weezeralfalfa Review of The Outcast

The Outcast (1954)

The lost son returns to claim his inheritance from his uncle

[8/10 · 7 June 2018]

Generally good primary feature (90 min.) western from Republic, shot in Trucolor, in mostly Colorado settings, which match the scripted Colorado setting.......The story begins with the return of Jet Cosgrave(John Derek) to Colton, CO: a town said to be run by his uncle: Major Linton Cosgrave(Jim Davis), who also apparently inherited the large Circle C Ranch from Jet's father. This is a true wild west town, that lacks a sheriff, because the last 4 were either killed or soon resigned. Jet has reason to believe that the will giving the Major the Circle C is a forgery, but cannot prove that. He is prepared to use violent means to take ownership of the Circle C, if the will cannot be proven to be a forgery. .....No explanation is given for Jet's disappearance from home 8 years ago, when his father died, nor information on what he has been doing in the meantime, nor explanation for why he decided to return just now. He has contracted for 9 gunslingers, headed by Dude Rankin(Bob Steele) to help him wrest the ranch from the Major. If Jet had known the reputation of Dude, he wouldn't have entrusted him with the leadership of this group, for Dude would prove a turncoat when the Major offered him more compensation, in the form of all the Polsen cattle they could rustle, which had recently reoccupied the Newmark Valley, which the Major considered part of his territory. The Newmark Valley was owned by a Mr. Newmark, who had disappeared some years ago, rumored to have been killed by the Major. The Major had pushed the Polsen family out of the valley a while ago. Jet, with his little army aimed to support a Polsen retake of the valley, to irritate the Major. However, when Dude switched sides, the Polsen cattle disappeared one night. Yet, the relationship between Jet and the Polsens is still uncertain. Papa Polsen, a bible freak, whipped his daughter Judy and disowned her just because Jet had grabbed and kissed her. Later, papa would apologize. Curly(Nacho Gulindo) was the only one of Dude's bunch who didn't defect to the enemy. He and Jet would be attacked by Prince(James Millican): the Major's foreman, plus other men, but the pair would kill all except Prince, who escaped, and would survive until the finale shootout. The pair then were accosted by the Polsens, who thought they had rustled their cattle. Several of the Polsens then accompanied Jet to try to retrieve their cattle, which had been stolen by Dude and bunch. They managed to kill nearly all these gunslingers after engineering a stampede. Dude fled on his horse, but Jet caught up and they arm wrestled while riding their horses, until Jet transferred to Dude's horse and pushed him off, apparently breaking his neck upon landing.......I like that the expected finale showdown between Jet and the Major was more complex than that. There were 5 participants in the shootout, that occurred on Main Street. Besides Jet and the Major, there was Prince, Boone Polsen(Slim Pickens) and crooked lawyer, Andrew Devlin(Taylor Holmes). Boone's main objective was to protect Jet from being killed. The Major had had recent fallings out with Prince and Devlin. Prince was eager to shoot both Jet and the Major. The major had just pistol whipped Devlin, and the latter was itching for revenge, which partly took the form of shouting that Jet's father's will was a forgery. See the film(available free at YouTube) to find out the sequence of shootings and final result.......I also liked that, instead of the formulistic good girl vs. bad girl conflict, the women involved: Alice Austin((Catherine McCleod), and Judy Polsen(Joan Evans) became friends, although one(Alice) was promised to wed the Major, while Judy fancied that Jet might ask her to marry him. Jet flirted with both, although he claimed to Judy that his flirtation with Alice was just to irritate the Major. Toward the end, both women were fed up with the war. Alice returned to Virginia, and Judy swore off further romancing with Jet. However, Judy would quickly change her attitude after the results of the finale showdown. ... ...Joan Evans and Catherine McLeod were both minor Hollywood players. Bob Steele was in the midst of his entertainment career. Once playing cowboy heroes, by the mid-40s, this diminutive(5' 5") scrappy man was relegated to character parts. In contrast, Jim Davis(the Major) was tall and well built. He played in many B westerns, but would receive the most fame from his role in the "Dallas" TV series.