Knight of the Plains
Cast & Crew
Sam Newfield
Fred Scott
Al St. John
Marion Weldon
Dick Cramer
John Merton
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Outlaw Clem Peterson approaches J. C. Rand, an easterner who has come to Paradise Valley for his health, with a proposition to take land away from the homesteaders and divide it between themselves. Peterson reveals that he knows a Spaniard named Pedro de Cordova who holds title to an old Spanish land grant to the valley. Meanwhile, as Rand's daughter Gale is riding the range, her horse is frightened by approaching cattle rustler Dan Carson. When she is rescued by neighboring rancher Fred "Melody" Brent, Carson shoots Melody, then escapes, after which Gale and Melody's friend Fuzzy take him to the nearby ranch of John and Martha Lane. Soon Peterson goes to Carson's house and convinces him to pretend that he is de Cordova, and Rand, thinking that Carson really is the legitimate land grant holder, initiates suits to get the homesteaders off their land. Melody thinks that Gale agrees with her father's suits and they quarrel, but Melody still prevents mobbing homesteaders from hurting Rand. When Melody confronts Carson to ask why he has bought cattle stolen earlier from Melody's ranch, he sees Carson's hidden Spanish costume, and suspects the truth. One night, Melody sneaks into the Rand house to obtain the dispossession notices and is seen by Gale, but she lets him escape. Because Gale now recognizes that de Cordova is really Carson, and the man who earlier had shot Melody, Carson takes her to his hideout. When Melody and Fuzzy learn that she has been taken, they rescue her, capture Carson and force him to confess to the land grant ruse. They then arrive just in time to prevent the sheriff from serving dispossession notices. With a possible range war averted, and the outlaws arrested, Melody and Gale decide to marry and run their ranch together.
Director
Sam Newfield
Cast
Fred Scott
Al St. John
Marion Weldon
Dick Cramer
John Merton
Frank La Rue
Lafe Mckee
Emma Tansey
Steve Clark
Jimmy Aubrey
Sherry Tansey
Crew
Jed Buell
L. A. French
L. Wolfe Gilbert
Helen Gurley
Robert Jahns
Fred Myton
Lew Porter
Lew Porter
Mack Stengler
Bert Sternbach
Harry Tobias
Charles Wayne
Hans Weeren
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title for the film was Paradise Valley. According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter on October 26, 1937, Jed Buell initially purchased this film for Santa Fe Productions. A news item in Hollywood Reporter includes Glenn Strange in the case, however, his participation in the completed film has not been confirmed. According to modern sources, Carl Matthews, George Morrell, Cactus Mack, Tex Palmer, Olin Francis, Bob Burns and Budd Buster were also in the cast. One modern source also credits Abe Meyer with music supervision, however, according to information contained in the file on the film in the MPPA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, Lew Porter was the music director.
