The Law of 45's
Cast & Crew
John Mccarthy Jr.
Big Boy Williams
Molly O'day
Al St. John
Ted Adams
Lafe Mckee
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Shortly after British businessman Sir Henry Sheffield approaches Rentel, real estate agent and lawyer, in order to purchase property in Pine Canyon Valley, Sheffield disappears without a trace, and a series of murders and sabotage plague the local ranchers. A stranger named Tucson Smith and his pal, Stony Martin, arrive in town and come to the defense of elderly Mr. Hayden, a rancher, when someone attempts to murder him. In gratitude, Hayden and his pretty daughter Jean invite Tucson and Stony to dinner at the home of Rentel, their trusted attorney, where Hayden explains that the owners of the ranches bordering his own have all been killed. The next day, while riding into the Pine Canyon Valley, Tucson is shot at by a gang of outlaws, but due to his renowned skill as a sharpshooter, he manages to kill several of the men. Later he recognizes one of them as a member of a gang from across the border. When Tucson crosses the border and enters Juarez to investigate, he is ambushed in a saloon, but he escapes with Stony and goes to the Hayden ranch, where he tells a sympathetic Jean about his childhood as an orphan. Tucson later decides to meet Joe, an old friend who had gotten involved with outlaws, but who wants to reform, and just as Joe is about to reveal the name of the criminal behind the ranchers' murders, he is shot and killed by an unknown assailant. Tucson, however, has become suspicious of Rentel, and when he learns of Sheffield's visit to Rentel and of his subsequent disappearance, he warns the residents of Pine Canyon Valley to beware of the shifty lawyer. When Hayden is shot and wounded, Tucson goes to Rentel's home, where he is ambushed, but manages to outdraw his adversaries and take Rentel prisoner. In Rentel's basement, Tucson finds Sheffield and learns that he was taken captive by Rentel after Rentel learned that there was oil on the ranchers' property. Rentel used Sheffield's funds in order to purchase the land cheaply from the bereaved relatives of the ranchers murdered by Rentel's own henchmen. The Pine Canyon sheriff arrives to take Rentel to jail, and as he explains to Hayden that Tucson is a self-styled vigilante who outwits and apprehends outlaws because his own father had been murdered, Tucson and Jean embrace.
Director
John Mccarthy Jr.
Cast
Big Boy Williams
Molly O'day
Al St. John
Ted Adams
Lafe Mckee
Fred Burns
Curley Baldwin
Martin Garralaga
Broderick O'farrell
Sherry Tansey
Glen Strange
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although the film's onscreen credits contain a copyright statement, its title was not listed in the copyright register. The novel by William Colt MacDonald marked the creation of the characters "The Three Mesquiteers." This film includes two of the three characters, Tucson Smith and Stony. While Stony's last name in the film is "Martin," in MacDonald's Mesquiteers novels, and in the films that followed, the last name is "Brooke." In 1936, Republic began a series featuring the characters with the film The Three Mesquiteers. For information concerning the series, please see the entry below for that film and consult the Series Index. According to modern sources, the cast also included Bill Patton (Barfly), Jack Kirk (Singing wrangler), Francis Walker (Wrangler), Jack Evans and Tex Palmer (Henchmen), Merrill McCormack (Gunman), George Morrell (Wounded townsman), William McCall (Doctor), Budd Buster (Station agent), Herman Hack, Ace Cain and Buck Morgan. A modern source identifies three uncredited songs heard in Law of 45's as follows: "On a Lonely Trail" (sung by The Wranglers), "Sunset Trail" (sung by Molly O'Day, Guinn Williams and The Wranglers), and "Las Golondrinas" (sung by The Wranglers).
