Producer: Robert Emmett Tansey. Executive producer: Scott R. Dunlap.
Copyright 4 January 1939 by Monogram Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 21 December 1938. 56 minutes.
COMMENT: Rustlers run into trouble in this well above average Jack Randall western (the tenth of twenty-two entries for Monogram). This one has some exciting action including a saloon brawl with thrilling stuntwork (muffled slightly by poor sound effects), some of it performed by Randall himself; a fast horse chase commencing with spinning 360° pans through the foliage then going into running inserts head on and ending with a stunt spill; a double shoot-out climax with Jack stalking the two villains in some effective tracking shots.
The cast is interesting too. Walter Long is one of our favorite villains -- he makes a late entrance but once on screen he relishes his work. The fort is held down until Long's arrival by Warner Richmond a delightfully crooked foreman (Charles King has a small role as one of his henchmen) and Dennis Moore doing another of his corrupt son impersonations. Tom London has a brief uncredited part as the crooked horse trader who has a fight with Jack. Frank Yaconelli plays the hero's sidekick but it is virtually a straight part and he is nothing like his usual obnoxiously "comic" self. Dorothy Short is a passable heroine.
Production values are remarkably high by Monogram B-feature standards. The photography sparkles in both interior and exterior and the sets are reasonably appealing The music direction too is superior with effective use of silences. Oddly enough, there is one song but it is not rendered by Mr Randall but by Frank Yaconelli! One odd point about the direction is that a reverse angle is not used when Randall is explaining how the brand was faked; surely this could have been shot and inserted later! Otherwise the direction is capable during the dialogue scenes and more than capable in the action spots. It is good to see some real horses used in the film though the herd scenes doubtless are stock footage.
The cast is interesting too. Walter Long is one of our favorite villains -- he makes a late entrance but once on screen he relishes his work. The fort is held down until Long's arrival by Warner Richmond a delightfully crooked foreman (Charles King has a small role as one of his henchmen) and Dennis Moore doing another of his corrupt son impersonations. Tom London has a brief uncredited part as the crooked horse trader who has a fight with Jack. Frank Yaconelli plays the hero's sidekick but it is virtually a straight part and he is nothing like his usual obnoxiously "comic" self. Dorothy Short is a passable heroine.
Production values are remarkably high by Monogram B-feature standards. The photography sparkles in both interior and exterior and the sets are reasonably appealing The music direction too is superior with effective use of silences. Oddly enough, there is one song but it is not rendered by Mr Randall but by Frank Yaconelli! One odd point about the direction is that a reverse angle is not used when Randall is explaining how the brand was faked; surely this could have been shot and inserted later! Otherwise the direction is capable during the dialogue scenes and more than capable in the action spots. It is good to see some real horses used in the film though the herd scenes doubtless are stock footage.
