Bill Elliot emulates his idol William S. Hart in the superior western Topeka. Elliot plays the archetypal Good Bad Man, hired to kick the crooked element out of a small town. A hard-drinking, hard-living man, Elliot entertains thoughts of taking over the town himself for the benefit of his own gang. After several reels of soul-searching, Elliot decides to honor his promise to clean up the town for its decent citizens. Evidently director Thomas Carr rented a camera crane for this Allied Artists production, since the camera performs remarkable calisthenics, the kind not normally seen in a medium-budget western.
Cinematography
Camera crane acrobatics in a B-western? Absolutely unhinged.
Acting
Bill Elliott's drunk-moral-crisis face deserves an Oscar.
Director
Thomas Carr
Bill Elliott
Jim Levering
Phyllis Coates
Marian Harrison
Rick Vallin
Ray Hammond
Fuzzy Knight
Pop Harrison
John James
Marv Ronsom
Denver Pyle
Jonas Bailey
Harry Lauter
Mack Wilson
Dale Van Sickel
Henchman Jake Manning
Henry Rowland
Cheated Gambler
I. Stanford Jolley
Doc Mason
Bill Coontz
Bill (uncredited)
George Sowards
George (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bill Elliott deliberately modeled his 'Good Bad Man' persona on silent western star William S. Hart, who pioneered the trope of the outlaw with a hidden heart of gold.
Allied Artists (formerly Monogram) gave this B-picture an unusually ambitious visual treatment—those crane shots were practically unheard of at this budget level.
US
