User reviews

Mickey Rooney (as J. Dennis "Denny" O'Moore) is out west, looking to find his brother Robert Stack (as Patrick O'Moore), whom he hasn't seen in eight years. Mr. Rooney meets up with Robert Preston (as Joe Walter), who is looking for the notorious outlaw known as "El Tigre". No prize for guessing how "El Tigre" is related to Rooney. Wanda Hendrix adds femininity to "My Outlaw Brother".

Tip your cowboy hat to Mickey Rooney, who is the film's greatest asset; and, he gets the larger women. Mr. Stack is penetrating as Rooney's unlikely brother. Mr. Preston makes a good partner; wisely, he is low key in the presence of Rooney. Just an interesting cast in a slight film.

**** My Outlaw Brother (8/22/51) Elliott Nugent ~ Mickey Rooney, Wanda Hendrix, Robert Preston, Robert Stack

This ‘B’ Western is the working definition of an “oater”: designed as a vehicle for the diminutive but energetic Mickey Rooney, his character is somewhat overbearing – that of a New Yorker who goes to Mexico in search of his elder brother, nicknamed “The Pride Of Tenth Avenue” (played by Robert Stack), only to find him to be not as upstanding and hard-working as he had been led to believe. In fact, Stack’s the right-hand man of a notorious bandit – dubbed “El Tigre”; when confronted by Rooney, Stack confesses to being indebted to the Mexican…but when ultimately revealed, the latter’s true identity greatly dismays Rooney (a clue: Stack and the bandit never appear together in the same scene!). Anyway, the film is unassuming and pretty forgettable but, at the same time, watchable enough; on the plus side is an appropriately foreign look (the production company took the trouble of shooting on location, albeit in a studio – the hacienda setting, incidentally, would soon become a staple of Mexican horror efforts!), as well as the imposing and reliable presence of Robert Preston as the Ranger out to capture “El Tigre”. The feminine angle is represented by petite Wanda Hendrix, coveted by Stack but who finally ends up with Rooney – content, for once, to be able to get a girl his own size instead of the usual “6-foot whales” from back home!

A good cast helps make this crime/western feature work, and makes up for story that is usually predictable and is sometimes too implausible not to become noticeable. Mickey Rooney and Robert Preston are particularly well cast in their roles, and a relatively young Robert Stack also gets the most out of his character.

Rooney plays a young New Yorker who heads to the southwest to find his brother, only to find out that his former idol has changed significantly. Rooney believably plays up the part of the tough little guy who won't be pushed around just because he's smaller than everyone else, and it adds something to many scenes. Preston fits well into the role of the straight-shooting ranger, and Stack is effective as the brother.

Most of the rest of it is just adequate, although the three leads do a good job of carrying the action. José Torvay helps out in a couple of scenes, and while the sets are quite plain, they do at least set a generally believable atmosphere.

Rooney produced this cheap Mexico-shot western as a vehicle for himself at a time when his career was on a downturn, and he made a poor choice. Just about everything about this film is second-rate at best--the writing is awful, the photography is fuzzy and washed-out, the sound is tinny and the action scenes are badly done. Rooney plays a brassy New Yorker searching for his brother in Mexico who gets mixed up with bandits, Texas Rangers and a pretty Mexican senorita. Robert Stack plays his brother, Robert Preston is the Ranger and Wanda Hendrix is the girl. Preston--as always-does a good job, trying to breathe some life into a poorly written part. Stack is badly miscast and Hendrix is just window dressing, albeit with a terrible Mexican "accent". Director Elliot Nugent, although known primarily as a writer and playwright, had done good work in the past but had suffered what was at the time called "a nervous breakdown" and couldn't find work. He should have passed on this one. This looks like not much more than a home movie. The direction is choppy and confused, supporting performances are uniformly poor, action scenes are poorly staged (one bandit gets "shot" and falls off his horse, even though no one was shooting at him) and the overall effect is to make you wonder how much of this picture Nugent actually directed, or if Rooney or an even less talented director took over.

Just about the only "pluses" to this picture are Robert Preston and the fact that Rooney didn't try to make his character an actual cowboy, which would have been painfully embarrassing. Otherwise, this cheap, chintzy, inept western has nothing going for it.

