''Calamity Jane and Sam Bass'' is a 1949 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

George Sherman George Sherman (July 14, 1908 – March 15, 1991) was an American film director and Film producer, producer of low-budget Western (genre), Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment indus ...

and starring

Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film star and sex symbol in the 1940s a ...

Howard Duff Howard Green Duff (November 24, 1913July 8, 1990) was an American actor. He started in radio during World War II before appearing in many Hollywood features and television programs from 1947 to 1990. He also directed for television. His career ...

and Dorothy Hart.

Plot

Sheriff Will Egan doesn't want any gamblers in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

and is suspicious when stranger Sam Bass arrives in town. The sheriff's sister Kathy likes the newcomer, though, while

Calamity Jane Martha Jane Canary (May 1, 1856 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American American frontier, frontierswoman, Exhibition shooting, sharpshooter, sex worker, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits, she was known f ...

is impressed with Sam's way with horses, even more so when Sam spots a poorly shod favorite in a horse race and bets against him, winning a tidy sum. Sam buys the losing horse with his wager winnings and intends to race him. But when a hired guy poisons the horse, Sam shoots him. Sam tries to turn himself in, but feels he can't get a fair trial and busts out. Sam becomes an outlaw, robbing banks. He believes Kathy has tricked him and turns to Jane. He ends up shot, dying in Jane's arms, yet seemingly in love with Kathy.

Cast

as Sam Bass * Dorothy Hart as Kathy Egan * Willard Parker as Will Egan * Norman Lloyd as Jim Murphy * Lloyd Bridges as Joel Collins *

Marc Lawrence Marc Lawrence (born Max Goldsmith; February 17, 1910 – November 28, 2005) was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C. Lawrence. Early life Lawrence w ...

as Harry Dean * Houseley Stevenson as Dakota *

Milburn Stone Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the Western (genre), Western series ''Gunsmoke''. Early life Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone an ...

as Abe Jones * Clifton Young as Link * John Rodney as Morgan *

Roy Roberts Roy Roberts (born Roy Barnes Jones; March 19, 1906 – May 28, 1975) was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen. Life and career Born in Tamp ...

as Marshal Peak * Ann Doran as Mrs. Lucy Egan * Charles Cane as J. Wells * Walter Baldwin as Doc Purdy

Production

In March 1948 Universal announced they would make ''The Story of Sam Bass'' from a story by director George Sherman. It would be an expensive production in Technicolor shot on location in Kanab, Utah. Jimmy Stewart was sought to play the title role. The role eventually went to

who had just come to notice in '' Brute Force'' (1947). Universal decided to cast

as the female lead. De Carlo was under contract to Universal at the time, and had just been entertaining US troops in Europe. She was reluctant to make the film as it was a Western, but did not want to go on suspension. (She had been briefly engaged to her co-star Howard Duff in April 1947.) Dorothy Hart and Willard Parker signed to play support roles. Filming started 7 October 1948 in Kanab, Utah. Johnson Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, and the Gap were additional filming locations. It was the second film about

made that year, the other being '' The Paleface''.

Release

Universal adopted a regional opening strategy for the film, a strategy that they had tried earlier in the year with ''

The Life of Riley ''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, as well as two different television series, and a comic book. Radio series The radio program initially aired on the B ...

''. The film had its world premiere on June 8, 1949 in Dallas, Texas and then opened in 600 theaters in Oklahoma and Texas over a seven week period. The approach was a success with grosses double that compared to normal release patterns. In July, it had a further saturation release in 200 theaters in Salt Lake City, Denver, Omaha and Des Moines.

References

External links