Bullet for a Badman

If this had been made a decade before, it's obvious to me that Darren McGavin's role would have been played by Arthur Kennedy. It's a dark character whom the audience will find sympathy for even when he threatens the life of one time best friend Audie Murphy. McGavin has broken out of prison and is furious to discover that Murphy has married his wife Ruta Lee and raising his son, and while they still have a brotherly connection, McGavin is determined to get even. As McGavin's character intends on robbing a bank, it's obvious that he hasn't reformed, especially when he involves a group of Apaches in his plan. Take away the wild west and put this in a big city, and replace the Apaches with gang members, and you have the makings of a tough talking film noir with the psychological themes already present. McGavin easily steals the film from Murphy and Lee, and is aided by support performances by Skip Homeier, Alan Hale Hr. And George Tobias. This isn't always a logical script, but the photography, music and editing adds strength to the shortcomings.

This universal western holds a special place in my heart as it was the first Audie Murphy film I saw. That was back in 1985 on LWT ( London channel) and boy was I hooked. Audie plays an ex-Texas ranger, now a farmer, who ends up joining a posse to catch his former friend, who was once was married to Audie's character's wife and is the father of Audie's stepson. The friend played by McGavin wants Audie dead but he hasn't got a chance, not with greedy posse - who have an eye on the stolen money - and the mauraudin' Apaches in the way. Bullet for a Badman is a well-paced western, full of action, but it's countered with good characterisation. It's very much traditional, which by then was becoming anachronism, but it's a great example of the genre. The dialogue was really engaging and humorous. McGavin had good lines and Audie acted really well, underplaying with that smooth tight-lipped style.

Audie Murphy unusually starts out as a mild-mannered homebody, but sure enough soon has to strap on his guns again as part of a posse which as led by Skip Homier are an even uglier bunch than desperado Darren McGavin's gang; with nobody daring to turn their back on anyone. Ruta Lee makes a feisty moll to McGavin.

A great movie that twists and turns as the characters in the movie are confronted with opportunity, regret, revenge, loyalty (or lack of). It pumps along at a great pace, providing entertainment all the way. Murphy's wife in this movie may be the 'pointy-est' woman I have ever seen in the old west (you will see what I mean lol) a miracle that no one loses an eye! Lots of fun...enjoy :)

As this film begins a gang of bandits prepare to ride into town to rob the bank; their leader, Sam Ward, has a specific reason to pick this town; his old friend Logan Keliher lives on a farm outside town… with Ward's ex-wife and his son. As it happens Logan is in town on the day of the robbery and gets caught up in the fighting; he even wounds Ward as he flees the scene. Ward heads to Logan's farm and sees his old wife; before leaving he warns that he will be back to kill Logan. When Logan gets back and hears this he heads into the desert to search for Ward. Here he meets part of the posse; it soon becomes clear that they are more interested in getting their hands on the stolen money than bringing Ward in alive. Ward is holed up with Lottie, the widow of one of the gang, when Logan captures him. Normally the capture of the villain would be the end of the story but here it is just the beginning of the real story; they must get out of Apache territory all the time knowing that the posse could turn on them at any time in an attempt to get the stolen money. This is a decent B-western with a decent amount of exciting action and a decent story; regular western star Audie Murphy put in a solid performance as our hero Logan and Darren McGavin as good as Ward; a villain who wasn't totally rotten; he found a sort of redemption in the final scene. The posse was a good mixture of characters; some good, some bad and some whose loyalty remained dubious until the point where they had to take sides. For a film of its type I was surprised that there wasn't much of a romantic subplot; Ward may have wanted his wife back but it was clear that she had no interest in him and while Lottie used her feminine wiles there was no question of her trying anything with Logan… it was nice to see that cliché avoided. While this is by no means a classic it is worth seeing by fans of the genre; so far I've yet to be disappointed by Murphy's westerns.

