Rainbow over the Range


1h 2m 1940

Brief Synopsis

By the time U.S. Marshal Tex Reed (Tex Ritter) and his pal, Slim Chance (Slim Andrews as "Arkansas Slim" Andrews), arrive in town , a gang of horse thieves have killed the sheriff and his deputy and have stolen all the horses that Jeff Manners (Dennis Moore) needs to fulfill his contract with the U. S. Cavalry. The gang has control of town politics also, and are about to close the school where Jeff's sister, Mary (Dorothy Fay) teaches. Tex tells the mayor, Jim Rader (Jim Pierce), the school is to be kept open, and when he beats gang member Bart Griffin (Warner Richmond in a fight, Rader and Griffin decide to get Tex out of the way. They frame Jeff for the murder of Luke Evans and then tell Jeff that Tex is coming to arrest him, hoping that Jeff will kill Tex. When Jeff finds out that Tex knows he has been framed, the two join forces in time to stop another horse raid in which Slim is injured. With the aid of Buck (Chuck Morrison), a gang member befriended by Tex, they get back the original stolen herd and kill or jail the gang members. Filmed in and around Prescott, Arizona, home of Dorothy Fay (Southworth), Ritter's leading lady and future-and-only wife. Fay's younger brother, Tommy Southworth, also has a small role in the film, and the music is provided by two Arizona radio bands led by Art Wilcox and Romaine LOUDERMILK, who is not the same as writer Romaine H. LOWDERMILK, despite the source that seems to think so.

Film Details

Genre
Western
Release Date
Jul 29, 1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Boots and Saddles Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 2m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels

Synopsis

United States Marshal Tex Reed and his sidekick, Slim Chance, are sent to investigate the rustling of horses that have been contracted for sale to the United States Cavalry. Upon riding into town, Tex learns that the only school in the entire region is in danger of being shut down by Jim Rader, the town's leading citizen, thus throwing local schoolteacher Mary Manners out of a job. Tex grows suspicious of Rader's motives when he learns that Mary and her brother Jeff hold the contract to furnish the cavalry stock, and consequently, Tex orders Rader to keep the school open. When Tex bests Buck, one of Rader's men, in a fight, Rader decides to eliminate the marshal by telling Jeff that Tex is coming to arrest him for murder. But Rader's plan backfires when Tex and Jeff team up to expose Rader as the mastermind behind the rustlers. In a daring shootout with the rustlers, Tex braves the outlaw's gunfire in a race to deliver the horses in time to meet the cavalry deadline.

Film Details

Genre
Western
Release Date
Jul 29, 1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Boots and Saddles Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 2m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

Although the copyright records credit Warner Richmond with the role of "Bart Griffin", Variety credits Gene Alsace with the role of "Bart" and Warner Richmond with the role of "Gene." Modern sources add John Merton, Tommy Southworth, Romaine Lowdermilk and His Ranch House Cowboys and Tex Ritter's horse "White Flash" to the cast.