mark.waltz Review of Quantrill's Raiders

Quantrill's Raiders (1958)

A villain so vile that the Civil War north and south seem willing to work together to try and stop him.

[5/10 · 22 April 2014]

Probably the shortest widescreen film in Technicolor, this Civil War themed western is unique in the sense that it utilizes some very different themes to tell its story. Quadrill (Leo Gordon) is an outlaw who seems to sell himself to the highest bidder to both sides of the war, and plays both ends against the middle. In other words, a traitor to both sides, and agent Steve Cochran is out to stop him from doing any further damage. He's willing to break laws and risk imprisonment to fulfill his mission, even risking the love of the heroine (Diane Brewster). MGM musical supporting star Gale Robbins ("The Barkley's of Broadway", "Three Little Words") gets some good moments as a tough moll with a typical heart of gold. Attractive scenery and some great action sequences take this from "B" level to a light "A", one of the few widescreen movies released by Allied Artists, the poverty row studio formerly known as Monogram.