User Reviews

The Lawless Breed, a western very loosely based on the life of John Wesley Hardin, was a milestone film for young Rock Hudson. Rock was 28 when he made this film for Universal and for the first time he was given first billing in a film. Universal also gave him veteran action director Raoul Walsh and a supporting cast that knew its way around the set of a western.

John Wesley Hardin(1853-1895), one of the most notorious of bad men in the old west was also one of the few who actually got to put his story down for posterity. The film that you see is based somewhat on some of the incidents in Hardin's life. He was not as noble a character as The Lawless Breed would have you believe, but a whole lot of things attributed to him were probably pure hokum. The dime novels of the day worked their way into the popular culture for just about every character of the old west, good and bad.

As shown here, the real John Wesley Hardin was shot in the back in a saloon after his release from prison. But the story goes that during a preview of the film, the audience reaction was so negative to seeing Rock Hudson shot down like a dirty dog that Universal felt compelled to tack on a happy ending. The film was really supposed to end with him dying on the floor of the saloon telling his son played by Race Gentry not to follow in his footsteps. What was added on was a scene with wife Julie Adams and Gentry loading the wounded Rock on the back of a buckboard and after a bit of dialog they ride off in the sunset.

So one western legend got scrapped to start the career of a movie legend. Only in Hollywood.

John McIntire has a nice dual performance as Hudson's circuit riding preacher father and as his uncle, a cattle rancher. And there was a gang of brothers that Hudson kept tangling with the entire film, the Hanleys played by such western familiars as Lee Van Cleef, Michael Ansara, Hugh O'Brian, and Glenn Strange.

It's not a bad film despite the obviously tacked on happy ending for Rock's fans. John Wesley Hardin probably would have liked how it came out.

Highly romanticized take on the life of infamous killer on the southern plains John Westley Hardin, who is credited with killing between 27 and 42 men, most individually, some provoked, some not. While in prison for 17 years, he studied law and religion, and wrote his autobiography. Here, Rock Hudson portrays a largely fanciful Hardin. Well recognized character actor John McIntire plays his religion-obsessed, long bearded, father, as well as his Uncle John Clements, who much helps him.

A young woman, Jane Brown, was an orphan, so was raised by the Hardins. She and John hoped to marry soon. However, she is accidentally killed in a gun battle outside the Hardin home. So, John soon develops a romantic relationship with a saloon entertainer: Rosie(Julie Adams) They move around quite a bit to avoid the law, before settling down on a ranch, where they get married and have a boy before John is caught by Texas Rangers. He's sentenced to 25 years in prison, of which he served only 17. When released, he meets his son, who has an unhealthy interest in guns and quick draws, the elder Hardin thinks. After an argument, young John rides to a saloon, with Hardin following him. An argument ensues and Hardin is badly wounded. But, unlike the real Hardin, he survives his wound to ride off into the sunset.

For a time, Hardin has a bad relationship with the Hanley brothers, played by Lee Van Cleef(Dirk), Hugh O'Brian(Ike) and Glen Strange(Ben). Uncle John and his boys help Hardin in several scrapes with these men.

In the film, Hardin claims he never shot a man who didn't threaten him first or deserve death. It's very doubtful this was true of the real Hardin, who once killed a man for snoring too loud(Well, he was quite drunk, as he apparently often was during his killings). For all his killing, his punishment was very light, only a long prison sentence. It's a wonder nobody shot him down long before it finally happened. This film makes him look like more of a victim than a perpetrator of gunplay, and probably overemphasizes his prowess as a gambler.

If there's a clunkier line in a film than the one in my summary above, I've yet to hear it, and I have a pretty good ear for dialog. If I was watching this on a DVD instead of Encore Westerns, I certainly would have replayed it to hear again.

"The Lawless Breed" is loosely based on the life of Western outlaw John Wesley Hardin. I'm no expert, but the way he's portrayed here makes him out to be a somewhat misunderstood hero, all the while attempting to stay one step ahead of the law. Even in this picture, the number of his self-defense victims seemed to challenge the law of averages, and it's probably safe to say that the real Hardin, with over forty dead men to his credit, probably killed a few of them under questionable circumstances.

Rock Hudson, who I generally wouldn't call to mind as a Western movie hero, comports himself well enough in the film's lead role. However his age and matinée good looks probably work against the picture's credibility, as the character he was portraying was supposed to be only about twenty years old at the beginning of the story. Likewise, he seemed to get over Jane Brown's (Mary Castle) death rather quickly, conveniently having saloon gal Rosie (Julie Adams) to run off with when the heat was on.

At least the picture had some of the high points of the historical Hardin's life correct. In 1874, he killed Deputy Sheriff Charlie Webb in Comanche, Texas. Using the alias John Swain, he did open a grocery store, but in Gainesville, Florida, not Polland, Alabama. For Hardin, it was a quick line of work, as he was recognized on the very first day his store was open by a couple of cattlemen.

