Wyoming Renegades (1954) starring Philip Carey, Gene Evans, Martha Hyer, William Bishop, Douglas Kennedy, Roy Roberts, Don Beddoe directed by Fred F. Sears Movie Review

Wyoming Renegades (1954)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Martha Hyer and Philip Carey in Wyoming Renegades (1954)

Ordinary Renegades

For all sense and purposes "Wyoming Renegades" is juts another 1950s western the sort which were churned out because the public wanted heroes in white hats. And as such the story which sees a former outlaw trying to go straight but having his past haunt him isn't exactly new or different, in fact there is nothing new or different about "Wyoming Renegades" with it standard action scenes and obligatory romantic subplot. But then whilst there is nothing stand out about it "Wyoming Renegades" is still entertaining if you are lover of westerns especially as here we have a story which features Butch & Sundance but not the anti-heroes of Redford & Newman but proper villains.

Having spent 3 years in prison Brady Sutton (Philip Carey - Calamity Jane) returns to his hometown of Broken Bow with a plan of not only going straight but also settling down with his girl Nancy (Martha Hyer - First Men in the Moon). Unfortunately when his old outlaw buddies Butch & Sundance (Gene Evans & William Bishop) and their gang rob the town's bank everyone thinks Brady is involved and so has to go along with the gang in order to try and prove his innocence by bringing them in.

Philip Carey as Brady Sutton in Wyoming Renegades (1954)

So as storylines go "Wyoming Renegades" is not really that good, in fact typical comes to mind as we have the old tale of a former badman trying to go straight but his past makes it impossible. The fact he was once part of the gang which ran with Butch & Sundance is a pleasant twist but not much of one and nor is to be honest the fact that the legendary characters of Butch & Sundance are portrayed as badmen rather than anti-heroes.

Now it's not all simple stuff we have a bit of intrigue when it comes to the character of Charlie Veer who offers to help Brady when he first returns to Broken Bow. And when the town want to lynch him following the robbery the fact he helps him escape raises are curiosity. But the end result of this is not that amazing, just a nice little embellishment as is the romantic subplot between Brady and Nancy, the daughter of the bank manager.

So basically we have an ordinary western which is full of ordinary western direction with routine action from gun fights to fist fights. There is a nice twist when it comes to the end but not one which will do anything more than make you smile. Smile is about as much as you will do when it comes to the performances because whilst Philip Carey, Martha Hyer and Douglas Kennedy deliver typical western characters that is all it is, typical.

What this all boils down to is that if you wanted a movie which typified the 1950s mass produced western "Wyoming Renegades" would be a good example. It is an ordinary story with ordinary characters and ordinary action but if you like westerns then there is nothing that wrong with it, it's just there is nothing which makes it stand out from the crowd.


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