Renegade Girl (1946)

Ann Savage is Jean Shelby, a Confederate operative using her beauty and charm to coax useful information from Northerners and pass it along to members of the Quantrill gang, including her brother Bob.

She has an arch enemy in the renegade Indian White Cloud and falls for an unlikely man, Union Capt. Fred Raymond.

White Cloud kills her brother and parents, fueling Jean’s thirst for revenge. When she’s seriously wounded during one of White Cloud’s raids, it’s Raymond who rushes her to a doctor.

But during her long recuperation, Jean doesn’t hear from Raymond. Figuring she’s been abandoned, she joins an outlaw gang of former Quantrill raiders with this promise — the man among the six who does the most to put White Cloud in the grave will be the one to get her as his wife.

What she doesn’t know is that Raymond was captured by the Confederate Army and held prisoner to the end of the war.

When they finally do reunite, he’s still an officer; she’s now a wanted woman for a whole series of new crimes.

Ann Savage as Jean Shelby, the young woman determined to avenge her brother’s death in Renegade Girl (1946)

Alan Curtis as Capt. Fred Raymond, the officer trying to find and capture a female outlaw in Renegade Girl (1946)

Review:

This quickie B Western has its moments — when Ann regains her health, one of the first things she wants to do is test her prowess with a gun — as well as moments where the lines she’s asked to pull off will make you groan.

And Ed Brophy has an interesting role as Bob Crandell, an oafish Quantrill gang member who’s clearly taken with Ann, but knows she’s out of his league. Unfortunately, his form of comic relief doesn’t quite fit the fatalistic tone of the film.

Savage will always be best known for her role in the film noir classic, “Detour.” But one of her last films was another Western, “Woman They Almost Lynched” (1958).

This was one of the last films for Russell Wade, a prolific actor during the 1940s, who retired to go into business and real estate. He plays Jerry Long, the gang member determined to stake a claim on Jean Shelby.

Russell Wade as Jerry Long, a gang member who intends to marry Jean Shelby in Renegade Girl (1946)

Edward Brophy as Bob Crandell, a gang member loyal to Jean Shelby in Renegade Girl (1946)

Directed by:
William Berke

Cast:
Ann Savage … Jean Shelby
Alan Curtis … Capt. Fred Raymond
Edward Brophy … Bob Crandell
Russell Wade … Jerry Long
Jack Holt … Maj. Barker
Claudia Drake … Mary Manson
Ray Corrigan … William Quantrill
John King … Cpl. Brown
Chief Thunder Cloud … Chief White Cloud
Edmund Cobb … Sgt. James
Richard Curtis … Joe Barnes
Nick Thompson … Tom Starr
Harry Cording … Miller
Ernie Adams … Ted Rockley
James Martin … Bob Shelby

Runtime: 65 min.

Chief Thunder Cloud as Chief White Cloud, the man responsible for the death of Jean Shelby’s brother in Renegade Girl (1946)

Ray Corrigan as William Quantrill, the Confederate raider Jean Shelby helps in Renegade Girl (1946)

Memorable lines:

Jean Shelby: “I guess helping Quantrill wasn’t the right way (to fight the Yankees). But it was the only way we had. Now, I don’t know. Everything I felt about the war seemed to die when Bob (her brother) was killed. All I am now is heartbroken and lonely.”
Capt. Raymond: “I understand.”
Jean: “No, you can’t. You don’t know what I’ve done in this war. I’ve been an outlaw. I’ve fought and lied and cheated. I’ve made men like me when I hated them just so they would talk. Yes, I was willing to do almost anything to help us fight the Yankees. And I did.”

Jean Shelby, having recovered from a wound and inquiring about Capt. Raymond: “He forgot me as soon as I was out of sight. Well, I can hate him as much as I love him.”

Jean Shelby: “My life doesn’t mean much to me, but I’m not going to let White Cloud end it.”

Jean Shelby, to her six male gang members: “In the last year or so, every one of you has asked me to marry him. If you still feel that way, I’m ready to make a deal with you. When White Cloud is dead, the one who did the most to make him that way will be the one.”

Bob Crandell to Jean Shelby: “I know you hate this business of being a road agent. You don’t belong in it. You belong in a nice house, wearing nice clothes, with a nice husband, bringing up nice children. And none of them should look like anybody in this gang.”

Jack Holt as Major Barker, the first Union officer to wind up in custody of Jean Shelby in Renegade Girl (1946)

Claudia Drake as Mary Manson, a friend who helps nurse Jean Shelby back to health after she’s wounded in Renegade Girl (1946)

Alan Curtis as Capt. Fred Raymond, finding himself under Jean Shelby’s gun in Renegade Girl (1946)

Ann Savage as Jean Shelby, listening to a warning from gang member Bob Crandell in Renegade Girl (1946)