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{{Short description|1959 film by Melvin Frank}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = The Jayhawkers!
| name = The Jayhawkers!
| image = Poster of the movie The Jayhawkers!.jpg
| image = Poster of the movie The Jayhawkers!.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Original theatrical poster
| caption = Original theatrical poster
| director = [[Melvin Frank]]
| director = [[Melvin Frank]]
⚫
| producer = [[Melvin Frank]]<br>[[Norman Panama]]
| writer = [[A. I. Bezzerides]]<br>[[Frank Fenton (writer)|Frank Fenton]]<br>Melvin Frank
| writer = [[A. I. Bezzerides]]<br>[[Frank Fenton (writer)|Frank Fenton]]<br>Melvin Frank
|based on = story by Frank Fenton<br>Joe Petracca
| based_on = story by Frank Fenton<br>Joe Petracca
⚫
| producer = Melvin Frank<br>[[Norman Panama]]
| narrator =
| starring = [[Jeff Chandler (actor)|Jeff Chandler]]<br>[[Fess Parker]]
| starring = [[Jeff Chandler]]<br>[[Fess Parker]]
⚫
| music = [[Jerome Moross]]
| cinematography = [[Loyal Griggs]]
| cinematography = [[Loyal Griggs]]
| editing =[[ Everett Douglas]]
| editing = [[Everett Douglas]]
⚫
| music = [[Jerome Moross]]
⚫
| studio = Parwood Productions<ref>{{Cite news|title=MOVIELAND EVENTS: 'Jayhawkers' Quest Ranges East, West|date=June 29, 1957|work=Los Angeles Times|page=B3}}</ref>
| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]]
⚫
| released = {{Film date|1959|10|15|df=yes}}
⚫
| studio = Parwood Productions<ref>MOVIELAND EVENTS: 'Jayhawkers' Quest Ranges East, West
Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 29 June 1957: B3.</ref>
⚫
| released = 15 October 1959
| runtime = 100 minutes
| runtime = 100 minutes
| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = English
| language = English
⚫
| gross = $1 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)<ref>"1959: Probable Domestic Take", ''Variety'', 6 January 1960 p 34</ref>
| budget =
⚫
| gross = $1 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)<ref>"1959: Probable Domestic Take", ''Variety'', 6 January 1960 p 34</ref>
}}
}}
'''''The Jayhawkers!''''' is a 1959 American [[Technicolor]] [[VistaVision]] film directed by [[Melvin Frank]], starring [[Jeff Chandler (actor)|Jeff Chandler]] as Luke Darcy and [[Fess Parker]] as Cam Bleeker. The film is set in pre-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] [[Kansas]]. Darcy leads a gang which seeks to take advantage of [[Bleeding Kansas]] (loosely based on [[John Brown (abolitionist)|abolitionist John Brown]]; Bleeker joins the gang. The supporting cast features [[Henry Silva]] and [[Leo Gordon]].
'''''The Jayhawkers!''''' is a 1959 American [[Technicolor]] [[VistaVision]] [[western film]] directed by [[Melvin Frank]], starring [[Jeff Chandler]] as Luke Darcy and [[Fess Parker]] as Cam Bleeker. The film is set in pre-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] [[Kansas]]. Darcy leads a gang which seeks to take advantage of [[Bleeding Kansas]] (loosely based on [[John Brown (abolitionist)|abolitionist John Brown]]); Bleeker joins the gang. The supporting cast features [[Henry Silva]] and [[Leo Gordon]].


==Plot summary==
==Plot summary==
In the days before the Civil War, the Kansas Territory is torn by fighting over whether Kansas should enter the Union as a free state or a slave state. Cam Bleeker, a farmer who went to prison for leading a gang of raiders himself, breaks out of prison and rides to his home. A stranger, Jeanne Dubois, is living there with her two children. She now owns the place.
In the days before the Civil War, the Kansas Territory is torn by fighting over whether Kansas should enter the Union as a free state or a slave state. Cam Bleeker, a farmer who went to prison for leading a gang of raiders himself, breaks out of prison and rides to his home. A stranger, Jeanne Dubois, is living there with her two young children. She now owns the place.


