The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)

Sheila Connolly (aka Kelly Ryan) is Kate Dalton, a pretty young woman left rudderless after the slaying of her father.

Her dad was Jim Dalton, a reformed outlaw. Unfortunately for him, not all of his ranch hands were nearly so reformed.

Kate’s taken in by her aunt, Mrs. Merril, and given a job in her general store.

But she isn’t quite sure how to respond to the romantic advances of Marshal Dan Porter (Jim Davis). She suspects him of shooting her dad.

Then another admirer shows up — Jess Raidley (Bill Williams), one of her dad’s former ranch hands.

Kate joins his gang for a string of holdups, having no idea that Jess is the man responsible for her dad’s death.

Sheila Connelly (aka Kelly Ryan) as Kate Dalton, helping rob Wells Fargo in The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)

Bill WIlliams as Jess Raidley, trying to woo Kate Dalton in The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)

Review:

Jim Davis and Bill Williams spent much of the early 1950s playing secondary roles in Westerns.

Here, they step into the forefront and deliver a Western that’s better than you might expect, with an assist from spunky and seldom seen Shiela Connolly.

It’s just a shame director Wesley Barry and company couldn’t cap it off with a more clever and memorable ending.

This was easily Connolly’s biggest film role. In fact, she was credited in just one other film, 1952’s “Babes in Bagdad.”

A month before this film was released, she became Mrs. Guy Madison. She and the Western star were married for nearly 10 years and had three children together.

Jim Davis as Marshal Dan Porter, warning Kate that she’s falling in with a bad crowd in The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)

George Cleveland as Lem Creel, the hard-drinking old-timer who used to ride with Jim Dalton in The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)

Directed by:
Wesley Barry

Cast:
Bill Williams … Jess Raidley, aka Big Red
Sheila Connolly … Kate Dalton
as Kelly Ryan
Jim Davis … Marshal Dan Porter
George Cleveland … Lem Creel
Sara Haden … Mrs. Merril
Elisha Cook Jr. … Lewis “Tulsa” Cook
Nelson Leigh … Jim Dalton
Guinn “Big Boy” Williams … Moose, deputy
George Barrows … “Rock” Swenson

Runtime: 76 min.

Nelson Leigh as Jim Dalton, confronting Jess Raidley about a stage holdup in The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)

Bill Williams as Jess Railey and fellow gang members Tulsa Cook (Elisha Cook Jr.) and Rock Swenson (George Barrows) in The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)

Memorable lines:

Marshal Dan Porter to Kate: “You know, you interest me. An Irish tongue like a bullwhip. But pretty as a picture.”
Kate Dawson, aka Dalton: “Well, a girl has to have something to say for herself.”

Marshal Dan Porter: “Thought you were just passing through.”
Jess Raidley: “We were, but you know how it is. You’re a young fella. Ah, girls. What we won’t do for ’em.”

Marshal Dan Porter: “Kate, if you don’t already know it, take my word for it: You’re in bad company.”

Moose, about Kate: “She’s a wild young girl, Dan. Don’t know her own mind. You gotta straighten her out. That is, if you have serious feelings about her.”

Guinn ‘Big Boy’ WIlliams as Moose and Jim Davis as Marshal Dan Porter, being introduced to Kate in The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)

Sheila Connolly (aka Kelly Ryan) as Kate Dalton with Mrs. Merril (Sara Haden), the woman who takes Kate in after her father’s death in The Outlaw’s Daughter (1954)