Quantrill's Raiders

source: Quantrill's Raiders

Moviecut—Quantrill's Raiders

source: Quantrill's Raiders

One's evaluation of this film requires a downgrade just for it's historical inaccuracy. To call the film "Quantrill's Raiders" and then portray the Lawrence Massacre as a posse of a dozen men attempting to raid the Union Arsenal there and lay waste to the city just totally misses the mark of what actually happened. The real raid had a number of affiliated Bushwhacker groups descending on Lawrence, between three and four hundred men who killed approximately two hundred men and boys and lay waste to a quarter of the city's buildings by fire. And unlike the finale here, Quantrill wasn't killed, but lived to fight another day. So if you're going to catch this picture, maybe it's best to consider it another fictional Fifties Western and leave it at that. However there is one effort worth noting; Leo Gordon is at his maniacal best here as William Quantrill. Whenever he's on screen he's got that crazed look in his eyes like he's actually about to loot and plunder a small town. By contrast, the film's nominal headliner, Steve Cochran is almost laid back in his role as Confederate Captain Allan Westcott, alias Mike Davis. If I've seen him in a film before it certainly hasn't registered because even here, his portrayal is rather bland, especially if you're thinking leading man material opposite the pretty Sue Walters (Diane Brewster). So overall, there's no recommendation that could be reasonably made to watch this story unless you've got some extra time to kill. Since I'm retired, I've got plenty, but if I'd known ahead of time I would have taken my own advice.

Lawrence, Kansas had to go undergo a seizure from both sides in the Civil War. The first time was John Brown who executed quite a few because they were of southern birth and sympathy. The next time was by William Quantrill who was fighting for the south in his own way of course. The bloodthirsty Quantrill has been a hand movie villain, there's not too much you can say good about him. If there is anything true about this film it is strictly unintentional. Leo Gordon plays Quantrill here and while there's more Gordon than the real Quantrill that all right by me because Leo Gordon is one of the best and meanest of villains and always fun to watch. Our protagonist hero is Steve Cochran who is a Confederate army captain traveling as a spy behind Yankee lines. He's got orders for Quantrill from the Confederate command to destroy the Union arsenal at Lawrence, but don't do any of the looting and atrocities for which he is getting a bad rep for. Gordon has his own agenda for Lawrence and it has nothing to do with the issues of the Civil War. Cochran indulges in a little romance with Gale Robbins. Also the very sexy Diane Brewster who is Gordon's woman makes a play for Cochran. All in all and average B western under the Allied Artists banner.

This bland and historically suspect western is made in Technicolor and Cinemascope with efficient action sequences in this otherwise bland western which has become a rather obscure film over the years. Steve Cochrane plays a Confederate agent Alan Westcott organising Quantrill's gang on a raid of a federal arsenal in Kansas. Wescott realises that Quantrill (Leo Gordon in an effective performance) is a despicable and amoral villain interested only in murder and plunder. Westcott warns the town-folk of the impending danger and stand up to Quantrill and still has time to have romance with a local beauty. Diane Brewster is spunky and easy on the eye. Gordon is the stand out as the rotter, Cochrane is staid and dull. The film is competent but will never be ranked along the better westerns of the period.

Probably the shortest widescreen film in Technicolor, this Civil War themed western is unique in the sense that it utilizes some very different themes to tell its story. Quadrill (Leo Gordon) is an outlaw who seems to sell himself to the highest bidder to both sides of the war, and plays both ends against the middle. In other words, a traitor to both sides, and agent Steve Cochran is out to stop him from doing any further damage. He's willing to break laws and risk imprisonment to fulfill his mission, even risking the love of the heroine (Diane Brewster). MGM musical supporting star Gale Robbins ("The Barkley's of Broadway", "Three Little Words") gets some good moments as a tough moll with a typical heart of gold. Attractive scenery and some great action sequences take this from "B" level to a light "A", one of the few widescreen movies released by Allied Artists, the poverty row studio formerly known as Monogram.

This film struck a chord because when I was a child in the 1950s the local newspaper billed it as "Quantrilla Raider". I tried to see as many Westerns as possible, but missed out because of school. Little did I know that decades later it, and many other 1950s films, would be shown on TV. Leo Gordon is one of my favourite "character actors" and as Quantrill he adds a nervous edge to his usual tough-guy acting. Steve Cochran makes a bland hero, and it seems strange that in civilian clothes he wears distinctive striped trousers, almost military, even when he's masked his face for a hold-up. The biggest letdown is the raid on Lawrence, which is depicted as an ineffectual charge or two. Even by Hollywood's usual standards when it comes to revising history, especially that of the West, the audacity in changing the facts is astonishing.

