'The Badlanders' - the Western TAJ? - to be shown on TCM
"The Bandlanders", which is apparently a Western version of "The Asphalt Jungle," will be shown on TCM on Thursday, January 24 @ 01:15 PM (ET).
The Badlanders is indeed a remake of TAJ in western form. It even lifts much of the dialogue directly from the original. (When I first saw it, that's how I realized it was a remake.)
In fact, it even has one of the same cast members -- Anthony Caruso, the safe cracker in TAJ, in the Brad Dexter role here. Some changes, of course: a gold heist, the bad guys are really good guys, some new or missing characters, and a different ending.
It was basically a second-string MGM film, not quite a B but definitely a lesser A, with Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine and Katy Jurado (whom Borgnine married after meeting her on this set). It's okay but not more than routine.
Thanks for the review, hobnob. I guess I will watch it on TCM, though more out of curiosity than for the expectation that it is a truly good film.
*Off topic, but have you seen "Day of the Evil Gun" (1968) with Glenn Ford and Arthur Kennedy? I recall that you are an Arthur Kennedy fan, so I wonder if you've seen that film, and what you think of it. I saw a couple of clips of it on YouTube that piqued my interest, so I'll probably rent it one of these days if I can find it.
Don't get me wrong -- The Badlanders is a perfectly enjoyable film, just not any kind of landmark western. It even uses stock music, no original score. But it has some twists and enough differences from TAJ to make it interesting. Definitely worth at least a look, especially for its TAJ connections. I have it in my collection, from Warner Archives.
Yes, I do know Day of the Evil Gun, which is a good if not great film, but one which I've always liked. That one, too, is available from Warner Archives and is in my collection. I enjoy it rather more than, say, The Badlanders, and like that film it's certainly worth seeing.
The YouTube clips of DotEG look great -- that is to say, the cinematography really seems to shine. Plus I can't wait to see how or if they escape from the vultures when they are staked to the ground! lol
And yes, I will record and watch "The Badlanders," - I believe it is part of an Ernest Borgnine salute during that particular day. Several other of his films wiil be shown that day on TCM. (I always thought that Ernest Borgnine and Jack Elam should have paired up as two brothers in a serio-comic Western. Those two would have been a great pairing).
Yeah, the vulture scene is the one I always think of. Do they escape? Let's just say, there was never a sequel!
TCM is running The Badlanders to mark what would have been Ernie's 96th birthday. Curious to think he was still around for his 95th, just last year. They do this every year, and I'm glad they're doing it again, now he's gone.
I love your idea about an Elam/Borgnine pairing. They would have made convincing brothers, particularly after Elam gained weight in the 60s and instead of being a lanky, kooky-looking menace had grown into a more heavy-set, kooky-looking menace!
Ah, well, maybe they're making that film now, somewhere.
Update: I just checked, and I found two movies in which both Borgnine and Elam appeared together -- Vera Cruz (1954) and Jubal (1956). They weren't bro's, though. But it'll be neat to watch them again to see how they interact. Both films were in Jack's lanky days.
Yikes, has a year already passed since Ernie Borgnine... passed?? Where does time go, I ask you?!
"kooky-looking menace" is about the most apt description for a Jack Elam character that I've heard yet. Something about those eyes, one of which was lopsided... And speaking of eyes, Ernie Borgnine of course could really bug out his eyes as if they were about to explode right out of his face. I mean, just thinking about Elam and Borgnine appearing together, with the right director allowing them to ham it up, has me laughing at the whole thought of it. Somebody in Hollywood really should have written a script with precisely those two in mind!
Well, Ernie only passed in June (or July). So it hasn't been a year since he actually died.
Yes, when you suggested an Ernie/Elam teaming the first thing that struck me was the eye business. Elam was actually blind in one eye, the result of a childhood accident I believe, which is why it was always drooping or turned the other way, giving him that deranged look. Too bad no one ever thought of pairing them in their heyday. But I'll have to look at those two movies again to see how close they were.
Meanwhile, Jack Elam meets Ernest Borgnine (illustrated):
Another thing maybe apropos to my original thread topic, and that is the TCM showing of the 1963 George Sanders film "Cairo," which, according to Robert Osbourne's introduction of the film tonight, informed us that that it is another remake of John Huston's "The Asphalt Jungle." I was not even aware of that, otherwise I would have added it to my original topic here. In any case, a few days ago I more or less lazily decided to set my DVR to record "Cairo" tonight, for no other reason that it sounded interesting and was actually partly filmed on location in Cairo, Egypt. Now I'll get a chance to watch it and compare it to "The Asphalt Jungle."
Yes, this comes back to me. I never saw Cairo but vaguely recall reading that it was a remake (or reworking) of TAJ. In fact, as I write, I think I did see a small portion of the film, years ago.
