Randolph Scott is Mark Rowley, a sheriff on the trail of the outlaws who held up a train station in Trial Cross, Texas.
His brother Johnny is along as a deputy and manages to capture on of the bandits, an old-timer known as the Coyote Kid (Gabb Hayes).
But U.S. Mark Bill Hampton shows up too, determined to beat John Rowley’s prisoner to get the information he wants on the other gang members.
When John balks at turning over the Coyote Kid, Hampton shoots the deputy, determined to take the prisoner by force.
That’s when the James brothers show up, just in time to rescue the Coyote Kid, who insists that they rescue the wounded lawman as well.
Mark Rowley follows into badman’s territory, all the way to the outlaw town of Quinto, where even the shopkeepers are likely to have a shady past.
Once there, he meets lady newspaper editor Henryetta Alcott (Ann Richards), who’s winning no friends with her law and order message but sees the sheriff as a possible kindred spirit.
He also locates his brother, gets into a horse race with Belle Starr, rubs elbows with the James and Dalton brothers, helps prevent an Indian uprising and is eventually appointed town regulator.
That’s when Hampton shows up again. And he’s armed with a warrant for Mark Rowley’s arrest.
Randolph Scott as Sheriff Mark Rowley, trying to convince Henryetta of his innocence in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Ann Richards as Henryetta Alcott, a newspaper editor with a law and order message in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Review:
Serviceable Randolph Scott Western with the James and Dalton brothers thrown in for good measure.
Their roles are secondary and, this being the 1940s, they’re not portrayed as very bad men — more couragous men who wound up on the wrong path in life.
As Mark Rowley, Scott’s worried his brother will follow them down that path, a fear that’s realized when John decides to join the Daltons for their Coffeyville raid.
Ann Richards plays the love interest, a young woman forced to take over her father’s newspaper when he died. She decides early on that Mark Rowley is future husband material, if Belle Starr doesn’t interfere.
Unfortunately for the film, Belle doesn’t. It might have made for a more interesting film is she had.
Gabby Hayes as The Coyote Kid, getting his first glimpse of Henryetta in her party dress in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Morgan Conway as Bill Hampton, the U.S. Marshal who wants to arrest Mark Rowley in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Directed by:
Tim Whelan
Cast:
Randolph Scott … Mark Rowley
Ann Richards … Henryetta Alcott
Gabby Hayes … The Coyote Kid
Ray Collins … Colonel Farewell
James Warren … John Rowley
Morgan Conway … Bill Hampton
Virginia Sale … Meg
Isabel Jewell … Belle Starr
John Halloran … Hank McGee
Andrew Tombes … Doc Grant
Richard Hale … Ben Wade
Harry Holman … Hodge
Chief Thundercloud … Chief Tahlequah
Lawrence Tierney … Jesse James
Tom Tyler … Frank James
Steve Brodie … Bob Dalton
Phil Warren … Grat Dalton
William Moss … Bill Dalton
Nestor Paiva … Sam Bass
Runtime: 97 min.
James Warren as John Rowley, listening to the Daltons plan their Coffeyville raid in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Isabel Jewell as Belle Starr, anticipating a horse race against Mark Rowley in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Memorable lines:
Henryetta Alcott to Quinto-bound Mark Rowley: “I’d advise you to remove that star. The life expectancy of a sheriff can be very short in Quinto.”
Sam Bass: “Say, that’s a real Sunday horse you got there.:
Hank McGee: “Yeah, and he ain’t so bad on the other days of the week too.”
Belle Starr, before the horse race starts:: “Wanna make a little side bet with me, sheriff?”
Mark Rowley: “What, for instance?”
Belle: “Oh, money or marbles or moonlight.”
Rowley: “Suppose we just make it a dollar and a half.”
Henryetta Alcott, of the dress she’s changing into: “Meg, it is becoming, isn’t it?”
Meg: “I think nobody ever saw so much of Henryetta Alcott. Why a woman should risk her death to get a man to notice her …”
Henryetta: “Man? What man?”
Meg: “Don’t be coy with me, young girl. A certain long-legged sheriff. Your appetite’s gone. You got a calf-eyed glaze in your eye. And you don’t hear a word that’s said to you.”
Randolph Scott as Mark Rowley, determined to bring some sense of law and order to Quinto in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Tom Tyler as Frank James and Lawrence Tierney as Jesse, meeting the lady newspaper editor in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Nestor Paiva as Sam Bass, in a showdown with Mark Rowley over stolen money from a horse race in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Chief Thundercloud as Chief Tahlequah, upset over gambling money that’s gone missing in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Virginia Slade as Meg, Henryetta’s assistant, making adjustments to a party dress in Badman’s Territory (1946)
Ann Richards as newspaper editor Henryetta Alcott with Sheriff Mark Rowley (Randolph Scott) in Badman’s Territory (1946)
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