Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1952)

EXPLOITATION PICTURE mm of the issue THE LAWLESS BREED The motion picture has come a long way since "The Great Train Robbery" had the nickelodeon customers gasping fifty years ago. That first "western" spawned a brood of movies that released awesome forces. The great masses of city dwellers received their first visual impression of sagebrush, cowboys and indians; the munitions industry found a windfall in the millions of shots that were fired on celluloid, film companies grew great and holes in the wall blossomed into grand palaces. The influence of the "western" film extended beyond America. Immigrants who arrived on U. S. soil expected to find redskins behind each tree and Colts blazing away in th;streets. The tremendous impact of the "western", certainly, is undeniable. Its staying power and popularitv. even under the most strident ridicule. The "western" has come a long way since "The Great Train Robbery". It grew with the movie industry and reached a maturity where limitations are onlv scenerv and costumes — even to the point that now the heroes are permitted to kiss women instead of horses. And with "The Lawless Breed". I niversal believes it has the film worthv of celebrating the golden anniversarv of this American institution. Based on the career of gun fighter John Hardin, it tells of a preacher"< son whose life was devoted to gunplav and gambling, but never killed a man who didn't shoot first. After a lifetime of violence and penitence in jail, the gunfighter desperately prevents his son from taking the same course. There are no old homestead and mortgage, bloodthirsty indians or kissless heroines. "The Lawless Breed"' >s a lustv modern western, and mature entertainment.