When this film debuted in 1951, Mickey Rooney was not nearly as popular an actor in Hollywood as he'd been a decade earlier. And, so many of his previous films were nothing like "My Outlaw Brother" but were more slices of an idealized American life--minor love stories involving his Andy Hardy character or superficial musicals. Here, however, he is inexplicably in an independent B-western--a HUGE change of pace from the usual fancy MGM pieces he appeared in at the time. Now this is not a bad thing--as it did offer a nice change of pace and a chance to see him in a more gritty sort of film.

The movie begins with an Easterner (Rooney) showing up out West...unprepared and totally out of place. Despite this, he manages to find a friend in a local Texas Ranger (Robert Preston) who looks out for him. However, the Ranger is surprised to learn that his new friend, though quite likable, might just be the brother of a local outlaw who is wanted on both sides of the border. So, when this greenhorn travels into Mexico to find his brother, the Ranger tags along. What's next? See the film.

For a B-western, this is better than normal. Some better than average acting, a decent script and nice production values make this quite satisfying and worth your time--even with the odd ending where Rooney's character seems amazingly ambivalent with the way things ended up by the conclusion.

This was a pleasant surprise for me. I bought a set of DVD's at K-mart and this was one of the movies on the twin disc set. The picture quality was acceptable considering the age. The acting was quite good. Mickey managed to offer a few laughs as the clumsy easterner trying to fit in with the wild west. Robert Stack was a very convincing bad guy and Robert Preston was the straight shooting Texas Ranger. It had a good plot and moved along quite well for a movie from the 1950's. But it is the type of movie I grew up with so it seems normal to me. Younger people used to the full throttle action of today's movies might find it a bit slow, but they seldom even consider a movie like this. In all it was great fun for me.

One oddity was when Robert Preston as ranger Walters was at the map of Texas, he indicated the town of San Clemente about 50 miles south of present day San Vincente, Mx. I was unable to find a San Clemente, Mexico on any maps so it was just a part of the story line not a real location. There is a San Clemente, California but that is much farther away than 50 miles. Don't let that ruin the movie for you, it was a good one and it had a bit of a surprise at the end.

Pop some corn, pour a soda, and sit back to enjoy an old fashioned western from the 50's before there were special effects, back when actors had to act to earn a living.

Clumsey easterner Mickey Rooney travels to Mexico to make a surprise visit to older brother Robert Stack, only to discover he's a smooth-talking, black-hearted under boss to a bandit that's terrorizing the locals and robbing banks north of the border. Trouble arises when he inadvertently brings along Texas Ranger Robert Preston.

Despite the movie being a fairly straight-faced affair, Rooney plays like it's a comedy most of the time. Meanwhile, Stack is dead serious and seriously mean, prompting one of the characters to suggest that he's possessed by evil spirits! The combination of the two actor's performances make the film seem pretty odd.

On the whole though, this is an entertaining adventure, with some good suspense scenes, as well as nice, picturesque Mexican scenery and decent production values.

Also, there's a neat psychological twist in the final scene. Maybe Stack is possessed after all.

This B western filmed for Eagle-Lion Studios was able to grab both Mickey Rooney and Robert Preston probably on the cheap as both of these players had been cut by their studios and looking for work. Add to this Robert Stack and Wanda Hendrix and you've got the principals for My Outlaw Brother.

Rooney is the brother and Stack is the outlaw. Mickey arrives from the east, a tenderfoot looking to visit his brother who sends money back east regularly and is a mine owner in northern Mexico. He's operating in the same area where the notorious El Tigre and his band of outlaws from both Mexico and the USA reek havoc on both sides of the border and have a mountain stronghold that no one can get in or out of.

Texas Ranger Robert Preston likes Rooney but also sees him as a way of getting into the stronghold and capturing El Tigre. What Rooney doesn't know and Preston does is that Stack's not operating a mine, but reputed to be working for El Tigre. Stack is also courting the lovely Wanda Hendrix, but she has other ideas especially when Rooney shows up.

All our American stars perform well, but Mexican cinema star Jose Torvay may give the best performance as the town blacksmith whose son was killed by El Tigre's men and helps Preston and Rooney because he has nothing to live for.

