Silver Screenings

If you’re in the mood for a good ol’ fashioned Western, here’s a dilly for you.

When the Daltons Rode (1940) is a brisk Western about four brothers who become outlaws when pushed too far by a greedy land developer. Get this: It’s based on an actual Old West gang known as the Dalton Brothers.

The film stars Randolph Scott as a lawyer enlisted by his childhood friends, the aforementioned Daltons, to help defend their ranch from an evil land development company.

(Scott’s character is obviously shoe-horned into the movie by the studio, because he isn’t integral to the plot, but he is a genuine Movie Star, so he’s worth having around.)

However, the focus of this film lies with the brothers themselves, and how they arrive at a life of crime. They’re multi-talented criminals, robbing stage coaches, trains, and banks.

Oh yes, there’s also murder.

One of the brothers was appointed a U.S. Marshall in his pre-criminal life. But the evil land development company pushes him too far and he explodes. During a court trial, he rips his badge from his vest and chucks it at the judge. “Why should we obey laws twisted to fit the needs of thieves and liars?” he asks.

No one wants to live under a system like that, so it’s ironic the Daltons themselves become thieves and liars. They are audacious ones, with a crime spree spanning four states. The more they rob, the more brazen they become.

Of course there’s a price on their heads. The reward for their capture jumps from $1,000 to $20,000, which would be well over $700,000 US today.

When the Daltons Rode has a lot of terrific Western action, such as brawls, gun fights and broken furniture. There are also splendid getaway scenes on horseback.

It’s the kind of Western that benefits from plenty o’ action, which means loads of dangerous stunt work.

For example, there are several crowd scenes where much ruckus is caused, and it makes you wonder how director George Marshall was able to keep everyone on the rails.

Plus you have breathtaking stunts, including:

• crawling along the top of a moving train.
• climbing from underneath a moving stage coach to the top.
• crawling along the yoke of a team of galloping horses, then mounting the horses to steal them.
• riding a horse off a cliff into the water below.
• riding horses off a moving train.

These scenes would have been amazing to see on the big screen. (Note: Horses did not appear to be injured in these stunts, and we hope that really was the case.)

The legendary Yakima Canutt was one of the stunt coordinators on this film. Canutt is credited for being the first stunt person to develop the trick of jumping from a galloping horse to another moving object, e.g. a train or stagecoach. They say he created the boiler plate for action and stunt techniques in Westerns for years to come, and was awarded a special Academy Award in 1966.

The thing that puzzles us about When the Daltons Rode is that it works. Normally, we’d expect the brothers and their exploits to dominate the screenplay, reducing Scott’s character to a supporting player.

But such is the star power of Randolph Scott, and love interest Kay Francis, that we don’t feel cheated out of something better by their presence. In fact, they provide a moral compass, updating us on the brothers’ shocking activities.

The script is based on the real-life Dalton gang, specifically the 1931 memoirs published by the youngest brother, Emmett. Emmett died before this film was released, but IMDb says his widow was hired as a consultant.

The brothers began their Life of Crime in 1891, when they robbed a train in California, and ended it tragically in 1892, when they held up two banks at the same time. Two of the brothers were killed during this robbery, and Emmett was shot 20 times. He recovered well enough to go to prison, receiving a pardon in 1907 after serving 14 years of a life sentence. He then moved to Southern California, got married, and sold real estate.

He also wrote four books and starred in at least two silent movies: Beyond the Law (1918), about the Dalton Brothers, and The Man of the Desert (1920), a copy of which is on YouTube.

If you’re in the mood for a Western that keeps things light and doesn’t brood about the Human Condition, we heartily recommend When the Daltons Rode. It’s a rollicking old-fashioned yarn, with something to say about corporations who create their own rules.

This post is part of LEGENDS OF WESTERN CINEMA WEEK, hosted by Along the Brandywine and Hamlette’s Soliloquy.

When the Daltons Rode starring Randolph Scott, Kay Francis, Brian Donlevy. Directed by George Marshall. Written by Harold Shumate. Universal Pictures, 1940, B&W, 81 mins.