source: Kansas Raiders

Trailer—Kansas Raiders

Kansas Raiders

Honestly, I didn't get past the opening scene of the movie. Jessie and Frank James, the Younger Brothers and one of the Daltons are on a mountain side surrounded by tall pine trees looking down in the valley at the town of Lawrence, Kansas. Evidently whoever made this movie has never been to Kansas. Can you spell F-L-A-T? Oh, there are some nice little hills covered with deciduous trees, but not mountains and tall pines. After that scene, the movie lost all its credibility so far as I was concerned. I can't stomach movies based on the lives of real people that stray so far from the facts. The "heroes" of this film were in reality murdering outlaw bank robbers that would today be called "sociopaths." They were not "heroes" in any sense of the word.

Don't watch this for history, or accuracy, and you might enjoy this movie, featuring very young Audie Murphy, Tony Curtis, and Richard Long. Yes, the show mountains and sandstone canyons outside Lawrence, Kansas. But as a Saturday afternoon cowboy picture, Kansas Raiders is mighty fun. I brought home this and Black Panther to watch the same weekend; at least I watched all of Kansas Raiders!

Kansas Raiders is a neat little film, with, one suspects, a higher budget than most Audie Murphy westerns. An interesting cast (I didn't realise Kit Dalton was from Da Bronx) and an ambitious and ambiguous premise make this a worthwhile way of passing the time.

What are you going to do when you are a national hero; the most decorated combat soldier of WWII? Among his 33 awards was the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery that a soldier can receive. In addition, he was also decorated for bravery by the governments of France and Belgium, and was credited with killing over 240 German soldiers and wounding and capturing many more. Well, I guess you go kill out in the Ole West, and that is JustWhat Audie Murphy did. This is one of his early efforts and it really is not a bad one. He plays Jesse James who, along with his brother Frank, the Younger brothers and Kit Dalton join Quantrille's Raiders until they realize just what he was and become sick of the whole thing. Tony Curtis is here - I think it may have been the second film he did. A good shoot 'em up about a sordid chapter of our history.

Jesse James(Audie Murphy)joins Quantrill's raiders during the Civil War. Another Hollywood white-washing of James and historical fact. After all it is a movie. James and his brother Frank(Richard Long)along with a couple of Youngers, Cole(James Best)and James(Dewey Martin)join Qauntrill(Brian Donlevy)and his marauders in believe of saving the Confederacy by sacking Kansas. Lawrence Kansas is burned to the ground after the bank is robbed and citizens massacred. Jesse soon is sickened by the ruthless bloodshed and discovers that Quantrill has lost favor of Robert E. Lee and is nothing more than a demanding mercenary. The scenery is beautiful in spite of being filmed in Utah; and there is no way in hell that Utah landscape can be mistaken for Kansas. Other stars of note: Scott Brady, Tony Curtis, Marguerite Chapman and Richard Egan. Typical formula western that is really worth watching.