The Cimarron Kid (1952)

Memorable, crazy movie

good back-story, and good acting

A different way of telling a story

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This B Western opens with protagonist Bill Doolin being released from prison on parole; he intends to go straight but things soon go wrong when the train he is travelling on is robbed by the Dalton Gang. While he never rode with them he knew them as friends so when one of them recognises and speaks to him the other passengers assume he is involved with the gang. He jumps off the train and gets away but rather than running he returns to town to answer questions. The sheriff doesn't want to hear any excuses though and tries to arrest Bill; he gets away once again and ends up hiding out with the Dalton Gang. This time he ends up riding with them although there first robbery goes disastrously wrong leaving many of the gang dead or wounded. It isn't ling before Bill, know known as 'The Cimarron Kid' is leading the gang as they rob banks and steal from trains across Oklahoma Territory. Eventually the law begins to catch up with them; but with one last job planned Bill reckons he can earn enough to buy a ranch in Argentina and live there with his sweetheart... of course things don't go according to plan.The plot for this western might not be that deep but there is plenty of solid action and a decent cast of characters. Audie Murphy puts in a decent performance playing against type as Doolin. Beverly Tyler is good enough as love interest Carrie Roberts but Yvette Duguay is the most memorable of the female cast; she plays Rose whose job it is to get information about targets for their robberies... it is great to see a female character doing more than occasionally act as a nurse or only get involved in the action when it is absolutely necessary; Rose is very much one of the gang. There is plenty of varied action including people jumping from a train onto horses; a burning hay wagon being pulled through a town and an impressive shoot out in a railway yard. The film was made in some stunning scenery although, as was often the case, it is Californian scenery not Oklahoman. This might not be an all time great but it is a pretty good western and fans of the genre should check it out if they get a chance.

Parolee Audie Murphy violently resists a crooked district attorney's latest attempt to railroad him, based on his friendship to members of the notorious Dalton gang. Breaking parole, he ends up having to join the gang for real and becoming the new leader.Though not quite as good or well-written as director Budd Boetticher's later series of Randolph Scott pictures, The Cimarron Kid is still a fairly entertaining, muscular pulp-western, with Boetticher's usual flair for excellent photography.With his good looks, youthful appearance, and short stature (not to mention his hero status), I'm a little surprised at how many times Audie Murphy was given a chance to play an anti-hero (Night Passage, The Texican) or even a nasty villain (No Name On The Bullet). He's charming enough though, that the audience forgives the Cimarron Kid long before the law ever does.Noah Beery Jr. gives an amiable, though far-too-short performance as the fun-loving Bob Dalton, while a young James Best and Yvette Dugay are pretty good too as a fellow member of the gang and his beautiful, though savvy love interest.

I never saw an Audie Murphy film I didn't like & this one is no exception. It is a real action packed shoot-em-up, but it also has a better than average plot to hold your attention between the action sequences that were Audie's trademarks. I knew Audie quite well, we used to shoot together at the various "fast draw" contests in CA that were popular back in the '60's. I can tell you this, anything you saw Audie do on film, he could do for real. He was one of the fastest guns in the movies, & he could do it with real bullets, not just blanks or wax bullets! He became a fine horseman, even riding some of his own horses in his films. Watch for Flying John, his horse that he rode in "Night Passage". Audie was a much better actor than he was ever given credit for, or allowed to be in Universal's films.

The best Audie Murphy films are the ones he plays outlaws. That gave an unusual touch to the films, you never knew how it was going to come out at the end. In "The Kansas Raiders", and also on his last film, he was Jesse James. Here, he rides with the Daltons, their chief is Bob Dalton (Noah Beery Jr.) and they plan three bank robberies at the same time. This film is pure fun from beginning to end, with great action scenes, after all it was directed by Budd Boetticher, whose westerns are like wine: they get better as they get older. The two women, Beverly Tyler and Yvette Duguay are quite strong characters, also unusual in this type of westerns. There are spectacular moments like when they are surrounded in a town and try to escape, with Yvette Duguay helping by turning a track on a circular platform. Also when they hold up the two banks in Coffeyville at the same time. If you enjoy a good western, this one is a must.