IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

InspireGato Film Perfection

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This film is part of the "Classic Western Roundup Vol. 1" released by Universal and it is quite a difference to see a film I had seen a long time ago on TV ,late at night, dubbed, and with faded colors. I can't think of anything more colorful than the Universal International westerns of the fifties and this DVD brings all those colors back. The director is Raoul Walsh, whose westerns were always above average. Rock Hudson is very good as J. Wesley Hardin, a man that could not keep out of trouble, so there is no lack of action here. Julie Adams is at her best, more sexy than usual. Only after I saw the credits did I notice John McIntire played a a dual role, the strict and often cruel father, and the good hearted uncle. It is wonderful to see Lee Van Cleef as the tough bad guy. For those who enjoyed the westerns of the fifties, this Universal release is a great experience. It is an unusual western, the story told from an outlaw's point of view, in flashback. When Hardin, wounded, is talking to his son, it reminded me of the last scene of "The Gunfighter"(1950). This film did not age.

bkoganbing The Lawless Breed, a western very loosely based on the life of John Wesley Hardin, was a milestone film for young Rock Hudson. Rock was 28 when he made this film for Universal and for the first time he was given first billing in a film. Universal also gave him veteran action director Raoul Walsh and a supporting cast that knew its way around the set of a western.John Wesley Hardin(1853-1895), one of the most notorious of bad men in the old west was also one of the few who actually got to put his story down for posterity. The film that you see is based somewhat on some of the incidents in Hardin's life. He was not as noble a character as The Lawless Breed would have you believe, but a whole lot of things attributed to him were probably pure hokum. The dime novels of the day worked their way into the popular culture for just about every character of the old west, good and bad. As shown here, the real John Wesley Hardin was shot in the back in a saloon after his release from prison. But the story goes that during a preview of the film, the audience reaction was so negative to seeing Rock Hudson shot down like a dirty dog that Universal felt compelled to tack on a happy ending. The film was really supposed to end with him dying on the floor of the saloon telling his son played by Race Gentry not to follow in his footsteps. What was added on was a scene with wife Julie Adams and Gentry loading the wounded Rock on the back of a buckboard and after a bit of dialog they ride off in the sunset.So one western legend got scrapped to start the career of a movie legend. Only in Hollywood.John McIntire has a nice dual performance as Hudson's circuit riding preacher father and as his uncle, a cattle rancher. And there was a gang of brothers that Hudson kept tangling with the entire film, the Hanleys played by such western familiars as Lee Van Cleef, Michael Ansara, Hugh O'Brian, and Glenn Strange. It's not a bad film despite the obviously tacked on happy ending for Rock's fans. John Wesley Hardin probably would have liked how it came out.

ctosangel-2 Chronologically situated between The World in his Arms and Blackbeard the Pirate, and a year after the fine adventure Distant Drums (1951), this is a Raoul Walsh minor but right western, play by soft Rock Hudson and beautiful Julie Adams. Correct, ascetic, vivacious -like the majority of Walsh movies- it tell us the lawless John W. Hardin story based on his autobiography. A entertaining film with no problems or pomp. Nimble. It has got efficacious supporting actors.

shell-26 It was made to a formula and revolves around most of the cliches in the Western handbook but it was hard not to enjoy this film.It is based on the life of the famous Texan John Wesley Hardin. His youth was shaped by the Civil War and by his preacher father. When his father forbids him to practise shooting young Wes reckons its about time to leave home and seek his fortune. Almost immediately he kills a local gunslinger and plunges into the life of a rootin tootin cowboy, gambler and outlaw.It has a classic opening a dignified man walking out of the prison gates, shaking hands with the warden and sniffing the air of freedom. It has an equally recognisable ending, back at the ranch to see how his wife and family have managed during the long years of incarceration. The final scenes of the film are lovely, it won't spoil the film to say he learned from his experiences and lived a long and happy life.There is nothing new in this film. Although it claims to be an autobiography, it is one of countless 1950's Westerns with a theme of a young man seeking adventure and finding redemption. The real strength of the movie is its star Rock Hudson, barrel chested and manly, who shoots, rides, kisses, gambles and drinks as well as any of his contemporaries. One of the baddies is a young Lee Van Cleef who easily steals scenes from his fellow wrong-doers.It won't change your life, the way "Shane" might have done but it won't hurt you to watch it, and to remember Rock Hudson in the way he should be remembered.