Return of the Bad Men (1948)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
When part of Indian Territory is incorporated into the United States,
good-natured rancher Vance Cordell reluctantly accepts the badge of federal marshal
when a flood of notorious outlaws views the new area as ripe for banditry.
Included are the Dalton and Younger Gangs, Billy the Kid, and the Sundance Kid
led by the notorious Wild Bill Doolin. Cordell has a personal stake in his campaign
to eradicate the bad men because of a friend's murder and the robbery
of the local bank owned by his future father-in-law.
Written by duke1029

Cast
Randolph Scott ... Vance
Robert Ryan ... Sundance Kid
Anne Jeffreys ... Cheyenne
George 'Gabby' Hayes ... John Pettit
Jacqueline White Jacqueline White ...
Madge Allen
Steve Brodie ... 'The Youngers': Cole Younger
Tom Keene ... 'The Youngers': Jim Younger (as Richard Powers)
Robert Bray ... 'The Youngers': John Younger
Lex Barker ... 'The Daltons': Emmett Dalton
Walter Reed ... 'The Daltons': Bob Dalton
Michael Harvey ... 'The Daltons': Grat Dalton
Dean White ... Billy the Kid
Robert Armstrong ... Wild Bill Doolin
Tom Tyler ... Wild Bill Yeager
Lew Harvey ... Arkansas Kid
Gary Gray ... Johnny
Walter Baldwin ... Muley Wilson
Minna Gombell ... Emily
Warren Jackson ... George Mason
Robert Clarke ... Dave
Jason Robards Sr. ... Judge Harper (as Jason Robards)
and many more...

Directed
Ray Enright

Writing Credits
Charles O'Neal ... (screenplay)
Jack Natteford ... (screenplay) (story)
Luci Ward ... (screenplay) (story)

Produced
Jack J. Gross ... executive producer
Nat Holt ... producer

Music
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography
J. Roy Hunt ... director of photography
Trivia
Final (#427) film of Ernie Adams'.

Although 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 Yeager.

Crazy Credits
At the end of the credits, there is the following notice:
"Except as to true names that are used and as to general historical background,
the characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictional.
Any similarity to other actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental."

Opening credits prologue: These outlaws, famed in the history of the west,
are riding to new riches and plunder -- the Oklahoma of 1889.
A whole new territory was about to spring up overnight.

Ranchers, cattlemen, even whole towns -- their land bought by the government --
had been given thirty days to move elsewhere.
Land hungry pioneers were gathering for the race for free land.
And behind them, waiting and ready for this rich prey, came the outlaws.

Goofs
Anachronisms
Although Billy the Kid is depicted as being a gang member in 1889, he was actually killed in 1881.
John Younger was killed in a shootout, and Bob Younger was dying of tuberculosis in prison in 1889.

Continuity
During the fist fight between Vance and the Sundance Kid,
Sundance grabs a bottle behind the saloon counter.
In the next shot, it appears to have been smashed, but we don't see him doing it.

Factual errors
The sign over the Marshal's office was spelled "Marshall's". There is only one L in Marshal.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Location
Santa Clarita, California, USA

Return of the Bad Men, also known as Return of the Badmen,
is a 1948 American western film directed by Ray Enright
and starring Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan and Anne Jeffreys
A loose sequel to the 1946 film Badman's Territory,
it was followed by Best of the Badmen (1951).

Written by the husband and wife team of Jack Natteford and Luci Ward,
the film was shot at the RKO Encino Ranch.
It was the final collaboration between Enright and Scott and Jeffrey's final picture for RKO.

In 1880s Indian Territory (future Oklahoma), a rancher reluctantly agrees
to take up the post of federal marshal and tackle a violent gang of outlaws ravaging the territory.

Duke 'Pals' Robert Ryan, George 'Gabby' Hayes appear in this one

User Review

Decent B Western
2 January 2003 | by mschrock (United States)

Quote from msc

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.

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Photos with the courtesy of lasbugas