How about an Ann Savage Western? Last night we watched her in "Renegade Girl"(1946), as "Jean Shelby" a Missouri woman and Confederate Army sympathizer, who - with her brother Bob - gives the rebels information on Union troop movements, which she learns by cozying up to soldiers. Lately she's been helping Quantrill's Raiders, a notorious band of outlaws who fight "out of bounds" on the Confederate side by raiding Missouri towns at random. As the movie opens, she's detained on her ranch by "Major Barker" (Jack Holt), a Union officer who's after Quantrill. I have to step in to say, wouldn't Major Barker be a great name for a dog? But back to the story, Barker wants Jean to reveal the whereabouts of her brother Bob. She refuses, pulls a gun and escapes. Barker next asks a local Indian, "Whitecloud" (Chief Thundercloud), for the same information, offering him one hundred dollars if Bob Shelby is captured. Whitecloud says "Bob Shelby hiding on Shelby ranch", so Major Barker sends troops there to arrest him. But Jean gets there first, and spirits Bob out of harm's way. He's weak from a previous bullet wound, and they have to stop before they reach the Quantrill camp.
The Union troops are angry at Whitecloud because Bob Shelby was not at the homestead. But Whitecloud is angry as well, because now he won't get his hundred dollars. He goes in search of Bob Shelby himself, finds him alone on the trail (Jean has gone to get him a doctor), and kills him. Jean comes back to find Bob dead, and enlists "Captain Fred Raymond" (Alan Curtis), the Union troop leader, to help her find Whitecloud.
It's a great setup, with the Union and Quantrill's Raiders squaring off against each other, Jean in the middle in her quest for revenge against Whitecloud, and Whitecloud on the outside. Everyone wants him dead. Jean also promises the Raiders that she'll marry the first one of them who turns Whitecloud over to her. Our buddy Edward Brophy (who did that great Irish Professor turn in "Roaring City" with Hugh Beaumont) plays "Bob Crandall" an older Raider who takes a fatherly interest in Jean. He tries to protect her from "Jerry Long" (Russell Wade), a Raider who's dead set on marrying her, whether he captures Whitecloud or not. In fact, Long won't leave Jean alone. He's got his paws all over her at every opportunity. What he doesn't know is that Jean is in love with Captain Raymond, the Union officer who is also helping her. There will be a showdown between Long and Raymond eventually.
How great is Ann Savage? Watch her in this movie, as a ladylike but tough Civil War-era horsewoman (the role is melodramatic), and then watch her in "Detour" as an all-out Ruthless B-Word (the role is the all-timer for a Femme Fatale in Film Noir). That's what I call range. She was a fantastic actress who could've (and should've) been an A-lister, but then we wouldn't have had her in all these great B-movies. I loved "Renegade Girl", with it's layered plot and fine cast. As a bonus, it was filmed, in part, at Corriganville. Ray Corrigan is also in the movie, as William Quantrill himself. "Renegade Girl" gets Two Big Thumbs Up, and a must-see recommendation. The picture is razor sharp. ////
The previous night, we saw a minor classic from Monogram Studios, "Prison Mutiny"(1943), starring Edward Norris as "Johnny Gray", a Beverly Hills rich kid and former BMOC who's also a reckless lawbreaker. He's a punk who thinks - because of his status - he can drive like a wild man, talk back to the cops and get away with it, and as the movie opens, he's right. But then, after getting out of another speeding ticket, he's waylaid by a gang of bank robbers. They're hiding in Beverly Glen, and when Johnny drives by they block his car and get in. Then they force him to be their getaway driver.
Well, when the gang is caught, it looks like Johnny is with them, and because of his reputation, the prosecutor thinks so too. In reality, Johnny's just a smug playboy. Hard crime is not his thing. But the bank robbers frame him, and he gets ten years in San Quentin. In there, Johnny has to harden up fast. He's celled with a tough con named "Kane" (Jack La Rue). The prison conditions are horrible. The warden condones disciplinary tortures like making men stand in place for twelve hours. Kane plans to break out, with three of his fellow hard cases. After sizing Johnny up, and finding out he's tough after all, Kane agrees to let him in on the breakout.
But Johnny, despite his attitude, has been claiming his innocence all along. He gets a break when the warden is fired, and replaced by "Frank Sanders" (Milburn Stone), an ex-guard with a reformist agenda. As warden, Sanders abolishes all the draconian punishments. He sees promise in Johnny and uses him to promote his program. Johnny remains sullen because he was wrongfully convicted. He doesn't want any favors from do-gooder Warden Sanders. But then, he meets Sanders's friend and neighbor on the Quentin property, "Amy Duncan" (Joan Woodbury). Surprise, surprise, he knew Joan in college. She had a crush on him then. At first, he won't give her the time of day, but when the warden gives him an outdoors job, planting flowers in the prison administration courtyard, he has to come in contact with Amy, and her sweetness begins to wear him down, until his tough exterior is too much for him to carry.
There's a moving subtheme, involving a prisoner who's about to be executed. He sees Johnny planting flowers through the bars of his cell. "All I want is to see one bloom before they send me to the Chamber." This also affects Johnny. He dedicates himself to bringing up a bloom before the scheduled date. After the execution, he's a changed man. He apologizes to Amy, for treating her so poorly. Warden Sanders is impressed, and makes Johnny the captain of the prison baseball team.
But that causes a problem with his cellie, the hard-nosed Kane, who's planning a breakout, and thought Johnny was in on it. Now, he thinks Johnny's gone goody-goody with the warden. Johnny's trapped between two worlds. How will he get out?
There's also a second prison break being organised by the members of the bank robbery gang. They get shot to pieces by the tower guards, and one gang member, on his deathbed, confesses that Johnny was framed and should never have convicted in the first place. That's all I can reveal about the plot, but - if you can believe it - there's a whole 'nuther act after that. And all of this in a 63 minute movie, no less. This is one of those short films that we used to see a year ago, where there's a Ton of Stuff going on, comparable to a feature length movie. Remember how we were proclaiming the genius of 1940s screenwriters, and their ability to weave stuff into an hour long format? This is one of those scripts, big time.
The acting is also top-notch for a B-movie, with Milburn Stone, Edward Norris and Jack LaRue all standing out, and Joan Woodbury providing emotional contrast. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Prison Mutiny". Like "Renegade Girl" it's far better than the budget would indicate. A-list quality for both films, and both with no-fat scripts. "Mutiny" is equally recommended (very high), and the picture is slightly damaged but razor sharp. /////
Man, we've been having some really good ones of late. I'm glad, too, because I'm still dealing with residual stomach pain. It feels like it's starting to go away, but oh boy.........when you get something like this, and you're used to good health, it's a little scary. When they say "don't Google your symptoms", they mean it.
Well, onward and hopefully upward. I send you Tons of Love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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