The rise and fall of an American family during the Wild West. In Hollywood cinema in the late 30s and 40s, one very interesting tradition arose. In 1939, the film "Jesse James" was released, which told in a more artistic form about the famous bandit from the Wild West. The film greatly ennobled the image of Jesse James created in that film by Tyrone Power, and the picture, in the end, was a huge success at the box office.
So a new formula for success was found, and Hollywood decided to use it again. In 1940, the studio Universal Pictures releases the film 'When the Daltons Rode' (in Russian it is more logical to call it as 'Daltons Curve').
The plot of the film is as follows: Lawyer Todd Jackson, waiting for his stagecoach to Oklahoma, wants to visit the Dalton family, whom he knew when he was a child. Soon he meets the Dalton brothers under very unusual circumstances and agrees to stay with them.
Meanwhile, a construction company owned by a certain Rigby begins to seize land owned by farmers. Soon the queue reaches the Daltons, but when they meet with surveyors Rigby, in a skirmish one of the surveyors dies. The court begins, which shows that the law is useless in this situation, and then the brothers seize arms. So began the story of the Dalton brothers - the most famous bandits in the Wild West of the XIX century.
The plot of the film looks very straightforward, however, the finale of this story is no less predictable. But this western still has some drive, which is set by the actors. Although it is still difficult to call acting uniform here.
Claimed for the main role, Randolph Scott, will be a very short time on the screen in the role of Tod Jackson. In the film, he, once again, acts out the image of the "good guy", but the film itself is not about him. Playing Kay Francis as the bride of one of the Daltons is no less predictable.
If anyone stands out in the film - it is the performers of the roles of the Dalton bandits - Brian Donlevy (Grath), Broderick Crawford (Bob), Stuart Erwin (Ben), Frank Albertson (Emmet) and Andy Devine (Ozark, not from the Dalton family). Actors confidently perform their roles, eclipsing the performers of the leading (nominally) roles.
In general, it turned out to be a good, although far from a masterpiece, Western, which will be interesting to connoisseurs of the genre. The film is also worth watching because of the actors in it. Thank you very much.
6 out of 10