By Richard Harland Smith
Wild Horse Stampede
Brief Synopsis
Two cowboys try to protect railroad workers from rampaging Indians.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Alan James
Director
Ken Maynard
Ken Maynard
Hoot Gibson
Hoot Gibson
Betty Miles
Betty Wallace
Bob Baker
Marshal Cliff Tyler
Ian Keith
Mel Carson
Film Details
Genre
Western
Release Date
Apr
16,
1943
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Monogram Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
59m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,330ft
Synopsis
In the era when railroads are first being forged across the United States, Southwestern Railroad is plagued by raids, during which their supplies are stolen. Bill Borman, who is in charge of Southwestern's construction, brings in Marshal Cliff Tyler for protection, and although Tyler drums up support, he needs horses for his patrolmen. In nearby Cold Springs, Borman's assistant, Hanley, arranges to buy horses from Betty Wallace's ranch, but when she tells her foreman, Tip, about the sale, he informs Mel Carson, a saloon owner who is being paid by the owner of a stagecoach line and a judge who dislikes law and order to prevent the construction of the railroad. Carson orders Tip to rustle the horses and rob the buyers, and after Tip murders several men during the robbery, he hides the herd of horses in a canyon. As they are already working for Borman, Tyler sends former lawmen Hoot Gibson and Ken Maynard to Cold Springs to work undercover and help rout the saboteurs. Hoot and Ken first make contact with Tyler's son Bob, an inexperienced marshal whose "by the book" methods have been ineffective. After Bob deputizes them, Hoot and Ken question Betty, but she has no clues as to the identities of the saboteurs. Ken escapes a near ambush by Carson's men, but later joins Carson in a card game. Ken wins the game and matches the serial numbers on Carson's bills to those stolen from Hanley. Bob wants to arrest Carson immediately, but Hoot and Ken are determined to retrieve Betty's horses. Hoot and Ken try to trick Carson into leading them to the hidden herd, but Carson is suspicious and arranges for an Indian tribe to attack the next railroad shipment. One night, Hoot and Ken trick Tip and his gang into thinking that they are surrounded. After overhearing the men reveal the location of the horses, Hoot and Ken slip away and take the herd, and Tip does not realize they are free until morning. Betty gathers a group of trustworthy ranch hands to herd the horses into town, while Hoot gathers proof of the conspiracy. When the horses stampede through the town, a gunfight erupts between Hoot and Ken and the gang. Hoot and Ken are victorious, and after arresting the gang, they take the stolen money from Carson's safe and buy the horses from Betty's ranch.
Director
Alan James
Director
Cast
Ken Maynard
Ken Maynard
Hoot Gibson
Hoot Gibson
Betty Miles
Betty Wallace
Bob Baker
Marshal Cliff Tyler
Ian Keith
Mel Carson
Si Jenks
Rawhide
Robert Mckenzie
John Bridges
Colonel Black
Ken Harlan
Bill Borman
I. Stan Jolley
Forrest Taylor
Ken Duncan
Glen Strange
Tip
Tom London
Westy
Reed Howes
Tex
Don Stewart
Donny Wallace
Crew
Film Details
Genre
Western
Release Date
Apr
16,
1943
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Monogram Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
59m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,330ft
Articles
Wild Horse Stampede -
The popularity of Republic Pictures' Three Mesquiteers buddy westerns (which featured, at one time or another, John Wayne, Bob Steele, and Ray "Crash" Corrigan) spawned their fair share of imitators, among them Monogram Pictures' Range Busters (which drafted Corrigan to lead its trio of Wild West do-righters). When the Range Busters headed off into the cinematic sunset after two dozen films, Monogram producer-director Robert Tansey was put in charge of drafting a replacement to keep the hot lead flying at Saturday matinees. To staff The Trail Blazers, Tansey reached out to former silent and early sound film cowboys Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson and took the novel tack of allowing his stars to keep their real names on the big screen. Playing retired lawmen deputized into the service of protecting the Southwestern Railroad from marauders, the Trail Blazers first rode into action in Wild Horse Stampede (1943). The script by Range Busters alumna Elizabeth Beecher (from an original story by Frances Kavanaugh, Poverty Row's "Cowgirl of the Typewriter") partners the old timers with younger, less experienced peacekeeper played by Bob Baker (like his costars, a former singing cowboy). Baker clashed behind the scenes with the notoriously temperamental Maynard and did not return for The Law Rides Again (1943). Monogram would eventually saddle their aging headliners with the younger Bob Steele, who made his series debut in the fourth installment, Death Valley Rangers (1943).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Wild Horse Stampede -
The popularity of Republic Pictures' Three Mesquiteers buddy westerns (which featured, at one time or another, John Wayne, Bob Steele, and Ray "Crash" Corrigan) spawned their fair share of imitators, among them Monogram Pictures' Range Busters (which drafted Corrigan to lead its trio of Wild West do-righters). When the Range Busters headed off into the cinematic sunset after two dozen films, Monogram producer-director Robert Tansey was put in charge of drafting a replacement to keep the hot lead flying at Saturday matinees. To staff The Trail Blazers, Tansey reached out to former silent and early sound film cowboys Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson and took the novel tack of allowing his stars to keep their real names on the big screen. Playing retired lawmen deputized into the service of protecting the Southwestern Railroad from marauders, the Trail Blazers first rode into action in Wild Horse Stampede (1943). The script by Range Busters alumna Elizabeth Beecher (from an original story by Frances Kavanaugh, Poverty Row's "Cowgirl of the Typewriter") partners the old timers with younger, less experienced peacekeeper played by Bob Baker (like his costars, a former singing cowboy). Baker clashed behind the scenes with the notoriously temperamental Maynard and did not return for The Law Rides Again (1943). Monogram would eventually saddle their aging headliners with the younger Bob Steele, who made his series debut in the fourth installment, Death Valley Rangers (1943).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film opens with the following written foreword: "In the early days of the Southwest, Trail Blazers struggled to build a railroad across our great nation, depending entirely on horses to transport their supplies. Indians, white renegades, and political enemies robbed them, destroyed their equipment, and even resorted to murder in an effort to stop their progress. To those who gave their lives for the linking of the East with the West, we respectfully dedicate this picture." Modern sources include Chick Hannon in the cast.
Wild Horse Stampede marked the first of eleven films in Monogram's "The Trail Blazers" series, which ended with the 1944 release Sonora Stagecoach. Hoot Gibson starred in all eleven films. Ken Maynard was his co-star for several of the films, but was replaced by Bob Steele in the last five. For additional information on the series, consult the Series Index.
