Just perfect...

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A notorious bank robber joins a traveling caravan of Mormons, takes a shine to a little girl, and helps them face life on the plains, especially with attacking Indians and a bandit he betrays who vows revenge.Bascomb (the irascible Wallace Beery) isn't all that bad. All he needs are cute little spelling contests with a little girl and the affections of an aging widow to look after his appetite. Margaret O'Brien, of course, is the cute little girl who enjoys spelling out words in conversation, while Marjorie Main is her cantankerous grandmother who dominates Beery's every minute after he promises to take care of them in the caravan. Beery wants to find the gold hidden somewhere in the caravan with the intention of robbing it, but changes his mind after becoming close with the group. This upsets his rough and tough partner (J. Carroll Naish).Beery brings sweetness to his gruff role, a true acting feat considering his off-screen treatment of the child stars he worked with. The spelling out of words between Beery and O'Brien adds to the fun and brings some additional dimension to their relationship, although there is not as much comedy as a pairing of this nature (along with Main who is both a delightful comic and a touching serious actress) should have. There's a great scene between Beery, Main and tough-but-nurturing Connie Gilchrist in a moment where Gilchrist gives Beery her husband's old jacket and Main steps in to prevent any hanky panky. There's also a great camp fire sing-along in which pivotal plot points are taking place in the background. The problem with the film is its over-length. There is a scene that is quite disturbing where Beery must verbally assault O'Brien to get her away from his plotting with Naish, but the tender moments between the two afterwords makes up for it.

Wallace Beery plays pretty much the same style character he'd been playing in films for years. Like his Long John Silver from "Treasure Island", he's a bad guy in disguise as a good one...and deep within is a heart of gold. In fact, in many ways, the film is almost like a remake or at least was heavily influenced by this earlier Beery film.The film is set in the old West and Beery is the head of a gang of outlaws. A posse is pursuing them when they come upon a lone Mormon scout--who they soon kill. Later, in order to avoid capture, Beery and his sidekick (J. Carrol Naish) join the nearby Mormon caravan--telling them how the man they actually murdered "died trying to save our lives" and that they are Mormon converts. Naturally, the two no-good galoots are accepted into the caravan and go along with them--at least until the coast is clear.The Mormon folk are friendly, but Beery is particularly affected by sweet Margaret O'Brien--who, as usual, plays an adorable kid. Slowly, he turns from his evil ways thanks to the power of niceness. However, I could easily see someone being a bit creeped out by O'Brien's overtures towards Beery throughout the film--like she wanted him for her boyfriend or future husband. Weird stuff, huh, though I don't think this is what the writers at MGM intended.Despite a few minor complaints, a most enjoyable but highly predictable and formulaic film--especially when O'Brien becomes ill at just the right time. Had this not been like many previous films, I probably would have rated this one a bit higher.By the way, at the 52 minute mark, Beery is sitting at a picnic table talking. If you pay attention to the background, trees keep appearing and moving each time the camera pans on him! Also, at the 68 minute mark, much of Beery's dialog was clearly dubbed using someone else's voice. Who and why they did this, I have no idea and the voice sounds much more like Harry Carey, Sr.'s voice. Oops.

Bad Bascomb is a true Western Classic. Wallace Beery was a great actor of his time; although there are other movies of his that my family and I liked, this one is the best.Marjorie Main & Margaret O'Brien are also a great asset to this film. I am sorry to say this movie is not shown on TV very often and is not available on VHS/DVD; hopefully in the near future.For all of you Wallace Beery fans, I am happy to report, I was e-mailed the other day from Turner Classic Movies, that this movie will be shown on TCM on Thursday, December 13th, at 6:00 pm ET; so have a new tape ready for this GREAT movie.Thank You for your time!! JAL

Pure 1946. Wallace Beery and Margaret O'Brien try to steal from the film from each other. It's a hoot. Great entertainment.