Purely Joyful Movie!

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

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.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Rex Reason (Steve Brewster), Margia Dean (Emily), Beverly Garland (Susan Hammer), Keith Larsen (Rick Valentine), Emile Meyer (Hammer), Jack Kruschen (sergeant), Russ Bender (George), Robert Cunningham (Paul), Ralph Peters (Sammy), Lee Tung Foo (Ling), Stanley Farrar (Rayburn), Rankin Mansfield (Travis), William Phipps (Walt), John Pickard (Vince), Paul Newlan (marshal), John Lomma (bank teller), Elena DaVinci (1st girl), George Taylor (bank teller), William Forester (bank manager), Larry Blake (1st outlaw), Ralph Sanford (Marshal Sloan), William Tanner (2nd outlaw), Roydon Clark (posseman), Helen Jay (2nd girl).Writer/producer/director: DANIEL B. ULLMAN. Photographed in RegalScope by Frederick Gately. Film editor: Neil Brunenkant. Vocal sung by Bob Grabeau. Script supervisor: Eleanor Donohue. Dialogue coach: Franklin Mansfield. Music editor: Harry Eiser. Music: Irving Gertz. Song, "The Man with the Gallant Gun", by Irving Gertz (music), Hal Levy (lyrics). Sound editor: Del Hollis. A RegalScope Production for 20th Century- Fox.Copyright 1957 by Regal Films, Inc. U.S. release: May 1957. Never theatrically released in the U.K. Australian release: 10 October 1957. 75 minutes. SYNOPSIS: A candidate for mayor (Rex Reason) is run out of town when he is tricked into a gun fight in which he kills his opponent. He takes up with a gang of outlaws and takes part in robberies, during the course of which he is wounded and captured. VIEWER'S GUIDE: Unsuitable for children.COMMENT: Writer-producer-director Daniel B. Ullman has fashioned this moderately interesting yarn in a workmanlike manner, making effective use of the wide RegalScope screen. The characters are well-drawn and very competently played. For all that, however, the movie does lack even a moderately top-drawer cast. Even as a second feature, it is unlikely to attract even a small measure of box- office support. In fact, Fox saw the writing on the wall and didn't bother to release the movie in England at all.

While there are a few elements and touches in this movie that hint at better things, the overall result never quite rises above the routine level of a black-and-white B-western. It's both watchable and forgettable at the same time.This movie does provide, however, a good example of how the advertising for a film can deviate from what the film actually offers. One of the posters for "Badlands of Montana" prominently features -- in gaudy color -- a drawing of a shirtless man standing outdoors, hands tied above head, writhing in pain and with an agonized expression on his face as another man, in the background, cracks a whip in a long, sinuous arc. The whip has just struck the back of the shirtless man which is already crisscrossed with bloody welt marks. "A lash for every crime he did NOT commit!" proclaims the ad-line.The shirtless man is meant to be the lead actor, Rex Reason, though the drawing doesn't much resemble him, and while Reason is whipped in the movie, this scene barely corresponds to the depiction on the poster. In the movie, Reason keeps his shirt on, he's bound in a different way from that shown in the artwork, and he doesn't indulge in the writhing displayed by his advertising counterpart. What's more, he's whipped inside a barn rather than in the outdoor setting shown on the poster.Perhaps the designers of the poster had not actually seen the completed film when doing their work and had only been told that it contained a scene of Rex Reason being flogged. Perhaps they'd viewed the scene but thought it dull and decided to liven it up. Or perhaps two different versions of the whipping were filmed and the dull version wound up in the final print. In any case, the patron who bought a ticket to "Badlands of Montana" on the basis of that poster must have been very disappointed.Ironically, the scene in the movie showing Reason being whipped could easily have resembled the scene on the poster. Reason could have had his shirt pulled off prior to his punishment. After all, he had a good physique and wasn't adverse to showing it off. (Just look at all his swimsuit scenes in "The Creature Walks Among Us.") In fact, later in "Badlands," Reason does display a bit of bare torso. And there's no reason he couldn't have been tied up as shown on the poster, rather than in the view-blocking, behind-a-ladder position chosen for the cameras. And the scene could have taken place outside the barn rather than inside it.Hey, perhaps the artwork staff should have directed the movie to begin with!

Veteran character actor Emile Meyer stands out in this better than average B Western. He is ably supported by Rex Reason and Beverly Garland.The plot in this film has much more depth than in the standard B flick. Local citizen Rex Reason is whipped and forced to flee the town of Cascade after killing his assailant in a fair fight. In his escape he blunders into the hideout of a bandit gang led by Meyer. Reason falls in love with Beverly Garland, who plays Meyer's daughter. "She's not one of us", Meyer says as the bandits vote to decide whether Reason will die or become one of them. Meyer casts his vote for Reason who becomes one of the gang. Later, Reason is captured in a bank holdup. He is given a choice between going to jail and returning to Cascade as sheriff. It seems that the wife of the man he killed has turned the town into a haven for outlaws. He returns to town and cleans it up in about 5 minutes. Outlaw Meyer is brought to jail by some soldiers. Reason quits his job, gives Meyer the keys and returns to the bandit camp for his lost love. This all sets up the final showdown which turns out pretty much like you'd expect in a B Western.I enjoyed this film and would highly recommend it. My only problem with this film is that there was more potential in the story than was possible to develop on a B movie budget. As a result, some of the plot elements receive short shrift. Reason's cleaning up of Cascade is a good example. However, Meyer's portrayal of the bandit leader more than compensates for the film's shortcomings. He is very credible in this role.