The Traitor
Cast & Crew
Sam Newfield
Tim Mccoy
Frances Grant
Frank Melton
Pedro Regas
Frank Glendon
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Although Texas Ranger Tim Vallance helps capture bandit Pedro Moreno's bucking horse Thunder, Moreno remains at large. Tim then mollifies Thunder and is the first man other than Moreno who is able to ride him. Ranger captain John Hughes then sends Tim to the small town of Plainview to stop a lynching of Moreno and his young accomplice, who refuses to give his name. Tim successfully saves the criminals, securing their right to a trial, then lets them go, hoping they will lead him to their boss Big George and he will be able to apprehend them all legally. In order to allow Tim to go undercover, Hughes publicly dismisses him for cowardice. Moreno and his accomplice arrive at the Flying A Ranch to lay low for awhile and the accomplice is revealed as Jimmy, brother to Mary Allen, who offered Tim a job on the ranch. Moreno poses as "Pedro Gonzalez," but Mary's servant, Juana, warns her he is the bandit Moreno. Tim then arrives for work and, seeing Jimmy in a photograph with Mary, is forced to reveal that her brother is a bandit called "The Texas Kid" who runs with Moreno. To avoid the criminals, Tim tells Mary he was kicked out of the Rangers, even though Hughes's letter to her refutes it, and he leaves the ranch. In town, at the Blue Cat Cantina, Big George's cover business, Tim gets himself recruited into the gang of contrabanders by returning Moreno's horse to him. Big George continues to move contraband over the border and the Rangers, believing Tim has gone crooked, try to catch him. At the cabin of sheepherder Jose Ramos, who will act as liaison between Hughes and Tim, Hughes urges Tim to call off his undercover work, but Tim is undaunted. Then, while the gang's pilot prepares a $100,000 shipment of drugs, Tim gets his fingerprints. Later, Ranger Smoky shoots Tim off his horse. After Smoky removes Tim's bullet at his request and leaves to get help, Tim escapes on his horse to the Ramos' cabin, where he collapses, delirious. Mary, having learned Tim's true mission from Hughes, nurses him. Meanwhile, Big George has become suspicious of Tim and surrounds the cabin. Jimmy goes in to save Mary and helps Tim fight the outlaws. The Rangers join the gunfight and Moreno, Jimmy and Hughes are all fatally wounded. Jimmy dies, sorry for his crimes. Smoky then arrests Tim, unaware of his innocence. Tim goes to trial and is convicted and jailed, but eventually Smoky unearths a letter Hughes wrote that vindicates Tim. Although Tim is free to leave his cell, Smoky puts Mary behind bars with him.
Director
Sam Newfield
Cast
Tim Mccoy
Frances Grant
Frank Melton
Pedro Regas
Frank Glendon
Carl Hackett
Dick Curtis
Roger Williams
Jack Rockwell
Dick Botiller
Wally Wales
Ed Cobb
Wally West
Tina Menard
Soledad Jiménez
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although a 1936 copyright statement appears on the viewed print, the title is not listed in the copyright registry. Variety and press material list Joseph O'Donnell as film editor, although the onscreen credits list him as story editor. A modern source erroneously lists Holdbrook Todd as editor. Variety erroneously credits producer Sig Neufeld with direction. A modern source lists the following additional cast members: Frank Ellis (Ranger), Jimmy Aubrey (Bus driver Slim), Charles "Slim" Whitaker (Plainview man/Ranger), George Chesebro (Lynch leader), Art Dillard (Roadblock man), Frank McCarroll (Lyncher at fence), Oscar Gahan (Outlaw in cantina), Julian Rivero (Jose Ramos), Jack Kirk and Al Taylor (Outlaws), Jack King, Ray Henderson (Rangers), and Buck Morgan (Lyncher).