Bleeker's wife's grave is outside the house, along with the grave of Dubois' late husband. Mrs. Bleeker died under mysterious circumstances. Dubois' husband was shot dead by Missouri Redlegs raiders right after the family moved there six months ago.
Bleeker's wife's grave is outside the house, along with the grave of Dubois' late husband. Mrs. Bleeker died under mysterious circumstances. Bleeker says he broke out of prison when he heard she was involved with another man. Dubois says Mrs. Bleeker's grave was there when the Dubois family bought the place six months ago. Dubois' husband was shot dead by Missouri Redlegs raiders right after the family arrived.


Dubois, telling Bleeker there's a reward out for him and she could turn him in, convinces him to stay at the farm because she can't run it by herself. But the sheriff finds out Bleeker is there, and government soldiers come and take Bleeker away.
Dubois, telling Bleeker there's a reward out for him and she could turn him in, convinces him to stay at the farm because she can't run it by herself. But the sheriff finds out Bleeker is there, and government soldiers come and take Bleeker away.


He is brought to Gov. William Clayton, who makes a deal with Bleeker: Bleeker won't hang if he can go and capture Luke Darcy and bring him to justice, any way he can. Darcy is a dangerous, frontier dictator whose raiders threaten to take over the whole territory. Clayton convinces Bleeker to go after Darcy by telling him that it was Darcy – a serial seducer of women – who destroyed Bleeker's wife. But he warns Bleeker not to cross him -- he wants Darcy taken alive.
He is brought to Gov. William Clayton, who makes a deal with Bleeker: Bleeker won't hang if he can go and capture Luke Darcy and bring him to justice, any way he can. Darcy is a dangerous, frontier dictator whose raiders threaten to take over the whole territory. Clayton twists Bleeker's arm into tracking down Darcy by revealing that it was Darcy – a serial seducer of women – who destroyed Bleeker's wife. But Clayton warns Bleeker not to cross him – he wants Darcy taken alive.


Bleeker comes upon a hanging party in progress, involving Darcy gang members, and manages to snatch one of the condemned away and forces him to take him to Darcy, who has just taken over a town. Inside the saloon headquarters, Bleeker introduces himself to Darcy, and demonstrates his talents as a fighter, convincingly enough to be allowed to join Darcy's gang. Darcy warily accepts him, and as they become acquainted, reveals to Bleeker how he goes about his “war” to take over Kansas, by raiding town after town. He also brazenly reveals what happened to Darcy's wife. “To me a woman is like a wine,” he says, “something to be enjoyed. When it's over and there's nothing left in the bottle, you must throw it away and find another.” Darcy's wife was such a victim of his, but Darcy uses psychology and a claim that it was consensual to blunt Bleeker's thoughts of revenge, and he stays with the gang.
Bleeker comes upon a hanging party in progress, involving Darcy gang members, and manages to snatch one of the condemned away and forces him to take him to Darcy, who has just taken over a town. Inside the saloon headquarters, Bleeker introduces himself to Darcy, and demonstrates his talents as a fighter, convincingly enough to be allowed to join Darcy's gang. Darcy warily accepts him, and as they become acquainted, reveals to Bleeker how he goes about his "war" to take over Kansas, by raiding town after town. He also brazenly reveals what happened to Bleeker's wife. "To me a woman is like a wine", he says, "something to be enjoyed. When it's over and there's nothing left in the bottle, you must throw it away and find another." Darcy's wife was such a victim of his, but Darcy uses some fast-talking psychology and a claim that it was a consensual affair to blunt Bleeker's thoughts of revenge, and he stays with the gang.


