The Lawless Breed is directed by Raoul Walsh and written by William Alland (story) and Bernard Gordon (screenplay). It stars Rock Hudson, Julie Adams, John McIntire, Mary Castle, Hugh O'Brian and Dennis Weaver. Music is supervised by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Irving Glassberg.

Story is based around the life of outlaw John Wesley Hardin (Hudson),itself adapted from his own memoirs. It finds Hardin released from jail and recounts his life outside of the law and his time on the run. It proclaims that Hardin was very much a victim of circumstance, his life spiralling out of control after killing a man in self defence.

OK, forget the proud boast from the makers that this is a true story, this is Hollywood and its best so take in the film as a piece of entertainment only. Where, in truth, it's rather good stuff for the Western fan to gorge on. A tacked on "happy ending" aside, this is mostly interesting narratively speaking, and as a production it is always easy on the eye. Hardin's time on the run throws up a number of scenes to pump the adrenalin, letting some fine stunt work come to the fore in the process. Be it escaping from "Texas Rangers" laid traps, or well constructed horse races (Hardin was a well renowned gambler),Raoul Walsh and his team work real hard to keep this out of B movie territory.

Shot in vivid Technicolor out of Andy Jauregui and Janss Conejo ranches in California (some exteriors also filmed at Vasquez Rocks),film always feels airy, something that's not exactly at one with what should be the claustrophobic feel of an outlaw constantly on the run and looking over his shoulder. There's also a big ask of the audience to accept that Hardin is pretty much indestructible, which is OK once or twice, but more?

However, the film is ultimately about entertainment and forgiving it its irritants is not hard to do. Character interactions always remain of interest, and cast are doing more than decent work. McIntire stands out in a dual role, Hudson is stoic and Adams beguiles with her beauty and sexuality. This is one of the better productions for bringing the radiant Adams to the attention of red blooded lusters. A better pair of legs in Westerns there is not, and in one scene she induces wolf whistles and heart palpitations in equal measure. With prolific Western scorer Gershenson providing easy listening and photographer Glassberg keeping the colours rich, The Lawless Breed rounds out as a better than average viewing experience for the Western buff. 7/10

If there's a clunkier line in a film than the one in my summary above, I've yet to hear it, and I have a pretty good ear for dialog. If I was watching this on a DVD instead of Encore Westerns, I certainly would have replayed it to hear again.

"The Lawless Breed" is loosely based on the life of Western outlaw John Wesley Hardin. I'm no expert, but the way he's portrayed here makes him out to be a somewhat misunderstood hero, all the while attempting to stay one step ahead of the law. Even in this picture, the number of his self-defense victims seemed to challenge the law of averages, and it's probably safe to say that the real Hardin, with over forty dead men to his credit, probably killed a few of them under questionable circumstances.

Rock Hudson, who I generally wouldn't call to mind as a Western movie hero, comports himself well enough in the film's lead role. However his age and matinée good looks probably work against the picture's credibility, as the character he was portraying was supposed to be only about twenty years old at the beginning of the story. Likewise, he seemed to get over Jane Brown's (Mary Castle) death rather quickly, conveniently having saloon gal Rosie (Julie Adams) to run off with when the heat was on.

At least the picture had some of the high points of the historical Hardin's life correct. In 1874, he killed Deputy Sheriff Charlie Webb in Comanche, Texas. Using the alias John Swain, he did open a grocery store, but in Gainesville, Florida, not Polland, Alabama. For Hardin, it was a quick line of work, as he was recognized on the very first day his store was open by a couple of cattlemen.

As the movie depicts, he was captured by the Texas Rangers, spent time in Huntsville Prison, and was pardoned after roughly fifteen years. However he used his prison time to study law, and actually became a lawyer upon release. His practice floundered though, prompting him to write his autobiography. On August 9th, 1895, John Wesley Hardin was shot by a lawman with a grudge, an event the film makers wouldn't put Rock Hudson through with his leading man charisma and future star potential.

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.