The Cimarron Kid is a tightly-made, action-packed, very entertaining Western of the Oklahoma outlaws sub-genre. It is well directed by Bud Boetticher, generally well acted, pleasingly scored, and beautifully filmed in three-strip Technicolor. Costumes, gun leather, railroad equipment and sets are quite authentic looking for the late 19th century era. The the outdoor locations, though actually California, were well chosen to look suitably like Okieland. As an added bonus, there are lots of period railroad equipment, with a shootout in a rural roundhouse one of the rousing action scenes.There is not really much to find wrong is this little oat burner, except for Audie Murphy's awful acting. Let's face, a wooden cigar store Indian with a microphone implant could do little worse. But even that serious handicap is overcome by Boetticher's skillful direction and a creative script that concentrates on the interesting supporting cast of characters, especially Noah Berry, Jr.'s Bob Dalton, and the love relationship between Bitter Creek Dalton (James Best) and Cimarron Rose (Yvette Duguay). This device happily keeps the camera away from Murphy's frozen features for most of the screen time. Yvette Duguay, though only fourth-billed, actually steals the show as the outlaw gang's resourceful gun moll. Pretty, exotic, lively, and sexy, she is more interesting and appealing in every way than Audie's ho-hum love interest, second-billed Beverly Tyler. Good support is also contributed by veteran character actors Roy Roberts and Leif Erickson. Altogether a very satisfying little Western. Better than some of the bigger productions from the same early 1950's era and certainly superior to any of the pretentious plates of tripe passed off as Westerns today.

When I received a DVD from Netflix with this film and "The Man From the Alamo" on it, I wondered why I'd placed this disk on my queue. After all, I am not a huge fan of westerns and the films appeared pretty unremarkable. However, when I noticed both films were directed by Budd Boetticher, I remembered that THIS was why I'd put these films on my list many months earlier. Boetticher was a wonderful director who managed to make his westerns better than the norm--with stories that lack many of the usual clichés. Unfortunately, this film is not typical of Boetticher's better films, as there are a lot of clichés spread throughout the movie.This is an odd film, since it is a remake of another movie ("The Doolins of Oklahoma") that was released just three years earlier! While remakes were very common, remaking a film so quickly wasn't. In the case of "The Cimarron Kid", Audie Murphy takes on the role previously played by Randolph Scott--and, frankly, no one can play a western role better than Scott, so Murphy is at a big disadvantage.The film begins with Murphy being pardoned and released from prison. It seems that he'd been convicted of robbery based solely on his friendships and the law finally realized her was innocent. However, when the train he's on is robbed by his old friends, people naturally assume he's one of them--and he's a wanted man all over again! So, in an odd twist, he DOES join the gang. But because he's basically a swell guy, he leads the gang in becoming more thoughtful and less prone to just blasting people--sort of a kinder, gentler form of banditry. I really expected this all to pay off better than it did. But the film is morally ambiguous and seems to say that Murphy is a good bad-guy! And, until it concludes, there are lots of clichés--such as the quick-tempered guy (Hugh O'Brian) who you just know will have a showdown with Murphy sooner or later, the lady who thinks Murphy is not beyond redemption and several others. Despite the clichés and the strange leading character, the film was well made and is interesting--even with the dumb ending that made little sense.I should also add that while I love Boetticher films, I also hate westerns that portray and glamorize minor western villains like the Daltons, Jesse James or Billy the Kid. 99% of the exploits they do on film are untrue and the men were mostly a lot of cheap crooks--yet Hollywood raised them almost to hero status and fictionalized their lives. So, when Murphy infiltrates this famous gang, I felt a bit annoyed...the sort of annoyed that history teachers like myself are good at becoming!By the way, during the roundhouse scene, why was it important for Rose to activate the turntable?! Really. The gang was NOT using a train!!

"The Cimarron Kid" was another of Universal's great little 80 minute westerns based on legendary outlaws of the old west. This one benefits from crisp direction from soon to be legendary Diector Budd Boetticher, a great supporting cast and good story. It stars Audie Murphy in one his early and best roles.Bill Doolin aka "The Cimarron Kid" (Murphy) is paroled from prison and intends to go straight. Unfortunately, the train on which he is riding is held up by the notorious Dalton Gang (I always thought that there were four Daltons but this story has six). One of the gang, Red Buck (Hugh O'Brian complete with red hair and beard) recognizes the Kid. The passengers think that the Kid is a part of the gang and try to restrain him. The Kid escapes and goes to the Dalton's camp.The Daltons led by Bob Dalton (Noah Beery Jr.) welcome him into the gang. The overly ambitious Red Buck doesn't trust the Kid and a conflict develops. The gang has a two bank heist planned for Coffeyville, Kansas. Seasonedw western fans will know what happens there. With the gang decimated, the Kid takes over as leader and they flee to the ranch of Pat Roberts (Roy Roberts) to hide out with Marshal John Sutton (Leif Ericson) and Railroad detective Tilden (Eugene Baxter) hot on their trail. Naturally Roberts has a comely young daughter, Carrie (Beverly Tyler) who is attracted to the Kid and likewise.The gang in spite of several setbacks, continues to operate. Dynamite Dick Dalton (John Hudson), who was believed to be lost, returns to the hideout with a proposal. With the help of his brother-in-law Geaorge Webster (John Hubbard), he proposes the robbery of a train carrying gold bullion and replacing it with lead. As the plan unfolds, the Kid discovers a double cross and.........................................As with most of Universal's westerns, the supporting cast consists of several of their up and coming contract players, sprinkled with a few recognizable veterans. In addition to those mentioned above we have James Best, Gregg Palmer (aka Palmer Lee), Rand Brooks and William Reynolds as the other Daltons, as well as, Yvette Duguay as Best's girlfriend Rose, John Bromfield, Richard Garland and Frank Silvera as Dalton Gang members and Tristram Coffin as a womanizer/gambler.The boyish looking Murphy was developing into a competent actor by this time and would enjoy a long career at Universal making these excellent little westerns.

The best Audie Murphy films are the ones he plays outlaws. That gave an unusual touch to the films, you never knew how it was going to come out at the end. In "The Kansas Raiders", and also on his last film, he was Jesse James. Here, he rides with the Daltons, their chief is Bob Dalton (Noah Beery Jr.) and they plan three bank robberies at the same time. This film is pure fun from beginning to end, with great action scenes, after all it was directed by Budd Boetticher, whose westerns are like wine: they get better as they get older. The two women, Beverly Tyler and Yvette Duguay are quite strong characters, also unusual in this type of westerns. There are spectacular moments like when they are surrounded in a town and try to escape, with Yvette Duguay helping by turning a track on a circular platform. Also when they hold up the two banks in Coffeyville at the same time. If you enjoy a good western, this one is a must.