The Lawless Breed *** (1953, Rock Hudson, Julie Adams, John McIntire, Dennis Weaver, Hugh O’Brian, Mary Castle, Michael Ansara, Forrest Lewis, Lee Van Cleef, Glenn Strange) – Classic Movie Review 7,135

Universal-International’s 1953 American biographical crime Western film The Lawless Breed, directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Rock Hudson and Julie Adams, tells a romanticised story of the life of outlaw John Wesley Hardin.

Rock Hudson convinces as a romanticised version of real-life American Old West freed killer, outlaw and folk icon John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895), who sets out to make enough money to begin a new life to escape the poverty of his father’s Texas home.

But the killing of a cardsharp sends him on a lawless trail. He becomes a famous bad guy turned good who puts his son on the road of truth and justice by telling him where he went wrong. Hardin battles the Hanley family (with Lee Van Cleef, Glenn Strange and Hugh O’Brian playing the brothers Dirk, Ben and Ike).

Director Raoul Walsh’s strong, involving and entertaining 1952 Technicolor Western film The Lawless Breed is made with care and imagination, and acted with conviction and commitment from an ideal cast, especially Hudson, Julie [Julia] Adams as Hardin’s love and eventual wife, John McIntire as his father J G Hardin, Dennis Weaver, Hugh O’Brian, Lee Van Cleef, Glenn Strange, Mary Castle, Michael Ansara, and Forrest Lewis.

Bernard Gordon’s fanciful, unhistorical screenplay is based on the life of John Wesley Hardin as written by the outlaw himself and a story by the film’s producer William Alland. Controversially, the sadistic killer who murdered at least 43 people is turned into the film’s hero, but, hey, it’s only a movie. In the film, after being released from prison, Hardin tries to publish his autobiography to restore his reputation. And romance is of course included, with his love for dance-hall girl Rosie McCoy (Julie [Julia] Adams).

Also in the cast are Tom Fadden, Race Gentry, Richard Garland, Glenn Strange, William Pullen, Robert Anderson, Stephen Chase, Leo Curley, Steve Darrell, Ned Davenport, Edward Earle, George Eldredge, Francis Ford, Charles Horvath, Bob Hoy, Thomas E Jackson, I Stanford Jolley, Ethan Laidlaw, Paul McGuire, Paul Newlan, Emory Parnell, Jean Ransome, Buddy Roosevelt, Phil Tead, George Wallace, Dick Wessel and Hank Worden.

The Lawless Breed is directed by Raoul Walsh, runs 83 minutes, is made by Universal-International Pictures, released by Universal Pictures, is written by Bernard Gordon, based on the book by John Wesley Hardin and story by William Alland, is shot in Technicolor by Irving Glassberg, is produced by William Alland and Raoul Walsh, and is scored by Herman Stein (composer) and Joseph Gershenson (musical director/ music supervisor), with Art Direction by Bernard Herzbrun and Richard H Riedel.

Release date: January 3, 1953 (US).

It was shot in California at the Andy Jauregui Ranch, Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall; the Janss Conejo Ranch, Thousand Oaks; and the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, 10700 West Escondido Canyon Road, Agua Dulce.

The cast include Rock Hudson as John Wesley Hardin, Julie Adams (billed as Julia Adams) as Rosie, Mary Castle as Jane Brown John McIntire as J G Hardin / John Clements, Hugh O’Brian as Ike Hanley, Dennis Weaver as Jim Clements, Forrest Lewis as Zeke Jenkins, Lee Van Cleef as Dirk Hanley, Tom Fadden as Chick Noonan, Race Gentry as John Hardin Jr, Richard Garland as Joe Clements, Glenn Strange as Ben Hanley, William Pullen as Joe Hardin, Michael Ansara as Gus Hanley, Francis Ford as saloon janitor, Race Gentry, Robert Anderson, Stephen Chase, Leo Curley, Steve Darrell, Ned Davenport, Edward Earle, George Eldredge, Charles Horvath, Bob Hoy, Thomas E Jackson, I Stanford Jolley, Ethan Laidlaw, Paul McGuire, Paul Newlan, Emory Parnell, Jean Ransome, Buddy Roosevelt, Phil Tead, George Wallace, Dick Wessel and Hank Worden.

Universal released it on DVD in 2007 and 2011 in a two-disc set with The Texas Rangers, Canyon Passage and Kansas Raiders.

Julie Adams (born Betty May Adams; October 17, 1926 – February 3, 2019

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,135

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