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.
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.