Former Texas Ranger named Logan (Audie Murphy) and nowadays luckly married to a beautiful girl , Susan (Beverly Owen) and with a child , becomes involved with a bank robber called Sam Guard (Darren McGavin) who results to be ex-husband of Susan . He had to kill or be killed , as he fought the deadliest duel in frontier history ¡ The gunslinger whose life he had saved forced him to stand in the path of a robber .. Bullet for a badman. A nice Western with interesting plot and filled with frantic action , riding pursuits , a family story , and a lot of shootouts . This is considered to be one of the best Audie Murphy Westerns . The soft-spoken , baby-faced Audie Murphy delivers a fine acting as the happily married husband involved in problem when appears the previous father of his son about to commit a bank heist . Murphy won more than 20 medals , being the most decorated soldier in WWII , including the Congressional Medal of Honor and he was also awarded with 5 decorations conceded by France and Belgium countries . He starred a rendition based on his own self-biography titled ¨To hell and back¨ made by his ordinary director , Jesse Hibbs and it was a boxoffice hit for Universal International Pictures , and its record was apparently not broken until 1975 with Jaws by Spielberg. Murphy played a great number of westerns, most of them B-series , such as : The Kid from Texas , Cimarron Kid , Gunpoint , Night passage , The Gunrunners , Posse from hell, gunfight at Comanche , Apache Rifles , The Unforgiven, Red badge of courage , Whispering Smith , Texas kid , 40 Guns at apache pass , among others . Murphy is very well accompanied by a great support cast , such as . Darren McGavin , Ruta Lee , Beverly Owen , Skip Homeier , George Tobias , Edward Platt , Ray Teal , Mort Mills , and Alan Hale Jr . It has a high level in technician experts as the master composer Frank Skinner giving a thrilling musical score and colorful , adequate cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc . Being shot on various locations in Virgin River , Zion National Parl , Utah , Snow Canyon , Utah and Denver street backlot , Universal studios. The motion picture was well directed by RG Springsteen .This director made since 1945 for Republic Pictures a number of westerns . As he directed the popular Red Ryder series . After that , he released B Westerns as Cole Younger , Gunfighter , King of the wild stallions , Showdown , He rides calm , Taggart , Bullet for a badman and many others . Subsequently , he made for producer A.C. Lyles and delivered by Paramount Pictures several Western films in low-budget , as follows : Black spurs , Waco , Red Tomahawk , Hostile guns , Johnny Reno . Rating . 6.5/10 . The picture will appeal to Eddie Murphy fans. Decent and acceptable oater .

This Western might be best described as a "motley posse" Western. The irony here is that Audie Murphy's other famous posse Western, POSSE FROM HELL, probably sums up this posse just as well. There are other similarities. Both posses are filled with very credible characters. The big difference here is Audie's character. In POSSE FROM HELL he played more of a Hollywood cliché, another of those rebels without a cause sorts who are angry for exactly no reason. Here, he plays a more believable character, a mature man more in tune with the realities of the old West. Purists may grumble about the lack of dust and sweat on these colorful props and clothes, but there are two chief reasons for this spectacular style of cinematography. First, is it's artistic, of course. Secondly, and what we see is a problem later in the "dust and dirt" Westerns, is there is less confusion. The film is supposed to tell a story. With the vivid spectacle, we know what is going on. The trouble with showing what the characters see is that we don't know what is going on. Okay, the dork who pauses and magnifies each frame, he knows, but sane, mature people will refuse to do this. The characters make this a superior Western, no doubt about it. Murphy is a "stepfather" whose son doesn't know his real father is not only an escaped convicted killer, but that he was once a Texas Ranger along with the stepfather. The relationships and dialog concerning the family could still be used today. In fact, I've seen real father-wife-stepfather-child dialogs today that are almost identical to the lines in the film, from people who have never heard of Audie Murphy, much less seen the film. The directing and writing here, certainly of characters, is as full of insight as you will find. That shouldn't surprise you, that a film from over half a century ago would have more insight. Hollywood really lost the "insight" and "character" with the seventies mainstream. These older films not only had writers who had to live more mature lives, but also had to appeal to more mature audiences than the later cubicle dwellers. The subtle differences between the posse members also deserves note. The skipper plays the lawman of the group, and is much more like a real town lawman than people today would think, full of fear and desperation. The "chief" of Control plays a very realistic honest member of the posse. The two town tough guys, bouncers in the saloon, are shown to have their different personalities. One is pure evil, but the other has some "manly" qualities, refusing to kill the woman for thousands of tax free dollars. The old grizzled veteran reveals multiple dimensions about himself, but most notably his demonic side, a side which we see mostly in the characters we could almost respect otherwise, as he lightly discards the squaws he butchered. Audie's nemesis begins the film with a demonic act, in fact. We never forget what he is, and that there is an evil in him that isn't in those of us who aren't psychopaths. No doubt, some of the IMDb bubble boys and beavis types, will think he's "cool", but to people who deal with reality on a more usual basis, Audie's character will be the one who looks "cool".

