Stubs - 3 Bad Men

3 Bad Men (1926) starring George O’Brien, Olive Borden, Lou Tellegen, Tom Santschi, J. Farrell MacDonald, Frank Campeau, Priscilla Bonner, Otis Harlan, Phyllis Haver, Georgie Harris, Alec Francis, Jay Hunt Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by  John Stone, Ralph Spence, Malcolm Stuart Boyla. Based on the novel Over the Border by Herman Whitaker (New York, 1917). Producer: William Fox. Run time: 93 minutes. Black and White. USA. Western, Silent

3 Bad Men came to my attention through reading Joy Girl: A Novel of Olive Borden (Forgotten Actresses) by Laini Giles. Even though the book is historical fiction, it is based on real events, include Olive Borden meeting George O’Brien on the set of this film. Turns out I had the film in the Ford at Fox collection, which came out in 2007.

Following his success with The Iron Horse (1924), director John Ford was given carte blanche by Fox. He chose as his next project the novel, Over the Border by British writer Herman Whitaker. The book tells the story of Three Bad Men - Sliver Smith, Bull Perrin, and Jake Evers - who have established their hideout in a desolate region of the Mexican desert. The narrative captures their adventures and confrontations in a land marked by revolution, rustling, and crossing borders, while exploring themes of survival, loyalty, and the blurred lines between right and wrong.

For the screen version, the Mexican desert was changed to the Dakota land rush after gold was discovered. The film, which was in production over a 15-month span of time, was originally intended as a showcase for Tom Mix, Buck Jones, and George O’Brien – but as the first two were unavailable.

Part of the reason the film took 15 months was that during filming in the Mojave Desert, outside of Victorville, California, three of the actresses involved, Olive Borden, Priscilla Bonner, and Grace Gordon, became ill with a form of paratyphoid fever, and had to be taken to the hospital. They would have to recover before filming could resume outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The story begins with the discovery of gold on the Sioux reservation in the Dakotas in 1877. Naturally, the Indians are moved to a new reservation and the land is to be opened up for settlers, with everyone headed to the small town of Custer for the opportunity. Because of the sudden growth in population, entrepreneurs, like Joe Minsk (Georgie Harris) open business to cater to the new arrivals.

Women like Millie Stanley (Priscilla Bonner) have come out West searching for love. She thinks the corrupt sheriff of Custer, Sheriff Layne Hunter (Lou Tellegen), is in love with her, but he sees her as just another one of his prostitutes.

We’re given a bit of a history lesson, as the film shows people emigrating via boats to America to help settle the West. But the focus is really on those who are already here and on the move.

Lee (Olive Borden) waits for Dan O’Malley (George O’Brien) to kiss her.

There is a wagon train of settlers coming to Custer. One such family is the Carltons from Virgina, Lee (Olive Borden) and her father, a former CSA colonel (Not Credited). But a wheel comes off their wagon and they are helpless until Dan O’Malley (George O’Brien) rides over to help. It is then that he meets Lee. While the father is tightening the wheel on to the axle, he makes time with Lee. He about to kiss her when her father decides it’s time to leave, as they are already an hour behind everyone else.

It is at this time that the three bad men ride into the story. "Bull" Stanley (Tom Santschi), Mike Costigan (J. Farrell MacDonald) and "Spade" Allen (Frank Campeau) are among things, cattle and horse rustlers and are wanted by several law enforcement agencies. They come across the wagon train and then hone in on the Carltons, who are pulling nine thoroughbred race horses behind their wagon.

But before they can attack, another band of thieves beat them to it. Deciding to fight for the horses, the 3 Bad Men ride in and, in a shoot-out, scare away the other horse thieves. However, Lee’s father gets killed in the raid.

Mike Costigan (J. Farrell MacDonald) and "Spade" Allen (Frank Campeau) look
on as "Bull" Stanley (Tom Santschi) confronts Lee after her father has been killed.

While Lee is knelt down and crying over her father, Bull puts a gun to her head. He is about to shoot when he realizes that Lee is a woman; her hat falls off, revealing her long hair. Rather than shoot her, Bull decides to take care of her and orders Mike and Spade to put the horses they’re thieving back.

Mike and Spade size up a potential husband for Lee.

With Bull in charge, the bad men escort Lee to Custer. There they run into Sheriff Hunter, who recognizes them. However, they plan to turn away from crime and find Lee a suitable husband. Bull even sends Mike and Spade out to find her one. They encounter a new migrant from back East and put the poor man through the ringer, even going so far as to check out his teeth.

Enter Dan, who is also in Custer, and the two are matched up.

Lee takes a bath in a barrel.

There is a famous scene in which Lee takes a bath in a barrel. This is a forerunner to the infamous scene in Red Dust (1932), in which Vantine (Jean Harlow) takes one. For its time, it is just about as scandalous. The attention the scene garnered from Fox did not sit well with the director.

Lily (Phyllis Haver) puts the moves on Dan while Lee bathes.

However, while Lee takes a bath in a barrel, Dan waits and plays his guitar, not realizing that Lily (Phyllis Haver) has snuck up behind him.

Things in Custer go through a change, with the arrival of Rev. Benson (Alec B. Francis). His presence seems to have a positive effect on the women in the settlement. However, Millie, who still thinks Sheriff Hunter loves her, gets a cold dose of reality. With a man of the cloth in town, she excitedly tells Hunter that they can now be married, but he only laughs in her face.

Later, Hunter decides that it’s time for the Reverend to get taught a lesson, so he sends his minions to burn down Benson’s home. In the mayhem that follows, Millie gets shot, taking a bullet meant for Benson.

