Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

George Montgomery plays Jack McCall, the son of rich Southerners who opts to fight for the North during the Civil War, but winds up being labeled a traitor to his country anyway.

That happens when he volunteers to take an urgent message to Union reinforcements and lead them to their new headquarters.

On his way to meet the reinforcements, he encounters a wounded man in a Union uniform and gives him a map to headquarters as well.

Turns out the man is a Rebel soldier in disguise. And by the time the reinforcements arrive, Rebels raiders have already attacked.

When Union commanders discover the inadvertent role McCall played in the Confederate attack that follows, he’s court-martialed and sentenced to death.

He escapes and sets out to clear his name by tracking down the Rebel soldier (William Tannen as Spargo) who tricked him into turning over a map.

In the process, he rescues a damsel in distress (Angela Stevens as Rose Griffith) and heads back home.

Once there, he learns his parents are dead and that his cousin Bat (James Seay) has taken ownership of the estate.

What’s more, Bat is conspiring with Wild Bill Hickok to cheat the Indians out of their gold rich land in the Black Hills.

George Montgomery as Jack McCall, ready for a showdown now that he knows the truth in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

Douglas Kennedy as Wild Bill Hickok, coming face to face with Jack McCall in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

Review:

Wild Bill as a villain? Yep, that’s what this odd little flick serves up in a version of the Jack McCall story you’ve surely never heard before.

Little wonder. The real Jack McCall was hanged for killing Hickok in March 1877 at age 24. Which would have made him around 12 years old when the Civil War ended.

Here, Wild Bill’s gunned down in the opening scene, leaving McCall to tell the rest of the story from the witness stand after being arrested for killing the lawman.

All in all, the plot is more unique than many of Montgomery’s other low-budget Westerns from the 1950s. For instance, there’s his clever escape from the military death sentence and the fact that the Southern lady he rescues winds up being not such a lady after all.

That said, McCall’s friendship with Gray Eagle (Eugene Iglesias), son of the Sioux chief, leads to a couple of groan-worthy scenes.

Douglas Kennedy has the part of Wild Bill; Jay Silverheels of Lone Ranger fame plays the Sioux chief who prefers peace over war.

Angela Stevens as Rose Griffith, waiting for a verdict in Jack McCall’s trial in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

William Tannen as Spargo, a Reb in a Union uniform, tricking Jack McCall in giving him a map to headquarters in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

Directed by:
Sidney Salkow

Cast:
George Montgomery … Jack McCall
Angela Stevens … Rose Griffith
Douglas Kennedy … Wild Bill Hickok
James Seay … Bat McCall
Eugene Iglesias … Gray Eagle
Jay Silverheels … Red Cloud
William Tannen … Spargo
John Hamilton … Col. Cornish
Selmer Jackson … Col. Brand

Runtime: 76 min.

Jay Silverheels as Red Cloud, trusting Wild Bill Hickok to keep whites off Indian land in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

George Montgomery as Jack McCall reminding cousin Bat (James Seay) of family obligations in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

Memorable lines:

Rose Griffith, standing by her carriage, stranded: “My horse has bolted.”
Spargo: “That doesn’t even make horse sense. What horse is going to leave a beautiful girl like you?”

Jack McCall to Rose: “Where’d you get these horses?
Rose: “Oh, I found them by the sheriff’s office.”
Jack: “Great, now I’m a horse thief, too.”
Rose: “They can only hang us once.”

Rose, bursting into the sheriff’s office where Jack is being held prisoner: “But I’ve got to see him. We were supposed to be married tomorrow.”
Bentonville sheriff: “The only knot that’s gonna be tied tomorrow is in the rope that’s around his neck.”

Chief Red Cloud to his son Gray Eagle: “My son, young men like you and old men like me reason with different wisdoms. Who can say which greater? Dreams of wisdom and age? Or fires of youth?

Rose Griffith, explaining to Jack McCall how a fine southern lady became a pick-pocket out West: “The war passed through Atlanta. And I crawled out of the ashes.”

Eugene Iglesias as Grey Eagle (right) with wife Hiega (Alva Marie Lacy), listening to Red Cloud talk of peace in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

Selmer Jackson as Union Col. Brand, the officer who brands Jack McCall a traitor in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

Jay SIlverheels as Red Cloud, being fooled into thinking Wild Bill Hickok (Douglas Kennedy) is his ally in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)

George Montgomery as Jack McCall, flanked by Rose Griffith (Angela Stevens), hoping Wild Bill can help clear his name in Jack McCall, Desperado (1954)