Completely ignoring the forty-year-old axiom that a horse opera is judged solely by the amount of gore sprayed around the set, Republic Pictures have refused to fob off a thousand rounds of ammunition as entertainment and have turned out a refreshingly novel movie. Although the "Angel and the Badman" contains enough of the usual ingredients to satisfy any grammar school desperado, the clever and entirely feasible plot will be a welcome relief to gun-shy adults.

Notable for its lack of continuous gun-play. "The Angel and the Badman" has painstakingly sidestepped one of the most overworked angles of current westerns with excellent results. Where the hero generally announces his fast draw in the first scene and proceeds to prove his point for ninety dreary minutes, John Wayne disposes of four men during the credit background and plays a human being for the rest of the picture. The principals are thus left free to develop an interesting and often humorous plot. Dealing with the life of a wounded badman recuperating in a Quaker family, the script is both clever and tasteful. The writers manage to convey the beliefs of that seet with all the necessary finesse and still draw the comedy of ardent pacifists playing hosts to a befuddled rustler. While the action follows through to the hoped-for conclusion, the climax happily avoids time-worn convention. John Wayne's choice between the security of his gun and beautiful Gail Russell comes over as a very real emotional problem and allows the execution of a neat surprise ending.

Whether "The Angel and the Badman" is the signal of a long awaited intellectual renaissance among western producers or whether it will he pigeon-holed as a noble experiment, the block long queues at the Paramount and Fenway are an accurate indication of public taste and appreciation.