Yvonne de Carlo has to share Howard Duff's(Sam Bass) romantic interest with Dorothy Hart(Kathy Egan) in this Technicolor 'B' western, directed by the talented 'B' picture specialist George Sherman. Obviously, Dorothy was characterized as 'the good girl', while Yvonne, as Calamity Jane, was characterized as 'the bad girl'. Both fell in love with the handsome, but dirt poor, Bass almost immediately. Calamity more dominates the 2nd half, while Kathy is more influential in the first half. Director Sherman ordered some great close-ups of Yvonne's face, especially toward the end. For a more fun western costarring Yvonne, I recommend "Frontier Gal". Both these films are currently available at YouTube. I disagree with the paragraph under 'Trivia' at this site, which claims that there is little historically accurate information about Bass in this film. The inclusion of the 2 women is the greatest fictional component. As mentioned in the film, Bass was raised on an Indiana farm, and gradually made his way south and west, finally to Denton, TX. He did work for Sheriff Will Egan on his ranch, saved his money and bought an excellent race horse, named 'the Denton Mare'. He won some races with her and was skilled in other bets on horses. Later, he did get into robbing stages, trains, and banks. The dramatized train robbery at Big Spring Station closely duplicates the details of what actually happened, including the wood boxes holding a fortune in gold coins. His fatal attempt at robbing the Round Rock bank is also dramatized.Howard Keel, as Bass, doesn't present the sort of charisma a John Wayne or Gary Cooper would, but he does an adequate job. Yvonne makes a striking, if quite unreal, facsimile of Calamity.

Even though there is no record that Calamity Jane and Sam Bass even met and furthermore that by Calamity's own record the only man she ever loved was Wild Bill Hickok, Universal nevertheless made this film Calamity Jane And Sam Bass. Billing should have been in reverse this was really Sam Bass's story.Sam Bass as played by Howard Duff arrives in Denton, Texas completely busted, but he's got a way with the ladies and he attracts the attention of the famous Calamity Jane and the sheriff Willard Parker's sister. The sheriff's sister is Dorothy Hart. He also has a great love and good eye for horses. That and the two women are both the key his success and his downfall.It's fascinating how some of Hollywood's most beautiful actresses, Jean Arthur, Doris Day, and in this film Yvonne DeCarlo are cast as Calamity Jane. In real life, Mary Jane Canary as Calamity Jane was born had a face that could stop a grandfather clock for a couple of generations. She must have had something going to get all the men she did including Wild Bill Hickok. Duff and DeCarlo aren't the most romantic pair going still the western is an interesting one with some well executed action scenes. I think western fans will like it still.

....since Sam Bass is clearly the central character here, and Calamity Jane the peripheral one. Actually, Calamity is just one of the two women between whom Sam Bass is caught - the other is an incredibly sweet, sensible shopkeeper played by Dorothy Hart - and it really is quite the dilemma. I found myself pondering whom I would choose if I were in his place, but I couldn't make up my mind. Calamity is a role that suits Yvonne De Carlo perfectly - you can tell she is very comfortable with it - and Dorothy Hart is very appealing, too. The Technicolor photography is pleasing to the eye, and the story generally keeps your interest and leads to a surprisingly strong (sad & enigmatic) ending. **1/2 out of 4.

Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)This is your typical early 50's western (with a little romance thrown in) and it stars some notable and familiar faces from the early days of TV. It's not really a bad movie, just nothing very noteworthy, except... Yvonne De Carlo is smokin' ass hot in this movie! She plays the ultimate bad girl, Calamity Jane, and makes the whole movie worth sitting through. So much so, that I'm giving it an extra couple of stars just because she eats up the scenery. Other than that, this movie hasn't much going for it. It's your typical movie western. A naive farm boy, Sam Bass (Howard Duff) comes into town riding shotgun on the stage without a penny to his name. He strikes up a friendship with the store owner, Kathy Egan (Dorothy Hart) and despite the bad first impression from her brother (and the local sheriff) Will Egan (Willard Parker) gets some farm work for the family.Sam Bass knows his horse flesh and is even able to calm a wild horse like the one Calamity Jane is racing in town. He sort of has that effect on her too. Sam Bass seems to have a lot of bad luck or makes the wrong choices in life. Things just seem to go from bad to worse, no matter how good his intentions are. When he borrows money to bet on a racehorse, Sheriff Egan kicks him out, so he gets a cattle job with Joel Collins (Lloyd Bridges). It doesn't take long before he takes on a life of crime.