Best of the Badmen (1951)

Name: Best of the Badmen
Genre: Western
Released: 1951-08-09
Duration: 84 min
Rating: 6.5
Cast: Robert Ryan, Claire Trevor, Jack Buetel, Robert Preston, Walter Brennan

Best of the Badmen (1951), directed by William D. Russell, starring Robert Ryan and Claire Trevor.

08/09/1951 BR Western 1h 24m

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Synopsis

After the North defeats the South, Union Maj. Jeff Clanton heads to Missouri to provide the Confederacy's Quantrill's Raiders a chance to claim allegiance to the Union, thereby clearing their wanted status. But standing in Clanton's way are the corrupt lawmen Joad and Fowler, who would rather keep the men outlaws to collect the reward on their heads. After Joad and Fowler frame Clanton for murder, he manages to escape, becoming an outlaw himself.

Edward CronjagerCinematography
William D. RussellDirector
Desmond MarquetteEditing
Herman SchlomProducer

About the film

Best of the Badmen is a 1951 Western film directed by William D. Russell and starring Robert Ryan, Claire Trevor and Robert Preston. Its plot involves the notorious James–Younger Gang of 19th century Missouri.

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Plot

Jeff Clanton, an Army major from Missouri, captures the survivors of the Confederacy's Quantrill's Raiders and convinces them to surrender and pledge their allegiance to the Union. Clanton pledges that they will be paroled, but Matthew Fowler, a carpetbagger who owns a powerful detective agency, is determined to arrest them for the reward. Fowler's deputy wounds one of the captives and is killed in the return fire. Clanton is unjustly arrested for murdering Fowler's deputy, tried by a kangaroo court and sentenced to be hanged the following morning. He escapes that night and leads the band of outlaws including Jesse James and the Younger brothers in a vendetta against Fowler's detective agency.

Cast

Production

Parts of the film were shot in Paria, Johnson Canyon, Strawberry Valley, the Gap and Kanab Canyon in Utah.

References

External links

Best of the Badmen at IMDb

Best of the Badmen at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

Best of the Badmen at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Text from Best of the Badmen on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_of_the_Badmen

Trivia

It premiered on August 9, 1951, a Thursday.
It runs 1h24 — short for a feature film.
This film's quiz has 13 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosRKO Radio Pictures
CountriesUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
StatusReleased

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Filming locations

Utah

Set in

Missouri

Cast

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Crew

Edward Cronjager Cinematography
William D. Russell Director
Desmond Marquette Editing
Herman Schlom Producer
Paul Sawtell Original music
John Twist Screenplay
Robert Hardy Andrews Screenplay
Robert Hardy Andrews Story

Questions about this film

What is Best of the Badmen about?

Best of the Badmen: After the North defeats the South, Union Maj. Jeff Clanton heads to Missouri to provide the Confederacy's Quantrill's Raiders a chance to claim allegiance to the Union, thereby clearing their wanted status. But standing in Clanton's way are the corrupt lawmen Joad and Fowler, who would rather keep the men outlaws to c…

Who directed Best of the Badmen?

Best of the Badmen was directed by William D. Russell in 1951.

Who stars in Best of the Badmen?

The cast of Best of the Badmen includes Robert Ryan, Claire Trevor, Jack Buetel, Robert Preston and Walter Brennan.

How long is Best of the Badmen?

Best of the Badmen runs for 84 minutes, or 1h24.