mark.waltz A notorious bank robber joins a traveling caravan of Mormons, takes a shine to a little girl, and helps them face life on the plains, especially with attacking Indians and a bandit he betrays who vows revenge.Bascomb (the irascible Wallace Beery) isn't all that bad. All he needs are cute little spelling contests with a little girl and the affections of an aging widow to look after his appetite. Margaret O'Brien, of course, is the cute little girl who enjoys spelling out words in conversation, while Marjorie Main is her cantankerous grandmother who dominates Beery's every minute after he promises to take care of them in the caravan. Beery wants to find the gold hidden somewhere in the caravan with the intention of robbing it, but changes his mind after becoming close with the group. This upsets his rough and tough partner (J. Carroll Naish).Beery brings sweetness to his gruff role, a true acting feat considering his off-screen treatment of the child stars he worked with. The spelling out of words between Beery and O'Brien adds to the fun and brings some additional dimension to their relationship, although there is not as much comedy as a pairing of this nature (along with Main who is both a delightful comic and a touching serious actress) should have. There's a great scene between Beery, Main and tough-but-nurturing Connie Gilchrist in a moment where Gilchrist gives Beery her husband's old jacket and Main steps in to prevent any hanky panky. There's also a great camp fire sing-along in which pivotal plot points are taking place in the background. The problem with the film is its over-length. There is a scene that is quite disturbing where Beery must verbally assault O'Brien to get her away from his plotting with Naish, but the tender moments between the two afterwords makes up for it.

dpoppyman1 Bad Bascomb is a bad man. A very bad man. So is his sidekick, Bart Yancy. They are remorseless in all of their criminal activities, including the heartless murder of an elderly scout for a Mormon wagon train headed west. Hunted men, they take cover in the wagon train to avoid capture. While undercover, "Bad" Bascomb's heart is stolen by pure love and trust from an 8 year old girl who l-o-v-e-s him without reservation and in spite of his coarseness and even cruelty. The transformation is amazing to watch. Beery and O'Brien steal every scene and leave you anxious for their next one. Their banter is at times hilarious yet still remains poignant. I understand the criticism of some of the action sequences. They seem hurried if not careless. The scene of the wagon train crossing the river, however, is excellent. This is a low budget programmer so I refuse to criticize a lot of the technical short comings. As is true of most of these low budget films, this one is elevated by the performances of unmatched character actors like Marjorie Maine, J. Carroll Naish, and Sarah Haden. In the end though, Wallace Beery and Margaret O'Brien will steal your heart forever.

bkoganbing Wallace Beery set the standard for lovable lugs when he essayed the role of Long John Silver in Treasure Island. Turned out the nastiest pirate on the Spanish Main was one lovable lug after all, especially around kids like Jackie Cooper.Bad Bascomb is simply Beery as Long John Silver on two legs gone west. And this time it's the sweet innocence of little Margaret O'Brien that warms the old outlaw's heart.Beery as Bascomb is a leader of a large band of outlaws with J. Carrol Naish as his second in command. The film opens with the Governors of three territories in conference about how to get him with federal government agent Donald Curtis. They almost do get him, trapping him like they did Jesse James in Northfield, Minnesota. But as the James Brothers escaped from that trap, Beery and Naish do likewise and hide undercover in a Mormon wagon train heading for Utah. It's there that Beery meets up with little Margaret and her grandmother Marjorie Main. And he starts to change his evil ways. There's a whole lot of action in this film for those who want their westerns to emphasize that. The ambush of Beery's gang, the posse chase and a serious Indian attack. One scene I did find a bit much though was during that Indian attack, Margaret O'Brien using her peashooter against the Indians. Kind of dumb in my humble opinion.But the chemistry between Main and Beery and O'Brien is on full throttle here. And that's reason enough to watch Bad Bascomb.

smorose I found this a very interesting movie, and enjoyed Beery in his role. I was just surprised with the ending, I was expecting the Federal Officer to turn his back and let Beery return to the Wagon Train, but it ended with him riding off with the Officer. Not a traditional ending. Hope I didn't blow the ending for anyone.