Yvonne De Carlo and Howard Duff play the title characters, respectively, in a film depicting how the two fall into a life of crime through no fault of their own.
Duff rides into the town of Denton looking for a job and instead finds a girl (Dorothy Hart as Kathy Egan) and a horse, the Denton Mare, the fastest race horse in the area.
When he sees a blacksmith shoe the mare improperly, he bets on the next best horse in the race, which just happens to belong to Calamity Jane.
And when Jane’s horse wins, Sam’s able to buy the mare cheap.
From then on, determined to win enough money to buy a ranch and settle down with Kathy, Sam races his new horse, now renamed for his lady love.
It’s easy money, since no one knows he’s really riding the Denton mare. At the end of a long cattle drive Sam and buddy Joel Collins decide it’s time to hit it big.
They bet their own money plus the money they’ve made selling the cattle — $8,000 that doesn’t belong to them — on the renamed Denton mare.
Suspecting something’s afoul, a fellow race horse owner discovers the truth and fixes it so the Denton Mare can’t possibly win.
From there, it’s all downhill for Sam, who hooks up with Calamity on a series of robberies to try to recoup the lost money.
Howard Duff as Sam Bass, derailed on his way of a well-off and happy life in Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
Yvonne De Carlo as Calamity Jane. owner of one of the fastest horses around in Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
Review:
Lots of Wild West outlaws got the glamour treatment from Hollywood during the 1940s. This time around, it’s Sam Bass’s turn.
He’s presented as a Robin Hood type character, stealing at first only from those who stole from him. And only to get back the money that’s been unfairly taken.
Oddly, in spite of their willingness to play fast and loose with the Sam Bass character, filmmakers decided to stay true to the facts on several small details.
He did land in Denton, Texas, at one point. He did race horses before turning outlaw. He did have a friend named Joe Collins. And a lawman named Peak helped track him down.
The end result is a perfectly serviceable Western, enlivened by Yvonne De Carlo — who looks great in buckskins — and hurt by an overly melodramatic and improbable ending.
Willard Parker as Sheriff Will Egan, suspicious of Sam Bass when he arrives in Denton in Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
Dorothy Hart as Katherine Egan, the pretty storekeeper in Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
Directed by:
George Sherman
Cast:
Howard Duff … Sam Bass
Yvonne De Carlo … Calamity Jane
Lloyd Bridges … Joel Collins
Dorothy Hart … Kathy Egan
Willard Parker … Sheriff Will Egan
Marc Lawrence … Harry Dean
Houseley Stevenson … Dakota
Milburn Stone … Abe Jones
Clifton Young … Link
John Rodney … Morgan
Roy Roberts … Marshal Peak
Ann Doran … Mrs. Lucy Egan
Charles Crane … J. Wells
Walter Baldwin … Doc Purdy
Runtime: 85 min.
Lloyd Bridges as Joe Collins, ready to place a risky bet on Sam’s horse in Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
Norman Lloyd as Jim Gordon, the man who double crosses Sam in Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
Memorable lines:
Calamity to Sam, after knocking out the sheriff to free him from jail. “You’ve got a way with horses. I’ve got a way with sheriffs.”
Calamity to Sam: “I owe you a favor, and I mean to pay it back.”
Sam: “No need to trouble, ma’am. There’s nothing much you can do for me.”
Calamity: “You know, Mr. Bass. I think you’ve been around horses too long.”
Sheriff Egan: “A gambling man’s got a streak of larceny in him. It might not go any further, or it might. I’m not going to wait around and see.”
Dakota, upon hearing Sheriff Egan guarantee he’ll try to move the trail for himself, Sam and Joe: “I had a guarantee once on a $2 gun. Aimed at a flock of wild ducks overhead, the blamed thing shot my big toe off. I don’t hold much for guarantees.”
Roy Roberts as Marshal Peak in Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
Marc Lawrence as Harry Dean, the man who always wins the horse race in his town in Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
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