The Jayhawkers! is a 1959 American Technicolor VistaVision film directed by Melvin Frank, starring Jeff Chandler as Luke Darcy and Fess Parker as Cam Bleeker. The film is set in pre-Civil War Kansas. Darcy leads a gang which seeks to take advantage of Bleeding Kansas (loosely based on abolitionist John Brown; Bleeker joins the gang. The supporting cast features Henry Silva and Leo Gordon.
Plot summary
Cast
- Jeff Chandler as Luke Darcy
- Fess Parker as Cam Bleeker
- Nicole Maurey as Jeanne Dubois
- Henry Silva as Lordan
- Herbert Rudley as Gov. William Clayton
- Jimmy Carter as Paul
- Shari Lee Bernath as Martha
- Leo Gordon as Jake Barton
- Barbara Knudson as Mrs. Maxton
Production
The film was made by the team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank who had a deal with Paramount.[3] They bought the story in January 1957.[4] Panama and Frank were best known for their comedies and had made a comic Western, Callaway Went Thataway but The Jayhawkers was serious. Frank said at the time:
Panama and Frank subjected the script to analysis by a psychological consulting firm.[6]
Melvin Frank tried to interest Vivien Leigh in the female lead.[7] Chandler made the film on loan out from Universal International. Filming started 1 December 1958.[8]