"The Outcast" of the title is Jet Cosgrave (John Derek) who returns home after eight years to claim the ranch left him by his father but swindled away from him by his unscrupulous uncle Major Linton Cosgrave (Jim Davis) and his lawyer Andrew Devlin (Taylor Holmes).Jet meets his uncle's fiancé Alice Austin (Catherine McLeod) and sets out to take her away from his uncle. Into the mix comes Judy Polsen (Joan Evans) the daughter of a rival rancher Chad Polsen (Frank Ferguson). Slim Pickens plays Judy's brother the hard ridin' Boone Polsen.Jet has hired a group of gunman led by the murderous Dude Rankin (Bob Steele) who guns a helpless ranch cook in the back. On the other side is Cal Prince (James Millican) and his gang which includes the trigger happy "The Kid" (Ben Cooper) and Bert (Harry Carey Jr.). Double crosses abound until the final showdown between the two Cosgraves.The film was directed by Republic veteran William Whitney best known for his work in serials and his realistic fight scenes. He even allowed Roy Rogers to display a blood trickle in "Trail of Robin Hood" (1950).John Derek was more renowned for his off-screen life than for his acting. He was fortunate enough to have been married at one time or another to three of the most beautiful women of their day..Ursula Andress, Linda Evans and Bo Derek. To me he didn't make a very convincing hero though. I couldn't see him besting the 6' 4" Jim Davis in a fight.Jim Davis was a familiar face in many Republic westerns of the period. He usually played a villain but did on occasion did play on the right side of the law. Slim Pickens was working in Republic's Rex Allen series at the time and also turned up in a couple of Republic's "A" features as well. Bob Steele had been a "B" series star in the 30s and had been reduced to supporting roles from the late 40s onward. He was at his best as a villain as in this film. James Millican was a veteran of several Randolph Scott westerns and Harry Carey Jr. was a familiar face in several John Ford Westerns. Ben Cooper was being groomed by Republic to be their next juvenile lead.Great photography, action, color and story and except for Derek as the hero, a great cast.

I saw this movie on the Westerns Channel and didn't expect much from it. But I was pleasantly surprised as it was well directed, the staging was impressive, the script was thorough and had an intriguing plot. The exterior shots were gorgeous (wonderful country, might have been Wyoming but probably the back lot somewhere.) While only John Derek was truly handsome, the cast selection and action created by the supporting cast makes this movie worth watching. The only bad thing was, Bob Steele shot a man in the back. I was horrified, having seen so many of his movies where he was the good guy. A complete change of character for him. See it.

Republic, among other small studios in Hollywood was considered to be "Poverty Row", but they had a lot of talent working for them and "The Outcast" is one of their best productions. John Derek is Jet Cosgrave, a man who has been cheated out of his inheritance by his uncle Jim Davis, and lost his ranch. He contracts some gunfighters, whose leader is Bob Steele, in order to get it back. He flirts with Joan Evans, and she falls in love with him, but he is not sure about his feelings because he is also very impressed by his uncle's wife to be Catherine McLeod. Derek is excellent in his role, you don't really know up to the end if he is a good guy or not. William Witney made a lot of westerns and here is at his best, providing good action scenes, specially one where Derek jumps in the horse Steele is riding. Also there are many shootouts, some of them among cattle. It was great to see a young Slim Pickens, I remembered him very well as the old sheriff in Pat Garret and Billy the Kid. The color system used Trucolor is less expensive than Technicolor but the result is satisfactory. A film that did not age, great entertainment for those who like westerns

An early performance by Derek is the main attraction here, in this action packed tale of a young man, returning home to reclaim his ranch from a dastardly cattle baron. A good supporting cast, and a director that doesn't let the romance scenes get in the way, make this good fare.