The Outcast (1954)

hyped garbage

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Generally good primary feature (90 min.) western from Republic, shot in Trucolor, in mostly Colorado settings, which match the scripted Colorado setting.......The story begins with the return of Jet Cosgrave(John Derek) to Colton, CO: a town said to be run by his uncle: Major Linton Cosgrave(Jim Davis), who also apparently inherited the large Circle C Ranch from Jet's father. This is a true wild west town, that lacks a sheriff, because the last 4 were either killed or soon resigned. Jet has reason to believe that the will giving the Major the Circle C is a forgery, but cannot prove that. He is prepared to use violent means to take ownership of the Circle C, if the will cannot be proven to be a forgery. .....No explanation is given for Jet's disappearance from home 8 years ago, when his father died, nor information on what he has been doing in the meantime, nor explanation for why he decided to return just now. He has contracted for 9 gunslingers, headed by Dude Rankin(Bob Steele) to help him wrest the ranch from the Major. If Jet had known the reputation of Dude, he wouldn't have entrusted him with the leadership of this group, for Dude would prove a turncoat when the Major offered him more compensation, in the form of all the Polsen cattle they could rustle, which had recently reoccupied the Newmark Valley, which the Major considered part of his territory. The Newmark Valley was owned by a Mr. Newmark, who had disappeared some years ago, rumored to have been killed by the Major. The Major had pushed the Polsen family out of the valley a while ago. Jet, with his little army aimed to support a Polsen retake of the valley, to irritate the Major. However, when Dude switched sides, the Polsen cattle disappeared one night. Yet, the relationship between Jet and the Polsens is still uncertain. Papa Polsen, a bible freak, whipped his daughter Judy and disowned her just because Jet had grabbed and kissed her. Later, papa would apologize. Curly(Nacho Gulindo) was the only one of Dude's bunch who didn't defect to the enemy. He and Jet would be attacked by Prince(James Millican): the Major's foreman, plus other men, but the pair would kill all except Prince, who escaped, and would survive until the finale shootout. The pair then were accosted by the Polsens, who thought they had rustled their cattle. Several of the Polsens then accompanied Jet to try to retrieve their cattle, which had been stolen by Dude and bunch. They managed to kill nearly all these gunslingers after engineering a stampede. Dude fled on his horse, but Jet caught up and they arm wrestled while riding their horses, until Jet transferred to Dude's horse and pushed him off, apparently breaking his neck upon landing.......I like that the expected finale showdown between Jet and the Major was more complex than that. There were 5 participants in the shootout, that occurred on Main Street. Besides Jet and the Major, there was Prince, Boone Polsen(Slim Pickens) and crooked lawyer, Andrew Devlin(Taylor Holmes). Boone's main objective was to protect Jet from being killed. The Major had had recent fallings out with Prince and Devlin. Prince was eager to shoot both Jet and the Major. The major had just pistol whipped Devlin, and the latter was itching for revenge, which partly took the form of shouting that Jet's father's will was a forgery. See the film(available free at YouTube) to find out the sequence of shootings and final result.......I also liked that, instead of the formulistic good girl vs. bad girl conflict, the women involved: Alice Austin((Catherine McCleod), and Judy Polsen(Joan Evans) became friends, although one(Alice) was promised to wed the Major, while Judy fancied that Jet might ask her to marry him. Jet flirted with both, although he claimed to Judy that his flirtation with Alice was just to irritate the Major. Toward the end, both women were fed up with the war. Alice returned to Virginia, and Judy swore off further romancing with Jet. However, Judy would quickly change her attitude after the results of the finale showdown. ... ...Joan Evans and Catherine McLeod were both minor Hollywood players. Bob Steele was in the midst of his entertainment career. Once playing cowboy heroes, by the mid-40s, this diminutive(5' 5") scrappy man was relegated to character parts. In contrast, Jim Davis(the Major) was tall and well built. He played in many B westerns, but would receive the most fame from his role in the "Dallas" TV series.

Sorry I can't share the same enthusiasm for this film that prior reviewers have, but it seems to muddle from scene to scene in search of the righteous revenge angle that never quite materializes. The protagonist, Jet Cosgrave (John Derek), never evokes the kind of sympathy one would expect for his cause, because even though he was swindled out of ownership of his father's ranch, he only seems one track minded on doing away with his uncle The Major (Jim Davis). Along the way, he can't seem to keep his hands off the ladies, and I get the impression that if Mrs. Banner was a little younger, he might have tried to kiss her too.I guess where I lost empathy for Jet was when he failed to deal with his hired gun Dude Rankin (Bob Steele) for the shooting of the camp cook at the line ranch. It was almost like, 'well that wasn't a cool thing to do, but a purpose was served so we'll let it slide'. Check the scene right after Jet admonishes Rankin, saying he's to do what he's paid for and not more; as Jet turns his horse to ride away, the horse hits Rankin in the head! I was surprised that wasn't a do over.You know what perplexed me - the showdown that I expected to occur between Jet and the Major the first time was interrupted by the love triangle, and the Major didn't do anything but hang out waiting for something to happen. Not very believable when he was already worked up enough to face off against his nephew. Then when it was set up again, attorney Devlin interfered to prevent a more satisfying resolution. In their own way, the only characters that seemed to maintain their integrity as bad boys were the gun for hire ranch bosses, Cal Prince (James Millican) and Dude Rankin. Oh yeah, and kudos to Curly too for remaining true to his principles and not selling out his boss; what else would you expect from an actor named Nacho Galindo? At least there was that cool fist fight on horseback between Jet and The Dude, I've never seen that before. Just about everything else though was pretty much by the book for a 'B' oater. For a better John Derek effort in a Western, I would recommend checking out the 1957 picture, "Fury at Showdown". It's got better atmosphere as a black and white film, a great bar room brawl, and an effective early appearance by Nick Adams.

A very good performance by a young John Derek, an outstanding performance by veteran Bob Steele, beautiful scenery stunningly photographed, and action-packed, razor-sharp direction by an old pro at the top of his form make this one of the best "B" westerns to come out of Republic Pictures, which specialized in them and did them better than any other studio did. Derek plays a young man who returns home after his father dies to claim the ranch that was stolen from him, and runs into more trouble than he bargained for. Steele, a major western star in the '30s and '40s, had aged out of leading man roles and settled into character parts, often playing--as he does here--a cold-blooded gunman (watch Humphrey Bogart's 1951 "The Enforcer" to see Steele as a hired killer par excellance). He was such a good actor that he was as effective in these roles as he was in his younger days as a cowboy hero. The cast is full of familiar western faces--Jim Davis, Ben Cooper, James Millican, Slim Pickens--and ace director William Witney uses them all to their best advantage. The blazing gun battles are expertly staged, and the film as a whole moves like lightning. All in all, an expertly made, thoroughly enjoyable little "B" western, more entertaining than many films that cost 50 times as much. Highly recommended.

An early performance by Derek is the main attraction here, in this action packed tale of a young man, returning home to reclaim his ranch from a dastardly cattle baron. A good supporting cast, and a director that doesn't let the romance scenes get in the way, make this good fare.