Main Cast: Joan Barton, John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey, Bruce Cabot, Stephen Grant, Irene Rich, Lee Dixon
Release Year: 1947
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
One of John Wayne's most mystical films, Angel and the Badman is also the first production that Wayne personally produced. The star plays a wounded outlaw who is sheltered by a Quaker family. Attracted to the family's angelic daughter Gail Russell, the hard-bitten Wayne undergoes a slow and subtle character transformation; still, he is obsessed with killing the man (Bruce Cabot) who murdered his foster father. The storyline traces not only the regeneration of Wayne, but of the single-minded sheriff (Harry Carey) who'd previously been determined to bring Wayne to justice. Not a big hit in 1947, Angel and the Badman has since become the most frequently telecast of John Wayne's Republic films, thanks to its lapse into Public Domain status in 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ernst Fegte - Art Director, Adele Palmer - Costume Designer, James Edward Grant - Director, Harry Keller - Editor, Richard Hageman - Composer (Music Score), Cy Feuer - Musical Direction/Supervision, Kim Gannon - Songwriter, Walter Kent - Songwriter, Bob Mark - Makeup, Louis Clyde Stoumen - Cinematographer, Archie J. Stout - Cinematographer, John Wayne - Producer, John McCarthy - Set Designer, Charles Thompson - Set Designer, Howard Lydecker - Special Effects, Theodore Lydecker - Special Effects, Victor B. Appel - Sound/Sound Designer, James Edward Grant - Screenwriter
Angel and the Badman is a 1947 black and white Western film, starring John Wayne and Gail Russell, which examines the ability of a shootist to renounce violence. This film, which was the first one Wayne produced as well as starred in, was a radical departure for this genre at the time it was released. It is now in the public domain and is downloadable from the Internet Archive.
The notorious shootist and womanizer Quirt Evans' horse collapses as he passes a Quaker family's home. Quirt has been wounded and the kindly family takes him in and nurses him back to health against the advice of others.
The handsome Evans quickly attracts the affections of their beautiful but sheltered daughter, Penelope. He develops an affection for the family but his troubled past follows him there, both outlaws and the law.
Evans falls for Penelope and begins to assimilate her pacifist lifestyle. However, the tug of his old ways is very strong and so he vacillates back and forth. He is finally forced to examine his character after his violent actions bring harm to an innocent person.
This movie is the point of departure for two other successful "fish out of water" movies, the 1985 "Witness" starring Harrison Ford and the 2003 "The Outsider" starring Tim Daly and Naomi Watts, both of which have a similar story line.
It was filmed in Monument Valley, Arizona and is available on DVD.
Stick Figure Theater, a feature on Liquid Television, made a stick figure version of the bar scene from the movie.
