Law of the Range
Cast & Crew
Ray Taylor
Johnny Mack Brown
Fuzzy Knight
Nell O'day
Roy Harris
Elaine Morey
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
On the Diamond T ranch, the Wolverine Kid shoots and kills one of the cowhands, then tells the ranch's owner, Tim O'Brien, that the Howards, a family with whom O'Brien has long been feuding, killed the man. At the Lazy H, the Howard ranch, O'Brien and his men ride up for the first time in twenty years. O'Brien accuses young Steve Howard of the murder, then threatens to kill any Howard man who sets foot on his land. Steve is then told the story of the family feud by his father, of how O'Brien, Sam Emery, and he were all in love with the same woman. When she became engaged to him, Howard explains, O'Brien threatened revenge, but it was Emery who tried to kill him. In their fight, Emery was killed and Howard was left a cripple. The Wolverine Kid, Emery's son, carries one of the guns his father used in that fight and has boasted that he will kill all the Howards with it. Steve learns that his father has the other gun and there will be no peace until both are reunited. Back at the Diamond T, O'Brien is confronted by his two daughters, Mary and Virginia. Virginia, Steve's sweetheart, chastises her father for his hatred, but Mary fully supports him. Steve, against the wishes of his old friend, Chaparral, decides to ride to the Diamond T and work things out with O'Brien. As he arrives at the ranch, however, the Wolverine Kid shoots and kills O'Brien. Mary sees Steve standing by her father's body and accuses him of the murder. Steve goes to town and the sheriff concurs with him that the bullet that killed O'Brien came from another gun, not Steve's. Despite this, the Wolverine Kid puts out a $500 bounty on Steve, which Mary tops with a $1,000 one. Learning that the Wolverine Kid is in the sheep town of Brodie, Steve and Chap ride there, only to meet up with the Kid's boss, Squint Jamison, and his gang. Steve kills Squint in a shootout and discovers the sheepmen's plan to take over the Spring River Range. Steve and Chap ride to set the signal fires for their men, but the Wolverine Kid has already set a trap for them. Steve is captured by two of the Wolverine Kid's men, Walt and Hobart, and is taken to their hideout. While Hobart goes to get the Wolverine Kid, Walt finds Mary, hoping to get the extra $500 of her bounty. As Mary rides to the hideout, Virginia, worried about Steve, goes to the Lazy H to see Howard. Mary and the Wolverine Kid arrive at approximately the same time, and Mary soon realizes that she was wrong about Steve, as the Wolverine Kid admits to working for the sheep interests. As the Wolverine Kid rides to spring a trap on Steve's men, Chap arrives and rescues Steve and Mary. Steve and Chap ride off after the Wolverine Kid, while Mary goes to warn the others about the ambush. Seeing his men about to be ambushed, Steve and Chap attack the Wolverine Kid's gang. Mary arrives just in time to warn the others, and they join in the fight, causing the Wolverine Kid's men to surrender. The Wolverine Kid gets away, but Steve catches him at the Lazy H. The sheriff arrives and gives the Wolverine Kid's gun to Steve, who, in turn, gives the gun to his father. As Steve and Virginia are reunited, Chap tries to demonstrate to Howard and Mary how he made his daring rescue, but ends up falling off his horse, as he has forgotten to cinch his saddle.
Director
Ray Taylor
Cast
Johnny Mack Brown
Fuzzy Knight
Nell O'day
Roy Harris
Elaine Morey
Pat O'malley
Hal Taliaferro
Charles King
Ethan Laidlaw
Jack Rockwell
Alan Bridge
Jerome Harte
Terry Frost
The Texas Rangers
Jim Corey
Jack Casey
Charles "slim" Whitaker
Bob Kortman
Bud Osborne
Chuck Morrison
Sam Garrett
Lucille Walker
Crew
Charles E. Barnes
Bernard B. Brown
Everett Carter
Will Cowan
Robert G. Crawford
Edward Curtiss
R. A. Gausman
Charles Gould
Sherman Lowe
Harold H. Macarthur
Jess Moulin
Jack Otterson
Milton Rosen
H. J. Salter
William Sickner
Charles Van Enger
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Marshall Law. According to a memo from Universal to AMPAS, Universal declared that writer Charles E. Barnes's work on this film was not to be considered as "original story" material, as it had been used previously as source material for an unidentified Universal film, and the screenplay for the earlier film was used very little for the later project. While the film's credits and contemporary reviews list Charles Van Enger as the director of photography, Hollywood Reporter production charts credit William Sickner in that position. Modern sources include George Plues, Carl Sepulveda, Herman Hack, Ray Henderson and Frank Hagney in the cast.
