Load of rubbish!!

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Robert Barrat (Sheriff Bill Cummings), Noah Beery, Jr. (Chick Lyman), Guinn "Big Boy" Williams (Billy Sweet), Andy Clyde (Henry Cluff), Paul Hurst (Dogface), Robert Coote (Eaton), Addison Richards (Raeburn), Douglas Walton (Mulford), Francis Ford (Charlie Garth), Francis McDonald (Lopez), Carlyle Moore, Jr. (cavalry lieutenant), Billy Wilkerson (Indian).Director: LEW LANDERS. Story and screenplay: Clarence Upson Young. Photography: Frank Redman. Film editor: George Hively. Art directors: Van Nest Polglase and Feild Gray. Music: Roy Webb. Music director: Constantin Bakaleinikoff. Assistant director: Sam Ruman. Sound recording: Earl A. Wolcott. RCA Sound System. Production supervisor: Lee Marcus. Producer: Robert Sisk. Copyright 11 August 1939 by RKO-Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Rialto: 8 August 1939. U.S. release: 11 August 1939. Australian release: November 1939. 70 minutes. SYNOPSIS: A posse is trapped in the mountains by Apache Indians.COMMENT: The dramatic idea of isolating a varied assortment of characters in a perilous, life-or-death situation is not exactly new, but it is given a vigorous work-out here in this highly-charged western, enacted by a fine cast of veteran players led by Robert Barrat. The direction by Lew Landers is also surprisingly taut and together with Frank Redman's grippingly atmospheric photography magnificently manages to keep even a usually inattentive audience's eyes and ears firmly on the screen.

One would think that if a reviewer that knows the name and face of an actor in a film (when he is seen), then such reviewers would not go to great lengths in adding little tidbits about that actor, in their review, when that actor...John Payne...is not in the film. John Payne did not play "Apache Jack" in this film. That role was played by a one-and-done actor named Jack Payne. Perhaps those reviewers that pointed out the fabrication John Payne is in this film would go back and edit their reviews. But, the chances are very high that, rather than delete/correct their reviews, they will just mark this with a 'don't like'. Be my guest.

If you didn't know this was a remake of "The Lost Patrol" it might be passable, but that picture had tension, a better script and had some big Hollywood names in key roles. "Bad Lands" is a pale imitation in every respect - maybe the Foreign Legion is a better setting for the story, instead of the Old West.The cast of character actors assembled here, especially Robert Barrat and Addison Richards, try mightily but don't have the starpower of Boris Karloff, Victor McLaglen and Reginald Denny. And Robert Coote? what is a Brit with a distinctly British accent doing in the old west? Peculiar, but not enough to offset the steady stream of talk and more talk that riddles the movie. The only repeat performer from "Lost Patrol" to "Bad Lands" is Douglas Walton, who played a young, effete British soldier in the former and here plays a young, effete cowboy - same role, different backdrop.I am second to no one in my affection for westerns, but this might have needed a different director and screenwriter to punch it up. "The Lost Patrol" was made in 1934 - what a difference four years can make.

RKO Studios in 1939 made a real honey of a B western in a remake of their earlier classic, The Lost Patrol. This one could easily have been entitled The Lost Posse.Leading the posse going out into the Bad Lands in pursuit of a fugitive who is also a mixed race white and Indian is sheriff Robert Barrat who normally did not play roles as decent as he is here. He's got a collection of emergency deputies who are not some of the best of God's creations.The posse after some days in the Arizona desert finally gets to a water hole and they rest up for a spell. They probably needed, surely their horses did. But the Apache Indians gather and soon begin picking off the posse members one at a time. Tension mounts with the men of the posse and we learn quite a bit about the character of the members.Oh and one other thing. One of the reasons out intrepid band lingers is that while at the oasis, two of them who are normally prospectors, Andy Clyde and Francis Ford, discover a rich vein of silver. That brings the greed out on top of everything else. That's a twist that wasn't in The Lost Patrol.Besides those mentioned such folks as Noah Beery, Jr., Paul Hurst, Addison Richards, Douglas Walton, Francis McDonald, and Robert Coote are in the cast. This may be a B western, but it's not one for the Saturday matinée kiddie trade. The reason the posse is chasing their culprit is that he's guilty of rape, not a subject normally covered by Roy Rogers or Gene Autry in their films.The film is directed by B western movie veteran Lew Landers and moves at a nice brisk pace. Bad Lands may not have any marquee movie names, but it does have a great story and a more than competent cast.