The Topeka Terror
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Howard Bretherton
Allan Lane
Linda Stirling
Earle Hodgins
Twinkle Watts
Roy Barcroft
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
During the Oklahoma land rush, in one lawless town called Red Dust, saloon owner and candidate for sheriff Clyde Flint meets with Ben Jode and land office agent Trent Parker. Flint and Jode coerce Parker into joining them in a scheme to cheat settlers out of their land claims in order to take control of Town Site 20 and pocket the loan they will receive to build a town there. Parker is instructed to register the settlers for the land in one record book, while registering the same land to Jode's employees in a duplicate book, which can be used later to deny the settlers their claims. Settler William Hardy and his daughter Midge are on their way to Town Site 20 when their horses race out of control, and lone cowboy Chad Stevens saves them. Chad finds a land marker and tells Hardy to stay there to stake his claim on the plot while he goes to town to inform Hardy's older daughter June of her father's whereabouts. In town, the settlers protest the land swindle in Parker's office, as a verbose lawyer named Don Quixote Martingale tries to debate the issue and meets June. The settlers decide to steal the record book, but Flint, Jode and their men attack. In the mêlée, Chad arrives and finds Martingale and June and tells them to bring everyone back to Hardy's plot, so they can organize. At the site, Chad forms a plan whereby Hardy will file a claim on the plot while Chad gathers more information. To that end, Chad visits the town saloon, while Martingale and Hardy go to Parker's office. There, the lawyer sees Flint's campaign poster, recognizes him as one of the men who was shooting at them, and deduces his involvement in the land scam. He and Hardy try to register all the settlers on Hardy's plot, hoping that in this way they can vote against Flint, but Parker declares their plan illegal. Back at the site, Chad tells Hardy to sell portions of his plot to each settler so they can register separately, but when they return to Parker's office, the land agent informs Jode, who offers to buy Hardy's plot. Hardy refuses and Jode sends them off, planning to ambush them as they bring in supplies. The settlers fight off their attackers, however, so Parker lures Martingale and Hardy back to town. Once there, Jode forces Hardy to sign away his deed, after which Jode knocks out Martingale, shoots Hardy and then claims that Martingale shot Hardy because the landholder sold his plot to Jode. Chad brings Hardy to the town doctor and then tricks Parker into confessing and handing over the original record book. When the doctor proclaims Hardy dead, Flint sentences Martingale to be hanged for murder. Meanwhile, Jode finds Chad and attacks him, but Chad shoots Parker and captures Jode. Chad brings the outlaw outside just before Martingale is hanged, and reveals himself as an investigator for the U.S. Land Office who has been tracking Jode for three years. He arrests Jode and Flint, saves Martingale, and a few days later, informs the settlers that they now have possession of Town Site 20. After promising to visit, Chad rides off alone.
Director
Howard Bretherton
Cast
Allan Lane
Linda Stirling
Earle Hodgins
Twinkle Watts
Roy Barcroft
Bud Geary
Tom London
Frank Jaquet
Jack Kirk
Eve Novak
Bob Wilke
Hank Bell
Wheaton Chambers
Crew
Frank J. Arrigo
Stephen Auer
Ed Borschell
Yakima Canutt
Richard Cherwin
Charles Craft
Norman S. Hall
Patricia Harper
Patricia Harper
Enzo Martinelli
Gordon C. Schaefer
John Stransky Jr.
Bud Thackery
Charles Thompson
Don Verk
Howard Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Spencer Bennet was originally hired as the film's associate producer. Modern sources add the following actors to the cast: Monte Hale, Jess Cavan, Fred Graham, Herman Nolan, Tom Smith, Herman Hack, Bill Wolfe, Horace B. Carpenter and Jack O'Shea.
