Reviews

Prospector Jeff Malloy rescues Doris Devlin, owner of a trading post, from an ambush planned by her uncle, Kilburn, who is trying to scare her out of the territory so that he can continue his counterfeiting operations.

Whip Wilson has a bit of the "aw shucks" quality which is quite endearing and lends him a sagebrush authenticity around him. He comes across better than in the other western I had seen recently and has a certain charm like Roy Rogers. Here, in Arizona Territory, he comes to the rescue of the pretty Nancy Saunders who has a villainous uncle and an Indian agent who has the hots for her ( don't blame him!) and is in cahoots with the uncle - they run a counterfeit scheme, smuggling notes in potteries made by Saunders. Quite intriguing story line and enough things happening to keep one watching. Maybe a leetle mite slow, but overall a pleasant viewing with some decent action, though it's not loaded with it.

Indian agent Rex Allen must protect local citizens and a tribe of volatile Native Americans from unscrupulous railroad contractors--including his own brother.

Rex Allen has a natural charm as a cowboy - Indian agent here - and he croons well too. There's a good fight scene between him and his brother, and the plot is adequate with some decent action sequence such as the wagon train attack (stock footage me suspects). There's an odd scene, though, when the blonde lady tells Rex about his brother being dead after the she singing with him and others - but hey maybe she didn't know how to break it to him. A little singing might just calm her nerves. Guess who plays the villain here? You got it right - it's Roy Barcroft.

Texas Ranger Sunset Carson is given the mission of tracking down the notorious Marshall gang. Uncovering their hideout, he discovers the gang is led by Ann Marshall (Peggy Stewart) and is comprised of three of her ranch-hands, Dakota, PeeWee and Buckskin. He soon learns that they are the innocent victims of a ring of swindlers and cattle rustlers led by the ruthless Matt Conroy (Roy Barcroft)

Sunset Carson rides again as a Texas Ranger, but he's undercover for the most part. He's out to capture Peggy Stewart and her gang, but realises the bad guy is Roy Barcroft and his gang of cronies. Fast-paced fun is what you get with plenty of chases and twisty plot. Peggy Stewart is great in her role as always and Roy Barcroft does the heavy role with ease. If you want a fun, rip-roaring clean western, look no further!

Sunset Carson (Sunset Carson) is a member of an outlaw gang led by Gil Santos Robert Filmer), who have been holding up gold shipments dispatched from Laramie City. Sunset rebels when the gang leaves old Jeff Winters (Hank Patterson) to die alone after he has been wounded in a hold-up gunfight. Sunset and Jeff break with the gang and begin operating on their own, or plan to. On their first attempt, they rout Santos and his gang, and Sally Stoner (Marie Harmon), daughter of Laramie City Sheriff Frank Stoner (Edmund Cobb), assumes they are honest citizens who just saved the gold shipment. She takes Jeff to a doctor and Sunset is made a deputy sheriff. Shortly afterwards, Santos and his gang pull a robbery and implicate the innocent Sunset, and the aroused townspeople, convinced they have been double-crossed, are ready to shoot Sunset on sight.

Sunset Carson is on the wrong side of the law in this lively western, but only briefly before swinging back on the right side by strapping on a deputy badge. Of course, smooth sailing isn't on the cards if you want an involving viewing that sucks you in. There's the usual rambunctious action - the Stagecoach stunt is top notch. Marie Harmon as Sunset's love interest is quite a beauty and quite charming in a sweet way. The finale is slam bang with a passel load of lead flying' and fists-a-throwin'.

Ace Diamond (James Craven) and Bill Clinker (Rex Lease) frame Sunset Carson (Sunset Carson) for the murder of a young rancher, Jim Owens (Jay Kirby as Jay Kirby). Sunset and his sidekick, Banty McCade (Tom London) escape and ride to the Owen's ranch to aid Jim's sister Molly (Peggy Stewart) in her fight to hold the ranch from being taken over by town banker Jacob Lewis (Edmund Cobb), secretly in cahoots with Diamond; both men are aware that an assay report indicates there is gold on the Owens property.

