The Cactus Kid
Cast & Crew
Harry S. Webb
Jack Perrin
Fred Hume
Philo Mccullough
Charles Whitaker
Joe De La Cruz
Film Details
Synopsis
After presenting rancher Duncan with a catch of wild horses, cowboys "Cactus Kid" Jack and Jimmie Kane ride to town to collect their $1,000 payment from him. While buying a new outfit for Rosie, his saloon girl sweetheart, "Killer" Plug Perkins overhears Jack tell his girl friend Beth, who runs the clothing store, about his profits, and rushes to tell Cheyenne, his half-Indian cohort, about the money. In the saloon, Jimmie, who has been drinking heavily with Duncan, confronts Jack about how the money should be spent, and Jack angrily insists on taking the bankroll himself. Later, however, Jimmie apologizes to Jack, agreeing to invest their profits as Jack wishes, and Jack happily returns the bankroll to him with instructions to ride back to Duncan's ranch and pay off the ranch hands. On the trail to Duncan's, however, Cheyenne hurls a deadly knife at Jimmie's back and, after stealing the money, overcomes his superstitions long enough to help Plug burn Jimmie's body. Soon after, while returning to Duncan's ranch, Jack sees Cheyenne and Plug riding in the distance and hears Cheyenne playing "Swanee River" on his battered harmonica. When Jimmie fails to show up, Jack organizes an exhaustive search but finds no clues. Broke, Jack begins to collect more wild horses to sell to Duncan and, during the round-up, stumbles across Jimmie's belt buckle and a mysterious piece of metal, which he later discovers is a piece from a harmonica. Unimpressed by Jack's finds, the sheriff warns Jack that the townspeople suspect him of killing Jimmie. Determined now to find out what happened to his partner, Jack tracks Cheyenne and Plug to their guarded hideout and eventually draws Cheyenne to his cabin, where he plies him with alcohol. After inspecting Cheyenne's harmonica, Jack sneaks a note to his horse Starlight, who delivers it to Beth. With Smiley, a former boxing champion, Beth rides to Jack's cabin and, dressed in Jimmie's clothes, poses as the dead man. Terrified, Cheyenne confesses to killing Jimmie on Plug's orders. Jack then fights Plug and his men, who are finally arrested by the sheriff.
Director
Harry S. Webb
Cast
Jack Perrin
Fred Hume
Philo Mccullough
Charles Whitaker
Joe De La Cruz
Jayne Regan
Tom London
Kit Guard
Tina Menard
Wally Wales
Starlight
Crew
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although onscreen credits include a 1934 copyright statement, the title was not found in the copyright records. Onscreen credits misspell Joe De La Cruz's name as "Jo." No reviews were located for the film, but the title is listed in the 1935 Film Daily Year Book as a 1934 Steiner release. In addition, the picture was submitted to the New York State Censor Board on October 3, 1934 and was approved with eliminations at that time. The length of the New York print was given as 5,100 feet. Modern sources, which list the film's running time as 56 minutes, include Lew Meehan, George Chesebro, Gordon DeMain and George Morrell as cast members.
