When the Daltons Rode **** (1940, Randolph Scott, Kay Francis, Brian Donlevy, Andy Devine, George Bancroft, Stuart Erwin, Broderick Crawford, Frank Albertson) – Classic Movie Review 9812

The notorious Dalton brothers (Brian Donlevy as Grat, Broderick Crawford as Bob, Stuart Erwin as Ben and Frank Albertson as Emmett) ride the range after the greedy railroad guys deprive them of their land and livelihood, in this classy and beautifully shot Western. The bad guys may be the good guys, but with bad guys this good, who’d want to be a good guy?

Producer-director George Marshall’s 1940 film When the Daltons Rode is a fine Western fictionalising the historical saga, with superior production values and strong action sequences, courtesy of director Marshall and cinematographer Hal Mohr, though colour would be nice.

For the goodies, Randolph Scott, as honourable young attorney Tod Jackson who is trying to get the Daltons a decent trial, and Kay Francis, as Julie King, make an endearing star couple, though they are suitably upstaged by the bad guy quartet.

If you forget the romantic rivalry, stock footage and highly fictional history in the original screenplay by Harold Shumate, this is an excellent action adventure Western from Universal Pictures, running a mere 80 minutes. It is spare, action-packed and fast moving, with a tremendous cast.

Also in the cast are Andy Devine, George Bancroft, Mary Gordon, Harvey Stephens, Edgar Dearing, Quen Ramsey, Dorothy Granger, Bob McKenzie, Fay McKenzie, Walter Soderling, Edgar Buchanan and Harry Cording.

[Spoiler alert] Hilariously, Emmett Dalton is killed in a final shoot-out during a bank robbery in Coffeyville, Kansas. But actually he survived the shoot-out and went on to write When the Daltons Rode, the book this film is based on (along with Jack Jungmeyer Sr).

It is a version of Universal Pictures’ black and white Western double feature film The Daltons Ride Again (1945), with Alan Curtis, Kent Taylor, Lon Chaney Jr and Noah Beery Jr as the four Dalton outlaw brothers.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9812

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