Western Trails
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
George Waggner
Bob Baker
Marjorie Reynolds
John Ridgely
Carlyle Moore
Forrest Taylor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Cowboy Bob Mason arrives in Terminal City after a ten-year absence just as his father, "Dad" Mason, is shot dead. His killers are a group of bandits who have been raiding the Mesquite-Terminal City Express, and for whose arrest Dad had been offering a reward. When Bob chases the fleeing bandits, he is nearly killed, but is nursed back to health by Alice, the girl friend of Ben, whom Bob has recently befriended. Bob suspects Alice's brother Rudd of the murder when he sees Rudd sneak into his room with his gun drawn, and is only saved by Alice's appearance. As Ben waits for his mail-order ring to arrive so he can propose to Alice, she and Bob fall silently in love, and Rudd convinces Ben that Bob is making love to his girl. When Bob is fully recovered, he devises a scheme to trap Rudd by inviting two of his men to ride the express after loading the coach with valuables, then switching places with them after the coach leaves town. The bait works: Rudd mistakenly shoots one of his own men in order to rob the coach and Bob chases him to Alice's ranch, where the two men schedule a duel for four o'clock that afternoon. With only a few hours to procure evidence against Rudd, Bob is saved by his dog "Smokey," who finds Dad's locket in the yard of Rudd's Indian accomplice, who confesses Rudd's guilt. Unaware of Rudd's duplicity, Ben arrives at the ranch to kill Bob and empties Bob's gun of bullets as Bob saddles up for the showdown. Ben reads Bob's note implicating Rudd in time, however, and saves Bob, but is himself shot by one of Rudd's men. While Bob holds his dying friend, Ben asks him to tell Alice he won't be home for dinner. As Bob and Smokey leave Terminal City, Alice meets them on horseback, and they ride off together.
Director
George Waggner
Cast
Bob Baker
Marjorie Reynolds
John Ridgely
Carlyle Moore
Forrest Taylor
Franko Corsarro
Bob Burns
Jack Rockwell
Wimpy
Apache
Jack Kennedy
Murdock Macquarrie
Crew
Fleming Allan
Charles Carroll
Charles Clague
Glenn Cook
Charles Craft
Albert Greenwood
Paul Malvern
Harry Neumann
Norton S. Parker
Frank Sanucci
Edwin Wetzel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This was George Waggner's first picture as director. A contemporary source names Apache as "Baker's camera-wise horse." Although story and screenplay credits differ, this film's plot and characters strongly resemble the 1935 Monogram Western The Dawn Rider, which was also produced by Paul Malvern. Modern sources list the following additional cast members: Jack Kirk, Jimmy Phillips, Jack Ingram, Hank Worden, Tex Palmer, Herman Hack, Oscar Gahan and Jack Montgomery.