Another solid Sunset Carson western with Sunset framed for the murder of a young rancher and he later incidentally ends up working for the late young man's sister ( Peggy Stewart) who is quite nifty with a gun. There's the usual misunderstandings and villainous schemes. The suspense is good, so is the action - the fight in the mine is so wild and I loved that cliffhanger sequence where Sunset almost loses consciousness on the rail bed and almost gets hit by a mine car... Peggy Stewart plays a tough ranch lady who shoots first and ask questions later. No buffalo Bill in sight so the title is plainly wrong.

Cimarron is a wild town overrun by outlaws. Sunset, who was framed as a cattle rustler, has just been released from prison after 3 years when he winds up in Cimarron. On his first day there, he foils a robbery attempt of the express office and kills 2 of the 3 outlaws. The grateful town makes him sheriff and the next day, he foils another robbery of the gold in the express office. What Sunset does not know is that his brother Ted is the leader of the outlaws and was the one who framed him for the cattle rustling.

There's some really good stunt work featured in this Sunset Carson western, especially the Stagecoach bit- it's really well done. The fights are high energy stuff, the story is fairly good. Interesting bit is that Sunset's brother is a bad hombre and has no love for his brother: after all he framed Sunset and doesn't mind killing him. Quite adult-like for a western that had a target audience consisting of young 'uns. Liked the romantic scenes with Linda Stirling and Sunset.

Lawyer Butler, wanting Jeff Carson's ranch, has the Sheriff and his gang frame the bank holdup on him. Then they kill a witness that could free Carson and blame the murder on his son Sunset. But Sunset escapes, frees his father, and sets a trap to catch the real killers.

Sunset Carson stars in another quality b-western which has an engaging plot, which is filled with sufficient twist and turns, and there's a feeling of fun running through out with Carson, his dad, the sidekick, the heroine and her doctor father trying to clear Carson's father's name. Roy Barcroft plays the former outlaw father who is framed by Blackie -a knife throwing lawyer - and the sheriff; it's nice to see Barcroft play a good guy for a change. There's some good action amidst the involving plot, especially the finale where Carson and the lawyer have a rambunctious fight in the office. Quite exciting fisticuffs.

Sunset returns to find the Carson-Sterling feud still going. Sterling has been killed and it's not long before Andrew Carson is murdered. To end the feud Sunset challenges Martin Sterling to a shootout. Unknown to Sunset, Martin's sister Melinda has waylaid her brother and now appears for the shootout disguised in her brother's clothes.

Rough Riders of Cheyenne has the usual fast-paced action with plenty of shootin', ambushing and a nifty beginning where Sunset grabs a tree branch from a fast moving Stagecoach and then ropes his attackers and leaves them hanging - but we, the viewers, aren't left hanging as the plot just whips by with some neat twists. The feud is done well, stoked by a third party. It's a thoroughly engaging western, the best Sunset Carson I have seen so far. He's ably supported by western beauty Peggy Stewart, but it's Mira McKinney who steals the scene as Stewart's loving mother who wants the fued to go on! The real varmint behind the fued is revealed at the end and it's a nice twist.

When Sunset's brother is murdered, he quits the Rangers and heads out to find the killer. Posing as a prison escapee gets him into the secret hideout of the gang he suspects. He shows the murder bullet to the gunsmith. But the gunsmith, to satisfy a personal grudge, identifies his enemy instead as the owner of the murder weapon.

Sunset Carson is after some trigger happy varmints but this time it's personal - someone killed his brother and his hunt leads him to an outlaw town. Of course, he's undercover as an outlaw. Bandits of Badlands is a good western, the revenge angle and outlaw town adding a neat touch. Plenty of fistfights and shoot em up to keep western fans happy but with some solid plot hooks and an involving story.

Governor Price sends SUNSET CARSON to investigate a smuggling ring which is baffling the Border Patrol. Newspaper woman Ann Morton (LINDA STIRLING) is working incognito in the saloon waiting for a break on the smuggling story. By posing as an expected outlaw named Brazos Kane, Sunset becomes a member of the gang. Ann discovers his real identity and purpose but conceals her knowledge, even from him.

