User Reviews

Despite its low-budget B-movie origins and its brisk 59-minute running time, this Wild Bill Elliot horse opera qualifies as one of the earliest examples of a movie where society enlists convicts to establish law and order to the frontier west. Typically, most moviegoers think that "The Dirty Dozen" introduced the parole-the-prisoners plot, but this 1940 sagebrusher used that idea long before director Robert Aldrich appropriated it for his anti-heroic, behind-enemy-lines, World War II-themed blockbuster. In fact, the parole-the-prisoners plot turned up earlier in Burt Kennedy's western sequel "Return of the Seven" (1966), Roger Corman's behind enemy lines W.W. 2 opus "The Secret Invasion" (1964), and Richard Bartlett's "Two-Gun Lady" (1956).

When trigger-happy outlaws lay down the rule of lawlessness in the town of Gun Sight by the, two-gun toting Bill Saunders (Bill Elliot) rides to the rescue. "My name's Wild Bill, but I'm a peaceable man," says Bill to just about everybody. Unlike most western champions, Bill packs his brace of pistols in his holsters with the handles reversed so the hammers face away from him when he draws. Kilgore (Ray Bennett) and his gang of henchmen have been hijacking wagon trains as free and easy as hawks until 'Spunky' Cameron (western heroine regular Iris Meredith), daughter of wagon train boss Jeff Cameron, sends Cannonball (veteran western sidekick Dub Taylor of "Bandolero") to find Wild Bill to restore order. As a tough-as-nails villain, Kilgore proves his credentials from the get-go by gunning down old Jeff on Main Street in broad daylight. Unfortunately, since Jeff (Edward LeSaint of "The Green Hornet") shucked his six-shooter first, Kilgore cannot be arrested for what constitutes 'self-defense.' Meantime, Cannonball hightails it to another dusty western hamlet just in time to watch Wild Bill foil a bank robbery single-handedly against three armed assailants. Cannonball brings Bill and Spunky together to discuss the lawlessness, and Bill visits Governor Dawson (Don Beddoe of "Night of the Hunter") to round up some gunmen to create a state police to hunt down these hooligans. Dawson explains to Will Bill that the legislature has wrapped his plans up in red tape so he hasn't had any luck. Wild Bill proposes another plan: release some of the deadliest six-gunners in prison into his custody to flush out the bad guys and award the convicts with paroles if they help him corral these heavies. Of course, everything works out in the long run, but there are a couple of surprises along the way. Director Joseph H. Lewis, who later went on to fame directing TV westerns like "Bonanza," "Branded," "The Rifleman," and "The Big Valley," keeps things moving at a swift clip. The only drawback is during a stagecoach shoot-out several gunhands believe that they are bulletproof enough to stand out in the open and swap lead without consequences. Later, the much talking about but hard to locate secret hideout that Kilgore and his men operate out of is neither as secret nor as exotic as the secret hideout in most westerns like the 1954 Nicholas Ray oater "Johnny Guitar", but then the low budget accounts for that shortcoming. Scenarist Charles F. Royal's screenplay for "The Man from Tumbleweeds" is again one of the earliest examples of a Hollywood movie where the heroes have to rely on henchmen fresh out of prison to help them. Royal's dialogue is worth quoting, too.

Gordon Nance appeared in a boatload of Westerns using the character name of Wild Bill - there was Wild Bill Hickok and Wild Bill Elliott, but for a brief four picture series with Columbia in 1940 he was Wild Bill Saunders. As "The Man From Tumbleweeds", Bill prevails upon Governor Dawson (Don Beddoe) to put together a lawman posse out of seven prisoners released to his custody to take on the Powder Kilgore (Ray Bennett) gang operating in the environs of Gun Sight. This is a fairly standard oater given the nature of these B Westerns, but trivia fans will find a number of interesting points to ponder with this film.

For starters, there's Bill's sidekick Cannonball, portrayed by comic relief character actor Dub Taylor. Taylor had the name Cannonball Simms in his prior Columbia team-up with Elliott, "Pioneers of the Frontier", but apparently the last name was dropped in the other three pictures. Taylor uses some of the same type of braggadocio to describe his past exploits the way Gabby Hayes would in any number of his movie Westerns backing up stars like Roy Rogers. Cannonball's high spot in this flick occurs when he throws a makeshift bomb away from the Gun Sight town jail, and winds up in black face when the bomb explodes off screen. A few years later, Dub would appear with Charles Starrett in his Durango Kid films going by the name of Cannonball Taylor.

During his days at Columbia and Republic, Elliott rode a number of different paint horses, all going by the name of Sonny. In this picture, it looks like he's aboard the original Sonny, identified by the white spot on the forehead, and more noticeably, the bi-colored black and white mane and tail. The name Sonny isn't mentioned by name in the story, but I do believe I heard Cannonball call his horse Jim.

I got a kick out of some of the names given the outlaws who were sprung from prison to accompany Saunders. There was Shifty, Slash and Honest John identified immediately, but you had to stay attentive to catch the rest - Blackie, Daggett and Flint. I didn't catch the last one if it was mentioned, and most of them don't appear in the credits, which isn't unusual for these pictures.

I guess I shouldn't forget actress Iris Meredith appearing as Cameron Freight operator Spunky Cameron. She has a role in nabbing the bad guys along with Cannonball and the rest, all with an eye it seems on roping Wild Bill by the end of the story. But not this jack rabbit, Bill was already making plans to high tail it to Texas for his next adventure. The head of the newly formed state rangers would have to be Honest John Webster (Al Hill), who performed admirably as Saunders' next in command. What would you expect of a guy named Honest John?

With that phrase Wild Bill Elliott playing Wild Bill Saunders again states why he just can't settle down in any one place. Elliott's Saunders character is a Lone Ranger without a mask, going all over the west, righting whatever wrongs there are in a given area.

In this case Elliott gets a commission from Governor Don Beddoe no less when he sells him on the idea of establishing a state ranger force. Local law enforcement is unable to deal with roving gangs of outlaws who jump from county to county. Elliott even sells Beddoe on the idea of paroling some hard cases from the state penitentiary to clean up a certain really bad gang who murdered freighter Edward LeSaint in front of his daughter Iris Meredith. Get this bunch and a pardon might be in the offing and these paroled convicts the nucleus for a permanent state rangers.

One thing really kind of got me. Granted that this film is for the Saturday matinée crowd of kids. But are we really surprised when one of Elliott's parolees turns out to be a double agent when he's got a nickname of Shifty? These films are never known for subtlety.

I'm sure the kids in gallery got their money's worth from The Man From Tumbleweeds.