Last of the Bad Men
Cast & Crew
Paul Landres
George Montgomery
James Best
Douglas Kennedy
Keith Larsen
Robert Foulk
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1875, after John Dozier, a representative of the Chandler Detective Agency of Chicago, is killed by the gang of outlaws he has infiltrated, the agency's chief, Dillon, assigns a team of detectives to bring the gang to justice. Dillon assigns Dan Barton, Dozier's old friend, to head the team comprised of detectives Johnson, Elkins, Green, Thomas and Roberts. Dillon explains that the gang's usual modus operandi has been to spring an established outlaw from jail, use him as a front while the reward for his capture increases, then kill him and claim the reward money. While the other detectives assume undercover roles in Liberty, Colorado and other nearby towns, Dan goes to Liberty posing as Jack Bruce, an outlaw with a $1,500 reward on his head. When Roberts, working undercover as a card dealer in a Liberty saloon, identifies Dan as Bruce, Marshal Parker arrests him. After Dan spends several nights in jail, gang leader Hawkins and young Ted Hamilton trick the deputy in charge, kill him and free Dan. Roberts, who has been watching the jail, follows the trio as they ride off to the gang's base at the "Lazy R" ranch, which they operate as a front. After Hawkins tells Dan that he will work for them or he will be returned to jail for the reward money, Dan goes to work breaking horses. When Hawkins returns from a trip, he advises Dan that he has seen a poster offering a $2,000 reward for Dan, dead or alive, for the deputy's murder. Hawkins also tells the men that the next day they will rob a stagecoach and that Dan, the lead man, will be the only one not wearing a bandana concealing his face. Later, in Chicago, Dillon learns about the robbery and that the price on Dan's head has increased to $3,000. During his time with the gang, Dan befriends Ted, who really wants to leave the gang and warns Dan that he will be killed once his usefulness is over. Although he suspects that Hawkins is not the real leader of the gang, Dan is unable to ascertain who is. One night, after he is involved in freeing another prisoner, Jess Kramer, Dan realizes that Kramer is probably going to be his replacement. Upon learning of this development, Dillon realizes that Dan's days are numbered and dispatches his aide, Fleming, and two other detectives to Gallatan, the town nearest the Lazy R ranch, and alerts the other detectives in the area. With the reward for Dan now set at $4,000, Dillon sends Roberts a coded telegram telling him to get Dan out of danger as soon as he can. Roberts decides to confide in Marshal Parker and tells him about Dan's situation, but does not identify him as Bruce, and asks Parker to round up a posse. Later, at the ranch, after Hawkins tells the men that either Dan or Kramer is a detective, Dan is able to bluff him and casts suspicion on Kramer. At his campsite in the hills above the ranch, Roberts waits for Parker and the posse to arrive, but is surprised by Hawkins, Tom Taylor, Dallas and the rest of the gang. After Dallas says that he overheard Roberts' conversation with Parker, Hawkins demands that Roberts identify his colleague. When Roberts refuses, Hawkins gives Dan a gun and orders him to kill Roberts, reasoning that if Dan kills him, Kramer must be the infiltrator. Dan exchanges a look with Roberts, and just as Dan appears about to shoot him, Roberts, sacrificing his life, makes a move toward Taylor, who kills him. With the identity of the detective in their midst still unresolved, Hawkins orders both Dan and Kramer to be closely guarded. That night, after Dan tells Ted that he is the detective and asks for his help, Ted agrees to go to Parker in Gallatan and return with a posse. However, when Ted tells Parker his story, the marshal draws a gun on him and demands that he identify the detective. Realizing that Parker is the real head of the gang, Ted refuses and attempts to draw his gun, but Parker kills him. When Ted does not return to the ranch, Dan realizes that something has gone wrong but is powerless to stop the robbery of the Gallatan bank planned for that day. Hawkins gives both Dan and Kramer empty guns and the gang rides into Gallatan, where all of the Chandler detectives have assembled. When Parker sees Dan and Kramer leaving the bank, he shoots at both of them. The detectives then round up the gang and rescue Dan. After Dan learns from a townsman that Parker killed Ted the night before, Dan arrests the marshal. Hawkins and Dallas then confess and implicate Parker, after which all three are hanged. Dan and Dillon, lamenting the loss of two fine agents, close the file on the case.
Director
Paul Landres
Cast
George Montgomery
James Best
Douglas Kennedy
Keith Larsen
Robert Foulk
Willis Bouchey
John Doucette
Meg Randall
Tom Greenway
Addison Richards
Michael Ansara
John Damler
Harlan Warde
Walter Reed
Wood Romoff
Gregg Barton
Al Wyatt
Tony George
Fred E. Sherman
Gilbert Frye
Frank Marlowe
Pierre Watkin
Dick Walsh
William J. Tannen
Harvey B. Dunn
Bill Cassady
David Samuel Peckinpah
Crew
William Austin
Paul Baxley
Ralph Butler
Richard M. Chaffee
Gwen Davis
Vincent M. Fennelly
Ellsworth Fredricks
Del Harris
Bert Henrikson
Robert "buzzy" Henry
Joseph Kish
Emile Lavigne
David Milton
Edward Morey Jr.
Ted Mossman
Paul Sawtell
Paul Sawtell
Paul Stader
Daniel B. Ullman
Daniel B. Ullman
Wayne Van Horn
Jimmy West
Allen K. Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film's working title was 54 Washington Street. Some sources incorrectly list the title as Last of the Badmen. The print viewed was missing approximately ten minutes. An uncredited narrator is heard throughout the film.
