Dorathen Better Late Then Never

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

bsmith5552 Jim Davis was a popular western actor in the fifties who usually played villains and/or second leads. In "The Badge of Marshal Brennan" he gets to play the lead, a hero in spite of himself.The story has accused killer Jeff Harlon on the run from a posse. He crosses into Apache territory where the posse abandons the chase. He then comes across a wounded marshal, Matt Brennan (Douglas Fowley). When the marshal dies Harlon picks up the marshal's badge and rides into the next town, Banock.Arriving in Babbock, he learns that the town doctor, Steve Hale (Harry Lauter) suspects an outbreak of black spot fever which he believes is being spread by the cattle of cattle baron Colonel Doniphon (Louis Jean Heydt). The son of local Indian Chickamon (Lawrence Dobkin) has died from the fever and vows to kill the doctor. In fact. the doctor is almost lynched by Doniphon's son Shad (Lee Van Cleef) when Harlon intervenes.Posing as Marshal Brennan, Harlon steps into the dispute between the cattlemen and the town. Assisting him are the town sheriff (Carl Smith) and his Deputy (Ric Vallin). Meanwhile "Brennan" strikes up an acquaintance with café owner Murdock (Arleen Whelen).This was a essentially a low budget "B" movie. It doesn't have much in the way of action until the finale, which includes a dandy fight between the Davis and Van Cleef characters.Also in the cast is Marty Robbins complete with Mexican accent, as a ranch hand. Robbins and Smith were both popular country and western singers of the day, however neither sings a note in this film. As actors both made excellent singers.As "B" westerns go, this one is average although it's good to see Davis finally get the girl.

tavm Just watched on Netflex streaming another Jim Davis western. In this one, he's Jeff Harlan who's on the run when he encounters Marshal Matt Brennan (Douglas Fowley) dying in the desert. He then takes his identity and ends up helping the nearest town doctor (Harry Lauter) as he tries to stop some infected cattle from leaving the premises as he tries to find the antidote for the people affected. But the Donaphins (Louis Jean Heydt and Lee Van Cleef as father and son, respectively) are intent to push their cattle across the river so of course a fight is inevitable...This was quite a big role for Davis as he's top-billed for the first time here and has the lion's share of scenes. And this was also the first time I've seen him have some romance in his old movies with Arleen Whelan as Murdock providing such an alluring presence. Also interesting seeing country music stars Carl Smith as the sheriff and Marty Robbins as Felipe. The fender guitar music by Ramey Idriss was also a cool accompaniment to the score and I also liked the unique directorial touches of Albert C. Gannaway like Van Cleef throwing that vial of blood on the camera lens or that shadow of Davis when he mentions about not running away from it. So on that note, I highly recommend The Badge of Marshal Brennan.

aimless-46 The Badge of Marshall Brennan is an extremely SLOW moving western from 1957. The basic premise is fine. A rather tame outlaw named Jeff Harlan (Jim Davis) helps the title character (Douglas Fowley) - who was wounded by hostile Indians out in the desert. When Marshall Brennan dies Jeff takes his badge, their last conversation had been about Jeff's childhood dream of being a lawman. In the nearest town a conflict is starting between the doctor (Harry Lauter) and a rich cattleman and his son Shan (an extremely young Lee Van Cleef-already playing a bad guy). The doctor suspects the cattle are infected with Black Spot Fever and that it is being transmitted to the people in the town. There will soon be a love triangle with Jeff and the good doctor vying for the attentions of a redheaded café owner named Murdock (Arleen Whelan-still extremely pretty at age 40). Marty Robbins (soon to be a county music star) plays a Mexican with blonde hair and a very bad "Cisco Kid" accent.The problem is that the story elements are enough for a 40-50 minute television show, not a 74-minute feature film. So there are expanded establishing shots and considerable chatter, not in the service of the plot but as a way to pad the running length. Making this the type of film that is best watched while doing your homework or reading a book; it is hard to give the thing more than 30% of your focus.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

maharani_md For a low-budget film, this one really captures the imagination. Jim Davis gives one of the most enigmatic performances of his career in a very off-beat Western that draws its main plot elements from a combination of Eastern mysticism and tried-and-true Western cliches. A truly eccentric and haunting score adds to the ethereal nature of the proceeding. On one level almost laughable, but on another, deeply profound.