An injured Quirt Evans (John Wayne) is taken in by a peaceful Quaker family, among them the lovely daughter Penelope Worth (Gail Russell). For Penelope, it's virtually love at first sight, her facial expressions and eyes doing almost all of the talking for her. Evans is an amiable patient, but he has scores to settle, and this sets up the tension of the film. The longer he stays with the family, the more they cut away at his rough edges, providing an anchor in an otherwise lawless West.
There are a couple of back stories going on in the film, for one, outlaw Laredo Stevens (Bruce Cabot) is a thorn in Evans' side. He and his gang attempt to rustle a herd of horses, only to be foiled by Evans and his partner Randy McCall (Lee Dixon). Randy is enthralled by the Bible given to Quirt by the Quaker congregation, and takes to reading it in any spare moment.
Then there's the territorial marshal Wistful McClintock (Harry Carey), who it seems has made a career out of bringing Evans to justice. His remarks are some of the highlights of the film - "I'm patient, that's what hangs all you fellas in the end, I'm patient". His regard for Evans' reputation though is almost respectful - "You know Quirt, I always figured on usin' a new rope in hangin' you".
Evans is respectful of the Quaker family's ways, he hangs his holstered gun outside, never allowing it inside the home. When he takes Penelope on a wagon ride to pick blackberries, he leaves it behind in deference to her wishes. When Quirt shows up in town to call out Laredo Stevens, the Worth family arrives on the scene, and in what could be a fatal mistake, Evans gives up his gun to face Laredo weaponless. It would have been a tragic finale, if not for the vigilant Marshal McClintock. As Evans makes his way home with the Worths, the Marshal picks up Evans' gun and proclaims to hang it in his office along with a new rope, in memory of the adversary who never was.
Released in 1947 by Republic Pictures, "The Angel and the Badman" comes some dozen years or so after Wayne's Lone Star films which all followed a similar formula. Although a "B" Western, it's got a quality to the filming and story line that make it rise a considerable notch above his mid 1930's films.
There are a couple of back stories going on in the film, for one, outlaw Laredo Stevens (Bruce Cabot) is a thorn in Evans' side. He and his gang attempt to rustle a herd of horses, only to be foiled by Evans and his partner Randy McCall (Lee Dixon). Randy is enthralled by the Bible given to Quirt by the Quaker congregation, and takes to reading it in any spare moment.
Then there's the territorial marshal Wistful McClintock (Harry Carey), who it seems has made a career out of bringing Evans to justice. His remarks are some of the highlights of the film - "I'm patient, that's what hangs all you fellas in the end, I'm patient". His regard for Evans' reputation though is almost respectful - "You know Quirt, I always figured on usin' a new rope in hangin' you".
Evans is respectful of the Quaker family's ways, he hangs his holstered gun outside, never allowing it inside the home. When he takes Penelope on a wagon ride to pick blackberries, he leaves it behind in deference to her wishes. When Quirt shows up in town to call out Laredo Stevens, the Worth family arrives on the scene, and in what could be a fatal mistake, Evans gives up his gun to face Laredo weaponless. It would have been a tragic finale, if not for the vigilant Marshal McClintock. As Evans makes his way home with the Worths, the Marshal picks up Evans' gun and proclaims to hang it in his office along with a new rope, in memory of the adversary who never was.
Released in 1947 by Republic Pictures, "The Angel and the Badman" comes some dozen years or so after Wayne's Lone Star films which all followed a similar formula. Although a "B" Western, it's got a quality to the filming and story line that make it rise a considerable notch above his mid 1930's films.