Desperate Trails
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Albert Ray
Johnny Mack Brown
Bob Baker
Fuzzy Knight
Frances Robinson
Russell Simpson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Steve Hayden, a young peace officer, comes to the town of Denton to put and end to the rustling and robberies that plague the territory. Unknown to the citizenry, the local sheriff, Big Bill Tanner, and his banker pal, Malenkthy Culp, are behind all the trouble. Keeping his identity secret, Steve outsmarts " the bandits during a stagecoach robbery and saves the strongbox, thus infuriating Tanner and Culp. Steve then gives U.S. Marshal Cort the strongbox to deliver, and the pair agree on a plan to bring an end to the lawlessness. Cort sends Steve to the Lantry ranch, where he offers his help to Cousin Willie Strong, the caretaker. When Judith Lantry, the owner of the ranch, arrives from the East, Culp and Tanner send their henchman Ortega to eliminate her before she can discover the fake mortgage that they hold on her Anchor J ranch. Steve foils their plans however, by rescuing Judith from the buckboard as Ortega drives it over a cliff. Meeting later at the ranch, Judith and Cousin Willie agree to let Steve take charge and stop the rustling of their livestock. Steve promptly fires Lon, the foreman, and all his men and hires Clem Waters to take his place. Following Tanner's orders, Lon and Ortega ambush Steve along the trail, but Steve humiliates them by tying them to their mounts and sending them back to town in disgrace. As a last resort, Tanner proclaims that he will kill Steve, and Steve accepts his challenge by walking into town with drawn guns. What promises to be a bloody battle ends in comedy when Steve captures Tanner and dunks him in a watering trough. Steve then discovers the barn in which Lon has hidden Judith's horses and forces a confession from him that implicates Culp and Tanner in the rustling. Meanwhile, back in town, the sheriff is inciting a mob to lynch Steve when Steve foils his plans by riding into town with Lon, and Cort arrives to take Lon, Culp and Tanner into custody. With law and order restored, Steve and Judith decide that they will manage both the ranch and their lives together.
Director
Albert Ray
Cast
Johnny Mack Brown
Bob Baker
Fuzzy Knight
Frances Robinson
Russell Simpson
Clarence Wilson
Charles Stevens
Ralph Dunn
Horace Murphy
Fern Emmett
Ed Cassidy
Anita Camargo
Bill Cody Jr.
Tom Smith
Jack Shannon
Wilbur H. Mccauley
Crew
Jerome Ash
Andrew Bennison
Bernard B. Brown
Ralph Delacy
R. A. Gausman
William Hedgcock
Jack Otterson
Charles Previn
Albert Ray
Louis Sackin
Edward Tyler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although a print of this film was not viewed, the above credits and plot summary were taken from a cutting continuity included in the studio files. A news item in Hollywood Reporter notes that the picture was shot on location at Sonora and Kernville, CA. Modern sources add Al Haskell, Frank Ellis, Frank McCarroll, Cliff Lyons and Eddie Parker to the cast. This picture was the first in a series of Johnny Mack Brown westerns produced and directed by Albert Ray for Universal.