The Butcher William Quantrill arose the imaginary of a whole generation on western genre, thousand pictures were done almost in large industrial scale, Quantrill's Riders besides to be inaccurate is also brazenly flimsy, for instance in one specific sequence Captain Alan Westcott (Steve Cochran) asking Quantrill (Leo Gordon) how many soldiers he already had, he answer around forty, then Alan advise him to gather at least sixty soldiers at upcoming Lawrence's arsenal raid, due it were surround by strong US Union forces on the city, nevertheless at final scenes when really Quantrill invaded Lawrence just fifteen of them appears there, I think that someone didn't knew check properly, also at jail when Westcott asking for talk with the boy, suddenly he put a dagger at his neck, a good man never could do such ruthlessness and be forgiven and finally Quantrill's death to crow it all the inaccurate facts, I know this is a merely dramatization, nonetheless the producers shouldn't try to re-write the history to doesn't fall at mass grave of the hypotriques!! Resume: First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 5.5

Edward Bernds is best known for helming Three Stooges' movies, such as "Gold Raiders," "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules," and "The Three Stooges in Orbit." Mind you, Bernds dabbled in other genres, such as science fiction with "The Queen of Outer Space" and "Space Master X-7." He also made his share of westerns, including "The Storm Rider," "Escape from Red Rock," as well as episodes from "Colt .45" and "Sugarfoot." "Quantrill's Raiders" appears to be his only historical oater, and loosely based on the exploits of the partisan Confederate guerrilla raider stretches the bounds of reality considerably. Of course, it is no surprise that Hollywood would embroider history, and "Quantrill's Raiders" is no exception. This concise Civil War western depicts the events leading up to and including the infamous raid on Lawrence, Kansas. In this version of the events, Quantrill commands an outfit that numbers less than 30 riders, and his men and he are wiped out when they attack Lawrence due to the foresight of an undercover Confederate captain under General Sterling Price who demands that Quantrill confined his depredations to military objects. Captain Alan 'Wes' Westcott (Steve Cochran of "White Heat") is a Confederate spy masquerading as a former Union soldier, Michael Davis, who plans to see horses to the commandant when he rides into Lawrence under an assumed identity. Westcott's masquerade initially succeeds in part because he tags along with a Union patrol that encounters an ambush set up by Quantrill. He saves the commander of the patrol and cuts a dashing figure until fire with his twin six-guns. Of course, virtually all of the small arms in this movie are anachronistic. The casting of veteran tough guy Leo V. Gordon as the notorious guerrilla renegade is probably the best thing about "Quantrill's Raiders," which boils down basically to being little more than a conventional horse opera taking place in the Civil War. "The Raiders" scenarist Polly James sanitizes history significantly by allowing Union authorities to dispatch Quantrill at Lawrence in 1863. He died a couple of years after the raid. Moreover, his trigger-happy raiders don't put the town to the torch and slay hundreds as they did in real life. The Lawrence raid went down in history as one of the most lethal incursions during the border combat in the Civil War. Our dubious hero clashes with Quantrill because the eponymous villain wants to loot the town like a terrorist rather than carry out military initiatives. At one point, Westcott trifles with Quantrill's own woman, but she meets her death trying to help him. Meantime, our hero has another filly in his stable, Sue Walters (Diane Brewster of "Black Patch"), who it turns out was once involved with Quantrill. She runs the boarding house where Westcott hangs his hat. History buff so American Civil War films may dismiss this 72-minute shenanigan, while western fans may find it tolerable. The production values for this Allied Artist release are above-average, and you'll spot several familiar faces, such as Will Wright, Myron Healy, Glenn Strange, and Lane Chandler. The John Wayne western "Dark Command," the Clint Eastwood oater "The Outlaw Josey Wales," and Ang Lee's "Ride with the Devil" starring Tobey Maguire are better films about this turbulent time. Probably the most incredible thing about this routine undercover operation oater is that the Union commander doesn't have our hero shot as a spy, presumably because he warned the citizens of Lawrence about Quantrill's impending raid. It doesn't help matters that Westcott behaves in a dastardly fashion when he engineers his escape from the Lawrence jail by holding a knife to the throat of a young stable boy with whom he is friends. Guess you can get away with anything in Hollywood.