Brimstone (1949)

Walter Brennan is Brimstone Courteen, a rancher bitter because his range has been carved up at settlers.

So he decides to get even, by robbing their banks, their stagecoaches and anything else he can get his hands on with the help of sons Luke (Jack Lambert) and Nick (Jim Davis).

Since Sheriff McIntyre (Forrest Tucker) seems incapable of stopping the outlaws, the leaders of Clay County send for outside help.

One potential source of help, Johnny Tremaine (Rod Cameron) has already arrived, though he first roams the countryside as the masked black bandit in hopes that he’ll stir up some clues about the real bandits.

Eventually, he pins on a deputy’s badge, becoming an instant arch enemy of Courteen and his sons.

Meanwhile, Brimstone has a new problem. Youngest son Bud (James Brown) has fallen for a pretty young settler named Molly (Lorna Gray).

It’s a relationship he forbids. Worse yet, Bud has posed as the black bandit in order to finance a future with Molly. Now he’s being sought by the law as well.

Rob Cameron as Johnny Tremaine, tracking down the Courteen gang in Brimstone (1949)

Walter Brennan as Brimstone Courteen, scowling at the law again in Brimstone (1949)

Review:

A beautiful looking piece of fluff, filled with rip-tooting Western dialogue and culminating in an unusal three-way chase to the finish.

Brennan steals the show as the cranky patriarch of his family, a man who demands loyalty from his sons and prefers them as mean and fast with a gun as possible.

For that reason, he has little use for youngest son Bud. Until the lad shows some gumption by trying to rob a stage.

Once that happens, Brimstone diverts the blame to Molly’s brother, leaving him in jail for a crime committed by his sister’s beau.

That’s one of the better twists in this tale. The worst is the masked black ghost.

Forrest Tucker as Henry McIntyre, a sheriff under fire in Brimstone (1949)

Jack Lambert as Luke Courteen, eager to win his father’s approval in Brimstone (1949)

Directed by:
Joseph Kane

Cast
Rod Cameron … Johnny Tremaine
Lorna Gray … Molly Bannister
Walter Brennan … Brimstone Courteen
Forrest Tucker … Sheriff McIntrye
Jim Davis … Mick Courteen
James Brown … Bud Courteen
Guinn “Big Boy” Williams … Deputy Benson
Jack Lambert … Luke Courteen
Jack Holt … Marshal Walter Greenslide
Will Wright … Martin Tredwell
David Williams … Todd Bannister
Harry Cheshire … Calvin Wills
Hal Taliaferro … Dave Watts

Runtime: 90 min.

Lorna Gray as Molly Bannister, fretting about her boyfriend’s future in Brimstone (1949)

Guinn (Big Boy) Williams as Deputy Benson, teaming up with Tremaine, in Brimstone (1949)

Memorable lines:

Brimstone Courteen to a stage driver, as he appears to be reaching for a gun: “Those are real nice hands you have, mister. I’d hate like sin to have to shoot them off of you.”

Stage passenger, holding her ring out the stagecoach window: “Aren’t you going to rob us too?”
Brimstone Courteen: “Tuesday’s chicken feed day. This is Wednesday.”

Luke Courteen: “Sorry I was slow on the draw, pop.”
Brimstone Courteen: “You’ve always been slow, ever since you’ve been able to lift a gun. I’ll give you one more chance, Luke.”
Luke: “What do you mean?”
Brimstone: “You let one more man beat you to the draw, and I’ll bust your skull wide open. Maybe let you in a new set of brains. A man who ain’t no good at gun-slingin’ ain’t no good to me, even if he is my son.”

Luke Courteen: “You’re just talkin’ to hear your jaw rattle.”

Brimstone Courteen of Johnny Tremaine: “He’s as slippery as a watermelon seed.”
Sheriff McIntrye: “The thing to do with a watermelon seed is to bite right into it.”

Walter Brennan as Brimstone Courteen with sons Nick (Jim Davis) and Luke (Jack Lambert) in Brimstone (1949)

Lorna Gray as Molly Bannister with wounded boyfriend Bud Courteen (James Brown) in Brimstone (1949)

Charlita as Chiquita tries flirting with Johnny Tremaine (Rod Cameron) in Brimstone (1949)

James Brown as Luke Courteen, ready to accept his punishment in Brimstone (1949)

Forrest Tucker as Sheriff McIntyre and Rod Cameron as Johnny Tremaine crossing paths with the Courteens in Brimstone (1949)

Rob Cameron as Johnny Tremaine, the lawman trying to clean up a mess in Brimstone (1949)