Bad Men of Missouri (Warner Bros.) (1941)

"BAD MEN OF MISSOURI"—PUBLICITY ‘@ PRODUCTION FEATURE e@ Action and Adventure Thrill-Riddled Film In ‘Bad Men of Missouri Three train robberies, two bank robberies, one stage coach © robbery, an escape from a sheriff’s trap and a jail break comprise some of the action in Warner Bros. 1941 successer to “Dodge City’, “Bad Men of Missouri,” starring Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman, yet the “bad men” commit no _ single homicide in the picture which opens Friday at the Strand. Well, hardly any homicide. There comes a time when a man, or several men, playing around with firearms with various agitated citizens located at the business end of them, are likely to wind up discontinuing someone. The law of averages is certain to take care of that and this is the case with the notorious Younger brothers and their Robin Hood activities. In one sequence, Jim Younger (Arthur Kennedy) has witlessly managed to get himself jailed because of his overweening love for Mary Hathaway (Jane Wyman). Cole Younger (Morgan) and Bob Younger (Wayne Morris) go to the rescue of their brother. They are tricked by one Pettibone, the sycophant of Banker Merrick (Victor Jory) into pretending to surrender to obtain Jim’s liberty. They wear long dusters, buttoned up over their arms, obviously to make it impossible for them to exercise any of their skill with firearms. They are permitted to enter the jail, according to the nefarious plan of the dastardly sheriff and the scheming Merrick, while hired assassins wait in concealment across the street. When they leave the jail, in their long dusters, their arms buttoned down under the jackets, they are to be slaughtered. They duly enter the jail, but ahead of schedule. They bring their dusters with them. They liberate Jim and wait for the sheriff and Merrick. When these gracious murderers arrive, they attire them in the dusters and shove them out the door of the jail into the gathering gloaming. The assassins, a little unable to distinguish features through the gloom, riddle the pair with bullets. In the ensu ing excitement all three of the Youngers escape, but not their would-be assassins, the banker tand the sheriff. For them, it is a quick death, as they walk into their own..trap. ‘According to the claims of Cole Younger, leader of the three bank robber-Robin Hoods, this is the only instance in their eleven year career as law breakers that they caused the death of anyone, friend or enemy. “Bad Men of Missouri” was directed by Ray Enright, from the action-packed script by Charles Grayson. adapted from the story by Robert E. Kent. © CURRENT READER ® Morris and Kennedy Brothers in Film, Astrological Twins It’s a small world, after all. Wayne Morris and Arthur Kennedy playing brothers in Warner Bros.’ “Bad Men of Missouri” discovered that they had been born on the same date. They celebrate February 17th. Then they checked further, and found that both had been born on February 17, 1914. “Hey, what time of day were you born?” Morris asked Kennedy. “They used to kid me about that,” was the reply. “It was twelve, noon.” “Then we wern’t being born at the same time, anyway,” Morris observed. “I wasn’t born until 3 P.M.” That ended that until Dennis Morgan, who plays another brother in the film, happened to think of time differences. He called that to the attention of Messrs. Morris and Kennedy. Kennedy, born in Worcester, Mass., at 12 noon, probably let out his first howl of protest just about the same instant that Morris, born at 3 P.M. in Los Angeles, was voicing his! Still BM-80 ; Mat 203—30c HOLD-UP! By might they take what is theirs by right! Arthur Kennedy and Dennis Morgan hold up Victor Jory and his crew of scoundrels to get back money wrested from Missouri's farmers, in “Bad Men of ’ Missouri” currently showing at the Strand. e OPENING DAY e Saga of the West At Strand Today The rugged and rip-roaring West of the post Civil War era with all its gun-play and horseplay is the dramatic setting of Warner Bros.’ new film, “Bad Men of Missouri,’ which opens today at the Strand Theatre. Those were the days when the returning soldiers found their homes and farms taken over by skinflint, fraudulent bankers who had taken advantage of the average person’s ignorance of finance. It was they who were responsible for breeding the lawlessness which spawned the James brothers, the Daltons and those bad men of Missouri, the Younger brothers. It is the story of the Younger brothers and their exciting escapades that is depicted in this latest of Warner action films, ae Still BM Pub.