The last ten minutes of this lively western is pure high energy action filled with chases, leaping off rooftops, and exciting and never ending fight between Carson and Roy Barcroft (the villain of the piece, of course). The rest of the film is well-plotted and packed some humour and a little intrigue. Linda Sterling as the saloon lady is charming.

Escaping the law, Jim Parker arrives in a town that is controlled by Higgins and his crony Judge. When he stands up to Higgins he is made Sheriff only to be shot in the back, After recovering he returns to get the man that shot him. When the gang attacks, he fights back from the newspaper office. When a stray bullet nicks the printing press plate he sees that it is solid gold and its not long before the masquerades on both sides of the law are revealed.

The Oregon Trail - odd title as I don't know what it refers to as no Oregon was referenced - is one fun western bustling with energy, humour, witty dialogue, decent shoot em up and a clever plot - there's enough twists to keep you happy, especially in regard to the second "unknown" villain. Sunset Carson might not be a great actor but he certainly has a natural charm and fits the saddle really well. Love his accent, too. Peggy Stewart is beautiful as always but Mary Carr as her granny steals the scene.

Whip Wilson (Whip Wilson) and his friend Dave Connors (Rand Brooks) survey the range for a railroad line, and are ordered to get out of the territory by Clara Martin (Peggy Stewart), the cold-eyed and unscrupulous older daughter of a retired cattlemen who owns the entire town and land around it. He allows his oldest daughter, Clara (Peggy Stewart) to run things, unknown to him, she has been milking the town dry with the aid of her fiancee (Bruce Edwards). Clara wants to stop the railroad surveying at any cost as the coming of the railroad will bring an end to her rule of the territory.

Whip Wilson doesn't brandish a whip here as he and his sidekick have to put up with a hard nosed lady who is aided by her fiancée. Wilson is ok as the hero, his dialogue towards the end is well expressed, but he can be a bit bland and stiff. Rand Brooks as his sidekick has a good chemistry with Wilson, which helps. But it's the Peggy Stewart show all the way and gives this standard oater a lift, making it quite involving. It just needed a longer time to flesh out the character and plot twists.

Postal Inspectors Carson and Underwood have been sent to investigate a series of robberies where both the driver and stagecoach disappear. They team up with Pinkerton agent Bennett who has found some of the stolen money in the possession of Stevens.

Sunset Carson stars as a postal inspector and his acting isn't exactly spellbinding as he looks like he's reading from a cue card but he does have a certain charm. Here, he's supported by western regulars like the ravishing Peggy Stewart and Ted Adams who plays the villain. It's an ok western featuring a female Pinkerton operative which is an interesting aspect, but it could have been sharper in its execution as it comes across a little meandering. Also, I just find it amazing that Peggy told Ted Adams that Sunset and his sidekick are postal inspectors- it makes her come across as a poor operative. I mean, Ted Adams looks so shady! The action is really good, the chases and fistfights have a certain gusto.

Sunset Carson, ace driver for the Harding Stagecoach Line, persuades his boss Frank Harding (Edmund Cobb) to hire his brother Jeff (Bob Steele), recently released from the penitentiary. Sunset isn't aware that Jeff owes his release to Marc Redmond (Tristram Coffin), owner of the rival line, and that Redmond is forcing Jeff to give him advance information when the Harding stages are carrying valuable shipments so that his henchmen can rob the stage and force Harding out of business.

Brothers are pitted against each other as they are on opposites sides of law - Sunset Carson is the good brother who works for a Stagecoach line and Bob Steele plays the former Stagecoach employee who works for the villain who has a shotgun toting man behind a curtain. Rio Grande Raiders is action-packed western with plenty of impressive stunt work, length chases - it's these things that make this western quite watchable. Plus there's fine acting all around.

New ranch owner Curley learns that outlaws have been raiding incoming supply shipments, forcing fellow ranchers out of business. After getting framed for murder, Curley must apprehend the deadly bandits to convince a U. S. marshal he's innocent.

