Posts from ethanedwards in thread „The Desperadoes (1943)“
-
-
The Desperadoes is a 1943 Technicolor Western film directed by
Charles Vidor and starring Randolph Scott, Claire Trevor and Glenn Ford.Based on a story by Max Brand, the film is about a wanted outlaw
who arrives in town to rob a bank that has already been held up.
His past and his friendship with the sheriff land them both in trouble.The Desperadoes was the first Columbia Pictures
production to be released in Technicolor.A favourite Duke 'Pal' Clare Trevor stars in this one
User Review
Better Than Average Western!
20 February 2003 | by (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)Quote from ottawa"The Desperadoes" although released in 1943, was Columbia's first color feature. Director Charles Vidor gives us some dazzling outdoor scenes and plenty of action to boot.
"Respectable" citizens Banker Clanton (Porter Hall) and Postmaster "Uncle Willie" (Edgar Buchanan) stage a phony bank robbery and plan a second robbery when a herd of horses is sold to the army. Gunman, Cheyenne Rogers (a very young Glenn Ford) was hired to carry out the first robbery but is delayed and Jack Lester (Bernard Nedell) and his gang substitute. After "borrowing" Sheriff Steve Upton's (Randolph Scott) horse, he rides into town and meets Uncle Willie's daughter Allison (Evelyn Keyes) with whom he falls in love.
In town, saloon madame, "The Countess" (Claire Trevor) turns out to also be in love with Cheyenne. There Cheyenne hooks up with partner "Nitro" (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams). Lester exposes Cheyenne as an outlaw to the town and a slam-bang saloon brawl ensues. Following the fight, Steve orders Cheyenne and Nitro out of town. Unbeknownst to Cheyenne, Nitro robs the bank on the way out of town. After being cornered, the boys surrender and are sentenced to be hanged by Judge Raymond Walburn.
Steve helps the boys to escape but is himself imprisoned as an accomplice. Naturally, Cheyenne and Nitro return to help their friend and the final showdown ensues.
Although Scott and Trevor are top-billed, this is really Ford's movie. He and Williams form the usual western type hero and sidekick and Keyes is the real heroine. Scott and Trevor are really in supporting roles although Trevor does have a couple of good scenes. Irving Bacon provides some comic relief as the nervous saloon keeper. Also, watch for western veterans Francis Ford and Bud Osborne as townsmen and Glenn Strange as one of Nedell's henchmen.
A fast-paced and entertaining western.
-
THE DESPERODOES
DIRECTED BY CHARLES VIDOR
PRODUCED BY HARRY JOE BROWN
COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATIONINFORMATION FROM IMDb
Plot Summary
Popular mailcoach driver Uncle Willie is in fact in league with the town's crooked banker.
They plan to have the bank robbed after emptying it, and when Willie's choice
for this doesn't show in time, he gets some local boys to do it.
When his man does turn up he decides to stick around, as he is pals with the sheriff
and also takes a shine to Willie's daughter Allison.
This gives the bad men several new problems.
Written by Jeremy PerkinsCast
Randolph Scott ... Sheriff Steve Upton
Claire Trevor ... Countess Maletta
Glenn Ford ... Cheyenne Rogers
Evelyn Keyes ... Allison McLeod
Edgar Buchanan ... Uncle Willie McLeod
Raymond Walburn ... Judge Cameron
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams ... Nitro Rankin (as Guinn {Big Boy} Williams)
Porter Hall ... Stanley Clanton
Joan Woodbury ... Sundown
Bernard Nedell ... Jack Lester
Irving Bacon ... Dan Walters
Ethan Laidlaw ... Cass
Edward Pawley ... Blackie
Chester Clute ... Rollo
Glenn Strange ... Lem
Slim Whitaker ... Tolliver (as Charles Whittaker)
Francis Ford ... Hank (uncredited)
and many more....Directed
Charles VidorWriting Credits
Robert Carson ... (screenplay)
Max Brand ... (original story)
Ben Jonson ... (poem) (uncredited)Produced
Harry Joe Brown ... producerMusic
John LeipoldCinematography
George Meehan ... director of photographyTrivia
This was Columbia's first Technicolor feature.This is the film on which Budd Boetticher (then an assistant director)
met Randolph Scott and Harry Joe Brown.
More than a decade later the trio would team up for the famous
"Ranown" series of westerns, such as The Tall T (1957) and Ride Lonesome (1959).Charles King is listed as a cast member in a modern source, but he was not seen in the film.
Crazy Credits
Opening and closing credits: 1863 - the newest frontier was Utah -
Utah's gold was its wild horses, which the Union Army was seeking to buy.
Men rushed to this new frontier - some to break these horses - others to break the law.The opening credits of the leading characters are shown as pages with photographs
in a metal clasped book with the title THE DESPERADOES.Goofs
Anachronisms
When the new safe for the bank arrives Uncle Willie McLeod says it's "built like a battleship.
" The story takes place in 1863.
The term "battleship" did not come into wide use until the late 1880s.In the opening of the film they show a train with Utah Southern Railroad on the tender.
The story takes place in 1863 and the USR did not operate until 1871.The story takes place in 1863, during The Civil War.
Just before the horse stampede through town a character says,
"...they'll think they're riding into Custer's Last Stand." Custer's Last Stand happened in 1876.The song, "Little Brown Jug", (heard at the dance), was written in 1869
while the 'book' at the start of the film indicates that the film is set in 1863.The Hank character compares the coming shootout with the outlaws with Custer's Last Stand.
The story takes place in 1863. The Little Big Horn would not occur until 1876.Uncle Willie refers to Clanton as a 'Santa Claus' when he partially reimburses the depositor's stolen money. The modern conception of Santa Claus, which eclipsed earlier incarnations and names, began with Thomas Nast's first cartoons in 1864, one year before the story takes place in 1863.
Continuity
Uncle Willie carries the bag of gold in his right hand to give to the head of the bandits,
Jack Lester; when the bandits initially confront him he is still holding the bag of gold
in his right hand.
Suddenly, Uncle Willie is hiding the gold under his left arm
beneath his jacket, the same place he had put it back in the bank when it was handed to him.When Uncle Willie goes to the bank to confront Clanton and Lester,
his hat is back to front in close up, but switches back the right way in long shots.Filming Locations
Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA
Kanab, Utah, USAWatch the Movie
[extendedmedia]
[/extendedmedia]