LeonLouisRicci The Combination of an Early Audie Murphy Vehicle and Director Budd Boetticher's First Western make this a Must See for Genre Fans. Budd and Murphy do not disappoint.Mounted in Technicolor, a Good Supporting Cast, and a Rousing Score, this is a Solid Bit of Entertainment Complete with the Director's Crisp Action and Unconventional Inclusions.Admire the Decision to have an African American Portrayed as an Admired Family Man (Frank Silvera) with not a Hint of Exploitation or Stereotype. Check Out that Railroad Turnstile Scene (has there ever been another) Shot with an Attention to Detail. Also Notice the Strong Female Mexican Character (Yvette Duguay), as Important and Cunning as any of the Gang, and Absolutely Beautiful.These Slightly Off-Track Ingredients, and His Mastery Showcase of the Camera, Lighting, and Action Scenes, show why the Director would soon become Legendary Teaming Up with Randolph Scott to make a Series of Westerns that are Considered some of the Best of the Decade.There are Scenes with Actors in the Foreground in Nothing but Shadow, Faceless and Baroque. Take a Look at the Gun Battles and the way Botteicher makes them a Rapid Fire Standout, Realistic, although Heightened, with Visual Flare.Murph also Shows just how Photogenic He could be, Displaying Baby-Faced Features that Hide His Strong and Steely Interior. He Captures the Frame even when Surrounded by a Gaggle of Gang Members.Overall, this is as Attractive and Action Packed as any Western of the Period and can Hold its Own with the Best of the Early Fifties. Note...Look for an almost unrecognizable, bearded, red-haired Hugh O'Brian as a nasty villain, appropriately named Red Buck.

Spikeopath The Cimarron Kid is directed by Budd Boetticher and written by Louis Stevens and Kay Lenard. It stars Audie Murphy, Beverly Tyler, James Best, Yvette Dugay, John Hudson, Leif Erickson, Noah Beery Junior and Hugh O'Brian. Music is by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Charles P. Boyle.Murphy stars as Bill Doolin, AKA: The Cimarron Kid, who leaves prison intending to go straight. However, when the Dalton Gang rob the train he is a passenger on, one of them recognises him and vocally brings it to the attention of the rest of the passengers. Incorrectly earmarked as one of the gang, Doolin finds himself on the run from the law and forced to hide out with the Dalton's. Bitter and angry at the false way he has been perceived, Doolin becomes an active part of the gang, but there is love in the air with Carrie Roberts (Tyler) offering hope of a new, on the right side of the law, life.Boetticher is a name dear to the hearts of Western fans, he would go forward from here to make the Ranown Westerns with Randolph Scott, thus leaving a considerable mark in the psychological Western pantheon. Invariably his other forays into the genre struggle to hold a torch to those later efforts, but although they lack the insightfulness and quality of narrative of those pictures made with Scott, the likes of this and The Man from the Alamo are minor gems well worth discovering.The story on premise terms doesn't offer anything new, where the core beat of the picture is about a man who has been dealt some bad life cards and can't escape his criminal past. Yet the story is unfolded in such away that hope is dangled in front of The Kid and we are never sure how it will pan out for him? In fact the finale has a couple of kickers that ensure it's well worth the viewing experience. There's the usual roll call of gang character's, including the loose cannon (O'Brian), but that familiarity of genre convention is off set by the addition of Yvette Dugay's Rose of Cimarron. She's a crafty and athletic part of the set up, a well written part and Dugay performs it well whilst joining Tyler in the gorgeous Technicolor darlings stakes.This is also a picture high on action and filled with lovely outdoor photography. Locations used are the historical parks at Columbia State and Railtown 1897, both are photographed expertly by Boyle, with Boetticher deftly utilising them to aid the story. Best of the action comes with a shoot out and escape after the Coffeyville bank raids (resplendent with burning hay wagon), while the quite excellent and extended shoot out centred around Railtown's turntable is one of the finest action constructions on Boetticher's CV. Cast are strong, led superbly by a thoughtful Murphy performance of substance, and prolific Western scorer Gershenson adds the required bombast and tenderness when required.Its B movie worth sometimes shows, such as handcuffs that mysteriously disappear from the escaping Doolin, but taken as a whole this is a little cracker of an Oater and highly recommended to Western fans. 8/10

MARIO GAUCI This emerges as a pretty good example of the typical Audie Murphy Western vehicle – though of lesser quality to the only one I had previously watched, NO NAME ON THE BULLET (1959) and, being Budd Boetticher's first Western, clearly a minor effort in his canon. Many films of this era treated (in a heavily romanticized manner) the exploits of famous outlaws of the Old West: Murphy appears as Bill Doolin and, at one point, he is told by the leader of The Dalton Gang that "They'll be writing ballads about us" and, sure enough, their exploits were later immortalized in music by the Country Rock band Eagles in "Doolin-Dalton", a song off of their second album "Desperado" (1973). Typically, Murphy is seen forced into a life of crime by circumstances or, more precisely, the persecution of a law-enforcement officer (while another, played by Leif Erickson, is more sympathetic to his plight). As ever, the gang is an eclectic assortment of characters: affable Noah Beery Jr. is their leader, Hugh O'Brian the red-headed hot-tempered challenger, James Best the ladies' man, Frank Silvera the half-breed, etc.; interestingly, we get a couple of romances going on (Murphy with the daughter of a man who shelters them and Best with a fiery Mexican girl) and the female characters are surprisingly strong for this type of film. Reassembling themselves in the wake of a bank hold-up gone awry (the film's best action sequence, climaxing in Beery's memorable come-uppance with the spilling coins a graphic substitution for blood), the gang is subsequently betrayed by the 'inside man' in a train robbery they try to pull off. Murphy is eventually persuaded to give himself up, with Erickson promising him a fair trial this time around. Shot in pleasant Technicolor, the generically-titled THE CIMARRON KID serves up compact, pacy and unpretentious entertainment – perfect viewing after a hard day's work.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) The best Audie Murphy films are the ones he plays outlaws. That gave an unusual touch to the films, you never knew how it was going to come out at the end. In "The Kansas Raiders", and also on his last film, he was Jesse James. Here, he rides with the Daltons, their chief is Bob Dalton (Noah Beery Jr.) and they plan three bank robberies at the same time. This film is pure fun from beginning to end, with great action scenes, after all it was directed by Budd Boetticher, whose westerns are like wine: they get better as they get older. The two women, Beverly Tyler and Yvette Duguay are quite strong characters, also unusual in this type of westerns. There are spectacular moments like when they are surrounded in a town and try to escape, with Yvette Duguay helping by turning a track on a circular platform. Also when they hold up the two banks in Coffeyville at the same time. If you enjoy a good western, this one is a must.