During a raid at Knight's Crossing, a town near the Dubois farm, horsemen unintentionally run down and injure Dubois' daughter. Bleeker, still wearing his gang garb, takes her home. Dubois sees that her daughter is still alive, but is enraged about Bleeker's obvious complicity in Darcy's methods, which put the lives of innocents at risk. Bleeker promises it won't happen again.
During a raid at Knight's Crossing, a town near the Dubois farm, horsemen unintentionally run down and injure Dubois' daughter. Bleeker, still wearing his gang garb, takes her home. Dubois sees that her daughter is still alive, but is enraged about Bleeker's complicity in Darcy's methods, which put the lives of innocents at risk. Bleeker promises it won't happen again.


He goes back to talk to the governor. Bleeker has devised a plan to set a trap to catch Darcy. Bleeker found out that there's a train due in to Abilene with a load of gold. Bleeker's plan is to have the gang raid Abilene so it can be there when the gold train arrives. What Darcy won't know is that the governor will have filled the train with federal troops, turning it into a Trojan Horse to catch the gang. Clayton agrees to the plan, but reminds Bleeker not to cross him.
After they take the girl to the doctor, Bleeker goes to have another talk with the governor. Bleeker has devised a plan to set a trap to catch Darcy. Bleeker found out that there's a train due in to Abilene with a load of gold. Bleeker's plan is to have the gang raid Abilene so it can be there when the gold train arrives. What Darcy won't know is that the governor will have filled the train with federal troops, turning it into a Trojan Horse to catch the gang. Clayton agrees to the plan, but reminds Bleeker not to cross him.


Bleeker sells Darcy on going after the gold, because it will be enough to buy half a million dollars' worth of arms and clear the way to victory in Darcy's war. So the gang goes ahead and infiltrates Abilene, takes over the town, and waits for the train to arrive. While they're waiting, Darcy tells Bleeker and Dubois (now on the scene as a willing accomplice) that it's time for them to leave, to go build a life for themselves somewhere else. He says in parting, “Don't worry about me. I got what I want. I got Kansas.”
Bleeker sells Darcy on going after the gold, because it will be enough to buy half a million dollars' worth of arms and clear the way to victory in Darcy's war. So the gang goes ahead and infiltrates Abilene, takes over the town, and waits for the train to arrive. While they're waiting, Darcy tells Bleeker and Dubois (now on the scene as a willing accomplice) that it's time for them to leave, to go build a life for themselves somewhere else. He says in parting, "Don't worry about me. I got what I want. I got Kansas."


But Bleeker still has to finish his job for the governor. He knows Darcy has a dread of hanging, though, so before the trap swings shut he decides to confront Darcy and settle things between themselves, no matter what the governor said about taking him alive. Just before he meets Darcy at his saloon headquarters, however, Lordan, a gang member who has found out about the trap, reaches Darcy to warn him about it.
But Bleeker still has to finish his job for the governor. He knows Darcy has a dread of hanging, though, so before the trap swings shut he decides to confront Darcy and settle things between themselves, no matter what the governor said about taking him alive. Just before he meets Darcy at his saloon headquarters, however, Lordan, a gang member who has found out about the trap, reaches Darcy to warn him about it.
Line 46: Line 45:
Bleeker enters the saloon, now full of gang members, including Darcy, who, informed that the troops are here, orders his men to get out of town. Then he faces Bleeker alone.
Bleeker enters the saloon, now full of gang members, including Darcy, who, informed that the troops are here, orders his men to get out of town. Then he faces Bleeker alone.


The two of them get into a fistfight, which Bleeker wins. But as he begins to take Darcy at gunpoint outside to face the gallows, Darcy talks bitterly about the imminent “carnival” of a hanging, and Bleeker -- “Darcy, you talk too much,” he says -- decides on a gun duel. Bleeker kills Darcy in the duel, though it appears that Darcy might have mis-aimed his shot intentionally.
The two of them get into a fistfight, which Bleeker wins. But as he begins to take Darcy at gunpoint outside to face the gallows, Darcy talks bitterly about the imminent "carnival" of a hanging, and Bleeker – "Darcy, you talk too much", he says – decides on a gun duel. Bleeker kills Darcy in the duel, though it appears that Darcy might have mis-aimed his shot intentionally.


