The Cherokee Strip
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Noel Smith
Dick Foran
Jane Bryan
David Carlyle
Smoke The Wonder Horse
Helen Valkis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
As homesteaders ride into the Oklahoma Territory in preparation for the land rush, lawyer Dick Hudson hears shots. Taking cover, he works around behind the rifleman, discovering him to be a young boy, Barty Walton. Dick chastises Barty for carelessness, but his sister Jane comes to his defense. She gives Dick a piece of her mind, while Barty summons his father George. While they are talking, Link Carter, a man Dick had tried to send to prison, interrupts the discussion. Dick learns that the Waltons are traveling with Carter. Dick camps that night with his friends, Ruth and Tom Valley, and makes a friend of Barty. Janie overhears Carter and his men planning to keep Dick from joining the land rush. She tries to warn Dick, but he misinterprets her warning, so she lames his horse, hoping to keep him out of danger. As a result, he arrives too late to stake a claim. Carter, on the other hand, has laid claim to almost all the land in town. He denies Dick's charges that he is a "sooner," one who started before the official starting gun. Dick's friends, the Valleys, and their partner Bill Tidewell, offer him office space to set up as a lawyer. Dick is not able to win many cases against Carter's fixed juries, however, and he decides to join in Tidewell and the Valleys' cattle business. Acting as mayor, George Walton has been fronting for Carter's men, but when he learns that they plan to steal Tidewell and Valleys' cattle to drive them out of town, he quits. Barty overhears everything and warns Dick, who rides out to the herd. He and the rustlers exchange gunfire, and Barty, who has followed Dick against his orders, rushes to bring men from the town to help him. Walton and Dick hatch a plan to capture Carter once and for all. During the jubilee dance, Walton is shot, having found Carter's men trying to rustle the cattle. One of Carter's men is assigned to murder Dick, but during the gunfight, Dick shoots him dead. Tom confronts Carter, warning him to return his cattle, and Carter kills him. The crowd wants to lynch Carter, but Dick stops them, insisting on a fair trial. Although Carter's lawyer, Abbott, finds a loophole in the law, Dick wins his case and Carter is found guilty and is sentenced to death. Walton can now act as mayor in the best interests of the town.
Director
Noel Smith
Cast
Dick Foran
Jane Bryan
David Carlyle
Smoke The Wonder Horse
Helen Valkis
Ed Cobb
Joseph Crehan
Milton Kibbee
Gordon Hart
Frank Faylen
Jack Mower
Tom Brower
Walter Soderling
Tommy Bupp
Mariska Aldrich
Harry Fox
Paul Panzer
Tom Wilson
Sam Rice
Harry Fox
Cliff Saum
Lottie Williams
Frank Pharr
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was The Little Buckaroo. Dick Foran is listed as "The Singing Cowboy" in the opening credits. Jane Bryan's character is called Jean in the film and Helen Valkis' character is called Ruth. Modern sources list the following additional cast: Glenn Strange, Bud Osborne, Ben Corbett, Artie Ortego and Jack Kirk.