Sad to say the production values were on the cheap and the script had a lot of holes in it. Quite a bit of this was also left on the cutting room floor. Still fans of the stars should like it.

The cast brings this routine "Oater" up to watchable standards. Based on the novel by Brand "South of Rio Grande" this is the story of a youngster (Rooney) searching for his brother in the wild west. The plot is predictable and at times the director lets the action sag a bit, however, as with most of Rooney's 'transition' flicks this one is good, just to see how The Mick tries to get away from his Andy Hardy stereotype. Worth a watch.

First, Elliott Nugent was not specialized in westerns at all, nor in film noirs or sci-fi...Only? or may I say? mostly comedies and light hearted films. So this one can be seen as a performance from him, and a pretty efficient one. And what a surprise to see Bob Stack in a villain role, "gentle and sympathetic" villain, and also a Mickey Rooney in a unexpected role too; though not as terrific as the one he'll have in THE LAST MILE; Only Preston Foster is here as a classical character for him, the forever, lead character's friend or sidekick. good little film, from Eagle Lion's productions.

A south-of-the border oater most appropriate for those who remember the days when Mickey Rooney was one of the absolute biggest box office draws, for those who love Robert Preston and want to see him in an earlier film role, and for anyone who only came to love Robert Stack in The Untouchables and so then became motivated to see his earlier but less familiar film work, this is a fun matinée flick! A serious Preston, Stack not as the Elliot Ness type of good guy, but as a seriously evil and duplicitous villain, and Rooney providing the necessary comedic relief when needed. One surprise element you can see coming, one you cannot -- good fisticuffs, some stupid moves by the good guys, and some nice shoot-outs, all in black and white, what more do you need to go get the popcorn ready?

In searching for Mickey Rooney movies on YouTube to watch in chronological order, I stumbled into this western he made independently as his M-G-M contract was winding down. He plays an easterner looking for his brother who's revealed to be the title character. He's played by Robert Stack, years before his famous role as Elliot Ness on the TV show "The Untouchables". Robert Preston, years before his iconic role in the musical "The Music Man, is the Texas ranger helping Rooney along. I'll just now say this was quite an entertaining oater. Some funny stuff from Rooney but it's also quite serious when it needs to be. The leading lady is Wanda Hendrix as a senorita who Stack tries to posses. She'd eventually marry his brother in real life but only for a few years. Anyway, My Outlaw Brother is worth a look for fans of any of the above players.

Rather lame western. Director Nugent fails to play up whatever suspense may lurk in what amounts to a meandering screenplay. On the whole, the story bounces around without building. Thus we're left with a turgid storyline spread across three or four main characters. Rooney arrives in Mexico accompanied by Preston in order to learn more about his brother Stack who's living below the border. Trouble is the area's beset by outlaws led by mysterious El Tigre, and soon the new arrivals are caught up in outlaw shenanigans. Fortunately, locals Hendrix and Torvay are on hand to help out.

At this point, Rooney was still a headline name but with a diminishing career. I expect that's one reason he shares so much screen time with Preston and Stack who are on their way up the ladder. Then too, the diminutive Hendrix is an apt leading lady since she and Rooney make a good visual pairing. Still, the former Andy Hardy appears unsure how to play his part in a western while Nugent appears no help. In fact, some of Rooney's behavior border on the distractingly comical. Also, that fine personality actor Robert Preston is wasted in a role a hundred lesser actors could have filled. Only Stack manages to register in a more strongly written role. Maybe the movie's best part are the settings which look authentically south of the border. And catch the blacksmith's infernally scary workshop. Too bad the rest of the movie doesn't measure up to those few impactful moments. Fortunately, Rooney would soon move on to more appropriate roles.

I swear this must have been one of the favorite movies of George Lucas when he was a kid because I see so many similarities in the storyline of Star Wars.

This independent western really moves quickly with great too notch acting from Mickey Rooney and solid turns by Robert Preston and an early Robert Stack.

Some great comedy lines, a lot of great action shots and horse battle sequences.

The ending really builds up with a great action scene but they kind of just rush it and it is a major letdown.

Rooney is so great in everything he does. I Wish he received more credit.

This was one of the last movies directed by Elliot Nugent who directed Bob Hope in Cat and the Canary and pictures with Harold Lloyd and Danny Kaye.