The Jayhawkers! ** (1959, Fess Parker, Jeff Chandler, Nicole Maurey, Henry Silva) – Classic Movie Review 12,308

The Jayhawkers! (1959, Jeff Chandler).

‘These Were the Wild-Riding Vikings of the Great Plains! Against the background of a turbulent era when Civil War was a flaming cloud on history’s horizon… A TREMENDOUS MOTION PICTURE!’

Co-writer/ director Melvin Frank’s manly 1959 Paramount Pictures Western film The Jayhawkers! stars Fess Parker, Jeff Chandler, Nicole Maurey, and Henry Silva.

Parker plays farmer Cam Bleeker, who is out for revenge on Kansas Jayhawker bad guy Luke Darcy (Chandler), who killed his family. In pre-Civil War Kansas, Bleeker joins Darcy’s gang that takes advantage of Bleeding Kansas, violent civil confrontations over a debate on the legality of slavery in Kansas.

This lavish, uneven but useful, well-produced Western has pluses and minuses. The plus of Loyal Griggs’s Technicolor and VistaVision widescreen photography balances the minus of Jerome Moross’s score. The unsurprising yarn, like the actors, does not always persuade but it usually holds the interest. The serious tone is on its side too.

Also in the cast are Herbert Rudley, Frank DeKova, Don Megowan, Leo Gordon, Jimmy Carter, Renata Vanni, Shari Lee Bernath, Ned Glass, Kenneth MacDonald, Robert Shayne, and Frank Wilcox.

The Kansas Jayhawkers made raids into Missouri to burn and pillage property and murder the locals to stop them supporting slavery.

Filming started on 1 December 1958 and it was released on 15 October 1959 by Paramount Pictures, with whom production team Norman Panama and Melvin Frank had a deal. The duo were known for comedies and had made a spoof Western, Callaway Went Thataway (1951) with Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, and Howard Keel.

The cast are Jeff Chandler as Luke Darcy, Fess Parker as Cam Bleeker, Nicole Maurey as Jeanne Dubois, Henry Silva as Lordan, Herbert Rudley as Governor William Clayton, Jimmy Carter as Paul, Shari Lee Bernath as Martha, Leo Gordon as Jake Barton, Barbara Knudson as Mrs Maxton, Don Megowan, Renata Vanni, Ned Glass, Kenneth MacDonald, Robert Shayne, and Frank Wilcox.

Vivien Leigh turned down the role of Jeanne Dubois.

Henry Silva (September 23, 1926 – September 14, 2022).

The prolific American character actor Henry Silva (September 23, 1926 – September 14, 2022) was usually typecast as criminals or gangsters. His notable films include Ocean’s Eleven (1960), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Johnny Cool (1963), Sharky’s Machine (1981), and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999).

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,308

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