THE DESPERADO

US, 1954, 80 minutes, black and white.
Wayne Morris, James Lydon, Beverley Garland, Rayford Barnes, Dabbs Greer, Lee van Cleef, Nestor Paiva.
Directed by Thomas Carr.

The Desperado is a small scale Western of the mid-1950s, filmed in black-and-white. It was a small star vehicle for Wayne Morris who had been a lead at Warner Brothers during the 1930s and 1940s – but who was to die aged 45 in 1959. It was also a star vehicle for James (Jimmy) Lydon who had been popular in the Henry Aldrich series. The leading lady was Beverley Garland and Lee van Cleef appears twice, as twins.

The setting is Texas in the early 1870s, ruled by a corrupt governor, Davis, and hounded by his special police, nicknamed the Blue Bellies, who raided murdered and tortured. The townspeople rebel against them, especially a young man, played by James Lydon, who escapes with his friend, Ray (Rayford Barnes), and they come across a gunfighter, Wayne Morris.

The young man returns home when he hears that his father has been killed, confronting some of the Blue Bellies. They are killed in cold blood by his former friend who has come to the authorities to get a reward for the desperado.

The friend lies and a price is put on the young man’s head. In the meantime he meets a twin who tries to steal his horse, and kills him, later coming across the other twin – both played by Lee van Cleef. The young man and the gunfighter are betrayed, the young man going to court, but the gunfighter coming to vindicate him and witness to the truth of the killings.

The romance theme with Beverley Garland in love with the young man, has her upset that he has been accused of murder, but happily reunited with him.

Standard fare from the 1950s.