Cattle Annie and Little Britches Reviews

Oklahoma's Doolin gang, joined by two adventure-seeking teenage girls (Amanda Plummer and Diane Lane), is the focus of this slow-paced western depicting the outlaws' last days. The girls become adoptive little sisters who follow the bandits, then become members of the gang, aiding in their escapes and robberies. Burt Lancaster delivers his usual assured performance, but has little to work with as Bill Doolin; Rod Steiger, as his lawman pursuer, goes after his prey with the relish of a child on an Easter egg hunt. In the usual Hollywood way, the facts about the real Doolin gang are completely ignored and apparently unresearched. (The character of George "Red Buck" Weightman is split into two figures here, neither of whom captures the true nature of this most brutal of Old West outlaws.) Lamont Johnson's direction is shallow and phlegmatic, while the script by David Eyre and Robert Ward is forced.