Although the writing credits give absolutely no indication of the fact, this is a remake of Wild Horse Canyon released only18 months previously! And what an extraordinary re-make it is too! Key incidents, such as Randall's fight with Arnold and his escape with the connivance of the sheriff are omitted, even though they are referred to, later on in the plot.
This film starts with a totally irrelevant chase after a runaway buckboard driven by the 12-year-old son of the horse buyer Mitchell. Despite this elaborate introduction and his prominence in the cast list, said son disappears after his introductory scene - and so does his father disappear after his introductory scene. Then Jack Randall once again playing the part of Jack Wallace gets involved with the Halls by rescuing the daughter who is being chased by villain Charles King (some nice running inserts and fast riding here - could be they are speeded up - ending with a not bad stunt as the double plucks the girl from her saddle as her horse stumbles). But the Halls are not the proprietors of the Arrowhead Ranch in this one, so before we know where we are, we have abruptly left the Halls and Warner Richmond and Ed Cassidy and Dorothy Short - all repeating their previous roles without credit here which leads us to believe that all these scenes - the chase, the rescue, the bronc-busting are actually out-takes from Wild Horse Canyon. This explains then why we do not see some of the key scenes from the previous film such as King's dismissal. Instead we find ourselves abruptly at the Arrowhead Ranch which is run in this film by Marin Sais as a wheel-chair case.
Charles King is the ranch foreman, though how he came to obtain this position which he was apparently holding concurrently with his other position as one of Hall's ranch-hands is a dilemma that the ingenuity of the new scriptwriters have been unable to solve. No explanation for King's peculiar conduct is offered, just as Jack offers no reason for leaving the Halls. While Tom London repeats his part of Arnold and Steve Clark once again plays the sheriff, Frank Yaconelli's Mexican saddle-pal is called Manny here and his part is more comic than it was in Wild Horse Canyon.
Phyllis Ruth gets the heroine billing though her footage is limited and is in fact confined to the one indoor set - a confinement which she shares with Marin Sais. New members of the cast also include George Chesebro as a particularly nasty henchman of King's. Like the previous film, Jack does not sing a note in this one either - in fact there are no songs at all, despite the musical credit in the Library of Congress which I believe to be incorrect. There is no credit for music on the film itself and the opening consists of a rendition of "Home on the Range" which sounds like an old gramophone record, a fact that is confirmed by a distinct sound on the track as if the record were being played over again - which it is.
The multiple photography credit indicates that Kull almost undoubtedly did the exteriors while Hyer did the interiors (the out-takes from Wild Horse Canyon were photographed by Bert Longnecker). The direction by Raymond K. Johnson (whoever he might be - a pseudonym?) is akin to that of Robert Hill - capable but above the level of mere capability only in some action spots - Jack has a tussle or two with Charles King and a real herd of horses led by a white stallion figures in the action.
Aside from the writing and odd continuity editing, production credits are competent and production values are above average - with some attractive exteriors for a "B"-feature!
This film starts with a totally irrelevant chase after a runaway buckboard driven by the 12-year-old son of the horse buyer Mitchell. Despite this elaborate introduction and his prominence in the cast list, said son disappears after his introductory scene - and so does his father disappear after his introductory scene. Then Jack Randall once again playing the part of Jack Wallace gets involved with the Halls by rescuing the daughter who is being chased by villain Charles King (some nice running inserts and fast riding here - could be they are speeded up - ending with a not bad stunt as the double plucks the girl from her saddle as her horse stumbles). But the Halls are not the proprietors of the Arrowhead Ranch in this one, so before we know where we are, we have abruptly left the Halls and Warner Richmond and Ed Cassidy and Dorothy Short - all repeating their previous roles without credit here which leads us to believe that all these scenes - the chase, the rescue, the bronc-busting are actually out-takes from Wild Horse Canyon. This explains then why we do not see some of the key scenes from the previous film such as King's dismissal. Instead we find ourselves abruptly at the Arrowhead Ranch which is run in this film by Marin Sais as a wheel-chair case.
Charles King is the ranch foreman, though how he came to obtain this position which he was apparently holding concurrently with his other position as one of Hall's ranch-hands is a dilemma that the ingenuity of the new scriptwriters have been unable to solve. No explanation for King's peculiar conduct is offered, just as Jack offers no reason for leaving the Halls. While Tom London repeats his part of Arnold and Steve Clark once again plays the sheriff, Frank Yaconelli's Mexican saddle-pal is called Manny here and his part is more comic than it was in Wild Horse Canyon.
Phyllis Ruth gets the heroine billing though her footage is limited and is in fact confined to the one indoor set - a confinement which she shares with Marin Sais. New members of the cast also include George Chesebro as a particularly nasty henchman of King's. Like the previous film, Jack does not sing a note in this one either - in fact there are no songs at all, despite the musical credit in the Library of Congress which I believe to be incorrect. There is no credit for music on the film itself and the opening consists of a rendition of "Home on the Range" which sounds like an old gramophone record, a fact that is confirmed by a distinct sound on the track as if the record were being played over again - which it is.
The multiple photography credit indicates that Kull almost undoubtedly did the exteriors while Hyer did the interiors (the out-takes from Wild Horse Canyon were photographed by Bert Longnecker). The direction by Raymond K. Johnson (whoever he might be - a pseudonym?) is akin to that of Robert Hill - capable but above the level of mere capability only in some action spots - Jack has a tussle or two with Charles King and a real herd of horses led by a white stallion figures in the action.
Aside from the writing and odd continuity editing, production credits are competent and production values are above average - with some attractive exteriors for a "B"-feature!
