Sheriff of Wichita
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
R. G. Springsteen
Allan "rocky" Lane
Black Jack
Eddy Waller
Roy Barcroft
Lyn Wilde
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In the 1890s, a few months before his scheduled release, Lt. Raymond D'Arcy, who was convicted of robbing an Army payroll five years earlier, escapes from a federal prison in Kansas. After he is assigned to find him, Deputy Jack Thorne visits the prison warden, who gives him an envelope with no return address, and explains that Raymond received it shortly before escaping. The warden then gives Jack the address of former Army scout Nugget Clark of Crossroads, the only other person ever to write Raymond in prison. At the Crossroads post office, Jack finds Nugget, who has just received an envelope identical to the one that the warden gave him. As Jack watches, Nugget reads the letter, rips it up and then throws it into the trash bin. Later, Jack retrieves the pieces of the letter and shows them to Nugget's friend, Allan "Rocky" Lane, the sheriff of Wichita County. Rocky reads the letter's instructions to go to the nearby abandoned Fort Borden. Rocky then visits Marshal James and learns that Raymond, whose squadron had been assigned to guard the Army payroll, also disappeared after the robbery and was later court-martialed. Rocky follows Nugget to the fort, and there they see Raymond. Rocky tries to arrest him, but Nugget quickly pulls his gun and insists that Rocky listen to Raymond's story. Raymond then says that at the time of the robbery, he did not realize that his superior, Maj. Alvin Bishop, had become involved with a gang of robbers led by Sam Stark, a notorious outlaw. Raymond explains that he was accused of the crime after Bishop disappeared with the money. Soon, two former cavalrymen from Bishop's group, Howard Thornton and Ira Flanders, arrive at the fort, and Rocky guesses that the letter writer has invited the entire squadron. Having learned about the meeting from one of his henchmen, Stark arrives at the fort, saying that he had hoped to recover the payroll from Bishop. Suddenly, there is a loud blast, and the group rushes outside, where they see smoke drifting from the fort's cannon. When Rocky finds Bishop's daughter Nancy hiding nearby, she admits that she wrote the letters in the hope that she could clear her father's name. Later, at Rocky's urging, Nancy writes a second letter to each of the men demanding that the responsible parties surrender. Overcome with guilt, Flanders tries to confess, but is shot by an unknown assailant. Before he dies, Flanders tells Rocky that the real robbers, Stark and Thornton, are camped a few miles away. Rocky tries to arrest the suspects, but the rest of the gang attacks, and Stark and Thornton escape. Later, Rocky, Nugget and Raymond find the payroll box in a cave next to Bishop's decaying corpse. When Stark and the gang try to steal the money, they are arrested. After Nugget receives a letter from the Department of War stating that he has been reinstated and promoted, Rocky gives him the reward money for capturing the gang and turns his horse Black Jack toward the open trail.
Director
R. G. Springsteen
Cast
Allan "rocky" Lane
Black Jack
Eddy Waller
Roy Barcroft
Lyn Wilde
Clayton Moore
Eugene Roth
Trevor Bardette
House Peters Jr.
Earle Hodgins
Edmund Cobb
John Hamilton
Steve Raines
Jack O'shea
Crew
Frank Arrigo
Earl Crain Sr.
Joan Eremin
Hap Hodges
Gordon Kay
Herb Kirkpatrick
Jack Lacey
Louise Landmier
Whitey Lawrence
Howard Lydecker
Theodore Lydecker
John Macburnie
Mickey Marigold
Bob Mark
Tony Martinelli
John Mccarthy Jr.
Howard Smit
Charles Thompson
Bob Williams
Stanley Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Modern sources include Dick Curtis, Lane Bradford and Stanley Price in the cast.
