The Raiders (1963)

Brian Keith is John McElroy, known as “General” to his friends. He’s a former Confederate officer and current Texas cattle rancher.

He’s also a frustrated man, fed up with watching the state die on the vine, sucked dry by carpetbaggers, once proud families struggling to put food on the table.

The answer, in his mind, is to drive cattle to Kansas, though that means dealing with Jayhawkers and Indians.

When that fails, he’s determined to lure the railroad to Texas. And when the authorities in Kansas aren’t quick to agree with his proposition, he and his small band of normally peaceful neighbors start harassing the railroad into seeing things their way.

Their man adversary is a Reb-hating cavalry officer Capt. Benton, who’s still nursing a wound from the Civil War.

Among those working for or to protect the railroads are Wild Bill Hickok (Robert Culp), young Bill Cody (Jim McMullin) and whip-wielding freighter Calamity Jane (Judi Meredith).

They find themselves caught between the two sides, obligated to protect railroad property but sympathizing with the plight of the men who are doing the harassing.

Robert Culp as Wild Bill Hickock in The Raiders (1963)

Jim McMullin as Bill Cody in The Raiders (1963)

Review:

An off-kilter film. The first 20 minutes or so deal with Keith’s efforts to save Texas and takes on the appearance of a somber, serious Western.

Then Calamity and her friends come along and start injecting humor and name-dropping into the plot. In fact, top-billed Robert Culp doesn’t make his first appearance until the 26-minute mark.

The result is decidedly mediocre, though at least Meredith’s role enlivens a film bogged down to that point by Keith’s tepid performance.

Among other key cast members are Simon Oakland as a sergeant who served until McElroy during the Civil War, but now finds himself duty-bound to follow orders from officers in blue and Ben Cooper as the son of a Texas rancher killed during the failed cattle drive.

Keith is billed as a guest star, leaving one to wonder if this wasn’t a pilot for a possible TV series featuring the characters played by Culp, McMullin and Meredith.

Judi Meredith as Calamity Jane in The Raiders (1963)

Brian Keith as John McElroy in The Raiders (1963)

Directed by:
Herschel Daugherty

Cast:
Brian Keith … John McElroy
Robert Culp … Wild Bill Hickok
Jim McMullin … Bill Cody
Judi Meredith … Calamity Jane
Simon Oakland … Sgt. Tremaine
Alfred Ryder … Capt. Benton
Ben Cooper … Tom King
Trevor Bardette … “Uncle Otto” Strassner
Harry Carey Jr. … Jellicoe
Richard H. Cutting … Jack Goodnight
Addison Richards … Huntington Lawford
Cliff Osmond … Pvt. Jean Duchamps
Paul Birch … Paul King
Richard Deacon … Commissioner Mailer
Michael Burns … Jim McElroy

Runtime: 75 min.

Alfred Ryder as Capt. Benton in The Raiders (1963)

Simon Oakland as Sgt. Tremaine in The Raiders (1963)

Memorable lines:

John McElroy: “It takes a patient man to watch his wife and kids and his state grow thinner and more tired. And us Texans were never famous for our patience.”

John McElroy to his wife, when she objects to the danger of the cattle drive: “Emm, they got their foot on our neck. Now if we just lay there and don’t no nothing, they’re never gonna let us up. But we’re gonna squirm a little, see?”

Bill Cody to Wild Bill, comparing horses to trains: “Now, Bill, we might be slow. But we don’t slip off the road every time we hit a dew drop.”

John McElroy to Bill Cody: “We don’t approve of killin’ ordinarily. But we might have to force ourselves.”

Ben Cooper at Tommy King in The Raiders (1963)

Trevor Bardette as Otto Strassner in The Raiders (1963)