Ambush Trail is a formula b-western given a boost by the presence of the steely-eyed Bob Steele - he's got a likeable personality and a stare that can intimidate a raging Brahma bull. His fighting is high-energy, he's nimble mover and it adds gusto the array of fistfights. The villainy is standard stuff, scheming and scheming. I. Stanford Jolly and Charles King do the villain work really well. Sid Saylor is a good sidekick and he's not stuttering here. Ambush Trail fills its short time really well, entertaining with some decent action and its fast-paced plot. One thing, though, I didn't get the message in the bull horn. How did Steele figure out it was there?

Fanning has his men rustle horses and then blame it on a wild horse named Wildfire. Happy and Alkali arrive and immediately get into trouble with Fanning and his men. When Alkali is shot, Happy catches the outlaws but the Judge not only releases them, he discharges the Sheriff and tries to arrest Happy for rustling. Happy escapes and he and the Sheriff then set out to prove who the real rustlers are.

Bob Steele is steely as ever, well, when it comes to stopping some varmints from killing Wildfire - they are claiming that the horse is doing the horse stealing. Wildfire is a pleasant western with a humane element. The horse sort of steals the scene when it's on screen, and there's some real good scenes that tug at your heart strings such as Steele not wanting to shoot Wildfire who is injured by lead from the varmints and he nurses the horse back to health. And the horse responds in kind by coming to their rescue later on. Nice shootout at the end and a satisfying send off for Wildfire who is set free.

Canadian Mountie Matt O'Brien encounters Kate Owens, an arrogant American who is stranded in the wilderness en route to visit her uncle. Reluctantly, Matt escorts Kate to Canoga Valley, where he has been assigned to investigate some strange phenomena; a missing sergeant, unexplained gunfire, and a stream that has suddenly run dry. Before they reach town, Kate is robbed of the $20,000 she was carrying, and the ensuing deadly shoot-out leaves everyone in town suspect. Ignoring official orders to return home, O'Brien takes it upon himself to unravel the mystery, and uncovers a ruthless conspiracy that reaches deeper than anyone could have imagined.

Bob Steele has a very aptly named surname as he shows his usual steely reserve as an indomitable Canadian Mountie out to right wrongs. The scenery definable steals the scene giving the rather routine affair a punch. The repartee between Steele and Kate is quite good. Some decent action and a serviceable plot, though nothing too earth shattering.

Kirk Baxter has been sent to investigate murder and robbery involving gold shipments. Identifying a gang member by his bullets, he uses that man's horse to locate and join the gang. He learns the gang is tipped off to the shipments by a mine employee using carrier pigeons. But the next message reveals his true identity and he is made a prisoner.

Great desert scenery, John Mack Brown's easy going delivery and some intrigue are some of the decent things here, however it was just average with a plot that just tickboxes. Action at the end is good - fine stunt work with Brown skimming underneath a fast moving wagon. No CGI!!

When Wells Fargo loses one too many shipments of payroll cash to notorious outlaw Ace Pringle, the company sends its best undercover agent, Steve McLain, to protect the route of the next stagecoach. He shoots some robbers in the beginning, annoying Ted Adam who is saloon owner and the brains behind the gang. He hides behind the lawmen for protection, but McLain gives the lawman the run around.

Johnny Mack Brown is good as always as a harmonica playing lawman undercover and Ted Adams is very good as a villain. There's some good lines, humour and action but on the whole quite routine and nothing too remarkable. Passable enough.

It's the opening of the Cherokee strip and the Rankins are after a particular section. Frazier is also after the same section and has hired outlaws to make sure he gets it. When Jeff gives Rankin a map, the outlaws kill Rankin, steal the map, and Jeff ends up getting framed for Rankin's murder. He ends up in the hoosegow, sentenced to be hanged...

