Topeka

When I was growing up in the '50's, Bill Elliott was my favorite cowboy, and I saw this western while still in grade school. But at that young age how often does anyone give thought to the story? The exciting action was that which stayed in my mind. I've seen it on DVD more recently, and at this much older age, while I still like the action and the cast, I was touched by the wonderful story. No one ever connected the straight Bill Elliott with being a bank robber, but here he was crooked while leading a band of crooks. It starts off with a bank in a small eastern Iowa town being robbed, and then the bandits go through eastern Nebraska and then end up in Topeka, KS. Though they are bandits who plan to rob the town, yet because they, more than once, mercilessly beat up the town bandits already there and instill fear in the local bandits' town boss, the town council makes Elliott sheriff, and his four (or maybe five)cohorts are placed in various businesses in the town to rob the entire Topeka. Of course, there is a love angle in this movie. The young, beautiful, refreshing-looking Phyllis Coates and Elliott find themselves falling for each other. But will that change him and, consequently, his outlaw gang? Whatever the case, the western action, excitement, and, again, the love angle combine to make this a favorite movie of mine. A great flick.

Bill Elliot plays the archetypal Good Bad Man, hired to kick the crooked element out of a small town. A hard-drinking, hard-living man, Elliot entertains thoughts of taking over the town himself for the benefit of his own gang. After several reels of soul-searching, Elliot decides to honor his promise to clean up the town for its decent citizens.

Solid B-western with some fine camera work via a crane which performs remarkable calisthenics, a healthy modicum of action, and a fine performance by the peaceable man Bill Elliott. It's a mature western opposed to the juvenile kind- it has a strong story, it's a little unusual and honouring your word and doing the right the thing is a sort of theme here. Also a leopard can change his spots, though some of Elliott's gang members are unable to change their bad ways, which forces Elliott to go up against them.