A man on horseback races across the arid landscape. His horse faulters and throws the man. This is how The Angel and The Badman begins.
Wayne is Quirt Evans, a man with a past. He is rescued by beautiful Gail Russell, a Quaker girl with a strong, silent father and a marvelous, generous mother who makes donuts and cakes that melt in your mouth, but according to her are, "not very good, the flour you know...".
Poor Quirt never has a chance. He is healed body and soul by this devoted family. But not before he must taste his old way of life one more time, which leads to a dramatic conclusion.
John Wayne never looked better on film then in The Angel and The Badman. In one scene, he wakes from a coma, hears a noise, gropes for his gun, which is under the pillow and rises, gun in hand to face a startled and stunning Russell. The sight of John Wayne, shirtless, his hair un-combed and his gorgeous, almost purple eyes taking in the lovely lady in front of him, is something no woman from 6 to 106 should miss. If you are a fan already and have seen this delightful film, you know what I mean. If you are new to John Wayne, check to one out and fall in love.
Harry Carey plays the Marshal of the territory who keeps track of Quirt, not completely convinced of his conversion, until the surprising climax. Carey's quiet authority is wonderful to watch, and his sly humor a tonic.
The Dr. here over-plays his role, but he can be forgiven. The neighbor who has denied water to the Quaker settlement but is convinced by Quirt(without the force of his famous gun), to "be a good neighbor" and remove the top two boards holding back the water that used to flow into flums and irrigation ditches, is a real old west character. Films today just don't use actors with faces like his any longer. Too bad.
Yes indeed, The Angel and The Badman is a wonderful, old fashioned film. The kind they don't make any longer, but should.
