Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

weezeralfalfa The site summary says that Kit Banion(Barbara Stanwick) was dubbed The Maverick Queen because in her early days around Rock Springs, she would round up all the unbranded cattle she could find and brand them. Of course, never having married and not foreseeing the possibility of such, she was a maverick herself. Considering the 2 female characters(Kit, and Mary Murphy , as Lucy Lee), this can be deduced as an iconic 'good' girl vs. 'bad' girl film, although they aren't visibly competing for the attention of the lead male: Barry Sullivan, masquerading as Jeff Younger, nephew of the infamous Younger brothers. In fact, toward the end, they sometimes cooperate as partners with Jeff against the Hole in the Wall Gang, which Kit has been an indispensable part of......If you remember the ending of the Anthony Mann western "The Far Country" Ruth Roman, as the young middle-aged 'bad 'girl, and Corinne Calvert, as the young 'good' girl both had their eyes on Jimmy Stewart, who was fighting for his life against the villain, played by John McIntire. Ruth died trying to defend Jimmy against the shooting of McIntire, leaving Corinne as the apparent winner, by default. Well, a rather similar thing happens here. Kit dies trying to defend the wounded Jeff against a variety of gang members, leaving a cute Lucy as the apparent winner. In both cases, the younger 'good' girl won, although this is not always the case in westerns("Abilene Town" comes to mind as a clear counter example).......Eventually Jim Davis, dubbed 'The Stranger' in the credits, shows up, looking dapper in his all black outfit. He claims he is the real Jeff Younger, and whips out a newspaper photo to prove his identity. He would like to meet the outlaw gang, and goes riding off. I don't remember seeing him again. He had served his purpose in confirming rumors that Sullivan wasn't the real Younger, and might be a lawman. Later, it's confirmed that he is a Pinkerton man. Kit would like him to replace The Sundance Kid(Scott Brady) as her primary lover, but recommends that he relocate far from the gang, which she considers doomed, in the long run. She seems to think she's stuck in her now ambiguous situation. ......The drawn out climax, near the end, seemed largely unrealistic, with characters supposedly safely escaping from a burning cabin, with gunslingers all around.......Spectacular mountain scenery usually composed the on location background. This was around Durango, Royal Gorge, and Silverton, CO...... The film was produced by Republic, not long before the demise of this studio, with the phasing out of B westerns.......This was one of the last Hollywood films Barbara would star in. It was also near the beginning of her emphasis on westerns, which would culminate in her "The Big Valley" TV series, that ended about a decade later. She would again costar with Barry Sullivan the following year in the western "Forty Guns". If this sounds promising, see it at YouTube.

mark.waltz Long before Barbara Stanwyck worked with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" star Katharine Ross on "The Colbys", she had her own encounter with Butch and Sundance in this colorful western made by Republic Pictures in the mid 1950's. She's the colorfully named Kit Banion, the proprietress of a Wyoming saloon. In her encounter with Sundance (Scott Brady), she tells him "Somewhere along the way, sometime, I'll meet a better man like the ones I used to know, and when I do, I'll drop you like a poisonous snake!" A rail thin Stanwyck shows what she does best, standing up to sinister men, and being just as ruthless in getting what she wants. Stanwyck rides, shoots and fights with the toughness of the fiercest western hero (heroine). She finds her match in Jeff Younger (Barry Sullivan), telling him "That's a great name to slung around carelessly" upon their first meeting, indicating to Sundance that she has found the better man.The film makes reference not only to the Younger Brothers ("You might be Younger, but you won't be older if you don't watch out!"), Butch and Sundance but "The Wild Boys" (a violent western made the same year as the Newman/Redford pairing). Pretty Mary Murphy is perhaps younger and more feminine than the still striking Stanwyck (nearing 50!), but she more than holds her own in her scenes with the female master of melodrama. "The only way you leave the wild bunch is feet first", Stanwyck explains as she shows shows Kit's softness in a romantic scene with Sullivan, who is not as he appears to be. This leads to an exciting sequence on a speeding train with bandits aboard, only made better with the color photography of the natural backgrounds including the breathtaking mountain scenery.The title song, sung by Joni James, is gorgeous, as is the score by Victor Young and the photography by Jack Marta. This is one of those westerns that is probably more impressive on a big screen; Its photography almost screams 3-D. Familiar actors such as Wallace Ford and Jim Davis appear in smaller roles, giving this quite an incredible ensemble. Stanwyck's tough, slightly villainous femme fatale is an amazing characterization, and you can see why she was attracted to parts like this whether out in God's country or in the Asphalt Jungle. No other actress has defined what parts women really had in the old west than the great Barbara, and even in the weakest of these films, she made them so much more memorable.

