I have a natural prejudice against films that glorify relatively insignificant criminals from the old west. The likes of Jesse James, Billy the Kid and the Dalton Gang were raised to hero status in the 1930s and 40s--mostly because their lives were almost completely fictionalized by Hollywood. Much of this prejudice is because I am a retired history teacher and I hate to see the truth twisted way beyond the breaking point.

I was actually pretty surprised just how historically inaccurate this movie was considering it was supposedly based on a book by Emmett Dalton--the one surviving member of this notorious band of outlaws. That's because after serving about 15 years in prison, Emmett was pardoned because he'd found God and had become a model prisoner. And, his book "When the Daltons Rode" was NOT a homage to the gang but a book intended to de-glorify the criminal life. Surely this film was only VERY broadly based on the book--especially since in the film, Emmett appears to be killed at the end of the movie!! Even if you totally disregard the truth, "When the Daltons Rode" is a pretty bad film--mostly because the writing is pretty bad. For example, although Randolph Scott gets top billing, the audience has no idea why he's in the film. He's not one of the outlaws nor does he really play any sort of significant role in the movie. He and Kay Francis are there...but really add nothing to the picture and their romance is pretty difficult to believe. Also tough to believe is the finale. Although 4092390238409 shots are fired by the townspeople at the Daltons, very, very few manage to hit them! Can anyone be THAT bad with a gun?! And, when one of the Daltons somehow manages to survive long enough to make a 1 in a million shot at the evil lawman, you can't help but laugh! During this same finale, it's also hilariously bad when Andy Divine is killed--you just have to see it to believe it. Plus, who would have thought of having the likes of Divine and Stu Erwin as tough as nails criminals?!?! Sure, Broderick Crawfords and Brian Donlevy were fine--they had already been in many films as heavies--but Divine and Erwin?! Sheesh! The bottom line is that despite some nice polish from Universal Pictures, this is a bad, historically inaccurate and trite film. Plus, it manages to take a very good cast and completely waste it.

The Dalton brother -- Broderick Crawford, Brian Donlevy, Frank Albertson and the murdered Stu Erwin go from peaceful farmers to desperate outlaws.

There's much to admire in this movie, from the way in which the first 20 or so minutes are lighthearted and often funny, making the fix the brothers get into tinged with a certain sense of tragedy. Kay Francis seems like luxury casting, as does George Bancroft as the banker, but undoubtedly that was a canny move, trying to replicate the major studio minor stars who had made such a hit of Marshall's DESTRY RIDES AGAIN the year before. Thus the top billing for Randolph Scott, even though the movie, as shown, centers far more on Broderick Crawford, the hot-tempered lama of the brothers who starts off engaged to Miss Francis and winds up... well....

The big sequence about two thirds of the way through, where they escape from the law -- thanks to quick thinking by Andy Devine! -- and wind up robbing a train on the way out is very well done, with lots of good trick riding. Who knew there were such towering mountains in Oklahoma, or such rushing, swollen rivers. Who knew it was even called Oklahoma all the time in the 1890s, instead of The Indian Territories (an appellation I have seen in print as current into the 1930)?

In the end, it' a big, brawling A Western that owes a lot to other recent A westerns. If it wasn't as big a hit for Universal as DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, it's very entertaining on its own sentimental terms.

In a strange role for Randolph Scott in a western, he never wears or fires a gun in When The Daltons Rode. In fact he's not even a Dalton brother just a family friend who falls for Kay Francis and she for him. But Kay's the girlfriend of Broderick Crawford one of the Dalton Brothers.

And it's especially strange that for a western that gets a lot of action into its 81 minute running time that Randolph Scott is no part of it.

The Daltons are played by Crawford, Brian Donlevy, Stu Erwin, and Frank Albertson. Though the plot is taken purportedly from the book authored by Emmet Dalton, it seems to have been more lifted from the 20th Century Fox film Jesse James. The Daltons together with their mother own a farm near Coffeyville, Kansas. A land holding company fronted by Harvey Stephens but really controlled by George Bancroft is after the Dalton farm to sell it to the railroad for a right of way. When a surveyor is killed accidentally Erwin, Donlevy, and Albertson are arrested. When it looks like the case is not going their way, despite Randolph Scott's defense of them, they break loose and turn outlaw. The rest of the film is almost a non-stop action view of their outlaw exploits until the legendary showdown in Coffeyville.

George Marshall keeps the action at one lively pace and the comic relief is supplied by, would you believe an amorous Andy Devine playing a Dalton friend and fellow outlaw.

But Randolph Scott in a suit, who'd have believed it.