Belle Starr’s Daughter (1948)

Belle Starr knows trouble is about to break out when two of her men leave their hideout in Cherokee Flats to visit the neighboring town of Antioch and wind up killing a lawman.

Sure enough, by the time the dust has settled, Belle is dead and most of her men have been killed or captured. Only Bob ‘Bitter Creek’ Yauntis (Rod Cameron), Yuma Talbott and Lafe Bailey escape.

At least they’re the only men to escape. Belle’s daughter Rose (Ruth Roman) does too, making her way to Antioch where she takes a job waiting tables at a dining hall.

The pretty newcomer catches the eye of Marshal Tom Jackson (George Montgomery). But the attraction isn’t mutual, partly because Rose blames him for her mother’s death.

Then ‘Bitter Creek’ drops by to check on an old friend who knows secrets the outlaw wants to remain secret. He convinces Rose to leave town with him.

And just like that, she’s following in her mother’s footsteps, part of a gang of thieves … thieves Marshal Jackson is determined to bring to justice, even if that includes the lovely Rose.

Review:

Serviceable Western, with Montgomery and Cameron doing their normal dependable jobs in the lead roles.

Ruth Roman making for an unlikely outlaw and spends most of the film unaware of who really killed her mother and blaming Marshal Jackson for something he didn’t do.

There’s a bit of a love triangle too. Cameron, playing the bad guy for a change, has his eye on the much younger Rose.

And Montgomery’s just a mite jealous when she does ride off with him, though romance isn’t foremost in her mind.

Directed by:
Lesley Selander

Cast:
George Montgomery … Marshal Tom Jackson
Rod Cameron … Bob ‘Bitter Creek’ Yauntis
Ruth Roman … Rose (Belle’s daughter)
Wallace Ford … Lafe Bailey
Charles Kemper … Deputy Gaffer
William Phipps … Yuma Talbott
Edith King … Mrs. Allen
Jack Lambert … Bronc Wilson
Fred Libby … Slim Smith
Isabel Jewell … Belle Starr
J. Farrell MacDonald … Doc Benson
Chris-Pin Martin … Spanish George
Larry Johns … Marshal Jed Purdy
Kenneth MacDonald … Uncle Jim Davis

Also with: Christine Larson, Charles Stevens, William Perrott, Mary Foran, Frank Darien, Paul E. Burns, Alvin Hammer, Lane Chandler, John Cason

Runtime: 84 min.

Memorable lines:

Marshal Jackson, as Belle’s cabin burns, with her body and that of her chief lieutenant inside: “Anybody want to say anything?”
Deputy Gaffer: “”Not much you can say about good riddance. But since we’re all Christians, more or less, let’s hope they don’t get what they’re deserving in the great beyond.

Gaffer to Marshal Jackson, as he pretties up for Rose: “You’re beard must be gettin’ worse and worse. Shavin’ twice a day.”

Bitter Creek: “Let’s go look at the moon.”
Rose: “The moon’s down by now.”
Bitter Creek: “You’ve got an answer for everything, and it’s always the wrong one.”

Bitter Creek, after Rose twists her way from his arms when he tries to kiss her: “You’re always running away.”
Rose: “Girls must have spoiled you where you come from.”

Marshal Jackson: “I never saw you before. You’re new, eh?
Rose: “If you never saw me before, I must be.”

Marshal Jackson: “I’ve never met a girl like you before. Kinda like a bullwhip, but pretty as a picture.”

Marshal Jackson, as his deputy lies wounded: “Hit bad?”
Deputy Gaffer: “It ain’t no love tap.”

Isabel Jewell as Belle Starr, wondering which men defied her orders in Belle Starr’s Daughter (1948)

Edith King, who takes Rose in after her mother dies in Belle Starr’s Daughter (1948)