"Sagebrush Troubadour" director Joseph Kane's B-movie musical western "Sheriff of Tombstone" has nothing to do with Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and the Clanton gang. Roy is a former Deputy Marshall from Dodge City who turns in his badge after things simmer down and the town settles into peaceful tranquility. Not only does Brett Starr (Roy Rogers) leave the famous Kansas town, but also an unsavory as well as unshaven hombre named Cassidy (Harry Woods of "Monkey Business") plans to pull up stakes, too. Cassidy is widely known for his use of a double-barrel shotgun. A lot of animosity exists between these two characters. "King of the Cowboys" scenarist Olive Cooper wrote this Roy Rogers saga based on "Pride of the Navy" scribe James Webb's original story. Cooper conjures up some good dialogue. Essentially, this oater concerns corrupt officials who rule Tombstone and are doing their best to ruin a harmless old lady, Granny Carson (Zeffie Tilbury of "Camille"), who has struck it rich with a mining claim. Unfortunately, Granny cannot ship bullion to pay her taxes because evil Mayor Luke Keeler (Addison Richards of "Flying Tigers") and saloon owner A.J. Slade (Hal Taliaferro of "Ramrod"), have joined forces to compel Granny into relinquishing her claim because she cannot pay those taxes. They plan to buy her property out. Granny, however, is not inclined to accommodate as readily as Keeler and Slade want. Meantime, Keeler and Slade have another conspirator, Wells Fargo Agent John Anderson (Jay Novello of "The Wonderful Country"), who masquerades as a Mexican bandit named Joe Martinez. Brett Starr arrives in Tombstone and thwarts some men who plunder a clothing store run by Granny's daughter Mary (Elyse Knox of "The Mummy's Tomb"), and Brett takes a fancy to her. He forces the men not only to pay for the dresses they have taken but also to wear them. When Keeler and Slade hear about this encounter, they leap to the conclusion that Brett is actually Cassidy. After Brett left town, he joined up with his relatives to ride to Tombstone, and his friend Judge Gabby Whittaker (George 'Gabby' Hayes of "Blue Steel") rides along with them. During the journey, our heroes have another encounter with the slippery Cassidy. At one point, Gabby plays poker with Cassidy and loots his winnings. The notorious Cassidy tries to bushwhack Gabby in the barn, but the resourceful Gabby surprises him, whirls around in time, and wounds Cassidy. Eventually, when they reach Tombstone, Gabby runs into his own relatives. After the mayor decides to hire Brett as town marshal because he believes erroneously that Brett is Cassidy, Brett learns about Granny's predicament. When Brett tries to ride shotgun on a stagecoach with bullion, he smells an ambush and has the driver reverse the stage and return to Tombstone. During the fray, Brett catches a bullet so that he must have his hand bandaged, but so to does Martinez. "Sheriff of Tombstone" is one of those rare sagebrushers where Roy is wounded. The musical numbers don't slow down the action and each is relatively minor. As usual, Harry Woods makes an excellent villain. "Sheriff of Tombstone" is an adequate shoot'em up with good dialogue and interesting characters, particularly Jay Novello in a dual role.
Review of Sheriff of Tombstone
