Themes: Out For Revenge, Perfect Crime, Miscarriage of Justice
Main Cast: Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine, Katy Jurado, Claire Kelly, Nehemiah Persoff, Kent Smith
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 85 minutes
Plot
Alan Ladd stars in The Badlanders as Peter Van Hook, the mastermind of a gold robbery. The victim-to-be is Cyril Lounsberry (Kent Smith), whose perjured testimony had sent the innocent Van Hook and John McBain (Ernest Borgnine) to prison. Van Hook and McBain conspire with "sporting woman" Anita (Katy Jurado) to rob Lounsberry of his ill-gotten gains; meanwhile Lounsberry is planning to ditch his wife and run off with his mistress, Ada Winton (Claire Kelly). Aligning with dynamite expert Vincente (Nehemiah Persoff), Van Hook and his companions pull off the heist, only to be arrested at Lounsberry's command. McBain exacts final vengeance on Lounsberry, allowing Van Hook to escape with Ada. If you look closely, you'll discover that The Badlanders is a sagebrush remake of The Asphalt Jungle (1950), a fact confirmed by the onscreen credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Daniel B. Cathcart - Art Director, William Horning - Art Director, Delmer Daves - Director, James Balotto - Editor, William H. Webb - Editor, William J. Tuttle - Makeup, John F. Seitz - Cinematographer, Aaron Rosenberg - Producer, Henry W. Grace - Set Designer, Jack Mills - Set Designer, Richard Collins - Screenwriter, W.R. Burnett - Book Author
Two men are released from the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma in 1898. One, Peter Van Hoek (Alan Ladd), called "the Dutchman", is out to get both gold and revenge from the people of a small mining town who had him imprisoned unjustly. The other, McBain (Ernest Borgnine), is just trying to go straight, what proves difficult when the Dutchman involves him in his scheme.
