Redwood Forest Trail
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Philip Ford
Rex Allen
Jeff Donnell
Carl "alfalfa" Switzer
Jane Darwell
Marten Lamont
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
As American Forestry League official Rex Allen and his sidekick, "Alfalfa" Donahue, near the New Horizon School for underprivileged boys, where they are to attend graduation ceremonies, they are stopped by four boys, who claim that the nearby dam is being sabotaged. Rex and Alfalfa, who is a former resident of New Horizon, accompany the boys to the dam and prevent three men from setting off some dynamite. Two of the men engage Rex and Alfalfa in a fistfight, during which the boys become frightened and run away. After the men escape, one of them reports to their boss, Craig Danvers, while the other man strings a rope across the trail, which knocks the pursuing Rex off his horse. Rex then learns from local land owner Julie Westcott that her father Sam recently was killed after he rode into a rope strung across the trail in a similar manner. Julie, the mortgage holder on New Horizon's property, is convinced that one of the boys strung the rope, as witnesses claimed to have seen one of them at the scene, and therefore, she is planning to close down the school and sell the land to lumber magnate Bart Bryant. Later, at New Horizon, Rex meets Chief Arthur Cameron, the founder of the school, and Hattie Hickory, his salty old cook. Chief confesses to Rex that his real motive for bringing him to New Horizon was to solicit funding from the Forestry League, as Julie has been demanding payment on their mortgage option. Rex informs him that the League has no money, but offers to try to persuade Julie to extend their option date, while Chief and the boys cut some timber to sell. At the Westcott lake, Rex saves Julie when she falls out of her boat, then invites her to watch a Forestry League film, in which her father is featured. After the film, Rex tells Julie that Bryant has been destroying the local forests and will destroy her land. Unknown to Julie, Danvers, who is her lawyer, has been urging her to sell to Bryant so that he can repay Bryant some money he owes him. Fearing interference, Danvers sends two of his henchmen, Curley and Mason, to ambush Rex and Alfalfa. Rex, however, outsmarts them and steals their horses, which he notices are marked with the Westcott brand. Armed with this evidence, Rex goes to find Julie, who is in the forest admiring the pines that Bryant plans to cut. Rex coaxes Julie into talking with Chief, and she agrees to extend his option for another month. Later, Julie tells Bryant, in Danvers' presence, that she will not be doing business with him anymore and that Rex will be bringing her proof that the dam sabotage and her father's death are related. After Julie leaves, Danvers admits to Bryant that he arranged for Sam's murder because he had found out that Danvers was embezzling money from him. Danvers then coerces Two Bits, a New Horizon boy who had been an unwilling accomplice in Sam's murder, into leading Rex and Alfalfa to a spot at which Curley and Mason have buried some kerosene and rags. Alerted by Danvers, Julie spies on Rex and Alfalfa just as they are covering over the kerosene and assumes they are plotting to set fire to her land. Julie cancels the option's extension and presses charges of conspiracy against Rex and Alfalfa. Then, just before she is to leave for San Francisco, she grants Danvers power of attorney, unaware that he is planning to murder her so that he can control all the proceeds from the land sale and thereby repay Bryant. With Hattie's help, Rex uses the Forestry League promotional film to trick Two Bits into believing that he is seeing Sam's ghost and confessing that Danvers blackmailed him into participating in his murderous scheme. After a wild car chase, which causes a fire to ignite in the forest, and gun battle, Rex and Alfalfa subdue Danvers, Curly and Mason. The fire is extinguished, and later, Rex saves New Horizon by convincing Chief to turn his camp into a national park.
Director
Philip Ford
Cast
Rex Allen
Jeff Donnell
Carl "alfalfa" Switzer
Jane Darwell
Marten Lamont
Pierre Watkin
Jimmy Ogg
Dick Jones
John Cason
Jimmy Frasher
Bob Larson
Robert W. Wood
Jack Larson
Ted Fries
Joseph Granby
Robert E. Burns
Koko, A Horse
Crew
Franklin Adreon
Frank Arrigo
Nate Barrager
Katherine Lee Bates
T. A. Carman
Steve Drumm
Hazel Keithley
Whitey Lawrence
Howard Lydecker
Theodore Lydecker
John Macburnie
Mickey Marigold
Bob Mark
Enzo Martinelli
John Mccarthy Jr.
Herb Mendelson
George Milo
Harold Minter
Bradford Ropes
Babe Stafford
Robert Walker
Samuel Augustus Ward
Stanley Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Modern sources add Edmund Cobb to the cast.
