The Lawless Breed

Moviecut—The Lawless Breed

Highly romanticized take on the life of infamous killer on the southern plains John Westley Hardin, who is credited with killing between 27 and 42 men, most individually, some provoked, some not. While in prison for 17 years, he studied law and religion, and wrote his autobiography. Here, Rock Hudson portrays a largely fanciful Hardin. Well recognized character actor John McIntire plays his religion-obsessed, long bearded, father, as well as his Uncle John Clements, who much helps him. A young woman, Jane Brown, was an orphan, so was raised by the Hardins. She and John hoped to marry soon. However, she is accidentally killed in a gun battle outside the Hardin home. So, John soon develops a romantic relationship with a saloon entertainer: Rosie(Julie Adams) They move around quite a bit to avoid the law, before settling down on a ranch, where they get married and have a boy before John is caught by Texas Rangers. He's sentenced to 25 years in prison, of which he served only 17. When released, he meets his son, who has an unhealthy interest in guns and quick draws, the elder Hardin thinks. After an argument, young John rides to a saloon, with Hardin following him. An argument ensues and Hardin is badly wounded. But, unlike the real Hardin, he survives his wound to ride off into the sunset. For a time, Hardin has a bad relationship with the Hanley brothers, played by Lee Van Cleef(Dirk), Hugh O'Brian(Ike) and Glen Strange(Ben). Uncle John and his boys help Hardin in several scrapes with these men. In the film, Hardin claims he never shot a man who didn't threaten him first or deserve death. It's very doubtful this was true of the real Hardin, who once killed a man for snoring too loud(Well, he was quite drunk, as he apparently often was during his killings). For all his killing, his punishment was very light, only a long prison sentence. It's a wonder nobody shot him down long before it finally happened. This film makes him look like more of a victim than a perpetrator of gunplay, and probably overemphasizes his prowess as a gambler.

A standard western with something of a Greek Tragedy, "Lawless Breed" romanticizes the life and exploits of one of the most legendary gunmen of the far west. The film has some fine moments, notably the scene where Rock Hudson shoots Lee Van Cleef down amid a wind storm. The events are quite predictable and the film becomes eventually formulaic. Veteran Raoul Walsh shows his craftsmanship solving scenes with great economy and pace. Hudson is less obscure than many of the heroes of his films, and that makes me think what kind of picture this could have been with a less likable actor.

Lawless Breed, The (1953) *** (out of 4) Solid Western has John Wesley Hardin (Rock Hudson) walking out of prison and handing over a book with his life story in it. A publisher then reads the story, which starts as a young Hardin battles with his preacher father (John McIntire) and soon he's on his own and on the run from the law. If it's history you're after then you will want to stay away from this film as it turns the cold-blooded killer into a misunderstood, nice guy and the film even goes as far as to change a real-life ending (apparently test screenings didn't like the truth). With that said, if it's entertainment you're after then this here is a real gem as we get to see the young Hudson in his first top-billed performance. It was smart for Universal to surround him with some great character actors but to also put a veteran like Walsh on the film. We're dealt a pretty typical story in terms of Westerns but Walsh brings some nice style to the production and certainly keeps it moving a lot better than it deserves. One of the best moments in the film happens early on as Hardin is about to get in a shoot out with a large gust of wind blows dust all over the place making it hard to see what's going to happen. This was a wonderful little sequence as was the made up ending. What really keeps the film moving are some wonderful performances by the star-studded cast. Hudson is terrific in the lead role and you can view this and see why he would become a major star. The character has some dark moments, which the actor captures just fine but the sweet side is where Hudson really shines. He really does make this a complete character and makes Hardin someone to care for. Julie Adams plays the woman he eventually marries and does a nice job even though she doesn't have much to do. The Hanley family are the ones Hardin does battle with early on and we have Lee Van Cleef, Glenn Strange and Hugh O'Brian playing the brothers. McIntire, Forrest Lewis and Richard Garland also turn in fine performances. We even get a young Dennis Weaver in a small role. Once again, those who are wanting a history lesson are going to hate this film due to have many facts it twists and turns but either way, the movie is solid entertainment that has enough going for it to make it worth seeing.

This is a low budget Western that is barely watchable. It could only be of interest to intense Rock Hudson fans. This was his first leading role. Here are its good points: Old reliable John McIntyre ("Winchester '73) plays a dual role. That's it for positives Here are the bad points: I didn't buy Rock Hudson in the role of Western hero for one second. Implausible that Hardin was framed for every killing he committed. The guy was a saint, apparently. Story is paint by numbers Backlot Western. Locations are all San Fernando Valley. Typical secular agenda Hollywood Christian bashing No Indian or Mexican references. No comic relief

