The Worst Film Ever

Memorable, crazy movie

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"Coroner Creek" director Ray Enright's Civil War-era western "South of St. Louis" ranks as both entertaining and distinctive for the three Texas cattle ranchers (Joel McCrea, Zachary Scott, and Douglas Kennedy) who share a bond of kinship as stout as brotherhood. This heroic threesome is symbolic because their communal ranch, called 'The Three Bell Ranch,' is burned down by the villainous likes of Victor Jory and his raiders. Jory's Luke Cottrell is equivalent to the murderous William Quantrill who committed atrocities galore. Kip Davis (Joel McCrea of "The Virginian"), Charlie Burns (Zachary Scott of "Mildred Pierce," and Lee Price (Douglas Kennedy of "Dark Passage") all wear one small bell attached to their spurs. The first glimpse we get of this trio in action occurs they corner obnoxious Yankee guerrilla fighter Luke Cottrell in a Brownsville, Texas, saloon. Kip refuses to slap leather with the evil Cottrell. Nevertheless, he sheds his gun belt and batters Cottrell into submission with his fists before he banishes the brigand from Texas. The American Civil War that spawned Cottrell shatters the solidarity of our three protagonists. Lee decides to enlist in the Confederacy and dons a gray uniform. Meanwhile, Kip and Charlie enter the gunrunning business. The color of their hats reflects the morality of their characters. For example, Lee wears a white hat, while Charlie sports black headgear. Kip comes up in the middle with a brown one. Indeed, Lee is virtue incarnate; Charlie is malevolent incarnate, while Kip stands somewhere between them. During all these early shenanigans, we see Kip and his future wife Deborah Miller (Dorothy Malone of "The Big Sleep") delay their marriage plans indefinitely because the three men aim to punish Cottrell for his act of arson. "Humoresque" scenarist Zachary Gold and "The Big Country" writer James R. Webb have drummed-up a historical oater that chronicles the way that the Civil War fractures the tight bond among the three. The other recurring character--introduced later--that takes a fancy to Kip is red-haired, dance-hall warbler Rouge de Lisle (Alexis Smith of "Gentleman Jim") who dresses seductively and knows how to belt out a song. Confederate sympathizers will like the way that the rebels triumph over Union. This rugged western shoot'em up is a mite more complicated because it thrusts Kip into a predicament. Charlie and he are running guns across the Texas/Mexico line dressed up in stolen Union outfits when Confederates attack them. Initially, Kip refuses to return fire, but Charlie convinces him otherwise. German lenser Karl Freund of "Metropolis" is responsible for the exemplary cinematography.

We all know how warner Brothers liked to keep on remaking their films,after all there are 3 versions of The Maltese falcon in only 10 years.So when i was watching this film so many similarities with The Roaring Twenties became apparent.We have gun running instead of booze.We have very similar plot lines eg one of the band goes over to the law and his wife who had rejected Joel Macrea,goes to Macrea who is now on the skids and boozing in a saloon habituated by a past friend Alexis Smith to ask him to save her husband.Well substitute Lynn Lane,Cagney and George and you have some idea of what i mean.The comic sidekick also gets killed two thirds the way through as does MacHugh in Roaring Twenties.Now i admit the ending is changed but i suppose that Warners had to show some originality!

This movie is filled with every cliche you can think of, and absolutely none of them work. The plot is predictable and the characters are not interesting, but boring. The acting is pretty bad, even by Joel McCrea. Even western fans should stay away from this one.

Joel McCrea, Zachary Scott and Douglas Kennedy are friends that get separated during the civil war. McCrea is going to marry Dorothy Malone, but he leaves her to find the outlaw that had destroyed his ranch.(Victor Jory). He ends up meeting Alexis Smith (great as always) who falls in love with him. Colorful and entertaining, directed by Ray Enright who was very good in this type of films.