MartinHafer Considering that "The Maverick Queen" was the first widescreen film from Republic Studios, you'd think it would be a prestige picture. Well, apart from sporting a once A-list actress Barbara Stanwyck (who looks pretty awful in color under such heavy makeup), it was far from a memorable movie.The film is about Butch Cassidy and the Hole in the Wall gang. It seems they are being aided, covertly, by a lady (Stanwyck) who runs a business called 'The Maverick Queen'. When a guy comes into town saying he wants to join the gang (Barry Sullivan) and that he's Jeff Younger (of the famous Younger gang), Stanwyck goes gaga for the guy and blindly pushed him into a role in their next robbery. At first the ruse seems to work--until the REAL Younger shows up--then it sure looks as if Nelson's days are numbered. Will his new sweetie just stand back and let the gang do him in or will his sheer manliness win her over to his side--getting her to give up EVERYTHING she's ever worked to create?! Well, in real life, the answer would clearly be NO--but this is a movie after all! As the film progressed, I kept feeling like I've seen this film before. The notion of a butch female gang leader falling for a lawman and betraying the gang is very old and very clichéd--and other actresses like Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford (among others) made similar flicks....VERY similar flicks. Additionally, in a scene when there is a showdown and Nelson's character attacks Sundance, not once does Sundance call out for help from his gang who is waiting outside!! Because of bad writing there is never any suspense in the film if you've seen many westerns--you know what MUST happen with each and every cliché--especially the ending. The bottom line is that although this movie looks nice with its location shoot and color widescreen print, the story itself is pure B-movie all the way. It's pretty indistinguishable from a Roy Rogers or Gene Autry film the studio made in previous years--films which cost a whole heck of a lot less to make and with much more modest pretensions. Passable entertainment but no more and perhaps my score of 5 is a bit generous.Please note: In the film, Sundance is killed. However, in real life he died in South America--thousands of miles from where the film is set! Historical accuracy....who needs it?!

bob the moo Lucy Lee is a young and pretty cattle owner, trying to get her herd to market to sell. One night in camp her and her partner are joined by Jeff Young – a man who saves them when they are later ambushed by the Sundance Kid and his gang. Sundance reports back to Kit Banion (aka the Maverick Queen) and she in enraged by his failure. However the arrival in town of Jeff Younger gives her a new scheme to run. As she attempts to assert further power can the others stop her criminal schemes?Starting out with the usual style of song over the usual sort of landscapes nothing gave me any doubts that this would be a fairly ordinary western adventure and indeed that is what it turned out to be. The plot offered potential because it is more than just the standard good guys/bad guys stuff – this plot is driven by betrayal, lies, jealousy and intrigue. Shame then that it doesn't all come off, it is interesting and engaging but it does struggle to keep it tight with so many things going on – I wasn't sure exactly what my focus was supposed to be. This is also seen by it taking 15 minutes before the title character actually made it onto screen, not that bad a thing but just further suggestion of the slight lack of focus that made it a bit harder to get into. The characters don't all make sense and again the lack of focus meant I was confused as to who I was following.The cast aren't much help in this regard either because nobody really steps up and makes the film their own. Stanwyck tries hard but she was approaching the end of her long career at this point and she isn't helped by being left in the background for most of the start of the film while the much younger Murphy makes us think the film is about her. Sullivan is pretty good and has a nice easy charm. Brady, Petrie and a few others make for interesting bad guys but their performances aren't that interesting and they just accept whatever changes the script throws at them.Overall this is an enjoyable enough western that is fairly run-of-the-mill despite having aspects of it that are more than the standard stuff. The plot is good but the lack of focus for large chunks means that it is a little difficult to get into and the solid if unspectacular directing and acting don't do anything to really remedy that. Enjoyable for genre fans but no more than that.