As the movie depicts, he was captured by the Texas Rangers, spent time in Huntsville Prison, and was pardoned after roughly fifteen years. However he used his prison time to study law, and actually became a lawyer upon release. His practice floundered though, prompting him to write his autobiography. On August 9th, 1895, John Wesley Hardin was shot by a lawman with a grudge, an event the film makers wouldn't put Rock Hudson through with his leading man charisma and future star potential.

In this film you get to see some of the studio's more well-known postwar stars at the beginning of their respective careers. Rock Hudson had just been promoted to leading man roles; Julie Adams (still billed as Julia Adams) was featured as a female lead; John McIntire was already carving out a niche for himself as a dependable character actor; and Dennis Weaver would be seen in one of his first supporting roles. All four of these contract players would have a long association with Universal up through the 1970s and 1980s.

This particular production benefits from the sure hand of actor-director Raoul Walsh. It is blessed with a strong script and gorgeous Technicolor cinematography. There was a trend in westerns at this time to tell the stories of notorious gunfighters whose days as outlaws in the late 1800s made them memorable figures. A lot of tales about the Jameses, Daltons and Youngers had been passed down as oral history and became part of common folklore. In this case, Bernard Gordon's screenplay has as its basis the autobiography of its historic main character, John Wesley Hardin.

After watching the film I read up on Hardin. I had to wonder how much of Hardin's own accounts, which were not published until 1925, about thirty years after his death, were exaggerated by him. Also, while I would expect the screenwriter not to take it all as gospel, I would think some of what was considered factual in the early 1950s was later proven to be untrue.

Regardless of what actually happened during some of these episodes from Hardin's life, it is certain that he lived a colorful life. He killed his first man as a young teen and had many violent encounters. He would spend years on the run before finally being brought to justice. And after he was tried in a court of law, convicted and sentenced, he served about 17 years in prison before a governor pardoned him.

A lot of what we see in the film is romanticized. The romantic aspects of the story help sell it as entertainment, and give this tale a broad commercial appeal. I don't fault the filmmakers for that. I rather like it. However, the real John Wesley Hardin was a braggart, a man who seemed proud of his exploits, and he dealt with some very mean law officers that probably forced him to be just as vicious in return.

Rock Hudson's portrayal is not mean, vicious or one bit cynical. While not soft, he is still wide-eyed and his character is depicted as devilish, fun-loving and someone who doesn't know how to stay away from trouble. In a way the script makes it seem like he is an addict- addicted to gambling, women and danger all in equal measure. The guy just cannot help himself.

What really impresses me about this film is how it gives us a family that comes together to help Hardin. But at the same time this nuclear unit exhibits a rigid dichotomy. Interestingly, John McIntire plays a dual role- as a fear-instilling man of the cloth who whips his rebellious son - and as the preacher's much more liberal and tolerant half-brother. It is no surprise which father figure Hardin turns to for help, when he can't obtain leniency or any sympathy from the other. Yet both patriarchs, the father and the uncle, are present in the courtroom when Hardin is sentenced, both of them there to offer support in the ways they best know how.

Some of this dichotomy is revisited in the final sequence of the movie when Hardin is released from the penitentiary. He reunites with his wife (Adams) and their now teenaged son (Race Gentry). Afraid that his son will be as reckless as he once was at that age, he hits the boy to punish him the way his father had done to him, to knock some sense into him. Then like the understanding uncle that always helped him, he rides off after his boy to make amends with him in a local saloon. Only this time there are unexpected and dramatic repercussions when Hardin is shot in the back by a whippersnapper out to prove something.

In real life Hardin was killed a year after his release from prison, by the father of a man he had pistol whipped in a fight. But in the movie, in order to ensure a happy ending, he survives being shot and goes home with his wife and son to live out his last days peacefully on their farm.

Rock Hudson made his starring debut in Raoul Walsh's western saga "The Lawless Breed" about the life of notorious gunman John Wesley Hardin. "Circus World" Bernard Gordon penned the screenplay ostensibly based on Hardin's autobiography. Hudson delivers a robust performance, even to the point of playing Hardin as an older man. Nevertheless, not even a veteran director like Walsh who knew his way around oaters could do much for this solemn, rather dreary affair about the evils of lawlessness. The supporting cast is good, especially John McIntire who plays a duo role, and Julia Adams plays Hardin's dancehall girl wife. Glenn Strange, Hugh O'Brien, and Lee Van Cleef are a devilish trio that dog Hardin for the first half-hour until things settle down. The second half deals with Hardin being imprisoned for his crimes.

"The Lawless Breed" opens at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, as an older, but wiser John Wesley Hardin (Rock Hudson of "Bend of the River") leaves jail Sentenced to 25 years, Hardin has been paroled after 16 years. Before he climbs aboard a train to take him back to Alabama and his horse breeding ranch, Hardin stops off at the local newspaper office. He gives the editor a copy of his handwritten autobiography and asks him to read it and get back to him. Consequently, "The Lawless Breed" reverts from a chronological sequence of events to a flashback and remains that way for most of its 83 minutes.

