The Law and Jake Wade, 1958, Is Playing on Turner Classic Movies on May 23 at 10:30 a.m. est. Closed captioned.

Was there ever a more suitable cowboy than Robert Taylor? I think not! Again Taylor plays the man with a hidden past, as he did in Undercurrent and Conspirator. This time he is a marshal in a small town, who owes his former companion, Clint Hollister, a menacing and dangerous man on the run, played wonderfully well by Richard Widmark. He breaks him out of jail just as Widmark had done for him a year previous. The mistake is that he finds Jake and takes him and his fiancée on a torturous trip to get the money Jake hid from a bank hold-up. Patricia Owens as Peggy, is angry and confused, when she finds out about his past, even though she had told him in the beginning that anything he had done before she  met him was of no interest. There is plenty of action in this western, and the scenery is glorious. Good against evil, or bad ethics on Taylor’s part. You may wonder, what was he thinking? Supporting cast is great with Henry Silva in an early role, which shows you are great actor in the making. Old standards are Robert Middleton, who made many films with Taylor, and DeForest Kelley who went on to television fame in Star Trek. Taylor plays his part with quiet reserve, as the opposite of Widmark’s hostile and outwardly evil character. If Taylor had done any- thing else with the part the story would not have seemed as credible. I don’t think that Robert Taylor ever got enough credit for being an actor who could be anyone for anybody. Every man, a common man, therefore playing good guy or bad guy, he was always believable. Watch it, you will not be disappointed. Review by mamalv for the IMDb.

Here are some wardrobe shots from The Law and Jake Wade