Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Broderick Crawford is Bob Holliday, who has sewn his wild oats, made his mark on the west and owns the Bella Union saloon in the thriving town of Deadwood.

Now he’s ready to settle down. So Bob sends younger brother Jim (Robert Stack) to St. Louis to fetch Anne Grayson (Ann Rutherford), the woman he plans to marry, .

Only Anne and Jim fall in love on the trip back to West and are already married by the time they arrive back in Tombstone.

That shocks Bob so much he joins Jack McCall’s outlaw gang, which specializes in dressing up like Indians and robbing stagecoaches.

The bad news for McCall, Bob Holliday and the other bandits around is that Wild Bill Hickok (Richard Dix) has arrived in Tombstone too.

And while he refuses to pin on a sheriff’s badge, he’s more than willing to help Jim Holliday once he’s offered a star to wear on his chest.

Jim was recommended for the job by none other than his brother Bob, who knows how dangerous it will be and how quickly Anne might become a widow.

While Anne frets about the danger he’ll face as sheriff, Jane (Frances Farmer) frets over the fate of Bob Holliday. She’s in love with him.

Robert Stack as Jim Holliday, the young man who finds himself wearing a sheriff’s badge in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Broderick Crawford as Bob Holliday reacts to news that his girl has married his brother in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Review:

A decent quickie B Western that benefits from having Dix in a supporting role rather than playing the lead.

After a first half that focuses on the romantic triangle, director Alfred E. Green steps up the action with stage robberies, chases and a large-scale Indian attack on Deadwood.

In one unintentionally hilarious scene, a white man dressed as an Indian is hiding way up in a tree. He lassos the shotgun driver on a passing stage and plucks him right out of his seat and into the air.

Oddly, the Jane character is clearly modeled after Calamity Jane. She’s a tough-as-nails gal who seldom dons a dress. But the name “Calamity” is never uttered.

That part is played by Frances Farmer and this marked one of her last films before alcoholism and a series of stays in mental hospitals derailed a once-promising career. She appeared in just 15 films, yet her life story inspired four biographies and the 1982 film “Frances,” starring Jessica Lange.

This also marked the first top-billed role for Robert Stack, who shows up with curly blonde hair. He was 22 at the time, younger than either of his female co-stars.

Ann Rutherford as Anne Grayson, looking forward to adventures out West in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Frances Farmer as Jane, trying to deal with the fact that Bob Holliday wants to marry someone else in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Directed by:
Alfred E. Green

Cast:
Robert Stack … Jim Holliday
Ann Rutherford … Anne Grayson
Richard Dix … Wild Bill Hickok
Frances Farmer … Jane
Broderick Crawford … Bob Holliday
Hugh Herbert … Rocky Plummer
Andy Devine … Spearfish
Lon Chaney Jr. … Jack McCall
Fuzzy Knight … Hurricane Harry
Addison Richards … Gen. George Custer

Runtime: 74 min.

Richard Dix as Wild Bill Hickok, a man who doesn’t want a badge but will help deal with trouble in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Lon Chaney Jr. as Jack McCall, the man behind the stage holdups in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Memorable lines:

Jim Holliday, offering a toast: “Here’s to Deadwood, a town with hair on its chest.”

Anne Grayson: “Tell me about the social life in Deadwood. I suppose they have dances every Saturday night.”
Jim Holliday: “I’ve even seen men dancing Friday afternoon. At the end of a rope.”

Jim Holliday: “I can’t picture you in a frontier town.”
Anne Grayson: “That sounds like a challenge, and I love challenges.”

Spearfish, alarmed by Bob’s reaction to Anne’s marriage: “Jane, you’ve got to come. Or something awful will happen.”
Jane, feeling rejected by Bob’s intention to marry someone else: “Good.”

Jane to Gen. Custer: “This town wants to be wide open. They won’t know how wide open it is til they see them redskins gallopin’ through it from both ends.”

Fuzzy Knight as Hurricane Harry and Andy Devine as Spearfish, on the watch for trouble in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Hugh Herbert as bartender and chief fireman Rocky Plummer in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Ann Rutherford as Anne Grayson and Robert Stack as Jim Holliday try to break their surprising news in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Addison Richards as Gen. George Custer, trying to keep the Sioux subdued in Badlands of Dakota (1941)

Richard Dix as Wild Bill Hickok and Robert Stack as Jim Holliday prepare a trap for the bandits in Badlands of Dakota (1941)