Bleeker, having broken his agreement by shooting Darcy, goes outside to surrender. But the governor, hearing Bleeker's reason, tells him, “Bleeker, you don't know why you couldn't let him hang, and I don't know why I'm letting you go free. But I've got a feeling we're both right.”
Bleeker, having broken his agreement by shooting Darcy, goes outside to surrender. But the governor, hearing Bleeker's reason, tells him, "Bleeker, you don't know why you couldn't let him hang, and I don't know why I'm letting you go free. But I've got a feeling we're both right."


==Cast==
==Cast==
* [[Jeff Chandler (actor)|Jeff Chandler]] as Luke Darcy
* [[Jeff Chandler]] as Luke Darcy
* [[Fess Parker]] as Cam Bleeker
* [[Fess Parker]] as Cam Bleeker
* [[Nicole Maurey]] as Jeanne Dubois
* [[Nicole Maurey]] as Jeanne Dubois
Line 60: Line 59:
* [[Leo Gordon]] as Jake Barton
* [[Leo Gordon]] as Jake Barton
* [[Barbara Knudson]] as Mrs. Maxton
* [[Barbara Knudson]] as Mrs. Maxton
* [[Rudy Sooter]] as Jayhawker<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/rudy-sooter-an38202/filmography|title=Rudy Sooter|work=[[AllMovie]]|access-date=July 20, 2024}}</ref>


==Production==
==Production==
The film was made by the team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank who had a deal with Paramount.<ref>PANAMA, FRANK HAVE BUSY SLATE: Team Plans 6 Productions for Paramount -- Army Aiding Peck on Film
The film was made by the team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank who had a deal with Paramount.<ref>{{Cite news|title=PANAMA, FRANK HAVE BUSY SLATE: Team Plans 6 Productions for Paramount -- Army Aiding Peck on Film|author=THOMAS M. PRYOR|date=Apr 10, 1958|work=New York Times|page=32}}</ref> They bought the story in January 1957.<ref>{{Cite news|title=QUINN TO DIRECT A MOVIE MUSICAL: He Will Work on 'Buccaneer,' De Mille Film in Which He Acted in 1938 Version Fox Seeks 'Rock Hunter' Star|author=THOMAS M. PRYOR|date=Jan 31, 1957|work=New York Times|page=21}}</ref> Panama and Frank were best known for their comedies and had made a comic Western, ''[[Callaway Went Thataway]]'' but ''The Jayhawkers'' was serious. Frank said at the time:
⚫
<blockquote>The world has changed in eight years. This is no time to satirize western myth; people won't stand for the making fun of something sacred. Actually, why ''The Jayhawkers'' is in the outdoor category and has outlaws and guns and horses, it's a western only in that it takes place on the then-frontier of 1859. Something frightening happened in Kansas on the eve of the Civil War... A man on horseback tried to become A Man on Horseback. He took over only a few towns- but what would've happened if he'd seized Kansas for his empire and the Civil War had allowed him to set up a kingdom in the West? The power mad character has always threatened freedom. We had long wanted to use this theme in a story about the American past and when we found this story... it clicked.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Pair State Nobody Will Go Thataway: Panama, Frank Serious About West They Kidded in 'Callaway'|author=Scheuer, Philip K.|work=Los Angeles Times|date=Jan 6, 1959|page=D11}}</ref></blockquote>
By THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 10 Apr 1958: 32.</ref> They bought the story in January 1957.<ref>QUINN TO DIRECT A MOVIE MUSICAL: He Will Work on 'Buccaneer,' De Mille Film in Which He Acted in 1938 Version Fox Seeks 'Rock Hunter' Star
⚫
Panama and Frank subjected the script to analysis by a psychological consulting firm.<ref>{{Cite news|title=FILM TEAM SEEKS AID OF PSYCHOLOGY: Panama and Frank to Study Reactions to 2 Scripts-- 'Big Fisherman' Bought|author=THOMAS M. PRYOR|date=Oct 24, 1957|work=New York Times|page=37}}</ref>
By THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 31 Jan 1957: 21.</ref> Panama and Frank were best known for their comedies and had made a comic Western, ''[[Callaway Went Thataway]]'' but ''The Jayhawkers'' was serious. Frank said at the time:
⚫
<blockquote>The world has changed in eight years. This is no time to satirize western myth; people won't stand for the making fun of something sacred. Actually, why ''The Jayhawkers'' is in the outdoor category and has outlaws and guns and horses, it's a western only in that it takes place on the then-frontier of 1859. Something frightening happened in Kansas on the eve of the Civil War... A man on horseback tried to become A Man on Horseback. He took over only a few towns- but what would've happened if he'd seized Kansas for his empire and the Civil War had allowed him to set up a kingdom in the West? The power mad character has always threatened freedom. We had long wanted to use this theme in a story about the American past and when we found this story... it clicked.<ref>Pair State Nobody Will Go Thataway: Panama, Frank Serious About West They Kidded in 'Callaway' Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 06 Jan 1959: D11.</ref></blockquote>
⚫
Panama and Frank subjected the script to analysis by a psychological consulting firm.<ref>FILM TEAM SEEKS AID OF PSYCHOLOGY: Panama and Frank to Study Reactions to 2 Scripts-- 'Big Fisherman' Bought
By THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 24 Oct 1957: 37.</ref>


