The Sundowners (1950)

Robert Sterling is Tom Cloud, a man who has staked out a spread 15-miles wide in the middle of cattle country, and that doesn’t make him popular with three nearby ranchers who want his land to expand their herds.

So they rustle his cattle, harass his help, and they just killed a cowpoke named Juan.

In rides Kid Wichita (Robert Preston) with plans to change all that, by putting the shoe on the other foot.

Tom balks at first. But he just can’t seem to say no to the fun-loving, dangerous man in black. So Kid Wichita starts rustling cattle from the other herds.

He isn’t bashful about getting involved in gunplay either. Tom’s biggest concern — that Kid Wichita’s lawlessness will rub off on his younger brother Jeff (John Barrymore in his big-screen debut).

With the body count mounting, he’s going to have to make a choice. Complicating matters is a secret about Kid Wichita that only the Cloud brothers know.

Robert Preston as James Cloud, aka Kid Wichita, a scoundrel determined to do worse unto others in The Sundowners (1950)

Robert Sterling as Tom Cloud, the rancher who lets Kid Wichita help him get even with neighbors in The Sundowners (1950)

Review:

Energetic little film that owes its appeal to one thing: Robert Preston’s performance as the amoral Kid Wichita.

His credo: If you do bad to me, I’ll do twice as bad to you. And if I want something, I won’t hesitate to kill any obstacles that are in the way.

Cathy Downs plays Kathleen Boyce, wife of a mining engineer who feels more affection for Tom Cloud than her own husband (Jack Elam). She doesn’t feel for Kid Wichita, though he wants her for his own.

Another interesting twist is cattleman John Gall, who’s put his weak-willed son in the sheriff’s office and demands he start acting like a man.

This marked one of the earliest roles for Jack Elam.

John Drew Barrymore as Jeff Cloud, Tom’s younger brother, wounded on a night ride with Kid Wichita in The Sundowners (1950)

Chill Wills as Sam Beers, encouraging Tom Cloud to rid himself of Kid Wichita in The Sundowners (1950)

Directed by:
George Templeton

Cast:
Robert Preston … Kid Wichita
Robert Sterling … Tom Cloud
Chill Wills .. Sam Beers
Cathy Downs … Kathleen Boyce
John Litel … John Gall
Jack Elam … Earl Boyce
Don Haggerty … Sheriff Gall
John Barrymore … Jeff Cloud
Dave Kashner … Gill Bassen
Frank Cordell … Jim Strake
Clem Fuller … Turkey
Stanley Price … Steve Fletcher

Runtime: 83 min.

aka: “Thunder in the Dust”

Cathy Downs as Kathleen Boyce, the woman who loves Tom Cloud more than her husband in The Sundowners (1950)

Jack Elam as Earl Boyce, in a fit of rage over the attention Wichita pays his wife in The Sundowners (1950)

Memorable lines:

Sam Beers, a rancher: “I hate cows. Whenever I think of owning any more cows than I got right now, it just pretty near turns my stomach.”

Kid Wichita to Tom: “See how ignorant it makes a man to live a cultured life like you.”

John Gall: “When a man begins to bring paid killers onto the range, it’s my understanding that trouble is what he wants.”
Kid Wichita: “Why, Mr. Gall, from Amarillo to Geerick, with two exceptions, no one ever proved a thing on me.”
Gall: “But you never moved anywhere without murder breaking out, and you never lived anywhere except under a cloud.”

Kid Wichita: “Some people get their fun out of spur-raking women. Others like to rile up men, that’s all.”

Tom Cloud: “Fighting fire with fire seemed like the only way.”
Sam Beers: “And up went the barn.”

John Litel as John Gall, trying to prod his sheriff son into action in The Sundowners (1950)

Don Haggerty as Sheriff Elmer Gall, getting a dire warning when a cigarette lands on his desk in The Sundowners (1950)