Bad Girls (1994)

When a wealthy customer tries to manhandle widowed whore Anita Crown (Mary Stuart Masterson), her friend Cody Zamora (Madeleine Stowe) shoots him dead.

Next thing you know, Cody is hanging from a noose, about to meet her maker in Echo City, Colorado’s friendliest town, as a preacher reads off her long list of sinful ways.

Of course that’s before she’s rescued by her fellow ladies of the night – Eileen Spenser (Andi McDowell), Lilly Laronette (Drew Barrymore) and the aforementioned Anita.

The gals’ next plan: Head to Oregon where Anita and her deceased husband had a claim to land. Then start a sawmill with more than $12,000 Cody has stashed in a bank in Agua Dulce.

Problem is, Kid Jarrett’s gang shows up in Agua Dulce at exactly the same time, with plans to rob that bank. He takes Cody’s $12,000, too, but invites her to his hideout to get it back.

Seems Cody once rode with the gang, and spent some time in the bed of both Kid and his dad.

She takes him up on that invitation, but winds up badly beaten instead of $12,000 richer.

As time goes on, friction between Kid Garrett and the “bad girls” grows as each side keeps winding up with something the other side wants. Meanwhile, the “bad girls” have another problem: The Pinkertons are on their trail.

Review:

The film starts off fast, seems to lose steam, then ends with a flair. But if you don’t take it seriously – please don’t think too long about the plot — it’s a good deal of fun.

Certainly much better than many of the other female gunfighter films released over the years. And it features one of the funnier and sexier jailbreak scenes you’re likely to come across as Drew Barrymore’s scantily–clad Lilly invites a deputy to inspect her “wounds.”

Durmot Mulroney plays Josh McCoy, a man bound for a gold claim in the Klondike, but who first wants to settle the score with the Jarretts for killing his parents. He winds up rescuing Cody too; then they fall for one another.

James LeGros is a rancher assigned the task of guarding Eileen while she’s jailed and resisting her temptations. He succeeds, for a while. James Russo plays the snarling villain of the piece.

Directed by:
Jonathan Kaplan

Cast:
Madeleine Stowe … Cody Zamora
Mary Stuart Masterson … Anita Crown
Andie MacDowell … Eileen Spenser
Drew Barrymore … Lilly Laronette
James Russo … Kid Jarrett
Robert Loggia … Frank Jarrett
James Le Gros … William Tucker
Dermot Mulroney … Josh McCoy
Jim Beaver … Pinkerton Graves
Nick Chinlund … Pinkerton O’Brady

Runtime: 99 min.

Memorable lines:

Preacher: “I accuse you of harlotry. I accuse you of destroying the sanctity of marriage. I accuse you of bringing disease and sin to this town. You have blackened the sun, and bloodied the moon. I accuse you of having a scorpion between your legs that destroys man’s covenant with God. Cleanse yourself with death.”
Cody Zamora: “Just get on with it.”

Mrs. Clayborne: “If you were any more than a bag of manure with a badge on it, my colonel might still be alive.”
Sheriff: “Well, I didn’t put no gun to your mister’s head and make him jump that whore.”

Anita Crown, trying to convince the girls to start a sawmill: “We sold our bodies. Why can’t we sell some wood?”

Anita Crown, after being told her land claim is worthless because her husband is dead: “I was worthless until I married. So now I guess I’m worthless as a widow. Funny, I had some value as a whore.”

Josh McCoy to Jarrett: “You’re dead. I just ain’t killed you yet.”

Cody, after flipping Kid a bullet: “Pick it up. Put it in. Die like a man.”
Kid: “You are a dumb whore.”

Mary Stuart Masterson as Anita Crown in Bad Girls (1994)

Drew Barrymore as Lilly Laronette in Bad Girls (1994)