"The Lawless Breed" is a highly fictionalized and romanticized film about John Wesley Hardin, one of the most notorious outlaws of the West. Hardin (1853-1895) was one of the few icons of Western lore, good or bad, to write an autobiography. That it never achieved literary ranking should be no wonder, of a man who claimed to have killed 42 men. Not only the gruesomeness of one who could so bluntly and unapologetically refer to many killings, but his flamboyance, exaggeration and wild stories and claims led to distrust of his credibility. Of those he claimed to have killed, just two-thirds could be corroborated.
But this film is a lesson in how an anti-hero can be made into a hero - by Hollywood. And it turned out to be the breakout film for Rock Hudson who had his first major feature leading role as Hardin. Some other reviewers note more of the fictionalization of Hardin's story. Suffice it to say that he met his demise in real life when he died in the last scenes, rather than being carted off wounded by Rosie McCoy.
Hudson does very well in his role, and all the cast are quite good. It's a decent Western, told in flashback scenes. Besides Hudson, some other actors in the film who were prominent or soon would be included Julie Adams, Hugh O'Brian, Dennis Weaver and Lee Van Cleef.
Hudson would have a few more Western leads before 1954 when his dramatic role in "Magnificent Obsession" would catapult him to stardom as a diverse actor. But this film made his hero image, along with eulogizing one of the West's worst bad men.
But this film is a lesson in how an anti-hero can be made into a hero - by Hollywood. And it turned out to be the breakout film for Rock Hudson who had his first major feature leading role as Hardin. Some other reviewers note more of the fictionalization of Hardin's story. Suffice it to say that he met his demise in real life when he died in the last scenes, rather than being carted off wounded by Rosie McCoy.
Hudson does very well in his role, and all the cast are quite good. It's a decent Western, told in flashback scenes. Besides Hudson, some other actors in the film who were prominent or soon would be included Julie Adams, Hugh O'Brian, Dennis Weaver and Lee Van Cleef.
Hudson would have a few more Western leads before 1954 when his dramatic role in "Magnificent Obsession" would catapult him to stardom as a diverse actor. But this film made his hero image, along with eulogizing one of the West's worst bad men.