In tis Western AudieMurphy is a rancher and former Texas Ranger charged with bringing in Darren McGavin the lone survivor of a gang that robbed a bank. Wounded McGavin got away with the loot
The posse Murphy winds up with is one motley crew, a scurvy a lot as you'd come across. Bringing McGavin back Murph has as much to fear from them as he does from the Apaches they run into,
McGavin was a Texas Ranger who did turn outlaw. He was also at one time married to Murphy's wife Beverley Owen and Murphy is raising Kevin Tate who is McGavin's son as his own.
Lots of tension and action in this western. A lot of familiar faces in this cast. A standout performance is that of Ruta Lee as the outlaw moll. She's one cynical lady who takes life as it comes.
A good one fom Audie Murphy.
Bullet for a Badman
1964
Action / Western
Plot summary
Murphy plays ex-lawman who must strap on the guns again to catch a former nemesis, McGavin, who happens to be the ex husband of Murphy's wife and father of the boy that believes he's Murphy's son.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
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One Motley Posse
Watchable But Not Great
Audie Murphy is a ranchman with a wife and son; she's Darren McGavin's ex-wife and the boy is his. When McGavin shows up to kill Murphy, Audie and he hunt each other through Zion National Park.
It's a fairly standard late oater, with a pretty good supporting cast, including Ruta Lee, Alan Hale Jr. -- he had to hitch a ride out to go on an interview for GILLIGAN'S ISLAND -- George Tobias, and others. but it's a paycheck movie for most of them, including the star. Even Joseph Biroc's cinematography is dull in the first half, although he does shoot the final showdown in John Ford country quite beautifully. Director R.G. Springsteen was one of those B western directors who seems to have excelled in styleless competence on a budget The result is consistently watchable, but not outstanding.
Audie Murphy is on the trail of an old friend
As this film begins a gang of bandits prepare to ride into town to rob the bank; their leader, Sam Ward, has a specific reason to pick this town; his old friend Logan Keliher lives on a farm outside town
with Ward's ex-wife and his son. As it happens Logan is in town on the day of the robbery and gets caught up in the fighting; he even wounds Ward as he flees the scene. Ward heads to Logan's farm and sees his old wife; before leaving he warns that he will be back to kill Logan. When Logan gets back and hears this he heads into the desert to search for Ward. Here he meets part of the posse; it soon becomes clear that they are more interested in getting their hands on the stolen money than bringing Ward in alive. Ward is holed up with Lottie, the widow of one of the gang, when Logan captures him. Normally the capture of the villain would be the end of the story but here it is just the beginning of the real story; they must get out of Apache territory all the time knowing that the posse could turn on them at any time in an attempt to get the stolen money.
This is a decent B-western with a decent amount of exciting action and a decent story; regular western star Audie Murphy put in a solid performance as our hero Logan and Darren McGavin as good as Ward; a villain who wasn't totally rotten; he found a sort of redemption in the final scene. The posse was a good mixture of characters; some good, some bad and some whose loyalty remained dubious until the point where they had to take sides. For a film of its type I was surprised that there wasn't much of a romantic subplot; Ward may have wanted his wife back but it was clear that she had no interest in him and while Lottie used her feminine wiles there was no question of her trying anything with Logan
it was nice to see that cliché avoided. While this is by no means a classic it is worth seeing by fans of the genre; so far I've yet to be disappointed by Murphy's westerns.