Very disappointed :(

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

As has been generally observed, John Ford was making adult westerns long before the release of the high profile 'adult western' High Noon, and he was doing it under the radar of 99% of the critics of his day.While no Ford, Gordon Douglas directed lots of highly watchable films that likewise never got their due in their time. Doolins is one of these. As a well-known director for hire, Douglas once credited the existence of his entire oeuvre to having a family to feed.--Fair enough, and a pretty bravely self-deprecating and self-aware attitude in a town of pretentious auteur-wannabes. I'd offer the opinion that Douglas was the average intelligent man making films for his peers. Because of that, his films remain worth a sit-through. (His Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye rivals Walsh's White Heat in energy and noir viciousness as a late Cagney vehicle.) This is the best Randolph Scott western after the Boetticher films. Place it alongside other fine non-Ford westerns of the era, including Angel and the badman, Winchester 73 and Yellow Sky. It's definitely worth a watch.

The bad guy is someone which is not likable, you want him to be defeated. Except in the westerns of the forties, fifties, and late thirties like this one which came out in 1949, ten years after the famous "Jesse James", which shares basically the same story. Here the "bad guy " is really a "good guy" who went wrong because of life's circumstances and you will root for him until he goes over the edge, and there is always a good friend, like in this film Little Bill (Noah Beery Jr), who will tell him he went too far. Another true friend is Bitter Creek (John Ireland) and also Cattle Annie (without Little Britches). Randolph Scott who was the "bad good guy" in "Jesse James" here is the "good bad guy". "Jesse James" is a good film, and this one is just as good, even though you know the story, after all what count is how it is told, so it is worth seeing.

Fictionalized account of Bill Doolin, member of the Dalton Gang and founder of the Wild Bunch. The movie concerns itself little with history. Instead, it tells a pretty simple "outlaw trying to leave his past behind" story. The Bill Doolin of this movie is a relatively good guy who only kills in a fair fight. Scott's fine in the role. He could play this in his sleep. Nice supporting cast full of familiar faces like John Ireland, Robert Barrat, George Macready, and Noah Beery, Jr. Macready also narrates. Virginia Huston is Scott's love interest. Gorgeous Dona Drake and Louise Allbritton have small parts. It's not a good history lesson but it's a watchable western. Nothing special but some action, humor, and romance. A nice way to pass time on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

"The Doolins of Oklahoma" begins with the faked Dalton Gang being blown apart during one of their many bank robberies. However, one member of the gang, Bill Doolin (Randolph Scott) escapes and eventually forms his own gang. They, too, terrorize the countryside--robbing banks throughout the territory. However, and this REALLY annoyed me, the film tried to portray the gang as a bunch of NICE crooks--and Doolin was the nicest of them! This is a very bad cliché and making heroes out of scum is something Hollywood did a lot in the so-called 'good old days'. I don't get it--and it seriously damaged my enjoyment of the film. It's a shame, as Scott, as usual, was quite good in the lead and the movie was reasonably entertaining and well made. But, because it starts off with a ridiculous premise and makes it hard to care about the characters, it's definitely one of the weakest Randolph Scott films you can see. Not terrible...just not very good.