Now, there's also a film starring -- I believe, if I remember correctly -- Sidney Poitier, that's also supposed to be a TAJ remake. But I can't remember what it is, and have no reference at hand. I may err in thinking it was Sidney. But there is supposed to be another redo out there, a modern crime thriller, I think from the 70s.
Yes, one of those folks on TCM (can't remember if it was Ben or Robert) mentioned there were numerous remakes and adaptations of "The Asphalt Jungle." So I wouldn't be surprised if Sidney Poitier did in fact appear in some variation of TAJ at some point.
The Badlanders - which I just finished watching last night - was awfully lame when compared with TAJ. Some nice color cinematography, but other than that, it almost played like an episode of "Bonanza." The score was loud and obtrusive, and the script, full of cliches and bogged down with scarcely believable female love interests, was borderline corny. I think if I hadn't been apprised ahead of time that there was a TAJ connection, I probably would have turned it off halfway through.
The movie I couldn't remember is called Cool Breeze (1972), and it doesn't star Poitier -- it's got an all-black cast, but I was mixing it up with one of the comedy-crime films Sidney made in the 70s. This one doesn't have any major stars in it (except Raymond St. Jacques), and it's about a diamond robbery planned so that the proceeds go to set up a bank serving black people. So that's at least three remakes of TAJ.
Almost by accident I ended up watching most of The Badlanders again (missed the first ten minutes or so), for the first time in several years, and I actually thought it was all right until the last ten minutes or so, which did drain away into a silly and anticlimactic wind-up. It needed better direction and a much better ending. The music was lousy, though as I said it was canned music, not original to the film, so it's not surprising it was not only loud but inappropriate and inserted in places that didn't need any.
I forgot it was Adam Williams (the crooked deputy) who played the Brad Dexter role, not Anthony Caruso, just back to being a thug, but at least Caruso was in the film as a link to The Asphalt Jungle. The way some of the characters were rearranged from the original was also intriguing, especially Alan Ladd playing "The Dutchman", an obvious ethnic derivative from "Doc Riedenschnieder".
The film was enjoyable in a way, but... I thought The Badlanders had enough elements in it to allow it being turned into a legitimate comic western. I think it would have fared much better as a comedy rather than a "serious" tale about some ex-cons poaching gold-infused rocks from an abandoned mine. I think Don Knotts, Slim Pickens and Jack Elam could have been added for extra kicks.
I thought it was hilarious the way they lugged those big heavy sacks full of golden rocks into Cyril Lounsbery's office. Far cry from the comparatively small bag of valuable gems that were heisted in The Asphalt Jungle! And did you happen to notice the metallic "clank" that one sack made, when McBain heaved it down slope after exiting the mine shaft? Really!!!
I liked the fact that, when Kent Smith asks for a look at what they've got, they empty almost all the rocks onto his table, then just have to stuff them all back into the sacks when they realize he's a crook. The fact that Smith and some of the other guys never really got an on-screen come-uppance was a major flaw in the film. Needs more blood.
I also liked how quickly Ernest Borgnine healed from that gunshot wound next to his heart. Instead of, say, dying, he manages to stumble off with Ladd, who obligingly yanks the bullet out of him, and within an hour Ernie's back on his feet, no blood, stitches, sling or even visible bandage, back to his old hearty self, and even able to hop on the wagon and ride off to Mexico with the girl and the gold without hurt or worry.
Wow. Nineteenth-century medicine. If only "The Dutchman" had been in attendance for President Garfield.
Yes, you've nailed it. It's just that sort of sloppy, unconvincing stuff that really diminished this film. It was borderline comedy. They should have just thrown in the towel, dropped all pretense of it being a serious western drama, and made it a danged comedy!
And also, maybe being a little subjective here, but I for one didn't find Alan Ladd particularly convincing as a Western hero ("Shane" notwithstanding). I think it was after I read about his efforts on the 1957 film "Boy on a Dolphin"
to always ensure that he appear as tall as - if not taller than - his glamorous costar, Sophia Loren. He's certainly a likeable enough guy, but it was after reading about that that I just had a hard time taking Ladd all that seriously in heroic roles. Yes, I know, not very objective, but still...
*"Boy on a Dolphin" trivia:
While filming Boy on a Dolphin, Sophia Loren was required to walk in a trench in order to give audiences the impression that her diminutive co-star, Alan Ladd, was taller than she.
Yes -- Sophia was (is) 5'8", Ladd was 5'5". Robert Clarke, the star of The Man From Planet X, wrote in his 1995 autobiography that, while he was making a 1958 war film called The Deep Six that starred Ladd, the set of the ship's wardroom had planks several inches off the ground laid all around the table, so that Ladd could walk in "taller" than everybody else. Nobody laughed, nobody snickered, nobody said a word, wrote Clarke -- Ladd was the star, and you didn't criticize anything about the star.
