The Restless Breed is the
final Western from director Allan Dwan. It is distributed by 20th Century Fox. The Pathécolor
tinting is of questionable quality in a film that utilizes bluish
(night) studio sets along with location filming. Set in 1865, the
story is written by Steve Fisher. The film's main stars are Scott
Brady, Anne Bancroft, and Rhys Williams, along with a few familiar
B-movie character actors. Fine performances all around. Be prepared
for some unnecessary and disruptive two-second edits that return the
viewer to another location during a break in the conversation. There
is an overabundance of character eavesdropping, too, but it is not
intended to be humorous.
Unlike most Westerns of the era, the film opens oddly (uniquely?) with a black background behind a glowing red modern font of credits accompanied by a contemporary music score by Edward L. Alperson Jr. The result creates an impression more attuned to a low-budget horror film by William Castle. Interestingly, or not, the opening music somewhat foretells Brady's own television Western, Shotgun Slade, with its atypical jazz score. A lawyer with a temper, Brady opens the film as it confirms his father, a Secret Service Agent, has been murdered. The incident is told in a brief flashback that has true spoiler-alert credentials. He accepts his father's revolver but not the badge. Bent on revenge, he goes to the town where the murder took place, a Texas-Mexico border town overrun by the typical gang of outlaws. After a self-defensive shooting of two town bullies, everyone thinks he is their latest gunslinger.
There appears to be a
significant role for Scott Marlowe yet he is irrelevant until near the movie's
end. The young Marlowe pops up throughout the film lurking nervously
against storefront posts, in alleys, or peeping through a broken
section of saloon window. His every appearance proves he does not
have the nerve to shoot down Brady. This eavesdropper reports to Leo
Gordon, one in the gang of gun-runners, whose boss is Jim Davis.
Williams is quite the eavesdropper, himself. These "advanced notifications" make him wise beyond his understanding. He is perceived as the only sensibility factor in town, benefitted by dressing in black like a minister. When pressed by Brady, however, he admits to the impersonation. Only his word should be taken as gospel. The tunnel-visioned Williams deems his good intentions are best for the whole town. His soft-spoken demeanor always wins out. It is hard to argue with a man who initiated a children's shelter of unwanted half-breeds. The oldest being Bancroft. Williams becomes much more "hard-spoken" when she becomes enamored with Brady. Always ready to make demands, she must stay away from that no good gunslinging [though handsome] criminal.
All the town's previous
sheriffs have been murdered soon after taking office. Brady himself
survives numerous assassination attempts but the gang's numbers only
dwindle. Beware of a hot-headed lawyer with a gun. Williams finally
gets the facts about Brady and nearly apologizes. The murderer
arrives back in town with a few of his henchmen. We learn of
Marlowe's small part in the murder, then he disappears from the film.
We can only assume he still lurks. Everyone supposed to be dead is now
dead and Williams supports the Brady-Bancroft union.
Note: I could not pinpoint the restless breed. It could be Brady, out for revenge. The contraband gang is quite restless. Perhaps it is Bancroft, wanting to break out of a children's shelter. Perhaps it is all three or the town itself. It could be the four producers of the film.