Melvin Frank tried to interest [[Vivien Leigh]] in the female lead.<ref>MOVIELAND EVENTS: Kansas Schoolma'am Broached for Leigh
Melvin Frank tried to interest [[Vivien Leigh]] in the female lead.<ref>{{Cite news|title=MOVIELAND EVENTS: Kansas Schoolma'am Broached for Leigh|date=July 31, 1957|work=Los Angeles Times|page=23}}</ref> Chandler made the film on loan out from [[Universal International]]. Filming started 1 December 1958.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Thomas Pryor|title=GOLDWYN NAMED FOR MOVIE HONOR: PRODUCERS GUILD TO GIVE HIM MILESTONE AWARD -JEFF CHANDLER GETS ROLE|work=New York Times|date=Oct 21, 1958|page=38}}</ref>
Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 31 July 1957: 23.</ref> Chandler made the film on loan out from [[Universal International]]. Filming started 1 December 1958.<ref>Thomas Pryor, 'GOLDWYN NAMED FOR MOVIE HONOR: PRODUCERS GUILD TO GIVE HIM MILESTONE AWARD -JEFF CHANDLER GETS ROLE', ''''New York Times'' (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 21 Oct 1958: 38.</ref>


==References==
==References==
Line 77: Line 73:
==External links==
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0052941}}
* {{IMDb title|0052941}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|the_jayhawkers}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|the_jayhawkers}}
* {{TCMDb title|5906}}
* [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/5906/The-Jayhawkers-/ ''The Jayhawkers''] at [[TCMDB]]
* {{amg movie|25940}}
* {{AFI film|id=53634|title=The Jayhawkers!}}
* {{AFI film|id=53634|title=The Jayhawkers!}}


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayhawkers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayhawkers}}
[[Category:1959 films]]
[[Category:1959 films]]
⚫
[[Category:1959 Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:American Civil War films]]
[[Category:American Civil War films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:American Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:Films set in Kansas]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
⚫
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Melvin Frank]]
[[Category:Films directed by Melvin Frank]]
[[Category:Films scored by Jerome Moross]]
[[Category:Films set in Kansas]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:English-language Western (genre) films]]

Latest revision as of 09:55, 22 December 2024

The Jayhawkers!
Original theatrical poster
Directed byMelvin Frank
Written byA. I. Bezzerides
Frank Fenton
Melvin Frank
Based onstory by Frank Fenton
Joe Petracca
Produced byMelvin Frank
Norman Panama
StarringJeff Chandler
Fess Parker
CinematographyLoyal Griggs
Edited byEverett Douglas
Music byJerome Moross
Production
company
Parwood Productions[1]
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • 15 October 1959 (1959-10-15)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[2]

