bsmith5552 "The Outcast" of the title is Jet Cosgrave (John Derek) who returns home after eight years to claim the ranch left him by his father but swindled away from him by his unscrupulous uncle Major Linton Cosgrave (Jim Davis) and his lawyer Andrew Devlin (Taylor Holmes).Jet meets his uncle's fiancé Alice Austin (Catherine McLeod) and sets out to take her away from his uncle. Into the mix comes Judy Polsen (Joan Evans) the daughter of a rival rancher Chad Polsen (Frank Ferguson). Slim Pickens plays Judy's brother the hard ridin' Boone Polsen.Jet has hired a group of gunman led by the murderous Dude Rankin (Bob Steele) who guns a helpless ranch cook in the back. On the other side is Cal Prince (James Millican) and his gang which includes the trigger happy "The Kid" (Ben Cooper) and Bert (Harry Carey Jr.). Double crosses abound until the final showdown between the two Cosgraves.The film was directed by Republic veteran William Whitney best known for his work in serials and his realistic fight scenes. He even allowed Roy Rogers to display a blood trickle in "Trail of Robin Hood" (1950).John Derek was more renowned for his off-screen life than for his acting. He was fortunate enough to have been married at one time or another to three of the most beautiful women of their day..Ursula Andress, Linda Evans and Bo Derek. To me he didn't make a very convincing hero though. I couldn't see him besting the 6' 4" Jim Davis in a fight.Jim Davis was a familiar face in many Republic westerns of the period. He usually played a villain but did on occasion did play on the right side of the law. Slim Pickens was working in Republic's Rex Allen series at the time and also turned up in a couple of Republic's "A" features as well. Bob Steele had been a "B" series star in the 30s and had been reduced to supporting roles from the late 40s onward. He was at his best as a villain as in this film. James Millican was a veteran of several Randolph Scott westerns and Harry Carey Jr. was a familiar face in several John Ford Westerns. Ben Cooper was being groomed by Republic to be their next juvenile lead.Great photography, action, color and story and except for Derek as the hero, a great cast.

Spikeopath The Outcast is set in 1880s Colorado about a man who rides into town with a gang of hired gunmen to reclaim his inheritance. But the man opposing him is none other than his uncle, who will not give up the ranch, and all that goes with it, without a fight.A truly pleasant surprise to me this one was. Too many times I care to mention when I have sat down for a B movie Western and cringed at the banality on show. Directed by prolific B helmer William Witney and coming out of the mightily solid Republic Pictures house, The Outcast {AKA The Fortune Hunter} uses a standard story premise and expands it further with a multitude of interesting character arcs. There is so much going on in this part of Colorado, the film never has time to become boring or twee in its execution. Each character serves a purpose, if they have screen time then they are functional to the plot{s} in hand. We have feuding families, hired thugs, a pugilist blacksmith, reams of gun play, fist fights on horseback {fine stunt work here} and pretty gals pulling the male protagonists emotions left and right! All set against a lovely rolling location backdrop {sadly not able to find where at the time of writing} and filmed in the safer cheaper colour aspect of Trucolor, which looks nicer now in this day and age of HD TV.The cast are led by John Derek (All the King's Men) and an assortment of stoic and professional Western players fill out the roll call. It does look to be either largely unseen or consigned wrongly to the B movie bin. But it's certainly a must for the Western genre fan, and definitely a film to prove that Republic Pictures did have good films in their locker. So do check it out if you get the chance 7/10

brillpro Tremendously good B western which today would be an A western. Strong acting, tremendous direction and the kind of realism in fights you never see. I think the smack on the head by the horse was intentional and left in as Jet's way of showing Dude who was boss without using his gun. It may have been accidental but if so was left in because it worked.Real scenery and some really cool off the backdrop shots which really worked in color.My only problem? Where in the 1880's West does a guy come up with a name like "Jet?" I thought it was Jeb, or Jed until I saw the credits.Recommend to any western lover and others too. Loved Bob Steele as a bad guy. He never worked for me as a good guy. I think it's certainly one of Derek's best and seeing a Young Slim Pickens on a horse at a gallop. Now that is cool.

bux An early performance by Derek is the main attraction here, in this action packed tale of a young man, returning home to reclaim his ranch from a dastardly cattle baron. A good supporting cast, and a director that doesn't let the romance scenes get in the way, make this good fare.