Border Wolves
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Joseph H. Lewis
Bob Baker
Constance Moore
Fuzzy Knight
Dickie Jones
Willie Fung
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A wagon train en route to the California gold rush following the Civil War is robbed and slaughtered by the Carson gang. When cowboy Rusty Reynolds and his friend, Clem Barrett, come upon the scene of the massacre, a dying man identifies Rusty as Jack Carson to the sheriff. Rusty and Clem are convicted by a jury in Valley Falls and sentenced to die in a public hanging the next day. The sympathetic sheriff helps them escape and tells them to flee to a log cabin hideout. There, Judge Coleman shows them a photograph of the real Jack Carson, who is the judge's son, and gives them a chance to prove their innocence by finding Jack and bringing him to his father. Rusty and Clem travel by the "Hoot-Owl Trail," the secret route by which wanted men in the West move from one hideout to another. On the trail, a Dutchman tells Rusty he can find Carson in an Indian cabin in Black Rock Canyon. On the way, Rusty saves the runaway stage of Mary Jo Benton and her little brother Jimmie, who are en route to Gold City, where their father owns a stage line. At the Bentons', Rusty and Clem meet MacKay, the new marshal of Gold City. Meanwhile, newspaper headlines announce a series of escapades staged by the Carson gang, and "wanted" posters show pictures of Rusty and Clem, who are then forced to leave town. They locate Carson's hideout and, posing as outlaws, ask to be admitted to his gang. There, they learn that Carson is planning to hold up Benton's stage, but before he can warn Benton, Rusty is arrested by MacKay while bathing in a river. While Clem escapes and goes to Valley Falls to get help from the judge, Rusty is visited by the Bentons' Chinese cook, Ling Wong, and he orders him to save the coach, which will be carrying Mary Jo and Jimmie. MacKay escorts Rusty back to Valley Falls to stand trial, but while camping overnight, Ling helps Rusty hold MacKay and his deputy, Joe, at gunpoint until the stagecoach robbery has been prevented. At noon, the gang attacks and Rusty shoots Carson, then rearms MacKay, who apprehends the gang. MacKay is about to arrest Rusty when the sheriff from Valley Falls arrives and exonerates him. Rusty speaks to Mary Jo in private, which prompts Clem to comment on the irony of Rusty, finally freed, getting married.
Director
Joseph H. Lewis
Cast
Bob Baker
Constance Moore
Fuzzy Knight
Dickie Jones
Willie Fung
Oscar O'shea
Frank Campeau
Glenn Strange
Ed Cassidy
Jack Montgomery
Dick Dorrell
Arthur Van Slyke
Frank Ellis
Crew
Jesse Bastian
Trem Carr
Charles Clague
Glenn Cook
Charles Craft
Homer Gayne
Karl Hajos
Arthur Kay
Paul Malvern
Harry Neumann
Norton S. Parker
Robt. Pritchard
Frank Sanucci
Atze Taconis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The foreword to this film states that in the gold rushes following the Civil War, thousands of fortune seekers stampeded westward and were victims of "ruthless massacres by those human wolves of a lawless frontier." According to Variety, this film was based on an original story by Unie Hughes, although Norman S. Parker is credited on the screen as the story writer. Modern sources list the following additional cast members: Hank Bell, Jack Kirk, Ed Brady, Jack Evans and Eva McKenzie.
