Whip Wilson, Fuzzy Knight, Jim Bannon (themselves), Lane Bradford (Utah), Christine McIntyre (Spangles Calhoun), Stanley Price (Meade), Marshall Reed (sheriff), Zon Murray (Mike), Leonard Penn (Taggart), John L. Cason, Kenne Duncan (henchmen), William Fawcett (bartender), Ray Jones, Jack O'Shea.
Director: THOMAS CARR. Screenplay: Harry L. Fraser ("Clint Johnson"). Photography: Ernest Miller. Film editor: Sam Fields. Music: Raoul Kraushaar. Art director: Fred Preble. Set decorator: Harry Reif. Dialogue director: Stanley Price. Set continuity: Mary Chaffee. Assistant director: Melville Shyer. Sound recording: Charles Cooper. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Vincent M. Fennelly. A Frontier Pictures production for Monogram. Copyright 9 September 1951 by Monogram Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 3 April 1951. No U.K. or Australian theatrical release. 58 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A U.S. marshal traps a gang of murderers that capture and kill outlaws in order to collect the reward money.
COMMENT: Weak Whip Wilson western. It starts promisingly with some ingeniously edited and atmospherically paced establishing scenes (although the plot is obviously derived from a Wild Bill Elliott western also directed by Thomas Carr), but on the entrance of Wilson himself (a stocky, balding, unattractive lead man with as much personality as a cheap but overworked dentist) interest deteriorates rapidly.
The rest of the cast has almost nothing to recommend it either. Christine McIntyre is an old bat and the lead villain is as dull as dishwater. His henchmen, played by Lane Bradford and some unknown, are a mite more interesting, whilst Jim Bannon does okay as the second lead (he looks and acts a bit like Wild Bill Elliott) and Fuzzy Knight is his usual self (though at least his "comedy" isn't so broad as usual — it's just plain dull).
Action is kept to a minimum and Wilson uses his whip only once — to unseat the villain from his horse at the climax (and then with just about one punch he knocks him out).
The rest of the film is filled with the most trite and clichéd dialogue ("You'd better have something real interesting to say, stranger") shot almost entirely in the same cramped set.
Production values are less than minimal ("The drinks are on the house!" the hostess exclaims after a tame fight scene, at which there is a stampede to the bar comprised of precisely two persons!)
Carr's direction after the first few minutes is steadfastly routine. Some of the exteriors are not badly composed, however, and some effort has obviously been made to make the best of the locations.
But the plot is too familiar, the action too infrequent and too tame, plus the added handicap of the unattractive and unappealing Mr. Wilson.
Director: THOMAS CARR. Screenplay: Harry L. Fraser ("Clint Johnson"). Photography: Ernest Miller. Film editor: Sam Fields. Music: Raoul Kraushaar. Art director: Fred Preble. Set decorator: Harry Reif. Dialogue director: Stanley Price. Set continuity: Mary Chaffee. Assistant director: Melville Shyer. Sound recording: Charles Cooper. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Vincent M. Fennelly. A Frontier Pictures production for Monogram. Copyright 9 September 1951 by Monogram Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 3 April 1951. No U.K. or Australian theatrical release. 58 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A U.S. marshal traps a gang of murderers that capture and kill outlaws in order to collect the reward money.
COMMENT: Weak Whip Wilson western. It starts promisingly with some ingeniously edited and atmospherically paced establishing scenes (although the plot is obviously derived from a Wild Bill Elliott western also directed by Thomas Carr), but on the entrance of Wilson himself (a stocky, balding, unattractive lead man with as much personality as a cheap but overworked dentist) interest deteriorates rapidly.
The rest of the cast has almost nothing to recommend it either. Christine McIntyre is an old bat and the lead villain is as dull as dishwater. His henchmen, played by Lane Bradford and some unknown, are a mite more interesting, whilst Jim Bannon does okay as the second lead (he looks and acts a bit like Wild Bill Elliott) and Fuzzy Knight is his usual self (though at least his "comedy" isn't so broad as usual — it's just plain dull).
Action is kept to a minimum and Wilson uses his whip only once — to unseat the villain from his horse at the climax (and then with just about one punch he knocks him out).
The rest of the film is filled with the most trite and clichéd dialogue ("You'd better have something real interesting to say, stranger") shot almost entirely in the same cramped set.
Production values are less than minimal ("The drinks are on the house!" the hostess exclaims after a tame fight scene, at which there is a stampede to the bar comprised of precisely two persons!)
Carr's direction after the first few minutes is steadfastly routine. Some of the exteriors are not badly composed, however, and some effort has obviously been made to make the best of the locations.
But the plot is too familiar, the action too infrequent and too tame, plus the added handicap of the unattractive and unappealing Mr. Wilson.
