Land Beyond the Law
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
B. Reeves Eason
Dick Foran
Linda Perry
Wayne Morris
Irene Franklin
Gordon Hart
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Chip Douglas, a rowdy cowboy with a reputation for wild behavior, unwittingly joins a gang of ruthless cattle rustlers and murderers headed by Slade Henaberry, owner of the Circle Bar Ranch. Slade, along with his henchmen, Tascosa, Mason and Kirby, control the area of Bitter Creek Valley by killing off homesteaders, known as "nesters," who don't willingly give up their land. General Lew Wallace attempts to reassert control over the territory of New Mexico, of which he is governor, in order to save the nesters, but his attempts fail, and he seeks instead a new sheriff to replace the ineffectual lawman who had been overseeing Bitter Creek. Meanwhile, "Cattle Kate" Turner, owner of the local saloon and hotel, awaits the arrival of her eighteen-year-old daughter, Louise, who has been away at boarding school. She enlists Chip's aid to help her make the saloon more "respectable," and later Chip goes with his pals to meet Louise's stage. Louise, a feisty young woman, is "sassy" with Chip, and he responds by giving her a spanking, but later that evening, after being forced by Chip to dance, Louise becomes enamored of him. Chip's father, a crusty old rancher, is shot by Slade's gang as he tries to protect his cattle. Realizing finally that the Circle Bar gang are murderers and rustlers, Chip goes over to the side of the law and is then appointed sheriff by Governor Wallace on Cattle Kate's recommendation. He beats Tascosa in a fistfight, temporarily cowing the gang, but later they take him hostage. Chip's pals, Dave Massey and Bandy Malarkey, who have stayed with the gang in order to gather information on them, subsequently rescue Chip and are made deputies. Then, the nesters form a posse in order to capture the gang before they drive a herd of cattle across the border. A final battle ensues with Chip leading the side of the law, and the gang is destroyed. The cattle recovered and Bitter Creek Valley saved, Chip asks for Louise's hand in marriage, and she happily accepts his proposal.
Director
B. Reeves Eason
Cast
Dick Foran
Linda Perry
Wayne Morris
Irene Franklin
Gordon Hart
Cy Kendall
Frank Orth
Glenn Strange
Harry Woods
Milton Kibbee
Edmund Cobb
Henry Otho
Tom Brower
Paul Panzer
Joseph King
Dickie Jones
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Bad Man's Territory. This film was reissued on October 2, 1943. Modern sources add to the cast Julian Rivero, Artie Ortego, Jim Corey, Bud Osborne, Wilfred Lucas, Gene Alsace and Frank McCarroll. This film was a remake of the 1927 First National production The Land Beyond the Law, which was directed by Harry J. Brown and starred Ken Maynard and Dorothy Dwan (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.2952). In 1932, Warner Bros. produced another film based on the same source, entitled The Big Stampede, which was directed by Tenny Wright and starred John Wayne.
