The Dalton family, headed by Bob (Broderick Crawford) and Grat (Brian Donlevy) own a nice farm in Kansas. Problem is, a mysterious group known as the Kansas Land Development Co. has been surveying the land and doing its best to cheat farmers out of their land.
When a surveying crew shows up at the Dalton farm, a tussle ensues. When a member of the survey party draws a gun, Ben Dalton (Stuart Ervin) rides into him with his horse. The man hits his head on a rock and dies. Next thing you know, Ben is on trial for murder.
The Daltons turn to an old family friend named Tod Jackson (Randolph Scott) to handle the case. But when witnesses start to lie, Bob Dalton decides he’s heard enough and marches Ben and the brothers out of the courtroom while holding off everyone else at gunpoint.
The Daltons go into hiding, but soon find that they’re being blamed for every crime in the area in an attempt to tarnish their names. So when a stage carrying the land development company’s payroll comes through, they hold it up, the first in a string of robberies they commit.
Meanwhile, Jackson is investigating who’s behind the Kansas Land Development Co. And, to his dismay, falling in love with Julie King (Kay Francis), the gal his buddy Bob Dalton planned to marry before winding up on the wrong side of the law.
Review:
Odd, uneven film that manages to make the Dalton gang seem more like victims than the outlaws they were.
Scott is top-billed, but he’s not one of the Dalton gang. And that means he’s not involved in most of the action, though we see him mooning over Julie King quite a bit and alternately fretting about how Bob Dalton will react should he find out.
The best thing about the film is the stunt work. During one prolonged case scene, the Daltons flee town on a stolen stage, then escape a posse by untying the hitch horses and jumping aboard as the stage races along. Next they ditch the horses to hop atop a moving train. Finding it loaded with lawmen, they steal their horses and ride them off the same moving train.
Broderick Crawford was billed as “Brod” Crawford in many of the posters for the film. For comic relief, we have Andy Devine as a prominent member of the Dalton gang and Edgar Buchanan as a blacksmith with a gift for gab.
Directed by:
George Marshall
Cast:
Randolph Scott … Tod Jackson
Kay Francis … Julie King
Brian Donlevy … Grat Dalton
George Bancroft … Caleb Winters
Broderick Crawford … Bob Dalton
Stuart Ervin … Ben Dalton
Andy Devine … Ozard Jones
Frank Albertson … Emmett Dalton
Mary Gordon … Ma Dalton
Harvey Stephens … Rigby
Edgar Dearing … Sheriff
Quen Ramsey … Clem Wilson
Dorothy Granger … Nancy
Robert McKenzie … Photographer
Fay McKenzie … Hannah
Edgar Buchanan … Old-timer
Runtime: 81 min.
Memorable lines:
Bob Dalton, asking about a gal who has caught Tod Jackson’s eye: “What’s her name?”
Tod Jackson: “I wish I knew, but she was sure beautiful.”
Bob: “Oh, that’s a great help. Can you supply any more lurid details?”
Tod: “Well, her features were the usual kind, but they were put together ever so cleverly.”
Tod Jackson: “When did you first meet Bob (Dalton)?”
Julie King: “On the 4th of July. He put a firecracker under my chair.”
Tod: “Nice romantic beginning.”
Julie: “I hated him.”
Tod: “What made you change your mind?”
Julie: “Bob changed it for me. When he wants anything, he has the manners of a locomotive.”
Judge: “This community is going to learn to obey the law.”
Bob Dalton: “Why should we obey laws that are twisted to fit the needs of thieves and liars?”
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