''Bad Men of Missouri'' is a 1941 American Western film directed by

Ray Enright Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...

and written by Charles Grayson. The film stars

Dennis Morgan Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner, December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one obi ...

, Jane Wyman, Wayne Morris and

Arthur Kennedy John Arthur Kennedy (February 17, 1914January 5, 1990) was an American stage and film actor known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage", especially in the origi ...

. The film was released by Warner Bros. on July 26, 1941.

Plot

After the war, with Confederate money now useless, many Missouri farmers find themselves unable to pay their bills. William Merrick and his men begin foreclosing on them or running them off, resulting in the death of Martha Adams, sweetheart of one of the Younger gang. The brothers Cole, Bob and Jim Younger ride back to Missouri just as their father is shot by Merrick's hired gun, Greg Bilson. A sheriff is killed as well and the Youngers are falsely accused of murdering him, so they retaliate by joining Jesse James's gang and pulling off robberies, giving the money to the needy farmers to pay their taxes. Merrick decides to flush out Jim Younger by arresting the woman he loves, Mary Hathaway, as an accomplice to the Younger brothers' crimes. He offers to exchange Mary for Jim behind bars, secretly plotting to kill Jim once he's in his custody. The Youngers turn the tables, leading Merrick and Bilson to their own accidental deaths. They leave town and head for Minnesota to pull off another theft, but Mary and the Missourians try to figure a way to bring them safely back home.

Cast

as Cole Younger * Jane Wyman as Mary Hathaway * Wayne Morris as Bob Younger *

as Jim Younger * Victor Jory as William Merrick * Alan Baxter as

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the " Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained stro ...

* Walter Catlett as Mr. Pettibone *

Howard Da Silva Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in mo ...

as Greg Bilson * Faye Emerson as Martha Adams * Russell Simpson as

Henry Washington Younger Henry Washington Younger (February 22, 1810 – July 20, 1862) was a businessman and father to the Younger outlaws Cole Younger, Cole, Jim Younger, Jim, John Younger, John and Bob Younger, Bob. He was the father of fourteen children. He was th ...

* Virginia Brissac as Mrs. Hathaway * Erville Alderson as Mr. Adams * Hugh Sothern as Fred Robinson *

Sam McDaniel Samuel Rufus McDaniel (January 28, 1886September 24, 1962)Tanner, Beccy (November 7, 1991)"McDaniel Opened Doors; 'Gone With the Wind' Was Actress' Most Famous Film" ''The Wichita Eagle''. Retrieved January 3, 2021. was an American actor who ap ...

as Wash *

Dorothy Vaughan Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Vir ...

as Mrs. Dalton * William Gould as Sheriff Brennan * Robert Winkler as Willie Younger * Ann E. Todd as Amy Younger * Roscoe Ates as Lafe * Jack Mower as Henchman (uncredited)

References

External links

* 1941 films 1941 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Ray Enright Warner Bros. films 1940s American films {{1940s-Western-film-stub