If you ignore the written introduction claiming that this film is based on John Wesley Hardin's autobiographical book, you will certainly enjoy this Western.
It is very adroitly directed by the consistently competent Raoul Walsh, Photography by Irving Glassberg is gorgeous. Stunts above average.
Good first leading role by Hudson, well seconded by the beautiful Julie Adams and a solid supporting cast.
The script is acceptable... but only if you ignore the fact that Hardin is thought to have killed some 43 people, many of them shot from behind in ambushes. As rendered here, Hardin is an upstanding citizen who excels at cards, and lawfully earns the money to buy the horse farm he always dreamed of.
I think it is fair to assume that Raoul Walsh adopted a tongue-in-cheek approach to the Hardin case, and that in THE LAWLESS BREED he created the ultimate proof that crime paid in the Old West (think of Wyatt Earp, always portrayed as the greatest of many heroes who helped tame lawlessness in the West, and who was in fact a cattle rustler, believed to have killed the Clanton gang in a far more deceitful manner than has been portrayed in any film involving his name).
Once the reality premise is removed, THE LAWLESS BREED is well worth watching.
It is very adroitly directed by the consistently competent Raoul Walsh, Photography by Irving Glassberg is gorgeous. Stunts above average.
Good first leading role by Hudson, well seconded by the beautiful Julie Adams and a solid supporting cast.
The script is acceptable... but only if you ignore the fact that Hardin is thought to have killed some 43 people, many of them shot from behind in ambushes. As rendered here, Hardin is an upstanding citizen who excels at cards, and lawfully earns the money to buy the horse farm he always dreamed of.
I think it is fair to assume that Raoul Walsh adopted a tongue-in-cheek approach to the Hardin case, and that in THE LAWLESS BREED he created the ultimate proof that crime paid in the Old West (think of Wyatt Earp, always portrayed as the greatest of many heroes who helped tame lawlessness in the West, and who was in fact a cattle rustler, believed to have killed the Clanton gang in a far more deceitful manner than has been portrayed in any film involving his name).
Once the reality premise is removed, THE LAWLESS BREED is well worth watching.