It is only with her lying mortally wounded is she reunited with her estranged brother, Bull, and she dies in his arms.

The land rush is on in 3 Bad Men.

The main event of the film, is of course, the land rush. As the day approaches, people start to line up at the border. There are literally thousands lined up ready to go. However, Hunter and his men, have sneaked across and are lying in wait for Lee, Dan and the 3 Bad Men. He suspects that they have some knowledge about where there’s gold.

A baby is left behind in the rush for land.

When the signal is given, the action heats up as everyone rushes into the territory. There are, of course, accidents. One couple loses their wagon wheel. The husband, wife and child get out of the wagon. The man is in such a hurry that they leave the baby alone in the path of others rushing. At the last moment, the baby is saved by another settler, who delivers the baby to Editor Zach Little (Otis Harlan). The usually inebriated editor of the local paper, one described as part Scotch and part seltzer, is on a wagon with a mobile printing press so he can report on the story. Little is given the baby and we never see it reunited with its parents.

With Hunter and party hot on their trail, one by one the bad men stay behind to stop them, and each time, they’re defeated. The first to die is Spade, who, while he kills a few, is overwhelmed. A similar fate awaits Mike, as he turns a surveyor hut into his final stand, blowing up most of the sheriff’s crew with the gunpowder that’s been left there.

Bull's last action is to shoot and kill Sheriff Layne Hunter (Lou Tellegen).

Bull takes being the final protector seriously and even though he gets mortally wounded, does manage to kill Hunter, allowing Dan and Lee to move on without fear.

Dan and Lee start a family but the 3 Bad Men are never far from their thoughts.

And that’s what happens as we see Dan and Lee later, they have not only married and settled down, but now have a baby both they've named after the 3 bad men, who even as ghosts are shown riding off to heaven.

The 3 Bad Men ride off to Heaven.

It has been reported that the preview of the film did not go well and Fox called for numerous cuts before its official release on August 28, 1926. But even with the cuts, the response to the film was mixed. I’ve read that that had as much to do with the public’s taste for epic Westerns at the time. The genre was pretty much abandoned at the time by the major studios. It should be noted that John Ford, whose name is almost synonymous with the genre, didn’t make another Western for 13 years, returning to the genre with Stagecoach (1939).

The contemporary reaction does not indicate how good the film really is. It has aged very well in the 100 years since it’s release. While I wouldn’t say this has all the earmarks of Ford’s later works, it does contain many of the things that would dominate his better Western films. We don’t get Monument Valley, but we do get The Grand Tetons as a backdrop. Ford manages to capture the immenseness of the West, but still gives his characters depth.

Bull has a surprisingly deep background, including an estranged sister. While it is apparent he falls in love with Lee, and gives up thieving and his life for her, he also knows she needs someone else more suitable to love her. That’s a very complex character, which Tom Santschi brings to life. Santschi may not be remembered today, but he did appear in over 245 films during his career, which lasted from 1907 to 1931, when he died at the age of 50.

J. Farrell MacDonald and Frank Campeau provide comic relief throughout the film, with their best scene when they go husband hunting for Lee. MacDonald would appear in over 325 films and direct 44 silent films in a career that would span 40 years. He would appear in films by Frank Capra, Preston Sturges, as well as Ford during that time. Christmas would not be complete without his uncredited appearance in It’s A Wonderful Life, as the disgruntled neighbor whose Grandfather planted the tree George Bailey (James Stewart) runs his car into.

Campeau would appear in more than 90 films between 1911 and 1940, several starring Douglas Fairbanks. He began his acting career on Broadway in plays like The Virginian and Rio Grande, which may have prepared him for roles in Western movies. Even though I’m not familiar with his career, it is clear from this film that he was a good actor.

George O'Brien as Dan O'Malley.

While the 3 Bad Men were the obvious main characters, they were not the stars of the film; George O’Brien and Olive Borden were. O’Brien, whose career would last until the early 60’s, was already a matinee idol, having appeared in films starting in 1922. By the time this film was made, he had already appeared in four Ford films, include The Iron Horse. He was also one year away from appearing in Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), which is perhaps his best remembered role. In 3 Bad Men, his character doesn’t have much to do but look good.

Olive Borden as Lee Carlton.

It was on location for this film that O’Brien would meet Olive Borden; they would have a long-term love affair. Borden nicknamed "the Joy Girl", after playing the lead in the 1927 film of that same title, started her career as a Sennett Bathing Beauty, before producer Paul Bern chose her for an uncredited role in his film The Dressmaker from Paris (1925). That would lead to being named a WAMPAS Baby Star and being signed by Fox in 1925. She was popular and at the peak of her career was earning $1500 a week. However, her career would take a turn for the worse when she was dropped by Fox for refusing to take a pay cut and while she was still in demand at smaller studios, she would have trouble making the transition to sound. In 3 Bad Men, she does get to do some acting, but her strength here is that she’s beautiful.

The film may remind you of Three Godfathers (1936), or 3 Godfathers (1948), or Hell’s Heroes (1930), you wouldn’t be alone.  In these Western films, a trio of villains change 180 degrees when they become responsible for a baby. One by one, they die trying to get the baby to safety. Substitute Lee for the baby and you pretty much have the story of 3 Bad Men. There are other differences between the films but these sorts of stories are a Western staple, though the story can be adapted into other genres as well; think Tokyo Godfathers or Three Men and a Baby.

Though I may have watched 3 Bad Men because of Olive Borden, I instead found a pretty remarkable Western. It may not have been appreciated when it was first released, but it has aged well and would be worth watching if you ever get the chance.