Dakota Lil

Yet another western, based on the Tom Horn legend, this one focuses on the early days, before he supposedly turned 'bad.' Montgomery is acceptable as the detective sent to bring in counterfeiters, Windsor the dance hall girl who leads the way.

"Dakota Lil" is a routine western with two big differences. The first is the beautiful panoramic Cine Color photography which is at times, quite breathtaking. The other is the casting against type of Rod Cameron as the sadistic villain of the piece.

The story has Tom Horn (George Montgomery) going under cover for the U.S. Treasury Department in order to recover $100,000 in stolen unsigned Treasury Bills taken by the "Hole in the Wall" gang in a train hold-up. In pursuit of the gang, Horn meets up with expert forger Dakota Lil (Marie Windsor) and her companion Vincent (John Emery) and forms an alliance. Horn has learned that Harve Logan (Rod Cameron), who runs a saloon, is connected to the gang.

Lil double crosses Horn and hooks up with Logan and forms a partnership with him in return for her forging expertise. Horn meanwhile, catches up with them and Lil begins to fall in love with him. Anyway, they discover that Logan is actually the leader of the gang and team up against him.

Cameron is downright nasty as Logan. He plays him as a short-fused psychopath who brutally murders three people by visciously strangling them with a riding strap that he wears around his wrist. Montgomery is rather one dimensional as the hero but it must have been difficult to play against Cameron's villain. The charming and under appreciated Windsor makes an excellent good/bad lady. she even gets to sing a couple of songs while masquerading as a saloon singer.

Of the supporting cast, John Emery is very good as Vincent, Windsor's tragic love sick accompanist. Wallace Ford is along as Horn's contact in Logan's organization. Jack Lambert has a nice bit as "Dummy" the sadistic gang member who uses dumb-dumb bullets. Walter Sande appears briefly as Butch Cassidy (no Sundance Kid though) and veterans Frank Lacteen and Kenneth MacDonald as other gang members. Sharp eyed western fans will also spot J. Farrell MacDonald in a small role as a Treasury expert.

"Dakota Lil" though not a great western is nonetheless a feast for the eyes and a chance to see Rod Cameron on the wrong side of the law for a change.

It seems that originally Dakota Lil was done in color, but the print I saw was black and white. That probably helped as this rather dark film was better in noir black and white. But the upbeat ending and one that was not called for was misplaced in this western.

George Montgomery because some unsigned treasury notes were among the items stolen is assignment from the Treasury Department to track down the legendary Hole In The Wall gang. To get them he must get to a notorious forger whose services the gang needs in order to turn those notes into cash. That would be the title character Dakota Lil played here by Marie Windsor.

The most revealing bit of acting is done here by Rod Cameron normally a B western hero, but occasionally a bad guy. Here he is one really bad guy. Cameron prefers to strangle people as opposed to shooting them. That includes enemies and even people who don't move fast enough when he commands them to do something. Rod's one scary dude.

Dakota Lil is a good film absolutely spoiled with a rather unbelievable happy ending. You'll have to see it for yourself to judge if I'm right.

Dakota Lil is directed by Lesley Salander and written by Maurice Geraghty and Frank Gruber. It stars George Montgomery, Rod Cameron, Marie Windsor and Wallace Ford. Music is by Dimitri Tiomkin and cinematography by Jack Greenhalgh.

Tom Horn (Montgomery) is a Secret Service agent hunting a counterfeit ring. Getting tight with dance hall gal Lil (Windsor), Horn quickly finds himself in the hornets nest.

It's titled after Windsor's character but ultimately it's about Tom Horn during his early years as a good guy before he became a hired gunman. Unfortunately not even the presence of Montgomery and Cameron, two reliable Western performers, can save this lifeless affair. The acting is sub-standard, especially the quite woeful Windsor who seems simply to be a dressage character only. Some of the undercover machinations hold interest, while there are fist-fights and shoot- outs to while away the running time, but even with the latter it's all distinctly routine fodder.

Originally filmed in Cinecolor, some sources show a black and white version, which is the one I saw. It's hard to tell if watching it in colour would improve things as per the scenery et al, such is the flatness of the screenplay, direction and acting performances. 4/10

I prefer forgetting this one, compared to the second and overwhelming movie starring Steve McQueen, made in 1979, one year before his death. This very Lesley Selander western is quite entertaining, especially if you like George Montgomery, and is still worth watching. Lesley Selander was a chain western maker, but a pretty good one. None of his films were boring. But of course, don't dare comparing with the second western also telling the story of Tom Horn, the most terrific, prestigious, unforgettable version. However, I don't wish to spoil the maybe pleasure that you could have with this western. Just enjoy.