Frontier Gal (1945)

Having tracked down one man responsible for his partner’s death, Johnny Hart (Rod Cameron) rides into Red Horse seeking the other.

What he finds first is a very lovely and very feisty saloon owner named Lorena (Yvonne De Carlo) who declares herself boss turkey in her establishment.

Determined to pluck some tail feathers, Hart matches each of Lorena’s slaps with a kiss until she finally follows him into his hotel room.

Mistaking passion for commitment — he did give her a ring, after all — she forces him to marry her at gunpoint, then turns him over to the law.

After six years in prison, he returns to Red Horse, still looking for the second killer.

This time, he finds a daughter he didn’t know he had, and the same ol’ fiery Lorena.

Deciding a saloon isn’t the best place to raise his daughter, he takes the precocious Mary Ann under his wing.

His decision to bring in a former fiance to help raise the young girl further complicates matters.

Review:

Highly entertaining in spots, super sappy in others and chauvinistic for sure.

Beverly Simmons is surprisingly adorable in her role as the child of Lorena and Johnny. De Carlo is a delight when she isn’t under the influence of Cameron’s smooches.

This marked one of her earliest starring roles. She’s an actress gained fame, lost it, then regained it as Lilly Munster in the 1960s.

Andy Devine and Fuzzy Knight help provide comic relief; Sheldon Leonard plays a villain named “Blackie.” He’s the man Johnny’s been seeking. Oh, and he also wants to marry Lorena.

Directed by:
Charles Lamont

Cast:
Yvonne De Carlo … Lorena Dumont
Rod Cameron … Johnny Hart
Andy Devine … Big Ben
Fuzzy Knight … Fuzzy
Andrew Tombes … Judge Prescott
Sheldon Leonard … ‘Blackie” Shoulders
Clara Blandick … Abigail
Jan Wiley … Sheila Winthop
Jack Overman … Buffalo
Frank Lackteen … Cherokee
Beverly Simmons … Mary Ann

Runtime: 92 min.

Memorable lines:

Johnny: “So you’re the boss turkey?”
Lorena: “I said it.”
Johnny: “I got a notion to pull out a handful of tail feathers.”

Judge Prescott to Johnny: “Pretty lively filly, that. Well worth stable room once she’s broken to the bridle.”

Johnny to Lorena: “You’re beautiful, like a brand new knife blade. But you’ve been told that, of course?”
Lorena: “Well, not in that way.”

Johnny to Lorena: “I like to tame colts. I’ve tamed a lot of them. But that doesn’t mean I want to keep them.”
Lorena: “Now, you’re calling me a horse.”

Johnny: “What a way for a bride to act. And on her honeymoon, no less.”
Lorena: “I don’t want to be a bride. I want to be a widow.”

Johnny: “Someday, Blackie, I’m gonna take that toad-stabber plaything of yours and cut you up into sandwiches.”
Blackie: “Always thinking about breaking the law. Won’t you learn a lesson?”

Sheila Winthop: “Let’s go home, Aunt Abigail. I wouldn’t mind helping him raise his child. But I certainly don’t intend to help him bring up his wife.”

Clara Blandick as Aunt Abigail and Jan Wiley as Sheila Winthop, summoned to help Johnny raise a child in Frontier Gal (1945)

Frank Lackteen as Cherokee listens to Johnny’s plans for raising Mary Ann in Frontier Gal (1945)