Frontier Badmen (1943)

Robert Paige is Steve Logan, who arrives in Abilene, Kansas, with his herd and is happy to sell them for $11 per head.

That’s until he learns cattle are selling for $23 per head in Kansas City. And that someone is controlling the market in Abilene so that a Texas cattleman will never get more than $11 per head for his beef.

No one knows exactly who’s doing the price-fixing. To the consternation of partner Jim Cardwell (Noah Beery Jr.), Logan sets about changing that.

Logan immediately purchases a herd for $12 per head, not knowing they belong to pretty Chris Prentice (Anne Gwynne).

Then he drives them down the main street in Abilene, auctioning them off to cattle buyers in the one place he knows no one will dare gun him down.

This doesn’t sit well with a saloon owner named Ballard, the one who’s been controlling the market and using hired gun Chango (Lon Chaney Jr.) to enforce his will.

But Logan has his own lethal allies, including Slim (Andy Devine), one of his riders who’s fond of showing off the notches on his six-gun, and two of the Prentice riders, Chinito Galvez and Cherokee.

Still, Cardwell thinks Steve would be safer back on a Texas ranch. And Chris, who’s fallen for him, tends to agree.

Robert Paige as Steve Logan, vowing to make sure Texas cattlemen get a fair price for their herds in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Noah Beery Jr. as Jim Cardwell, trying to steer Steve Logan back to Texas and out of danger in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Review:

Robert Paige, star of dozens of films, makes a rare appearance in a Western that still features plenty of familiar faces and a rousing climax.

The big finish includes a lynching party trying to bust into the jail, a herd of cattle being stampeded down the main street in Abilene and one of our heroines riding her horse into a saloon, six-gun blazing.

Paige and Noah Beery Jr. wind up romancing the same girl. But while Beery’s Jim Cardwell wants to marry cattle queen Chris Prentice, Logan swears he’ll never marry and is also flirting with a lady card shark Claire, played by Diana Barrymore.

Devine, Leo Carrillo as Chinito and Frank Lackteen as Cherokee provide comic relief. At one point, they’re trying to get answers from a man named Lindsay.

He’s tight-lipped while Devine, expert with a bullwhip, flicks buttons off his vest and while Lackteen, expert with a knife, tests his skill. He starts spilling answers when they trade weapons.

Tex Ritter has a small role as a cattle buyer named Kimball.

Anne Gwynne as Chris Prentice, the Texas cattle queen romanced by Steve Logan and Jim Cardwell in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Diana Barrymore as Claire, concerned about Steve Logan’s safety in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Directed by:
Ford Beebe
William C. McGann

Cast:
Robert Paige … Steve Logan
Anne Gwynne … Chris Prentice
Noah Beery Jr. … Jim Cardwell
Diana Barrymore … Claire
Leo Carrillo … Chinito Galvez
Andy Devine … Slim
Tex Ritter … Jerry Kimball
Thomas Gomez … Ballard
Lon Chaney Jr. … Chango
Frank Lackteen … Cherokee
William Farnum … Dad Courtwright

Runtime: 73 min.

Thomas Gomez as Ballard, the saloon owner controlling the cattle marker in Abilene in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Lon Chaney Jr. as Chango (left) and Blackie, two of Ballard’s hired guns in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Memorable lines:

Ballard: “I’d advise you against gambling with professionals. Game might be crooked for all we know.”
Steve Logan, heading toward the table where Claire is dealing cards: “That’s what makes it fun.”

Dad Courtwright, when Jim Cardwell balks at partner Steve Logan’s plan to buy the Prentice herd: “Don’t want to make any trouble between you two boys.”
Cardwell: “You won’t. He’s always gettin’ in over his head. And I’m always here to pull him out.”

Slim, about Abilene: “I don’t like this town. It’s too dark, and I’m too big a target.”
Steve Logan: “Well find yourself a corner some place and get in it.”
Slim: “If I can get one that’ll fit me, I will.”

Leo Carrillo as Chinito Galvez, trying to scare answers out of a Ballard ally named Lindsay (Arthur Loft) in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Andy Devine as Slim, counting cattle to make sure Steve Logan isn’t cheated in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Steve Logan, watching the sheriff approach yet again: “Well, you’d think they had law in town the way it gets around.”

Steve Logan, seeing Chris Prentice in a dress for the first time: “Wow, you’re cute enough to hug.”
He goes to do just that. She quickly backs off.
Chris Prentice: “I don’t rope that easy, Steve.”

Jim Cardwell: “You’ve been cryin’.”
Chris Prentice: “Yes, I’ve been crying. And cussing and ripping things up in general.”

Diana Barrymore as Claire, trying to figure out the intentions of Steve Logan (Robert Paige) in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Anne Gwynne as Chris Prentice, smitten with Steve to the dismay of Noah Beery Jr. as Jim Cardwell in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Frank Lackteen as Cherokee, a Prentice rider and expert knife thrower, about to practice his skill in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Robert Homans as the Abilene sheriff, reacting to a herd of cattle grazing in downtown Abilene in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Thomas Gomez as Ballard and Diana Barrymore as Claire, reacting to Steve Logan rambunctious arrival in Abilene in Frontier Badmen (1943)

Robert Paige as Steve Logan and Noah Beery Jr. as Jim Cardwell, being ordered to move their herd in Frontier Badmen (1943)