"The Lawless Breed" attempts to tell the life story of John Wesley Hardin, the misunderstood gunfighter, from his point of view. The story begins with Hardin (Rock Hudson) being released from prison after serving 16 of 25 years for murder. He goes to the local newspaper and presents the editor with a hand written story of his life. The film then flashes back to his youth where young "Wes" is practicing his fast draw. His father, Preacher J.G. Hardin (John McIntyre) takes a whip to him, condemning his life style. Wes decides to leave home and pursue his dream of earning enough money to buy a small horse ranch for himself and his sweetheart Jane Brown (Mary Castle). The rest of the film can be summed up with the phrase, "I never killed anyone who didn't try to kill me first". He is forced to gun down gambler Gus Handley (Michael Ansara) which brings upon him the wrath of his three brothers, Ike (Hugh O'Brian), Dirk (Lee Van Cleef) and Ben (Glenn Strange). While trying to escape a posse, Hardin hides out with his uncle John Clements (McIntyre again) and his sons Jim (Dennis Weaver) and Joe (Richard Garland). When he returns home to fetch Jane, she is killed during his escape from the farm. Hardin takes solace in the arms of "saloon girl" Rosie (Julia Adams) whom he later marries. Ready to surrender to the law after his planned marriage, Hardin is double-crossed and........................................... Rock Hudson, on the verge of becoming a super star, turns in an excellent performance as the troubled Hardin. He plays the character over a 20 year period. This was one of his first starring roles. He benefited greatly from the direction of the veteran director Raoul Walsh who managed to expose his real talent for the first time. As in most of Universal's fast paced little eighty minute color westerns, there is plenty of action and beautiful Technicolor photography. It also had the benefit of a cast of recognizable supporting players, most of whom had appeared in countless "B" westerns. In addition to those already mentioned above, Steve Darrell appears as Sheriff Jenkins, Robert Anderson as Wild Bill Hickcock, Dick Wessel, Emory Parnell and I. Stanford Jolley as various bartenders, Francis Ford (brother of John) as a saloon sweeper and George Wallace as a saloon bully. An entertaining western.

The Lawless Breed, a western very loosely based on the life of John Wesley Hardin, was a milestone film for young Rock Hudson. Rock was 28 when he made this film for Universal and for the first time he was given first billing in a film. Universal also gave him veteran action director Raoul Walsh and a supporting cast that knew its way around the set of a western. John Wesley Hardin(1853-1895), one of the most notorious of bad men in the old west was also one of the few who actually got to put his story down for posterity. The film that you see is based somewhat on some of the incidents in Hardin's life. He was not as noble a character as The Lawless Breed would have you believe, but a whole lot of things attributed to him were probably pure hokum. The dime novels of the day worked their way into the popular culture for just about every character of the old west, good and bad. As shown here, the real John Wesley Hardin was shot in the back in a saloon after his release from prison. But the story goes that during a preview of the film, the audience reaction was so negative to seeing Rock Hudson shot down like a dirty dog that Universal felt compelled to tack on a happy ending. The film was really supposed to end with him dying on the floor of the saloon telling his son played by Race Gentry not to follow in his footsteps. What was added on was a scene with wife Julie Adams and Gentry loading the wounded Rock on the back of a buckboard and after a bit of dialog they ride off in the sunset. So one western legend got scrapped to start the career of a movie legend. Only in Hollywood. John McIntire has a nice dual performance as Hudson's circuit riding preacher father and as his uncle, a cattle rancher. And there was a gang of brothers that Hudson kept tangling with the entire film, the Hanleys played by such western familiars as Lee Van Cleef, Michael Ansara, Hugh O'Brian, and Glenn Strange. It's not a bad film despite the obviously tacked on happy ending for Rock's fans. John Wesley Hardin probably would have liked how it came out.

If you want to see Rock Hudson wearing his big 1970s mustache before the 1970s, rent The Lawless Breed. You might not get much more out of the movie than that, but at least you'll get a good chuckle. In one of his first starring roles, he plays a dangerous outlaw in the Wild West. It's not very believable, but then again, you could give the same criticism for many westerns in the 1950s. He starts the movie off as an old man being released from prison. While in jail, he wrote his memoirs, and he drops off his manuscript at a publisher's office to tell his tale. The rest of the movie is told in flashbacks as we find out how he fell in love, how he got in trouble, how he married Julia Adams and went on the run after breaking the law. With movies like this one, it's a wonder Universal Studios continued to push him on the public. If you absolutely love Rock Hudson and want to see him in his early days, go ahead, but have a better movie handy for a double feature.

John Wesley Hardin never murdered a man. First they would admit to dealing him seconds at cards, then they would draw on him, so he would reluctantly take out his gun and shoot them in the back. Hardin was a proud man, being Rock Hudson and all, so what choice did he have? We know this is true, because he wrote this down himself. Hardin claimed to have killed more than 40 men, all in self-defense. He is known to have killed about two-thirds that number, one because his snoring annoyed him. Raoul Walsh directed this Universal western in the long afternoon of his improbably long career. According to his memoirs -- which is filled with improbable and entertaining lies -- Jack Pickford once remarked that Walsh's idea of light comedy was to burn down a brothel. Even his name was a fiction (he was really Albert Walsh), and he was considered the right man to direct this movie because of the violence of WHITE HEAT, and anyone who could get a good performance out of Jimmy Cagney could get one out of Rock Hudson. With John McIntire, Hugh O'Brien, Lee Van Cleef and Julie Adams's legs.

Technicolor seems all wrong for this leaden western, allegedly based on the life of John Wesley Hardin, a brutal, trigger-happy outlaw who murdered at least forty or fifty people, was pardoned after serving little more than half a 25-year jail sentence, but was then shot down by some lawman who had a grudge against him for murdering their kin. This factual ending was actually shot for the movie, but then scrapped and replaced by an everything-is-coming-up-roses fade-out instead. In the Hardin role, Solid Rock Hudson blacks out most of the screen while he exhibits an amazing ability to read the script's dreary, purple-laced dialogue from the idiot board without giving the game away by moving his eyes, but charismatic he most certainly is not. Nor is hammy John McIntire the least bit convincing as Hardin's bible-bashing dad. Unfortunately, many of the better players such as Lee Van Cleef, Buddy Roosevelt and Dick Wessel are lost in tiny roles. In all, it's mighty hard to believe that this dreary movie was so leadenly directed by Raoul Walsh who did such a magnificent job with 1951's The Enforcer.