The Jayhawkers! is a 1959 American Technicolor VistaVision western film directed by Melvin Frank, starring Jeff Chandler as Luke Darcy and Fess Parker as Cam Bleeker. The film is set in pre-Civil War Kansas. Darcy leads a gang which seeks to take advantage of Bleeding Kansas (loosely based on abolitionist John Brown); Bleeker joins the gang. The supporting cast features Henry Silva and Leo Gordon.

Plot summary

[edit]

In the days before the Civil War, the Kansas Territory is torn by fighting over whether Kansas should enter the Union as a free state or a slave state. Cam Bleeker, a farmer who went to prison for leading a gang of raiders himself, breaks out of prison and rides to his home. A stranger, Jeanne Dubois, is living there with her two young children. She now owns the place.

Bleeker's wife's grave is outside the house, along with the grave of Dubois' late husband. Mrs. Bleeker died under mysterious circumstances. Bleeker says he broke out of prison when he heard she was involved with another man. Dubois says Mrs. Bleeker's grave was there when the Dubois family bought the place six months ago. Dubois' husband was shot dead by Missouri Redlegs raiders right after the family arrived.

Dubois, telling Bleeker there's a reward out for him and she could turn him in, convinces him to stay at the farm because she can't run it by herself. But the sheriff finds out Bleeker is there, and government soldiers come and take Bleeker away.

He is brought to Gov. William Clayton, who makes a deal with Bleeker: Bleeker won't hang if he can go and capture Luke Darcy and bring him to justice, any way he can. Darcy is a dangerous, frontier dictator whose raiders threaten to take over the whole territory. Clayton twists Bleeker's arm into tracking down Darcy by revealing that it was Darcy – a serial seducer of women – who destroyed Bleeker's wife. But Clayton warns Bleeker not to cross him – he wants Darcy taken alive.

Bleeker comes upon a hanging party in progress, involving Darcy gang members, and manages to snatch one of the condemned away and forces him to take him to Darcy, who has just taken over a town. Inside the saloon headquarters, Bleeker introduces himself to Darcy, and demonstrates his talents as a fighter, convincingly enough to be allowed to join Darcy's gang. Darcy warily accepts him, and as they become acquainted, reveals to Bleeker how he goes about his "war" to take over Kansas, by raiding town after town. He also brazenly reveals what happened to Bleeker's wife. "To me a woman is like a wine", he says, "something to be enjoyed. When it's over and there's nothing left in the bottle, you must throw it away and find another." Darcy's wife was such a victim of his, but Darcy uses some fast-talking psychology and a claim that it was a consensual affair to blunt Bleeker's thoughts of revenge, and he stays with the gang.

During a raid at Knight's Crossing, a town near the Dubois farm, horsemen unintentionally run down and injure Dubois' daughter. Bleeker, still wearing his gang garb, takes her home. Dubois sees that her daughter is still alive, but is enraged about Bleeker's complicity in Darcy's methods, which put the lives of innocents at risk. Bleeker promises it won't happen again.

After they take the girl to the doctor, Bleeker goes to have another talk with the governor. Bleeker has devised a plan to set a trap to catch Darcy. Bleeker found out that there's a train due in to Abilene with a load of gold. Bleeker's plan is to have the gang raid Abilene so it can be there when the gold train arrives. What Darcy won't know is that the governor will have filled the train with federal troops, turning it into a Trojan Horse to catch the gang. Clayton agrees to the plan, but reminds Bleeker not to cross him.

Bleeker sells Darcy on going after the gold, because it will be enough to buy half a million dollars' worth of arms and clear the way to victory in Darcy's war. So the gang goes ahead and infiltrates Abilene, takes over the town, and waits for the train to arrive. While they're waiting, Darcy tells Bleeker and Dubois (now on the scene as a willing accomplice) that it's time for them to leave, to go build a life for themselves somewhere else. He says in parting, "Don't worry about me. I got what I want. I got Kansas."

