This was the first and only time Barbara Stanwyck, who made plenty of westerns, worked for Herbert Yates' illustrious studio which specialized in such fare. She plays Kit Banion, a larger than life saloon gal who has ties to some outlaws that includes one of the Younger brothers, Butch Cassidy and Sundance.
THE MAVERICK QUEEN is Stanwyck's show. She is surrounded by audience favorites like Wallace Ford, Jim Davis and Scott Brady. Brady plays Sundance. So you can see what sort of shady business she's involved in...however, she retains the upper hand for most of the film's running time. She's in command of what happens when these dangerous dudes appear on screen.
Another important character is a guy named Jeff who shows up to "help" Kit. He's played by Barry Sullivan, and while we are told he's a criminal at first, we later learn he is in fact a Pinkerton detective on a mission to nab the gang. The film reunites Sullivan with Stanwyck after their previous work in MGM's psychological drama JEOPARDY (1953). The following year they would team up for another western, over at Fox, called FORTY GUNS (1957). Mr. Sullivan is well suited to the genre, and he shares a nice easy rapport with Miss Stanwyck.
Stanwyck is probably a bit too long in the tooth to play a seductive saloon madame at this point in her career, but she makes up for it with her considerable acting skill. A decade earlier she had portrayed a saloon gal in Paramount's CALIFORNIA (1947). But while it was implied the character in that film had obviously used sex to get ahead, it's not as explicit as it is here. Therefore, Lily Bishop, the woman she plays in CALIFORNIA, does get a happy ending- provided she leave a life of sin behind. But in THE MAVERICK QUEEN, Kit Banion is a known "maverick" and must not be rewarded for this.
I suppose we might ask-- has she been corrupted by Sundance and his men? Or did she corrupt them? We're sort of left to figure it out for ourselves. The production code leaves it to our imagination.
Balancing out the toughness of Stanwyck's character, we have Mary Murphy playing a supporting role. She is cast as the softer more wholesome ingenue-- a farm girl that Sullivan meets when he first arrives in the area.
Miss Murphy was a contract player at Republic. And typically, she was cast in "A" westerns as the sweet-natured love interest. She did not have the star power Stanwyck possessed, but in this story, she is given the main romantic storyline. Ultimately Murphy's character wins the good guy (Sullivan), because Stanwyck's character is too immoral, too far gone to be saved. And since Stanwyck, under these circumstances, cannot be allowed the happily-ever-after fairy tale ending, it goes to Murphy.
The audience might have expected Mr. Sullivan's character Jeff to redeem Kit, and for Miss Murphy to redeem Sundance, so that more age-appropriate couplings could occur. But we know that Sundance is not the type to be tamed, and apparently, neither is Kit. This leaves wholesome Lucy the only viable match for Jeff, even though he's old enough to be her father.
Despite such contrivance, the film is still worth watching. It contains some interesting action sequences and as we all know, Stanwyck always puts on a real good show because she's the one holding all the cards.
THE MAVERICK QUEEN is Stanwyck's show. She is surrounded by audience favorites like Wallace Ford, Jim Davis and Scott Brady. Brady plays Sundance. So you can see what sort of shady business she's involved in...however, she retains the upper hand for most of the film's running time. She's in command of what happens when these dangerous dudes appear on screen.
Another important character is a guy named Jeff who shows up to "help" Kit. He's played by Barry Sullivan, and while we are told he's a criminal at first, we later learn he is in fact a Pinkerton detective on a mission to nab the gang. The film reunites Sullivan with Stanwyck after their previous work in MGM's psychological drama JEOPARDY (1953). The following year they would team up for another western, over at Fox, called FORTY GUNS (1957). Mr. Sullivan is well suited to the genre, and he shares a nice easy rapport with Miss Stanwyck.
Stanwyck is probably a bit too long in the tooth to play a seductive saloon madame at this point in her career, but she makes up for it with her considerable acting skill. A decade earlier she had portrayed a saloon gal in Paramount's CALIFORNIA (1947). But while it was implied the character in that film had obviously used sex to get ahead, it's not as explicit as it is here. Therefore, Lily Bishop, the woman she plays in CALIFORNIA, does get a happy ending- provided she leave a life of sin behind. But in THE MAVERICK QUEEN, Kit Banion is a known "maverick" and must not be rewarded for this.
I suppose we might ask-- has she been corrupted by Sundance and his men? Or did she corrupt them? We're sort of left to figure it out for ourselves. The production code leaves it to our imagination.
Balancing out the toughness of Stanwyck's character, we have Mary Murphy playing a supporting role. She is cast as the softer more wholesome ingenue-- a farm girl that Sullivan meets when he first arrives in the area.
Miss Murphy was a contract player at Republic. And typically, she was cast in "A" westerns as the sweet-natured love interest. She did not have the star power Stanwyck possessed, but in this story, she is given the main romantic storyline. Ultimately Murphy's character wins the good guy (Sullivan), because Stanwyck's character is too immoral, too far gone to be saved. And since Stanwyck, under these circumstances, cannot be allowed the happily-ever-after fairy tale ending, it goes to Murphy.
The audience might have expected Mr. Sullivan's character Jeff to redeem Kit, and for Miss Murphy to redeem Sundance, so that more age-appropriate couplings could occur. But we know that Sundance is not the type to be tamed, and apparently, neither is Kit. This leaves wholesome Lucy the only viable match for Jeff, even though he's old enough to be her father.
Despite such contrivance, the film is still worth watching. It contains some interesting action sequences and as we all know, Stanwyck always puts on a real good show because she's the one holding all the cards.