Mickey Rooney is O.B. Taggart, freed from prison after serving a 12-year sentence and reunited with his three sons.
Eldest sons Phoenix (Randy Travis) and Gale (Larry Gatlin) have hung around because they helped their father rob a bank and make off with $80,000 prior to his capture.
O.B. knows where that loot is; they want their share.
Youngest son Slocum (Nicholas Guest) is simple-minded. O.B. hopes to spend some of that money to take him to St. Louis for treatment.
On their trail is Jack Parrish (Ben Johnson). His sister Clara was married to O.B.; Parrish blames O.B. for her death and wants to get even.
In their first encounter after O.B.’s release from prison, Parrish and Slocum wind up in a scuffle.
Slocum slices a Parrish in the neck with a glass bottle, leaving him with a near fatal wound and a nasty scar.
Now Parrish figures he has two scores to settle with the Taggart family.
Mickey Rooney as O.B. Taggart, issuing a warning to youngest son Slocum in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Nicholas Guest as Slocum Taggart, the simple-minded son O.B. wants to fix in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Review:
An odd Western, and that’s not a compliment because this film meanders so badly in the early going as the Taggarts wander from one encounter to another that viewers might wonder if there’s a point to it all.
It does get more interesting once the Taggart family reaches Placerville, the place where the loot is stashed. But even then the good ideas aren’t very well executed, and the plot’s dark turn is quite a contrast to the rest of the film.
Mickey Rooney wrote the script and, at age 74, clearly could have benefited from a continuity editor. At one point, he’s taking to the Irishman (who isn’t Irish) about how his stolen money was stashed in the bank. At another, he’s digging it up somewhere on the outskirts of town.
Ben Johnson’s top billing aside, Mooney’s the central figure in the film. Also central is his effort to protect and cure his youngest son as Slocum’s awkwardness and discomfort around young women causes repeated problems.
This marked one of Johnson’s final films. Country music stars Travis and Gatlin also penned songs that are featured in the film.
Randy Travis as Phoenix Taggart, the son who turned to religion while his dad was in prison in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Larry Gatlin as Gale Taggart, gun ready and standing up for the Taggarts again in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Directed by:
Rupert Hitzig
Cast:
Ben Johnson … Jack Parrish
Mickey Rooney … O.B. Taggart
Nicholas Guest … Slocum Taggart
Randy Travis … Phoenix Taggart
Larry Gatlin … Gale Taggart
Ernest Borgnine … Sheriff Laughton
Ned Beatty … Sam Lawrence
Nicole Lund … Jenny Lawrence
Ellen Blake … Luanne Lawrence
Billy Barty … Prospector Piggy Benson
Gloria DeHaven … Molly Plenty
Lisa Bonanno … Kiki
Marietta Maxime … Loretta
Natalie Rose … Rachel Saxby
Richard Lee-Sung … The Irishman
Runtime 98 min.
Songs:
“Wise Men and Fools” by Larry Gatlin
“Long and Rocky Road” by Larry Gatlin
“Money Without Love” written by Gatlin and Randy Travis, performed by Daryle Singletary
Ben Johnson as Jack Parrish, catching up with O.B. Taggart and his sons in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Ernest Borgnine as Sheriff Laughton, surprised to see the Taggarts return to Placerville in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Memorable lines:
O.B. Taggart to Sam Lawrence: “For God’s sake, put your hands down. We can smell you at the back of the house.”
Molly Plenty, offering to massage O.B.’s special places: “You want me to rub your feet? That’s not the O.B. Taggart I used to know.”
O.B. Taggart: “Molly, I ain’t the O.B. Taggart I used to know.”
O.B. Taggart: “I want to do something right. I want to do something good before I meet the big warden in the sky.”
Gale Taggart, of his father: “There he goes, waddlin’ across the street. You know, he walks like he had a gold nugget up his ass and wouldn’t drop it for a dollar.”
Phoenix Taggart: “I’m gettin’ too old to be chasin’ round that old man, hopin’ for a legacy that he don’t want to give me.”
O.B. Taggart: “Don’t you know money is the root of all evil?”
Phoenix Taggart: “Yeah, but without it, you’re nothin’.”
Ned Beatty as Sam Lawrence, under the gun of one of the Taggart boys in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Nicole Lund as Jenny Lawrence, the first young girl Slocum Taggart gets in trouble with in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Gloria DeHaven as Molly Plenty, a madam and old friend of O.B. Taggart in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Lisa Bonanno as Kiki, the whore O.B. Taggart chooses as Slocum’s introduction to women in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Natalie Rose as Rachel Saxby, flirting with Slocum Taggart without realizing the danger of doing so in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Richard Lee-Sung as The Irishman, the man who stashed O.B. Taggart’s loot years earlier in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Larry Gatlin as Gale Taggart and Randy Travis as Phoenix Taggart, plotting to get their share of the loot in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
Mickey Rooney as O.B. Taggart with his son Slocum in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1995)
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