If you watch many of his scenes in The Badlanders, you'll see Ladd using a technique he used in most of his films. When in a shot with other, taller actors (or actresses), Ladd often leaned against a desk or table, or sat on it, so that he'd seem "naturally" shorter. He did it in Shane in his scene with Ben Johnson. His directors also used forced perspective and other camera tricks to make Ladd seem taller...especially when planks, or shovels, were in short supply!
But I'll cut Alan some slack. He couldn't help his height, and he was an unhappy guy, with tragic consequences in 1964...ironically, just as his career might have been taking off after his fine performance in the otherwise overwrought The Carpetbaggers.
Yep, the shame about The Badlanders is that, with a little more care and effort, they'd have had a perfectly nifty, if unexceptional, western. Up to a point, it really wasn't so bad. But it ran off the tracks before the end.
Sort of like what happened to the gang's plans in The Asphalt Jungle.
Wow, I loved The Carpetbaggers. A tawdry, campy mess to be sure, but damn it was a helluva story. And yes, Alan Ladd was excellent in that. As was George Peppard. I really need to dust off my copy of that and watch it again. I still have a VHS recording of that film I made off of AMC before it went all commercialized.
Yes, I've noticed some of those camera tricks and techniques you speak of. Once you are aware of Ladd's height (and you are correct, it is no fault of his own, I just think the studios might have cast him more realistically), they become more obvious as you view his films.
I wasn't aware that Ladd had met such an unhappy end. Kind of reminds me of Superman... er, I mean George Reeves, who went downhill and crashed more or less in the same manner Ladd did. Maybe there should be a song lyric, "Mama don't let your babies grow up to be movie stars..."
The Carpetbaggers DVD is out of print, but I'm sure you can find copies for sale on Amazon Marketplace or ebay. The DVD is widescreen (2.35:1), in case your recording isn't.
Ladd's penultimate movie was a minor drama called 13 West Street (1962), which is something of a precursor to Death Wish, with Ladd as an aerospace engineer who's robbed and beaten by thugs and becomes something of a vigilante. Of course, it's nothing as graphic or unhinged as DW, but it's an interesting curio, and not a bad film.
He attempted suicide soon afterward (pills, I think), but recovered. But in January 1964, at age 50, he shot and killed himself. Ironically, Ladd had been a good friend of George Reeves and when Reeves died Ladd said he didn't believe it was a suicide. So did another Reeves pal, Gig Young -- who of course committed suicide after murdering his new wife in 1978. Not exactly testimonials.
Personally, I believe George Reeves was murdered by someone sent by his jilted lover, Toni Mannix. His ghost is said to still haunt his old house in Brentwood. Supposedly everyone who's owned or rented it since 1959 has reported sounds like gunshots and other phenomena, and a few have claimed they've seen George at the top of the stairs, on the second flood where he died, apparently calling out something, though they can't hear him. I'd love to do a paramormal investigation in that house!
I just realized I actually can't verify my VHS recording for being wide-screen or not, because.... I no longer have a VCR player in my house! I'll have to wait until I get over to my mom's house, which must have about three or four old VCR's scattered about - and all of them still work. But as to the DVD being out of print, I notice that my "big" video store does have that title for rent. That might be the better way to go: play the DVD on my wide-screen TV as opposed to watching the VHS on a small TV at my mom's house.
I was shocked to hear you mention Gig Young in your post, because just before I read your post I had just finished viewing the TCM showing of the 1942 movie "The Gay Sisters," in which Gig Young played a character named... (wait for it): GIG YOUNG. I did not know this before watching the film, but apparently his real name was Byron Barr; to avoid confusion during that time period with another actor named Byron Barr, he chose to adopt his character's name from TGS as his stage name. And I didn't even know that until I checked the trivia section, and read his bio. Not knowing it ahead of time makes it kind of weird when you're watching that movie, and you keep hearing "Gig Young" and "Mr. Gig Young" being repeated throughout.
Sad to hear about his sad ending. Same goes with Alan Ladd and George Reeves and all of them that ended up that way, really. So you think GR was murdered, eh? Hey, ya' know what, that could be the title of a 'Movie of the Week' thriller: "Who Shot GR?" - Followed by a one-hour special, a paranormal investigation of the house in Brentwood. Now that would be entertaining!!
Alan Ladd did not shoot himself. He died from ingesting a lethal combination of alcohol and drugs. His death was ruled accidental.
Actually you have it reversed. He apparently did shoot himself in 1962 but survived and died in 1964 from the aforementioned combination of alcohol and drugs.
shareRe Eric-1226 1-26-13, re Alan Ladd. Of course despite his short stature he was a very popular leading man for a number of years after WWII. I've seen his height listed as anywhere from 5:03 to 5:06.
It is usually hard to tell when watching his films that he was so short. As others have pointed out various "tricks" were utilized.
I agree that "The Badlanders", despite an interesting cast is not a good movie. It shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as "The Asphalt Jungle".
I wouldn't even refer to it as a remake. It borrows certain plot elements but that's all.