WHEN THE DALTONS RODE

US, 1940, 81 minutes. Black and white.
Randolph Scott, Kay Francis, Brian Donlevy, George Bancroft, Broderick Crawford, Stuart Erwin, Andy Devine, Frank Albertson, Mary Gordon, Harvey Stephens.
Directed by George Marshall.

When the Daltons Rode is an exciting western of 1940, directed by George Marshall after he directed the 1939 classic Destry Rides Again. Marshall was to direct many westerns as well as many comedies and romances, some of the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis vehicles of the 1950s.

The film is well written, well paced, exciting in the tradition of films about outlaws. It is very much in the vein of the films at the time about Jesse James and Billy the Kid.

The film stars Randolph Scott, veteran of many westerns. However, in this film he is a lawyer rather than a cowboy and does not even carry a gun. Kay Francis is the love interest, the telegraph operator in the small town who is engaged to Bob Dalton (Broderick Crawford), the sheriff. However, she falls in love with the lawyer and there is a conflict with the Dalton family.

The film focuses on the Daltons, a group of brothers, with a very strong Irish mother. This is very much in the style of the James family. When greedy companies send surveyors who intrude on the land, there are confrontations, accidental deaths which lead to the brothers becoming outlaws, against the government, against the companies, taking to robbing banks and trains.

Brian Donlevy plays Grat Dalton, the firebrand of the brothers. Broderick Crawford (later in the 40s to receive an Oscar for All the King’s Men) is the sheriff who leads the brothers in their revolt against the company. In the meantime, George Bancroft is the bank manager in the town who is the power behind the frauds and schemes. There is some comedy by Andy Devine (which some may like, some not) as a gawky character who goes along with the gang. Mary Gordon has a strong role as Ma Dalton. Harvey Stephens is the leader of the surveyors, unscrupulous in his attack on the Daltons.

The western outlaws have been staple of American films for decades. Right throughout the 20th century there were remakes of films about the various gangs. For Australian audiences, there is an interesting comparison with the Kelly gang, the grievances, the violence.

1. A popular western of 1940? The ingredients: the western town, the injustices on the range, the outlaws and their cause, their behaviour, their deaths? Putting them on hero status?

2. Did the film glorify the Daltons and their exploits or offer them as victims of systems who revolted and made their own destiny, even to failure and death?

3. The West, the town, the range? Black and white photography? The musical score? Editing and pace?

4. The introduction with Tod Jackson, the Randolph Scott character? Arrival in town? Trying to get information from the blacksmith? Wanting to find the Dalton family, watching the photograph, the clash with the Daltons, their discovering his identity, the happy reunion? His wanting to get a stage to another town to do legal work? Their persuading him to stay? The encounter with Julie, trying to send the telegram, the infatuation, describing her to Bob Dalton? Going to the birthday party, encountering Julie? His reaction to the injustice for the Daltons, the confrontation with Caleb Winters? Trying to get justice, his plans? The Daltons and the violence? His trying to help, in the court, the uproar and the escape? His love for Julie, her puzzlement? His trying to make decisions? Bob Dalton, his return, the confrontation, Bob and his bowing out? The romance for Julie? Julie as a character, strong presence, her worry about Bob, Ma Dalton supporting her, her love for Tod?

5. The situation of the Daltons, the surveyors coming onto the property, the company? Rigby and his attacks, the fight, the man hitting his head on the stone and dying? The arrests? The trial? Tod and his trying to defend the Daltons? Grat and his outburst? In jail, the escape? Bob, his role as sheriff, giving it up?

6. The exploits of the Daltons, working as brothers? The robbing of banks? Attacking the trains? On the roof of the train – and the passengers joking about the Daltons attacking? Then the reality?

7. Grat, his not taking Bob’s orders? Bob going to see Julie? Telling them not to attack the bank? Grat persuading the others? The shootout in the town, the deaths?

8. Ozark Jones, his woman trouble, the two women after him? His going along with the Daltons? Involved in their exploits?

9. Ma Dalton, strong woman, the photo, the birthday party, supporting her sons? Her supporting Julie, taking a stance against Bob? Condemning their actions?

10. The film ending as did all these films, with the deaths of the protagonists, the failure of the revolts against authority? No matter the justice of the cause?

11. The effect of the opening, the collage of the opening up of the West, the Midwestern states, Oklahoma and Kansas? A picture of progress during the 19th century? The context for the outlaws?