Quantrill's Raiders (1958)

Director:

Edward Bernds

Writer:

Polly James (written by)

Release Date:

27 April 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

...rode like hellions, hid like ghosts, killed like wolves!

Plot:

A Civil War guerilla gang plans an attack on a Kansas arsenal. |

Plot Keywords:

Civil War

Cast

Steve Cochran	...	Wes
Diane Brewster	...	Sue Walters
Leo Gordon	...	William Clarke Quantrill
Gale Robbins	...	Kate
Will Wright	...	Judge Wood
Kim Charney	...	Joel
Myron Healey	...	Jarrett
Robert Foulk	...	Hager
Glenn Strange	...	Todd
Lane Chandler	...	Sheriff
Guy Prescott	...	Major Mathews
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Griggs (as Thomas B. Henry)
Dan White	...	Fred Thomas

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:K-16

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Vigorous US Civil War tale

This brisk Cinemascope Civil War tale is a no nonsense movie that runs around 70 minutes and makes good use of its time.It tells of the raid on Lawrence,Kansas by Quantrill and his men during the war.Steve Cochran is top billed as a Confederate officer assigned to Quantrill to assist in the planning and execution of the raid .The town contains a Union ammunition dump and is thus a legitimate target .However when the ammunition is moved Quantrill -whose interest in the war lies not in the Southern cause but an opportunity to settle old scores -insists on pressing ahead with the raid anyway thus forcing Cochran to change his loyalties.

The movie rewrites history in a cavalier fashion - the fate of Quantrill in real life is not the one shown here-but there is much to enjoy if you are not over punctilious about such matters.Cochran is adequate as the hero but Leo Gordon ,who specialised in psychotic villains ,dominates the movie with a full blooded performance .The colour is good and the music score rousing .The action is plentiful and well staged .The script is clichéd and well worn and this is the movie,s chief liability All in all it is a good B-Movie from its era but it does raise one issue for me however-alone of all the key figures of the West and the Civil War,Quantrill has not received a "revisionist" movie about him .the movies have shown ,say Billy the Kid ,or Bill Cody in a number of contrasting lights,from hostile to sympathetic .Quantrill has been demonised in every single movie where he appears .Does nobody actually have to a good word to say about the guy? Good movie and a decent way of passing an hour or so