95% of all westerns have about five or six themes in common. And if you see a bunch of films in this genre, you'll no doubt recognize the plot to this film right away--and it's probably been used in at least a hundred films! There is a town where all the gold shipments are being stolen. No one apparently knows who's behind this, but I thought it was obvious about five minutes into the film!!
Now you'd think that this would make this a bad film, but it's actually pretty good for a B-movie--even with all this familiarity. It's one of eight 'Rough Riders' films. They starred Buck Jones, Tim McCoy (one of my favorites) and Raymond Hatton. The series was cut short when Jones was killed in a fire and soon after, McCoy took a break from films. It's a shame, as the films were pretty agreeable and McCoy was a better actor and more interesting than his contemporaries. Unlike the likes of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, he was not a pretty boy who crooned. Instead, he was a real-life war hero, cowboy and trick shooter. Plus, I think he was a pretty decent actor--playing a pretty wide variety of undercover roles in films (such as a Spanish bandit, a professional gambler and even (uggh) a Chinese guy!). Here, he pretends to be a preacher and manages to pick up very quickly on whose the jerk behind the problems.
Overall, the film is tight and well-done despite everything and seemed to have some nice twists here and there--especially at the end. Worth seeing if you like these sort of formulaic (but fun) films.
Now you'd think that this would make this a bad film, but it's actually pretty good for a B-movie--even with all this familiarity. It's one of eight 'Rough Riders' films. They starred Buck Jones, Tim McCoy (one of my favorites) and Raymond Hatton. The series was cut short when Jones was killed in a fire and soon after, McCoy took a break from films. It's a shame, as the films were pretty agreeable and McCoy was a better actor and more interesting than his contemporaries. Unlike the likes of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, he was not a pretty boy who crooned. Instead, he was a real-life war hero, cowboy and trick shooter. Plus, I think he was a pretty decent actor--playing a pretty wide variety of undercover roles in films (such as a Spanish bandit, a professional gambler and even (uggh) a Chinese guy!). Here, he pretends to be a preacher and manages to pick up very quickly on whose the jerk behind the problems.
Overall, the film is tight and well-done despite everything and seemed to have some nice twists here and there--especially at the end. Worth seeing if you like these sort of formulaic (but fun) films.