Director: R.G. SPRINGSTEEN. Screenplay: Mary Willingham, Willard Willingham. Based on the 1958 novel Renegade Posse by Marvin H. Albert. Photographed in Eastman Color (by Pathé) by Joseph Biroc. Film editor: Russell F. Schoengarth. Music composed by Frank Skinner, supervised by Joseph Gershenson. Art directors: Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead. Set decorator: Oliver Emert. Make-up: Bud Westmore. Hair styles: Larry Germain. Costume supervisors: Edward Armand, Olive Koenitz. Unit production manager: Howard Pine. Assistant directors: Phil Bowles (first), Carl Beringer (second). Sound recording: Waldon O. Watson, Joe Lapis. Westrex Sound System. Producer: Gordon Kay. Filmed at Universal City Studios, and on locations in Utah. Copyright 29 September 1964 by Gordon Kay and Associates. Released through Universal. No New York opening. U.S. release: 2 September 1964. U.K. release: 28 September 1964. 7,200 feet. 80 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Hunting bank robbers, some members of a posse seem more interested in the loot than is healthy for their survival in Apache country. VIEWER'S GUIDE: A strong emphasis on greed and violence make this film unsuitable for children. COMMENT: Blessed with appropriately rugged locations, this is a taut, no-psychological-nonsense Western, solidly acted and capably (if somewhat TV-oriented in its constant reliance on close-ups) directed. The script introduces a few new twists to its familiar theme, packs plenty of action into 80 minutes, and allows character actors like Alan Hale and George Tobias plenty of opportunities. Looking a little old and even slightly paunchy, Audie Murphy is well cast. Despite its plenitude of mechanical, television-style close- ups and some speeches and dialogue exchanges that could be trimmed, the movie does comes across as a more than reasonably satisfying "B".

As this film begins a gang of bandits prepare to ride into town to rob the bank; their leader, Sam Ward, has a specific reason to pick this town; his old friend Logan Keliher lives on a farm outside town… with Ward's ex-wife and his son. As it happens Logan is in town on the day of the robbery and gets caught up in the fighting; he even wounds Ward as he flees the scene. Ward heads to Logan's farm and sees his old wife; before leaving he warns that he will be back to kill Logan. When Logan gets back and hears this he heads into the desert to search for Ward. Here he meets part of the posse; it soon becomes clear that they are more interested in getting their hands on the stolen money than bringing Ward in alive. Ward is holed up with Lottie, the widow of one of the gang, when Logan captures him. Normally the capture of the villain would be the end of the story but here it is just the beginning of the real story; they must get out of Apache territory all the time knowing that the posse could turn on them at any time in an attempt to get the stolen money. This is a decent B-western with a decent amount of exciting action and a decent story; regular western star Audie Murphy put in a solid performance as our hero Logan and Darren McGavin as good as Ward; a villain who wasn't totally rotten; he found a sort of redemption in the final scene. The posse was a good mixture of characters; some good, some bad and some whose loyalty remained dubious until the point where they had to take sides. For a film of its type I was surprised that there wasn't much of a romantic subplot; Ward may have wanted his wife back but it was clear that she had no interest in him and while Lottie used her feminine wiles there was no question of her trying anything with Logan… it was nice to see that cliché avoided. While this is by no means a classic it is worth seeing by fans of the genre; so far I've yet to be disappointed by Murphy's westerns.

Bullet for a Badman is directed by R.G. Springsteen and adapted to screenplay by Mary & Willard Willingham from a novel written by Marvin H. Albert. It stars Audie Murphy, Darren McGavin, Ruta Lee, Beverley Owen and Skip Homeier. Filmed in Eastman Color at Universal City, with the exteriors coming from Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, photography by Joseph Biroc and music by Frank Skinner (Joseph Gershenson supervising). Audie Murphy plays Logan Keliher, an ex-Texas Ranger who has to interrupt his peaceful life to strap on the guns again when ex-friend-turned enemy Sam Ward (McGavin) appears back on the scene with the intention of killing him. The animosity is strong from Ward on account that Logan married his ex-wife and raised his son as his own. The relatively short running time and the B movie production budget afforded it, doesn't give a clue to just how good, and how chock full of interest, Bullet for a Badman is. It's certainly very traditional in the old Westerns sense, before the likes of Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher gloriously filled their Oaters with psychological themes, but there is much to enjoy here from a character perspective as regards the human condition. Jealousy, vengeance, greed, love, hate and redemption, all get a turn in the Willingham's screenplay. Mix in some good old style shoot outs and run-ins with the Apache, and film condenses a lot in such a short space of time. There's also some twists and turns that work real well in the narrative, leading us to a beauty of an ending. The male cast members work real well, especially Murphy who turns in one of his finest Western performances, while there's also a nice little support role for Alan Hale and snatches of stoic Western performers Ray Teal and Bob Steele. With most of the film set out in the wilderness, it's such a joy to see stunning location scenery expertly captured. The colour is not quite right to fully bring it to life, a shame since Eastman Color has had some great moments in Westerns, but Biroc belies the B movie production to please the eyes with the natural beauty of Zion National Park. Skinner's score is standard fare, and although the lady actors look pretty as pictures, that's about as good as it gets for them in this particular story. In spite of some usual iffy B production problems (poor stunt doubles, bendy props), this is still a little cracker of a Western. One that deserves a bit more attention now it's readily available on DVD. 7.5/10