Bad Bascomb (1946)

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Bad Bascomb is an expensive MGM western, tailor-made for the blubbery talents of Wallace Beery. Beery plays the badman of the title, whose heart is softened by a sweet little child (Margaret O'Brien at her most cloying). Just about to make a clean getaway, Beery realizes that the child is in danger… More Bad Bascomb is an expensive MGM western, tailor-made for the blubbery talents of Wallace Beery. Beery plays the badman of the title, whose heart is softened by a sweet little child (Margaret O'Brien at her most cloying). Just about to make a clean getaway, Beery realizes that the child is in danger of being killed by marauding Indians. He rides back to warn the cavalry, which results in his arrest but saves the girl. Sentenced to be hanged, Beery tearfully sends O'Brien off to her foster parents, never letting the precocious little tot know that he's about to have his neck stretched. Bad Bascomb is at its best whenever Beery shamelessly pulls every trick in the book to steal scenes from the estimable Margaret O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 51 min.
Directed By: S. Sylvan Simon
Genres: Western, Action & Adventure, Classics

In Theaters: Nov 7, 1946 Wide

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Margaret O'Brien is one of the most adorable and articulate child actors ever, and her chemistry with anyone on screen is always magical. Here with Wallace Beery -- his love interest, so to speak -- that chemistry is unmistakable. <p> Despite the copious amounts of… More
Margaret O'Brien is one of the most adorable and articulate child actors ever, and her chemistry with anyone on screen is always magical. Here with Wallace Beery -- his love interest, so to speak -- that chemistry is unmistakable. <p> Despite the copious amounts of bloodshed in this one, it is still a comedy. O'Brien heals Beery with her child's amorous ways, reforming him and transforming him from a hard-boiled outlaw to an altruistic, self-sacrificing human being. <p> Oddly enough, the ending is not a typically comic one. We are left with the impression that Beery's optimism about his return may actually be just that, and he might actually never return.