During the first half, we learn that John Wesley is a reckless boy who doesn't get along with his preacher of a father that loves to wield a bullwhip on his son. Wes Hardin's father was a preacher and a circuit rider. According to Wes, his father "was a strong, God-fearing man who carried his Bible like a six-gun and fought with the devil wherever he found him." When his intolerant father discovers that his son has purchased a revolver from his winnings at poker, he whips him and then storms out of the barn. An orphan who lost her family during the Civil War, Jane Brown (Mary Castle) has been living with the Hardins and cooking for them. Wes and she grew up together and he calls her as "the prettiest girl in Texas." Wes promises Jane that he wants to get a place of their own with green grass, water that runs all year around and a white painted house.

Later that evening, after curfew, Wes rides into Bonham to sell his law books after his father has given him a whipping. He sits in on a card game with three fellows, among them Gus Hanley, and beats them. Gus objects that he didn't deal him a certain card. Gus (Michael Ansara of "Soldiers Three") pulls his pistol, but Wes beats him on the draw and kills him. Holding the shotgun-toting barkeeper at bay, Wes exits with his winnings. No sooner does he leave the saloon than he runs into trouble from the army of occupation. The Yankee troops try to corner him in town, but he eludes them. Gus' three brothers, Ben (Glenn Stranger of "House of Frankenstein"), Ike (Hugh O'Brien of "Red Ball Express"), and Dirk (Lee Van Cleef of "High Noon") show up to claim Gus' corpse. The U.S. Army vows to bring John Wesley to trial. Dirk steps forward and warns the army officer. "Mister, you ain't going' to need no witnesses," Dirk stipulates," 'cause there ain't going to be no trial." After he escapes from Bonham, Wes rides out to his Uncle John's ranch. John Clements is half brother to John Wesley's father. Wes joins Clements and his sons Jim (Dennis Weaver of "Gunsmoke") and Joe (Richard Garland) on a cattle drive to Abilene. The Hanleys Brothers trail Wes to Abilene and Wes kills Dirk in a gunfight. Walsh stages this brief shoot-out in a way bolsters the drama because the wind is blowing hard and objects attached to the surrounding buildings are making a lot of noise. Afterward, Wes resumes gambling in the saloon while he awaits the completion of a wedding dress for Jane. Wild Bill Hickok (Robert Anderson of "High School Hellcats") gets the drop on Wes, but Wes outfoxes the legendary lawman and Hickok allows him to stay in town for an hour.

An hour later, Wes pulls out and returns to his father's ranch. Jane refuses to elope with Wes because she has promised Wes' father that he will marry them. Wes' father refuses to marry them until Wes is cleared of killing the Hanleys. The Army is pulling out and J.C. Hardin calls on a judge to clear things up. Wes agrees to turn himself in, but Ike prods a lawman, Sheriff Charlie Webb (George Eldredge of "Dead Reckoning"), into arresting Wes. When Wes resists arrest, Webb shoots him in the back. Wes kills him and Ike Hanley and heads back to his father's ranch. Jane refuses to have anything to do with Wes because he is a killer. The posse shows up at the Hardin ranch. The wounded Wes manages to escape but one of the posse kills Jane by accident. Hardin and his new girlfriend settle in Alabama under assumed names and live peacefully until certain Texans decide that Hardin must be found at any cost and incarcerated. Hardin receives a 25-year sentence, but the governor releases him after 16 years.

Presumably, Universal Studios didn't give "The Lawless Breed" a big budget because there are no major set-pieces. The narrative plays out in saloons, ranches, and on the trail, but there aren't any sprawling scenes of carnage, etc. Formulaic pretty much summarizes the narrative. John Wesley is presented as a man wronged for a murder that he did not commit. His youthful vigor got him into later trouble and somebody in his life important to him died when a posse attacked his home.

Technicolor seems all wrong for this leaden western, allegedly based on the life of John Wesley Hardin, a brutal, trigger-happy outlaw who murdered at least forty or fifty people, was pardoned after serving little more than half a 25-year jail sentence, but was then shot down by some lawman who had a grudge against him for murdering their kin. This factual ending was actually shot for the movie, but then scrapped and replaced by an everything-is-coming-up-roses fade-out instead. In the Hardin role, Solid Rock Hudson blacks out most of the screen while he exhibits an amazing ability to read the script's dreary, purple-laced dialogue from the idiot board without giving the game away by moving his eyes, but charismatic he most certainly is not. Nor is hammy John McIntire the least bit convincing as Hardin's bible-bashing dad. Unfortunately, many of the better players such as Lee Van Cleef, Buddy Roosevelt and Dick Wessel are lost in tiny roles. In all, it's mighty hard to believe that this dreary movie was so leadenly directed by Raoul Walsh who did such a magnificent job with 1951's The Enforcer.