In perhaps the most tranquil B-Western of the 1930s, Buck Jones, who also produced, plays the tough but goodhearted proprietor of the Bonanza, the only gambling establishment in otherwise God-fearing Silver Creek. Noel Francis, who used to play blonde schemers in Warner Bros. gangster films, earns second billing as the casino's equally goodhearted chanteuse.
'Tuck' Martin, a crooked rancher, plots to acquire possession of the neighboring ranch belonging to 'Pop' Melody, whose daughter, Molly, is in love with 'Big Boy.' Bill Lang, the Melody ranchman, is in league with Martin and succeeds in rendering Melody helpless, although he had originally intended to have him killed. An attack on the cottage discloses the double dealing of the foreman, who is finally brought to justice, with nothing but happiness left for 'Big Boy' and Molly.
THE BALLAD OF IMMORTAL JOE is the third "chapter" of Beastly Bards, written with a nod to traditional cowboy songs and to the northern ballads of Robert W. Service. "Immortal Joe" puts a haunted twist on a tragically romantic Western. Voiced by the wonderful Canadian actor Kenneth Welsh (Twin Peaks, The Aviator, The Day After Tomorrow). Produced in partnership with our awesome friends at Varipix, The Ballad Of Immortal Joe is the third "chapter" in the silly rhyme collection "Beastly Bards".
"Hadley, owner of a nearby ranch, had fenced off a water hole belonging to Miss Dunlap, thus depriving her stock of water. Undaunted, the young Eastern woman and her two-fisted fighting foreman fought back...
Larry Connell arrives in a border town run by Sheriff Bull Weyman and Branch Doughty. Connell wins the sheriff's ranch at draw poker, but Weyman uses his influence with Judge Hyland to have Larry declared bankrupt. Larry attempts to fight foul with fair, but the sale of his cattle pushes him over the edge. Larry holds up Doughty and subsequently gets arrested, but escapes, intending to blow up the sheriff's office.
Andy Fowler is made a member of a gang of rustlers after rescuing one of their number from a fire, but he finds his freedom threatened by the local sheriff, who is actually the gang's leader and wants Andy's girlfriend for his own.
Blacksmith Pinto Peters calls on his old friend, Sam "Hurricane" Benton, to help him clear his son, Jimmy, of a murder charge. Hot-headed Jimmy, believes that the best way to cure a man of cheating at cards is to shoot him. He didn't shoot him enough, as the gambler only feigns death as part of a plot to gain possession of land owned by Pinto, as they know there is gold on the land buried there by an outlaw gang years ago.
Rigging a horse race, Don Carlos wins a lot of money. When he loses his winnings at the gambling table, he shoots the dealer with Horton's gun. Horton is arrested but cannot prove his innocence.
Pancho Villa attempts to return a mission bell to a small church in New Mexico, at the request of a young girl named Lupita. Along the way, Villa must dodge bounty hunters, Pershing's troops, angry cattlemen and a bumbling sidekick
US marshal Lawlor (Starrett) takes on a gang of cattle rustlers headed by Taylor (Dick Curtis). His reasons are partly personal: Conway (Edward LeSaint), the cattle-baron father of Lawlor's sweetheart Madge (Meredith), has been murdered by Taylor's minions.
In the last of his four western programmers for Allied Artists, Wayne Morris plays frontiersman Jim Bisby. Mistaken for a notorious gunslinger, Jim is appointed deputy sheriff of a wide-open cattle town. Playing along, our hero gets down to business -- and by the time his true identity is revealed, it hardly matters, since most of the bad guys are pushing up daisies on boot hill.
Tornado Range is one of five Eddie Dean westerns originally produced by PRC in 1947 but released the following year by Eagle-Lion. Cast as a troubleshooter for the U.S. Land Office, Dean is assigned to settle a deadly range war. Sure enough, the warring homesteaders and cattlemen are being whipped into a frenzy by a third party, who hopes to "divide and conquer," claiming the land for himself. Surprisingly, all-purpose PRC villain George Cheseboro isn't the culprit in this one; instead, he's cast as the father of heroine Jennifer Holt. Roscoe Ates is once more on hand for some questionable comedy relief.
Steve Holden and his men successfully raid a wagon train. Among the local ranchers who decide to stop the raiding are Virgil Trent and his daughter Gail. At a meeting, Sidney Padgett, Cannonball and other townspeople conclude that someone is tipping the gang off on important shipments. Trent volunteers to contact the outlaws. He meets Steve and persuades him to cross to the side of the law and protect the ranchers. Steve soon suspects Padgett and tricks him into revealing his identity as the secret leader of the bandits, and in a furious battle between Steve's men and the outlaws, the former win.