Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

bkoganbing Wallace Beery set the standard for lovable lugs when he essayed the role of Long John Silver in Treasure Island. Turned out the nastiest pirate on the Spanish Main was one lovable lug after all, especially around kids like Jackie Cooper.Bad Bascomb is simply Beery as Long John Silver on two legs gone west. And this time it's the sweet innocence of little Margaret O'Brien that warms the old outlaw's heart.Beery as Bascomb is a leader of a large band of outlaws with J. Carrol Naish as his second in command. The film opens with the Governors of three territories in conference about how to get him with federal government agent Donald Curtis. They almost do get him, trapping him like they did Jesse James in Northfield, Minnesota. But as the James Brothers escaped from that trap, Beery and Naish do likewise and hide undercover in a Mormon wagon train heading for Utah. It's there that Beery meets up with little Margaret and her grandmother Marjorie Main. And he starts to change his evil ways. There's a whole lot of action in this film for those who want their westerns to emphasize that. The ambush of Beery's gang, the posse chase and a serious Indian attack. One scene I did find a bit much though was during that Indian attack, Margaret O'Brien using her peashooter against the Indians. Kind of dumb in my humble opinion.But the chemistry between Main and Beery and O'Brien is on full throttle here. And that's reason enough to watch Bad Bascomb.

aimless-46 Director S. Syvan Simon's 1946 film "Bad Bascomb" is truly amazing. As a western it is awful, almost as bad as the cheapest of the Republic features. Yet for all but the most cynical viewers the film is a real treat simply for the wonderful scenes between nine-year old Margaret O'Brien and 60 year-old Wallace Beery (and nicely complemented by Marjorie Main in a supporting role). These are so well written that they seem to have come from a different writer than the rest of the film. And fortunately their scenes together make up a sizable portion of the total.O'Brien was simply the cutest child actor in cinema history. And not only did she instinctively know how to act but she worked hard to master accents for her roles and she took direction very well. In "Bad Bascomb" Simon had her turn up the cuteness meter even higher than when she played Lady Jessica opposite Robert Young and Charles Laughton in "The Canterville Ghost". He knew exactly what he was doing because Beery's gruff and blustery performance balances it out quite nicely. Their scenes mostly involve her setting him up to deliver a series of absolutely priceless lines. The story (which is almost irrelevant) begins with Beery's title character being thwarted when his gang attempts a bank robbery. Bascomb and his sidekick Bart Yancy (J. Carol Nash) escape and attempt to leave the area with a Mormon wagon train heading for Utah. They discover gold hidden on the train and Yancy enlists a band of Indians to attack the wagons. This results in another of those silly ride-around-the-circled-wagons Hollywood Indian attacks and some additional action as Beery rides to a nearby fort so the cavalry can come and save the day. Like "Angel and The Badman" (made just a year later), the outlaw Beery is gradually won over by the loving girl although in this case it taps into fatherly rather than romantic love. The day-to-day journey of the wagon train is done very well but the larger scale action sequences are rather lame. Beery has an "obvious" double for the horse riding scenes and almost everything that involves physical movement. Nash's character is a bit discordant, as Yancy has a lot of nice guy moments that simply don't fit with what is supposed to be his true nature. And there is a "Shane" ending that probably should have been reworked. I suspect that the producers were trying to target two very different audiences with this film and ended up hurting its basic unity.But ultimately these defects don't really matter because of the slick performances of O'Brien, Beery, and Main. It's sentimental and contrived but it works. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

dstenhouse This movie inspired Anthony Mann to make his own western using one of its themes (bad guy hides in/leads wagon train) in 1954, "Bend of the River". He uses the opening scene to pay homage to "Bad Bascomb", by having James Stewart ride up to a wagon and receive a piece of food from a little girl. This points to another theme which is actually dropped from Mann's movie - father hunger in action. This theme is handled well in "Bad Bascomb", without it being overplayed. I could especially identify with the scene where the kid overreacts to the adult's supposed lack of interest in what he thinks is a trivial moment. Margaret and Wallace both sparkle in this - if only they had made more movies together! The only disappointment to me is that there is so much wonderful scenery, and it is in black and white! Finally, what's the best way to attack a wagon train in a circle? Watch this movie and find out!

smorose I found this a very interesting movie, and enjoyed Beery in his role. I was just surprised with the ending, I was expecting the Federal Officer to turn his back and let Beery return to the Wagon Train, but it ended with him riding off with the Officer. Not a traditional ending. Hope I didn't blow the ending for anyone.