Vance Cordrell , a straight-shooting marshal is forced to deal with some of the most infamous outlaws of the Old West . And several known secondaries playing the known bandits , such as : Steve Brodie (Cole Younger) , Tom Keene (Jim Younger) , Robert Bray (John Younger) , Lex Barker (Emmett Dalton) , Walter Reed (Bob Dalton) , Robert Armstrong (Wild Bill Doolin) , among others . Tom Tyler would play Frank James in Badman's Territory (1946) and Best of the badmen (1951) as well as another film, here he plays fictional outlaw Wild Bill . And , of course , the comic relief for the veteran and usual George ¨Gabby¨ Hayes .

The motion picture well produced by Nat Holt was professionally directed by Ray Enright . Ray was a craftsman who directed lots of Westerns . His Western film debut was ¨River's end¨ (40) , following ¨Bad men in Missouri¨ (41) about the Youngers , ¨The spoilers¨ (42) with a star-system , as Marlene Dietrich , John Wayne and Scott , ¨Men of Texas¨(42) , ¨Sin Town¨(42) , and various starred by Randolph Scott as ¨Trail Street¨(47) , ¨Coroner Creek¨(48) , ¨Alburquerque¨(48) , and starred by Alexis Smith : ¨South of St. Louis¨(49) and ¨Montana¨ (50) with Alexis and Errol Flynn . His last Westerns were ¨Kansas raiders¨(50) and Flaming Feather¨(52) , until his retirement in 1953 .

Return of the Badmen is directed by Ray Enright and co-written by Charles O'Neal, Jack Natteford and Luci Ward. It stars Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George Hayes and Jacqueline White. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by J. Roy Hunt.

Braxton, Oklahoma Territory, 1889, soon to be a ghost town as the impending land rush changes the West. With that comes more than just settlers, it brings outlaws too, some of the meanest there is. Under the leadership of Wild Bill Doolin has gathered the Sundance Kid, the Younger Brothers, the Daltons, Wild Bill Yeager, Billy The Kid, George Mason, the Arkansas Kid and Doolin's niece Cheyenne. Standing in their way? Vance Cordell, retired Texas Ranger, soon to become temporary marshal of newly formed Guthrie Town, and a man with a score to settle with the Sundance Kid.

Premise is simple, RKO, flush with the success of Badman's Territory the previous year, decide that more is best in this second instalment of the studio's "Badmen" trilogy (Best of the Badmen followed in 1951). They pitch some of the Wild West's baddest apples together and play them off against that bastion of stoic cowboyness, Randolph Scott. As a basic Western movie it works, film is always engaging, has a good action quota, is technically safe from the camera side of things and is driven by a pot boiling destiny showdown between Scott and Ryan. Trouble is is that so many notorious characters in one mix means the film has no chance of living up to its promise. Which in a running time of 90 minutes was always going to be impossible to achieve anyway, especially when you also have the inevitable romantic angle involving our hero, another character thread involving reform and the backdrop of the land rush as well.

Thankfully the film finds Scott and Ryan more than capable of sealing the deal, lifting the picture above the routine plotting and unrealistic nature of the set-up. It's good versus evil, where Scott's Cordell is the man in light, the man of the people, and Ryan's Sundance is the man in dark, a twitchy cold blooded psycho. Yes, there's the inevitability factor of it all, we know who is going to triumph here, but the build up is well handled and it does provide a very brisk and punch laden finale. There's nothing irritable in cast performances across the board, yes we want more from the roll call of actors playing under written villains, but story, as fantastical as it is, never sags and entertains from first minute to last. There's worse ways for Western fans to spend an hour and half, that's for sure! 6.5/10