Although the film begins with a brief written intro and puts names to the Reno boys, from there, it just jumps right into masses of men shooting and riding horses. I mean, I guess that's the popcorn eating "Western action" movie goers in the 1950s were looking for... but I need to care about who's shooting and riding. What's really at stake? What do these people want, but like I said, more importantly, why should I care?
Four of the Reno boy are bad hombres. They basically run Seymour, Indiana, with corrupt elected officials providing cover.Special Agent James Barlow (Randolph Scott) is called into stop them. Since Bill Reno is gunned down in the opening sequence, they're down a man. Barlow's plan is to stage a train robbery and then win over the corrupt officials and Renos so he can infiltrate their organization.
His plan goes off without a hitch. The Renos also have another, good brother, Clint (Denver Pyle), and a good sister, Laura (Mala Powers). They're unaware that Barlow is a special agent, although both of them seem to know he's a good guy.
Ultimately, Barlow convinces the Renos to rob a train going from Indianapolis to Louisville. It supposedly is carrying a $100,000, but it's all a set-up to capture the Renos. The Renos are in fact captured, and then mob justice takes over, and there's nothing Barlow can do about it. At least he tries, and he wins Laura in the end, with Clint's blessing.
According to Wikipedia, the Reno brothers actually were the first train robbers in history. I doubt that the film is all that historically accurate, but it explains why a Western is set in 1866 southern Indiana.
(Seymour, Indiiana, by the way, is also the home of John Cougar Mellencamp, and it's the inspiration for the song "Small Town."
Interesting to me only: when Barlow is briefly interrogated by the corrupt officials, he tells them that he came over from Robinson, Illinois when he robbed the first train. Robinson is about 130 miles west of Seymour. It's also where I was born.)
Anyway, the end credits mention that standing in for southern Indiana was Columbia Historical State Park, which is just west of Yosemite. It's always funny to me to see the Midwest portrayed in movies, because what wonder mountains states like Indiana are thought to have...
Although I like Scott a lot, he's 57 in this film, which is probably about 15-20 years older than his part calls for. Nevertheless, pretty solid film.
Rating: 3/5 stars
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