Before TCM showed it as part of its Ronald Reagan tribute last month, it had been a long time since I had seen 1941's "The Bad Man." It had been so long that my memories of the film were sepia-toned.
Only, as I discovered when I watched it again the other day, the movie really IS sepia-toned. There's something unsettling about a movie in sepia. I guess in this case, the idea is to transport us to the West, where Lionel Barrymore owns a troubled ranch and outlaw Wallace Beery runs roughshod over the lands. But what good is the cinematography or the setting when you have those two in the movie?
Not only does the scenery stand no chance against this dynamic duo, but there are times you worry the two will eat the script, the film stock, and maybe co-stars Henry Travers and Laraine Day. Fortunately, Tom Conway is nimble enough you figure he could escape, and Reagan, of course, is the Gipper, so no need to worry about him.
This is a fun, ridiculous experience, but it has a big problem: Beery doesn't show up until about a half-hour into what is barely a 70-minute film. During this viewing, I fooled myself into thinking he'd appear earlier, but no such luck. Not that seeing Barrymore do his cantankerous codger routine (a nice change of pace from his grumpy old coot routine) isn't entertaining, but Beery is the main event here.
See, as Pancho Lopez, Big Daddy Beery reprises the Mexican gimmick he trotted out to great success in "Viva Villa." Gotta love the glory days of Hollywood. Think we'll see Tom Cruise play a German again next year? I don't think so. Yet Pancho Beery got over with the fans so much, MGM built a whole nother vehicle around his dubious persona.
It ain't much of a story. Beery intervenes in the financial travails of Barrymore's ranch while playing matchmaker for Reagan and Day (who happens to be married to Conway). Is there anything the man can't do? He's a gunfighter, a financial whiz, a master tactician, and, boy, does he know women!
Barrymore holds his own, of course, gleefully hoping outlaw Pancho Beery will shoot, hang, or otherwise maim the people that irritate him--that is, just about everybody except Reagan and Day. "The Bad Man" was billed as Beery's "new 1941 thrill drama," but I think at some point everyone involved gave up any pretense of staging an "adult" western and went for laughs, and we're all the better for it.
The Turner Classic Movies presentation was a treat, with Bobby Osbo reminding us this was the only movie for which Warners loaned out Reagan. He also chatted with Reagan's daughter Patti Davis, who seemed incredulous. The two chuckled at Reagan's miraculous quick recovery from a gunshot wound in the story. It's great that they more or less accepted Beery's Mexican gimmick and laughed at that, but in all fairness, it was Reagan's night on TCM
"The Bad Man" isn't a great movie in any sense other than that I think it's great. I've seen it twice now, and I'll probably watch it again. I may even try to convince myself again that Pancho Beery will arrive sooner, but regardless, I'll wait patiently until he does.
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