But Bleeker still has to finish his job for the governor. He knows Darcy has a dread of hanging, though, so before the trap swings shut he decides to confront Darcy and settle things between themselves, no matter what the governor said about taking him alive. Just before he meets Darcy at his saloon headquarters, however, Lordan, a gang member who has found out about the trap, reaches Darcy to warn him about it.

Bleeker enters the saloon, now full of gang members, including Darcy, who, informed that the troops are here, orders his men to get out of town. Then he faces Bleeker alone.

The two of them get into a fistfight, which Bleeker wins. But as he begins to take Darcy at gunpoint outside to face the gallows, Darcy talks bitterly about the imminent "carnival" of a hanging, and Bleeker – "Darcy, you talk too much", he says – decides on a gun duel. Bleeker kills Darcy in the duel, though it appears that Darcy might have mis-aimed his shot intentionally.

Bleeker, having broken his agreement by shooting Darcy, goes outside to surrender. But the governor, hearing Bleeker's reason, tells him, "Bleeker, you don't know why you couldn't let him hang, and I don't know why I'm letting you go free. But I've got a feeling we're both right."

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

The film was made by the team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank who had a deal with Paramount.[4] They bought the story in January 1957.[5] Panama and Frank were best known for their comedies and had made a comic Western, Callaway Went Thataway but The Jayhawkers was serious. Frank said at the time:

The world has changed in eight years. This is no time to satirize western myth; people won't stand for the making fun of something sacred. Actually, why The Jayhawkers is in the outdoor category and has outlaws and guns and horses, it's a western only in that it takes place on the then-frontier of 1859. Something frightening happened in Kansas on the eve of the Civil War... A man on horseback tried to become A Man on Horseback. He took over only a few towns- but what would've happened if he'd seized Kansas for his empire and the Civil War had allowed him to set up a kingdom in the West? The power mad character has always threatened freedom. We had long wanted to use this theme in a story about the American past and when we found this story... it clicked.[6]

Panama and Frank subjected the script to analysis by a psychological consulting firm.[7]

Melvin Frank tried to interest Vivien Leigh in the female lead.[8] Chandler made the film on loan out from Universal International. Filming started 1 December 1958.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "MOVIELAND EVENTS: 'Jayhawkers' Quest Ranges East, West". Los Angeles Times. June 29, 1957. p. B3.
  2. ^ "1959: Probable Domestic Take", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
  3. ^ "Rudy Sooter". AllMovie. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  4. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR (April 10, 1958). "PANAMA, FRANK HAVE BUSY SLATE: Team Plans 6 Productions for Paramount -- Army Aiding Peck on Film". New York Times. p. 32.
  5. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR (January 31, 1957). "QUINN TO DIRECT A MOVIE MUSICAL: He Will Work on 'Buccaneer,' De Mille Film in Which He Acted in 1938 Version Fox Seeks 'Rock Hunter' Star". New York Times. p. 21.
  6. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (January 6, 1959). "Pair State Nobody Will Go Thataway: Panama, Frank Serious About West They Kidded in 'Callaway'". Los Angeles Times. p. D11.
  7. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR (October 24, 1957). "FILM TEAM SEEKS AID OF PSYCHOLOGY: Panama and Frank to Study Reactions to 2 Scripts-- 'Big Fisherman' Bought". New York Times. p. 37.
  8. ^ "MOVIELAND EVENTS: Kansas Schoolma'am Broached for Leigh". Los Angeles Times. July 31, 1957. p. 23.
  9. ^ Thomas Pryor (October 21, 1958). "GOLDWYN NAMED FOR MOVIE HONOR: PRODUCERS GUILD TO GIVE HIM MILESTONE AWARD -JEFF CHANDLER GETS ROLE". New York Times. p. 38.
[edit]
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