Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

weezeralfalfa The site summary says that Kit Banion(Barbara Stanwick) was dubbed The Maverick Queen because in her early days around Rock Springs, she would round up all the unbranded cattle she could find and brand them. Of course, never having married and not foreseeing the possibility of such, she was a maverick herself. Considering the 2 female characters(Kit, and Mary Murphy , as Lucy Lee), this can be deduced as an iconic 'good' girl vs. 'bad' girl film, although they aren't visibly competing for the attention of the lead male: Barry Sullivan, masquerading as Jeff Younger, nephew of the infamous Younger brothers. In fact, toward the end, they sometimes cooperate as partners with Jeff against the Hole in the Wall Gang, which Kit has been an indispensable part of......If you remember the ending of the Anthony Mann western "The Far Country" Ruth Roman, as the young middle-aged 'bad 'girl, and Corinne Calvert, as the young 'good' girl both had their eyes on Jimmy Stewart, who was fighting for his life against the villain, played by John McIntire. Ruth died trying to defend Jimmy against the shooting of McIntire, leaving Corinne as the apparent winner, by default. Well, a rather similar thing happens here. Kit dies trying to defend the wounded Jeff against a variety of gang members, leaving a cute Lucy as the apparent winner. In both cases, the younger 'good' girl won, although this is not always the case in westerns("Abilene Town" comes to mind as a clear counter example).......Eventually Jim Davis, dubbed 'The Stranger' in the credits, shows up, looking dapper in his all black outfit. He claims he is the real Jeff Younger, and whips out a newspaper photo to prove his identity. He would like to meet the outlaw gang, and goes riding off. I don't remember seeing him again. He had served his purpose in confirming rumors that Sullivan wasn't the real Younger, and might be a lawman. Later, it's confirmed that he is a Pinkerton man. Kit would like him to replace The Sundance Kid(Scott Brady) as her primary lover, but recommends that he relocate far from the gang, which she considers doomed, in the long run. She seems to think she's stuck in her now ambiguous situation. ......The drawn out climax, near the end, seemed largely unrealistic, with characters supposedly safely escaping from a burning cabin, with gunslingers all around.......Spectacular mountain scenery usually composed the on location background. This was around Durango, Royal Gorge, and Silverton, CO...... The film was produced by Republic, not long before the demise of this studio, with the phasing out of B westerns.......This was one of the last Hollywood films Barbara would star in. It was also near the beginning of her emphasis on westerns, which would culminate in her "The Big Valley" TV series, that ended about a decade later. She would again costar with Barry Sullivan the following year in the western "Forty Guns". If this sounds promising, see it at YouTube.

secondtake The Maverick Queen (1956)Well Barbara Stanwyck made a lot of Westerns in the 1950s, and most of them are routine stuff, and in them she has often limited if still central roles. This is a great example. She's in the film much less than her co-stars, and the story is a patched together set of common problems--the cattle rancher faces trouble from the cattle rustlers and a hero has come to town, and a little love is going to cross the frontier.The key difference in all these movies is that Stanwyck plays a strong, sometimes very very strong, woman. That alone makes them watchable. But don't expect "The Maverick Queen" to hold up critically or even hold your attention fully. The plot even has so many little confusions, on purpose. you have to pay close attention (and show some patience) to keep in on track.For one example, without giving too much away, the main man, played well by Barry Sullivan, is new in town, and he says he's Jeff Younger, a famous gunslinger. This suite Stanwyck's character perfectly--she runs the tavern but also the general racketeering schemes for the province. But then another man arrives in town and says he's Jeff Younger. Hmmm. Along the same lines, the pretty young girl in town is another strong woman, clearly a good one, and her sidekick is a lazy loaf but a good guy, until you see him start telling people things he shouldn't. And so on. These are really great plot twists but they aren't handled with total clarity or given the impact you might expect so the movie totters a bit.The director, it might be noted, is Joseph Kane, who pretty much only did Westerns, over a hundred of them, and he probably didn't distinguish one from another very well. He's not even trying to create a masterpiece on the small budget this small studio gave him. (It's a full color Republic Pictures production, and there are corners cut.)The one other interesting side note is the presence of Sundance as a major character (and Butch Cassidy as a very minor one). Of course, history is thrown to the wind on what happens to Sundance, so never mind that . (Watch the Newman/Redford one for the classic outline.)And Stanwyck? She's strong, and I mean physically tough, and she busts out with good acting in a few scenes. But she, too, seems to realize she's doing routine stuff.A final note--I saw this on TCM, and for the first time in twenty years of watching movies there I saw one that was not shown full screen. Yes. A shame. It's a wide wide screen enterprise and it uses an unusual system called Naturama, and it was the first Republic movie to use it. It was really just a compatible anamorphic widescreen system like Panavision, but for some reason it was cropped (given the awful "pan and scan" treatment) for this release. That didn't help with the fluidity of the filming, or the appreciation of the big landscape of Colorado so proudly announced in the opening credits.Should you see this? Not really. There are better Stanwyck Westerns, and better Westerns. And better movies.

bob the moo Lucy Lee is a young and pretty cattle owner, trying to get her herd to market to sell. One night in camp her and her partner are joined by Jeff Young – a man who saves them when they are later ambushed by the Sundance Kid and his gang. Sundance reports back to Kit Banion (aka the Maverick Queen) and she in enraged by his failure. However the arrival in town of Jeff Younger gives her a new scheme to run. As she attempts to assert further power can the others stop her criminal schemes?Starting out with the usual style of song over the usual sort of landscapes nothing gave me any doubts that this would be a fairly ordinary western adventure and indeed that is what it turned out to be. The plot offered potential because it is more than just the standard good guys/bad guys stuff – this plot is driven by betrayal, lies, jealousy and intrigue. Shame then that it doesn't all come off, it is interesting and engaging but it does struggle to keep it tight with so many things going on – I wasn't sure exactly what my focus was supposed to be. This is also seen by it taking 15 minutes before the title character actually made it onto screen, not that bad a thing but just further suggestion of the slight lack of focus that made it a bit harder to get into. The characters don't all make sense and again the lack of focus meant I was confused as to who I was following.The cast aren't much help in this regard either because nobody really steps up and makes the film their own. Stanwyck tries hard but she was approaching the end of her long career at this point and she isn't helped by being left in the background for most of the start of the film while the much younger Murphy makes us think the film is about her. Sullivan is pretty good and has a nice easy charm. Brady, Petrie and a few others make for interesting bad guys but their performances aren't that interesting and they just accept whatever changes the script throws at them.Overall this is an enjoyable enough western that is fairly run-of-the-mill despite having aspects of it that are more than the standard stuff. The plot is good but the lack of focus for large chunks means that it is a little difficult to get into and the solid if unspectacular directing and acting don't do anything to really remedy that. Enjoyable for genre fans but no more than that.

chazz-7 Stanwyck's portrayal of the outlaw woman Kit Banion is an all-time classic. This role sets the standard for strong western women in the cinema. Stanwyck perfect for the role of the beautiful and strong-willed Kit Banion, leader of the Wild Bunch outlaw gang who can ride and shoot with the best of them. Stanwyck more than holds her own, matching wits and pistol shots with outlaws and lawmen alike. However, her lawless days are numbered when she falls in love with a Pinkerton agent (Barry Sullivan) who infiltrates the gang. Good supporting cast with familiar supporting actors. Visually pleasing with great western scenery, shot on location in southrn Colorado. Exciting action scenes liven up a sometimes plodding script. Well worth watching. A must see for fans of classic westerns.