Johnny Mack Brown ditches his badge for a quiet life and with Fuzzy Knight in tow he travels to a town and gets framed for murder and has to find a way to prove his innocence. So much for a quiet life! There's some neat action, a lively land grab scene (stock footage) and a twist in the tale with Brown being accused of a friend's murder and the friend's sister is inclined to believe it. Something which I didn't understand because she claimed to love him and there's no reason for brown to kill her brother - this aspect is a bit weak as well as the murder framing bit, but if you are willing to overlook those things you will enjoy it. I did! It wasn't boring and the pace was decent.

Righteous Jim Mallory and his friend, "Happy" T. Snodgrass, are seeking Jim's father, because they have heard about his cruel domination. They try to stop him with this gang. After they manage to stop their activity with the help of newspaper publisher Jonathan Taylor, his daughter Nan and Governor representative Brent Gordon. But then, Jim is put into the jail. After this complication, Jim's father decides he joins Brent and Jonathan and they together let Jim free.

Johnny Mack Brown and Tex Ritter head a good cast in this good western that has a strong plot and a nicely executed story of father and son finding themselves opposite sides but when Johnny Mack Brown is arrested the father (William Farnum) comes to his senses. There's some fine action and sprightly pace adding some icing on the cake. Jennifer Holt adds some classiness to the proceedings.

As a boy, Johnny witnesses the massacre of his family by outlaws, but he does nothing even though he held a gun in his hand. Years later he is known as a coward until a bandit called, "The Cat" comes to town.

Branded a Coward is a solid western with unusual touches such as the fact the hero (Johnny Mack Brown) suffers from occasionally gun-shyness, his nerves gets the better of him a couple of times, though later on he's fine, taking on the bad guys, but Johnny Mack Brown brilliantly expresses trepidation every time he has to face danger. He suffers from a childhood trauma which isn't normally covered in westerns. In addition to this, the sidekick -Sid Saylor does indeed overdo the stuttering - bites the dust and the identity of the cat surprised me. It was a great twist. The pace can be slow at times, but it suits the ambience of the film and there's sufficient gunplay to keep things enjoyable.

The Durango Kid, a.k.a. Steve Martin (Charles Starrett), is sent to the town of Wild River to take care of a gang led by the ruthless Hawk (Clayton Moore, TV's "The Lone Ranger"). He infiltrates The Hawk's gang looking to return stolen gold to Wild River.

The most interesting thing about this Durango Kid entry is that you get Charles Starrett, the Lone Ranger and Jock Mahoney ( the Range Rider) in one film - Clayton Moore is the bad guy called Hawk and Jock Mahoney plays a good guy, the sheriff. It's a pacy entry and has some moments of liveliness. Smiley doesn't sing too many songs and they aren't too good.

Bandit Pop Ryland and his two sons, Clint and Dave, are planning their biggest job; the printing and distribution of territorial bonds. The elder Ryland contracts a hired gunman, McCall, to dispose of his stepson, Tommy, who knows what his step-family members are up to. The Durango Kid captures McCall, takes the letter and presents himself, Steve Lacey, as the hired killer. He stages a fake killing, and discovers the Ryland's scheme. Cling ambushes Durango and is killed in a gunfight, and Durango also shoots McCall who has made an escape. Cash-Register salesman Smiley Burnette aids Steve/Durango in rounding up the remaining villains.

Pop Ryland and his broods ( his real sons and not his stepson who he wants to bump off) are a mean bunch and they lend an edginess to the breeziness of this Durango Kid entry. There's some nifty subterfuge with Durango faking the stepson's death as well as getting him to play Durango in order to fool the boy's evil stepdad and stepbrothers into thinking that Steve (aka Durango) is doing the job they had hired him to do, plus they know he isn't the Durango kid.

It's 1873 and the disbanded Texas Rangers have been replaced by the corrupt Texas State Police. Steve Lanning arrives posing as a wanted outlaw to get in with them in his attempt to have them replaced. His inside work helps the Durango Kid break up the State Police raids but he is in trouble when his secret identity as Durango becomes known to them.

The Durango Kid take on the Texas State Police and Fred F Sear's scheming villain in this standard yet enjoyable entry which has some good toe tapping songs and a better than average comedy routine by Smiley Burnette who tinkers a lot as a tinkerer who is plumbed tinkered out by the end of the film.