-A15; Mat 106—15c ROBIN HOOD OF THE WEST— Dennis Morgan as Cole Younger in “Bad Men of Missouri”. a worthy successor to “Dodge City” and Santa Fe Trail.” Dennis Morgan, Wayne Morris and Arthur Kennedy are cast in the roles of the Younger brothers, the most carefree, gun-toting trio to have blazed its name in the adventurous history of the Old West. Pert Jane Wyman supplies the romance as the girl friend of Jim Younger (Arthur Kennedy). The Younger brothers return from the Civil War to find that their father had been killed during an attempt to dispossess him by a banker, played by Victor Jory. They also find that this same action of taking over homes had been going on among all the neighboring farmers. Embittered, they set out upon a career of bank and train robbing with the intention of reimbursing the farmers. Because of this they became known as the Robin Hood bandits. So clever and so daring were their deeds that no sheriff or posse could bring them to bay. The sudden and climactic end of their reign is the strangest story in all of the bullet-splashed saga of the West. “Bad Men of Missouri” has a supporting cast that is made up of Alan Baxter, Sam McDaniel and many more noted players. Still BM-44; Mat 201—30c TIME OUT FOR ROMANCE—Even hard-riding, straight-shooting bandits of the old West took time out for the girls, as Wayne Morris and Dennis Morgan prove to pretty Jane Wyman in “Bad Men of Missouri”. e PREPARED REVIEW e ‘Bad Men of Missouri’ Lusty, Colorful Film The studio that produced “Dodge City,” “Virginia City” and “Santa Fe Trail,” has now added a new and exciting film to that impressive roster. More intense than any of those three pictures, Warner Bros.’ “Bad Men of Missouri,” which had its first local showing at the Strand Theatre last night, kept the audience thrilled throughout the entire showing. Dramatic excitement is the keynote of this. film which tells the story of the terrible, yet benevolent, Younger brothers, who burned the trails of the west during the 1870’s. It is a bulletsplashed saga of America’s untamed frontier, and of the bad men who made Missouri great. The bandit brothers are realistically portrayed by Dennis Morgan, Wayne Morris and Arthur Kennedy. Authentic in dress, speech and manerisms, these men actually make the Younger brothers live again. They are a tough trio, staging holdup after holdup, robbing train, bank and stagecoach with a careless abandon that made even the James brothers seem mild by comparison with the Youngers. They were loved as well as feared, for all their loot went to the neighboring farmers to help them to keep their farms from the banker. For this, they soon earned the name of “The Robin Hoods of the West.” Pretty, vivacious Jane Wyman gives a grand performance as a girl who falls in love with Jim Younger, played by Arthur Kennedy, and pleads with him to give up living as a hunted desperado. The sudden and dramatic end of the escapades of the Younger brothers is one of the strangest tales in the history of western banditry, and the element of its surprise is made highly effective at the climax. The supporting cast, made up of Victor Jory, Alan Baxter, Walter Catlett, Sam McDaniel and other screen favorites, all give fine portrayals and lend to the genuine western atmosphere of the lusty, colorful filn. Director Ray Enright did a masterful job in playing up the thrills, suspense and tender. romance that highlight the story. The rapid-paced scenario was written by Charles Grayson from a story by Robert E. Kent. @ STAR FEATURE ® Glamor Boy Morgan Goes Western! Dennis Morgan, newest film glamour boy, who sent feminine hearts spinning with his ‘Kitty Foyle” performances, has the lead in “Bad Men of Missouri,” in which he plays the part of a true heavy, a harder-than-nails, quick-on-the-trigger bank robber and general desperado. Only briefly does romance enter this earthy Robin Hood’s life and then he passes it off with the iron inflexibility that is appropriate to the character. Morgan has scored already as a romantic lead. His face, physique, his easy, genuine smile, his musical, persuasive voice had fitted him perfectly for the role of a heart-wrecker. Morgan welcomed the opportunity to play the Western role. He didn’t want to be cast as a perpetual juvenile. He wanted, first, to be a singer. When he was proved too fine an actor to leave in music, Warners put him in romantic roles and saw him play them to the hilt. When he was told he was to have a chance to run the gamut, he kicked his professional heels together and sounded off: “Give me the beaver and the sombrero, hand me down my six-shooters. If I’m going to be an actor, I’m going to be an actor, not a photograph.” “Bad Men of Missouri” proves conclusively that Morgan is an actor. Strand Theatre audiences have acclaimed his performance as Cole Younger, bandit-hero of the post-Civil War West.