By Frank Miller
Beyond the Rockies
Brief Synopsis
A noted gunman takes a job on a cattle ranch to stop a band of rustlers.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Fred Allen
Director
Tom Keene
Blackjack
Rochelle Hudson
Betty Allen
Marie Wells
Ruby Sherman
Julian Rivero
Lavender Joe
Ernie Adams
Blinky
Film Details
Genre
Western
Release Date
Jul
8,
1932
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Pathé Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Pathé Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
60m
Sound
Mono (RCA Photophone System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels
Synopsis
After two bands of outlaws battle for the same stagecoach, members of the victorious gang--Blinky, Lavender Joe, Whiskey Bill and leader Blackjack--are approached by Betty Allen to work as cattle guards on her father Frank's ranch. Although Frank is at first is leary of the outlaws, he agrees with Betty that they are the best defense against the cattle-rustling cowboys who work for cattle queen Ruby Sherman. When Ruby hears about the gang's arrival, she sends her foreman, Tracy, to investigate. As Tracy and his men arrive at the Allen ranch, they see Lavender Joe, Blinky and Whiskey Bill moving a group of Ruby's cattle and start shooting at them. After Whiskey Bill is shot in the back, Blackjack rides into town to confront the cowardly Tracy. During the ensuing fistfight, Blackjack drops a marshal's badge, which Ruby surreptiously pockets. To Blackjack's surprise, Ruby fires Tracy and offers him the foreman's job. Soon after, Ruby's men are spotted raiding the Allens' cattle, and as Blackjack rides toward the herd, he is surprised by the appearance of Ruby. Blackjack tells Ruby that he was riding to see her and then informs a confused Betty and Frank that he is quitting to join Ruby's operation. As he arrives at Ruby's ranch, however, he is ambushed by Ruby's men, who reveal that Ruby knew that he was a marshal and trapped him in order to rustle the Allens' cattle across the Mexican border. After Blackjack escapes from Ruby's hideout, he rides to the Allens' to warn them. While Betty telephones the sheriff, Blackjack and his cohorts fight the rustlers and finally defeat the greedy Ruby Sherman.
Director
Fred Allen
Director
Cast
Tom Keene
Blackjack
Rochelle Hudson
Betty Allen
Marie Wells
Ruby Sherman
Julian Rivero
Lavender Joe
Ernie Adams
Blinky
Hank Bell
Whiskey Bill
William Welsh
Frank Allen
Tom London
Kirk Tracy
Ted Adams
Emory
Crew
Film Details
Genre
Western
Release Date
Jul
8,
1932
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Pathé Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Pathé Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
60m
Sound
Mono (RCA Photophone System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels
Articles
Beyond the Rockies
Tom Keene was a rarity among B Western stars in that he played different characters in each film he made. So when he turned up in this 1932 film as bandit leader Blackjack, the audience had no way of knowing he was really a U.S. Marshall working undercover. Keene and his team make a name for themselves preventing another gang of outlaws from holding up a stagecoach. As a result pretty Betty Allen (Rochelle Hudson) hires them to work on her father's ranch and take down the rustlers who've been cutting into their profits. Like Keene, Hudson was under contract to RKO Pictures. She was only 16 when she made the film (the studio added two years to her age to make her playing love scenes more palatable to the audience) and was still learning the ropes at the studio, starring in low-budget films, playing supporting roles in major pictures and providing the voice for Honey, the female lead in their Bosko cartoons. She would get her big break on loan to First National, where William Wellman cast her as one of the leads in his Wild Boys of the Road (1933).
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Beyond the Rockies
Tom Keene was a rarity among B Western stars in that he played different characters in each film he made. So when he turned up in this 1932 film as bandit leader Blackjack, the audience had no way of knowing he was really a U.S. Marshall working undercover. Keene and his team make a name for themselves preventing another gang of outlaws from holding up a stagecoach. As a result pretty Betty Allen (Rochelle Hudson) hires them to work on her father's ranch and take down the rustlers who've been cutting into their profits. Like Keene, Hudson was under contract to RKO Pictures. She was only 16 when she made the film (the studio added two years to her age to make her playing love scenes more palatable to the audience) and was still learning the ropes at the studio, starring in low-budget films, playing supporting roles in major pictures and providing the voice for Honey, the female lead in their Bosko cartoons. She would get her big break on loan to First National, where William Wellman cast her as one of the leads in his Wild Boys of the Road (1933).
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to publicity items for this film, exteriors were shot in the High Sierra Mountains of California. In 1934, Oliver Drake directed (and possibly wrote) a film for Willis Kent called Battling Buckaroo, which had a similar plot ( listing). The later film also featured an undercover government agent who masquerades as an outlaw named "Blackjack" in order to protect a girl and her father from bandits.
