After several years' dormancy, the "Cisco Kid" western-film series returned to the screen with Monogram's The Cisco Kid Returns. Duncan Renaldo, actually Rumanian, starred as the Mexican "Robin Hood of the Old West", with Martin Garralaga as his corpulent sidekick Pancho. In the tradition of 20th Century-Fox's earlier "Cisco" efforts, our hero comes to the aid of an orphaned child, clears himself of a kidnapping charge, and proves that a "solid citizen" is in fact a criminal mastermind.
In this western, Red Ryder tries to be a good example for a young man who idolizes his father, an outlaw. The boy wants to follow in his father's footsteps when the hero intervenes.
When a group of gunmen are running sharecroppers off their land, rancher Andy Jones sends for his friend Billy Carson to organise the sharecroppers to fight. Andy is soon mortally wounded by the gunmen, but before his death schemes for his no good twin brother Fuzzy to be sent for to impersonate him. The gunmen, witnessing Andy's funeral fear that Fuzzy is Andy's avenging ghost.
Rangers Tex Haines and Dave Wyatt track a killer known as the Whispering Skull. In the wake of the Skull's slaughter, a band of thieves takes advantage of the fear he's brought to town.
Just as Nevada wins $7000 in yellowback bills, Ben Ide takes his $7000 and heads out to buy mining equipment. Burridge has his man Powell kill Ide and retrieve the money and Nevada finds Ide just as the posse arrives. Found with the money Nevada is arrested and Burridge now gets Powell to incite the local citizens to lynch Nevada.
Steve Kinney and his henchman, Mort, are trying to stir up trouble between the local ranchers and farmers, behind a wave of rustling and lawlessness. Mort kills Vic, a Kirby cowhand, and lays the blame on Dan Harper, the leader of the farmers faction. Storekeeper Fuzzy Q. Jones, fearful of losing the outstanding charge-accounts he has on his books, drags his reluctant pal, Billy Carson, into the fray, and the two soon prove Kinney and his henchmen to be behind the valley's troubles.
Pretty Girl Barbara Mededith takes over her murdered brother's crusading newspaper. She also assumes the dead sibling's identity as "The Black Whip," righting the wrongs of Crescent City very much in the manner of her famous ancestor, Zorro.
Sandwiched in between the numerous musical numbers, the Gabby Whittaker and Madden rodeo's are competing for bookings. When Gabby gets a date in Albuquerque, Madden has his man destroy his equipment. Roy finds a broken rawhide rope at the scene and uses it to bring Madden to justice.
Bill Elliot is back as Red Ryder in Cheyenne Wildcat. Also back are Ryder's perennial cohorts Little Beaver (Bobby Blake, later Robert Blake of Baretta fame) and the Duchess (Alice Fleming). When not pummeling the bad guys, Ryder is the reluctant apex of a love triangle.
When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.
A ranch owner fires his ranch hands and brings in women to replace them. The owner's daughter wants the male hands back and comes up with a plan to do it.
When John Barrabbee's plane makes an emergency landing, he wanders off and joins Roy's cattle drive. Later he learns he was killed when his plane resumed its flight and crashed. He also learns his daughter is going to sell his ranch and marry a man he dislikes. So he gives Roy a job on the ranch and sends him off to see if he can prevent both of these events while he remains in hiding. Written by Maurice VanAuken Western girl moves east and influenced badly by her snobby fiance. She returns to sell her deceased father's ranch. The father isn't really dead, though; he's hoping that his friend Roy can restore the girl's western values. Songs include "New Moon Over Nevada," "A Cowboy has to Yodel in the Morning," and "The Harum Scarum Baron of the Harmonium." Written by Ed Stephan
Billy Carson and Fuzzy Jones have just collected a reward and Fuzzy indulges in a dream of getting away from the hectic life he has been leading and wants to settle down. They arrive in Red Rock just as the newspaper is being sold at foreclosure and, despite the attempts by Lafe Barlow to intimidate him from bidding. Fuzzy finds himself the owner of a newspaper. Fuzzy meets Edith Martin, daughter of the former owner, and unthinkingly commits himself to carrying on her father's policy of bringing a telegraph line to Red Rock. For reason of his own, Barlow is against this and has his henchmen wage a campaign of terror against the ranchers and citizens. Before long, Billy who had been lazily indifferent to everything connected to Fuzzy and his newspaper, decides to take a hand on the side of the good guys.
Insurance Investigator Roy is looking for Weston and the missing money he supposedly obtained in a robbery. When he catches him and listens to his story, he changes his mind about him. A freak accident locates the missing money box and they find the seal unbroken. Roy then announces the box will be opened at the showboat that evening.
Dry Gulch Trading Post owner Kurt Fabian advances money on mortgages to the local settlers to finance an irrigation program. Rangers Tex Wyatt, Jim Steele and Panhandle Perkins transport the money in a strong box which they place in the Wells Fargo safe as Agent Sam Benson assures them that he is the only one who knows the safe combination.
Chip has inherited a supposedly worthless gold mine from her father and Craig Allen is about to buy it. Roy suspects the mine may be valuable and using a clue left by Chip's father, investigates. He finds the hidden shaft that contains the gold and with the posse chasing him on a trumped up robbery charge, races to town with ore samples hoping to get there before the ownership is transferred.