Outlaws of the Prairie
Cast & Crew
Sam Nelson
Charles Starrett
Donald Grayson
Iris Meredith
Norman Willis
Dick Curtis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At the Tres Nogales Texas Ranger station, Dart Collins sharpens his marksmanship, despite the loss of his trigger fingers. When his friend, Slim Grayson, asks him about his missing fingers, Dart refuses to answer. The rangers are summoned when a man named Calvin, who was shot investigating a series of stagecoach hold-ups in Oro Grande, arrives mortally wounded. Dart agrees to take Calvin's place in the investigation, and the other rangers join him by posing as a medicine show. Just outside Oro Grande, Dart rediscovers his father's grave, and tells Slim that his fingers were cut off as a child by his father's murderer. Dart then shows Slim a knife with the initials "B. L.," a momento he carries in hopes of avenging his father's death. In Oro Grande, the mine owners, led by Lafe Garfield and Jed Stevens, prepare another gold shipment under the supervision of William Lupton, the crooked town banker. Before it reaches town, the shipment is seized by bandits lead by Lupton's henchman, Dragg. The out-numbered Dart and Slim helplessly watch the hold-up, then are amazed to discover that the stagecoach guards are conspiring with the highwaymen. When the robbed stagecoach returns to town, Lupton tells the miners of his plans to foreclose on their mines. Hearing this, Dart meets with Garfield and his daughter Judy and learns that the corrupt guards were Lupton's men. Judy, who works as Lupton's secretary, is asked by Dart to acquire the combination to Lupton's safe, in the hope of finding proof of Lupton's complicity. Dart then arranges to get into Lupton's good graces by staging a quarrel with the rangers' medicine show during a shooting contest, and convincing the banker he is a gunfighter. The plan backfires when Dragg spies Dart with the Garfields, then finds his ranger's papers in his saddle. The next day, Garfield and the other miners plan their own gold shipment while Dart breaks into Lupton's safe and discovers deposit slips matching the amounts of the stolen gold shipments. That Saturday, the gold shipment leaves, with Lupton's men once again as guards; however, the stagecoach is attacked by the rangers first, and the crooked guards are captured and forced to exchange clothing with the lawmen. When the real highwaymen attack the stagecoach, they are all killed or captured. Dart, now realizing that Lupton is his father's murderer, goes to town alone, without his badge. In town, Dart confronts Lupton in his office, forcing him out into the street for a shoot-out. Dragg, seeing Lupton's predicament, climbs onto a roof and prepares to shoot Dart in the back. As Lupton draws, Dart shoots him, then turns and shoots the henchman on the roof. Lupton and Dragg both die, but Dart receives only a superficial wound. As the rangers head back to Tres Nogales, they leave behind an avenged Dart, who has found a new life with Judy.
Director
Sam Nelson
Cast
Charles Starrett
Donald Grayson
Iris Meredith
Norman Willis
Dick Curtis
Edward Lesaint
Eddie Cobb
Art Mix
Steve Clark
Hank Bell
Earle Hodgins
Lee Shumway
Sons Of The Pioneers
Jack Rockwell
Bob Nolan
Frank Shannon
Fred Burns
Charles Brinley
Delmar Watson
Lambert Rogers
Dick Alexander
Joe Yrigoyen
Chuck Baldra
Jim Corey
Bert Dillard
Art Dillard
Frank Mccarroll
Jack Shannon
Frank Austin
George Chesebro
Vernon Dent
E. L. Dale
Buck Moulton
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title for this film was The Singing Rangers. Modern sources include in the cast Jack Kirk, Charles LeMoyne, Curley Dresden, George Morrell, Buel Bryant, Ray Jones, Blackie Whiteford, Pat Brady, Hugh Farr, Karl Farr and Bob Burns.
