Rock Hudson is John Wesley Hardin in this supposedly autobiographical tale of how he wound up a wanted man.
Beaten by his preacher father, Hardin sets out on his own, dreaming of earning enough money to start a horse farm with his childhood love and adopted sister Jane Brown (Mary Castle).
But Hardin shoots a man named Hanley who cheated at cards, starting a chain of events in which he runs into trouble because of gambling or guns. Soon, he has Hanley’s three brothers and the reconstruction-era Union cavalry on his trail.
Eventually, his father convinces him to turn himself in to stand trial. Another killing foils that plan, and Hardin finds himself wounded and on the run, relying on the help of his uncle, John Clements, and the other woman in his life, a petty young gal named Rosie.
He eventually promises her the same pretty future that he promised Jane. Thing is, Rosie’s considerably more skeptical.
Rock Hudson as John Wesley Hardin, catching a card cheat, prompting the gunfight that puts him on the run in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Julie Adams as Rosie, the saloon girl smitten with John Wesley Hardin if not his dreams in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Review:
Decent Raoul Walsh Western, though it’s not the true-life story it pretends to be.
Julie Adams is particularly effective as Rosie, a saloon gal with a soft spot in her heart for John Wesley even though he’s in love with another woman. She doesn’t try to change him, and isn’t convinced he really wants to settle down and raise horses like he keeps promising to do.
John McIntire plays two roles, Hardin’s dad and the uncle who helps him escape the law on more than one occasion. This marked one of the first credited roles for Dennis Weaver, who plays me of Hardin’s cousins.
And it marked the film debut of Race Gentry, who plays Hardin’s son in the film’s final scenes and certainly looked the part. His biggest Western film role came two years later as Joel McCrea’s young friend in “Black Horse Canyon” (1954).
John McIntire as J.C. Hardin, John Wesley’s religious and very strict father in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Mary Castle as Jane Brown, the girl John Wesley Hardin dreams of a future with in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Directed by:
Raoul Walsh
Cast:
Rock Hudson … John Wesley Hardin
Julie Adams … Rosie
Mary Castle … Jane Brown
John McIntire … John Clements / J.C. Hardin
Hugh O’Brian … Ike Hanley
Dennis Weaver … Jim Clements
Forrest Lewis … Zeke Jenkins
Lee Van Cleef … Dick Hanley
Tom Fadden … Chick Noonan
Race Gentry … Young John Hardin
Richard Garland … Joe Clements
Glenn Strange … Ben Hanley
William Pullen … Joe Hardin
Runtime: 83 min.
Glenn Strange as Ben Hanley, Hugh O’Brian as Ike Hanley and Lee Van Cleef as Dick Hanley, looking to avenge their brother’s death in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Dennis Weaver as Jim Clements, John McIntire as father John and Richard Garland as brother Joe, relatives who help John Wesley when he’s in trouble in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Memorable lines:
Rosie: “I don’t know why I should care about you.”
John Wesley Hardin: “Why do you?”
Rosie: “Maybe because you and me are the same kind. Living high on the hog today because we don’t believe tomorrow is going to come.”
J.C. Hardin: “You’re a plague on the earth, John Wesley.”
John Wesley: “Sure. Lots of people think that. There’s a whole posse of them after me right now. But don’t start praying for my eternal soul. Not yet.”
John Wesley: “All the time we’ve been here (on a farm) and you won’t even bother to unpack. Or hang up the curtains.”
Rosie: “Listen, Wes, I was born on a farm. My father marched away from a farm, tall and brave in a brand new uniform. I never saw him again. My mother died on a farm, giving birth to his son. I saw plenty of farms after that too. People sweating and digging their lives away. I saw them slaving so they could save a few pennies for that rainy day. It never rains, Wes. It pours.”
Texas Ranger commander: “Don’t get too fond of him (John Wesley Hardin), Duncan. If you want to sing his praises, we’ll give you a chance to recite a eulogy over his grave. After we hang him.”
Rock Hudson as John Wesley Hardin, forever dreaming of a life different than the one he leads in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Forrest Lewis as Zeke Jenkins, the man John Wesley wins a fast horse from in The Lawless Breed (1953)
George Eldredge as Sheriff Charle Webb, one of the lawman on John Wesley’s trail in The Lawless Breed (1953)
John McIntire as J.C. Hardin and William Pullen as Joe Hardin, attending John Wesley’s trial in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Race Gentry as John Wesley Hardin II, the son John Wesley fears will follow his reckless footsteps in The Lawless Breed (1953)
Julie Adams as Rosie treating a shoulder wound for John Wesley Hardin (Rock Hudson) in The Lawless Breed (1953)
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