Bad Bascomb (film)

1946 film by S. Sylvan Simon

May 22, 1946 (1946-05-22)

Running time

112 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$1,833,000^[1]Box office$3,645,000^[1]

Bad Bascomb is a 1946 American western film starring Wallace Beery and Margaret O'Brien.^[2]^[3] The movie was directed by S. Sylvan Simon. The supporting cast features Marjorie Main, J. Carrol Naish, Frances Rafferty, Marshall Thompson and Henry O'Neill.

Plot

"Bad" Bascomb is a notorious outlaw wanted by federal marshals after outwitting every group sent to capture him. He and fellow bandit Bart Yancey, a cold-blooded killer, have again eluded the marshals by joining a Mormon wagon train heading to Utah. They pretend to be helpful, and Bascomb becomes fond of an admiring little girl who attaches herself to him played by O'Brien. Beery eventually distances himself from Yancey by thwarting an attempted robbery and then saves the wagon train from an attack by Indians by riding to get help, before being taken captive by the marshal at the end of the movie.

Cast

Wallace Beery as Zed Bascomb
Margaret O'Brien as Emmy
Marjorie Main as Abbey Hanks
J. Carrol Naish as Bart Yancey
Frances Rafferty as Dora McCabe
Russell Simpson as Elijah Walker
Marshall Thompson as Jimmy Holden
Henry O'Neill as Governor Winton
Sara Haden as Tillie Lovejoy
Frank Darien as Elder Moab McCabe
Stanley Andrews as Col. Cartright (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan as Gov. Ames (uncredited)

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $2,384,000 in the US and Canada and $1,261,000 elsewhere, leading to an overall profit of $648,000.^[1]^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ Variety film review; February 6, 1946.
^ Harrison's Reports film review; February 9, 1946, page 22.
^ See also "60 Top Grossers of 1946", Variety 8 January 1947 p8