Galloping Dynamite
Cast & Crew
Harry Fraser
Kermit Maynard
Ariane Allen
John Merton
David Sharpe
Stan Blystone
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When young and naïve Bob Dillon finds some gold nuggets on the Foster ranch in Twin Forks, New Mexico, his three saddle partners, Reed, Wilkes and Sam Jenkins plan to steal the gold and Foster's cattle to get enough money to buy the ranch. Reed shoots Bob after he protests the plan and then finds a letter on the body from Bob's brother Jim, a Texas Ranger. When Jim approaches Twin Forks to investigate his brother's death, men hired by Reed shoot at him, but Jim tricks them into thinking that he has been killed and then rides to town. After a stop in the barbershop, Jim visits Jane Foster, an attractive blonde, who relates that three days after Bob's death, reportedly at the hands of rustlers, her father, whose cattle had been rustled, sold the ranch to Reed, Wilkes and Jenkins, who have since struck a rich vein of gold. Jim tells Jane that he has learned from experience that more men are brought to justice from their own weaknesses than with bullets, and with this in mind, he visits the ranch. Reed offers to cut Jim into their partnership because of their "friendship" with his brother, but after Jim leaves, Reed and Wilkes go to ambush him, with Jenkins nervously waiting behind. Jim returns and terrifies Jenkins with questions about Bob's death, and after a struggle, Jenkins escapes on Jim's horse, which Reed recognizes. He shoots the rider and then, discovering his mistake, tells the sheriff that Jim ambushed them and killed Jenkins. Although Jim eludes the posse, the sheriff finds him at Jane's house, where she is preparing a coconut cake. Jim is arrested, but Pop, a friend he has made, distracts the jailer and helps him escape. After Jim arouses Wilkes's suspicions that Reed plans to kill him to gain sole ownership of the mine, Wilkes confronts Reed, and during their struggle, Reed shoots him. Jim again evades the posse and finding Reed at the ranch house, pulls a gun and demands he write a confession. Reed's hired killer jumps Jim, who then subdues both of them, but after Reed writes the confession, he escapes when the killer turns over a table on Jim. Jim chases Reed up a hill and, after Reed fires all his bullets, fights him at the top. The hired killer fires at Jim but hits Reed. At Jane's house, the sheriff clears Jim in light of Reed's confession and tells Jane that the ranch now belongs again to her father. After he leaves Jim and Jane alone, Jim smells something cooking, and Jane realizes that it is her cake burning.
Director
Harry Fraser
Cast
Kermit Maynard
Ariane Allen
John Merton
David Sharpe
Stan Blystone
John Ward
Earl Dwyer
Bob Burns
Bud Buster
Tracey Lane
Francis Walker
Allen Greer
Crew
Martin G. Cohn
Charles R. Condon
Maurice Conn
Mel Delay
Jesse Duffy
Jack Greenhalgh
Robert Jahns
Connie Lee
Sherman L. Lowe
Stanley Lowenstein
E. H. Reif
Hans Weeren
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Dawn Rider. Sources conflict concerning the original source material. The screen credits call the film "James Oliver Curwood's Galloping Dynamite" and state that it was "suggested by the story 'Mystery of Dead Man's Isle'." SAB, however, states that the film was adapted from the short story "Riding Monte Cristo" by Stanley Roberts, who had changed his name from Stanley Lowenstein and was listed in the screen credits for adaptation. In addition, modern sources state that the film was based on the Curwood story "Dawn Rider." A Hollywood Reporter production chart lists Roger Williams in the cast and credits Richard G. Wray as film editor; their participation in the film has not been confirmed. A pressbook for the film states that producer Maurice Conn sang in the film as the fourth member of a barber shop quartet after one of the vocalists could not be found. The pressbook also noted that Ariane Allen, known as "America's most photographed girl," had her screen debut in this film. According to modern sources, Oscar Gahan and Bruce Mitchell were also in the cast.
