Sat 28 Apr 2018
A Western Movie Review: BANDIT QUEEN (1950).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[10] Comments
BANDIT QUEEN. Lippert Pictures, 1950. Barbara Britton, Willard Parker, Phillip Reed, Barton MacLane, Martin Garralaga, Angelo Rossitto (as Angie). Director: William Berke.
I know Barbara Britton almost exclusively for her role as Pam North in the Mr. & Mrs. North TV series on 1952-54, but she was in a long list of movies before that, most of which I have never seen. Champagne for Caesar is one exception, but to be honest, I don’t even remember her role in it.
Those earlier movies included comedies, pirate movies, and surprisingly (to me) quite a few westerns. Her role in Bandit Queen, in other words, was not the anomaly I thought it was when I placed the DVD into the player and sat down to watch.
She plays Zara Montalvo in this film, a young woman who comes to visit her parents in Spanish California around the time of the Gold Rush, only to watch a gang of ruthless outlaws murder them in front of her eyes for their land and money.
Revenge being the order of the day as far as she is concerned, she is taught how to crack a whip by none other than the infamous rebel leader Joaquin Murietta, blandly played by Phillip Reed. She lives in a Spanish mission under the name Lola Belmont (from Detroit); he is incognito as Carlos Del Rio. Neither knows who the other is, but once Zara’s name becomes known as a Robin Hood-style bandit, he catches on more quickly than she does.
A better-than-average Lippert film, but that’s a distinction that makes this no more than a run-of-the-mill western. Save for our daring heroine, the bad guys are by far the better actors. (Not more interesting, just better actors.) As for the story, there’s nothing more to it that I haven’t already alluded to.
April 29th, 2018 at 12:05 am
Steve, I thought Barbara Britton charming and accomplished. Not a criticism of either Willard Parker or Phillip Reed, both good players, but she is the star for a reason, and with a longish list to support her success. Empathy, or presence if you prefer are the words, and they are most certainly significant in screen work. Have another look at this ordinary picture, and see if you do not revise your thinking. For me, I especially like her in The Virginian, Return of Monte Cristo, Gunfighters.
April 29th, 2018 at 12:35 am
Barbara Britton is the star of this movie. There’s no doubt about it, and I should have been stronger in saying so. My vague reference in the second sentence in my last paragraph — save for our daring heroine — could have been expounded upon. No need for me to revise my thinking!
It’s still only a minor movie, but without her it would have been nothing.
April 29th, 2018 at 11:24 am
All strong points, Steve. A word about Lippert. Many of us, certainly me included, are always curious to have a look at one of their products, but mostly, curiosity satisfied, come away empty.
April 29th, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Re Britton’s role in CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR I can’t recall whether she plays Ronald Colman’s sister or Vincent Price’s secretary, both fairly substantial roles.
I had a major crush on her while she played Pam North, and certainly she and Richard Denning were the ideal casting for the pair if Britton was a bit less screwball than Pam in the books. The North books are available fairly cheaply as e-books now, and rereading them I am reminded how well they capture a sort of freeze frame picture of the era they were written in and how deftly Lockridge poked gentle fun at upper middle class Manhattan mores — a reminder the series started out as a series of non mystery short pieces in THE NEW YORKER.
Over the years critics savaged them —- they seemed to find the North’s cats particularly cloying (the same critics went on endlessly about Creasey’s Roger West’s children) —- but the charm of the series is still there for me, both in print or one of the many episodes of the television and radio series.
Do my eyes deceive me, or is Britton wearing Linda Sterling’s old Zorro costume from the Republic serials in that first picture? Must have been a garage sale over at Republic’s costume department. A little irony here since Murieta was Johnston McCulley’s inspiration for Zorro.
April 29th, 2018 at 4:13 pm
This is Linda Stirling in ZORRO’S BLACK WHIP. It looks like the same shirt to me. What do you (all) think?
April 29th, 2018 at 3:25 pm
I just looked it up and Barbara Britton played Ronald Colman’s sister in Champagne for Caesar.
April 29th, 2018 at 4:15 pm
Thanks, Randy! I enjoyed that movie. I’ll have to watch it again now.
April 29th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
David re Mr. and Mrs. North. I liked it too and go back to the radio era with Alice Frost and joseph Curtin as pam and Jerry. I saw them as Nick and Nora on the light side. Thought Richard Denning excellent on the television series, and could easily have had a better career with the right opportunity. A ‘big time’ example of that was how effectively he held the screen with Grant and Kerr in An affair To Remember.
April 29th, 2018 at 8:21 pm
Barry,
Agree on both counts. Denning at least has a few cult classics under his belt including QUIET PLEASE, MURDER!, THE BLACK SCORPION, and CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON, and while short lived MICHAEL SHAYNE, PRIVATE DETECTIVE was a classy production.
April 30th, 2018 at 7:46 am
For more background I highly recommend “TALK’S CHEAP, ACTION’S EXPENSIVE: The Films of Robert L. Lippert” by Mark Thomas McGee.