User Reviews

***SPOILERS*** Given a job by the US Justice Department to go undercover to uncover what's behind Lou Rankin's, John Miljan, horse trading business cowboy Jim Gallaway, George O'Brien, puts on an act as being disgruntled with his boss cattleman Matt Rathburn, Hugh Sothern, by jumping ship and throwing his lot in, as his foreman, with Rankin. It's in fact Rathburn who got orders from the Justice Department to get the goods on the Rankin and his mob and is using Gallaway to do the job for him.

Rankin's ace in the hold is his getting the state, Texas, Senator's son the love sick Leslie Holden, William Stilling, to sign up with his criminal operation in Leslie falling for Rankin's partner and gun moll Rita Browning, Rita LaRoy. Rankin plans using his signed contract to blackmail both Leslie and his dad if he ever decided to back out on the deal. It's only Leslie's head strong kid sister Betty, Laraine Day, who sees through Rankin and Rita's sham but it's now too late, with her brother planning to marry Rita, to get Leslie to smell the coffee,the deal he made with Rankin, before it turns stale!

Gallaway making up for lost time gets to work on Rankin by whipping his motley crew of ex-convicts and fugitives from he law into shape as horse breakers to win over his bosses, Rankin, confidence. He also gets to work on Rita by sweeping her off her feet with his cowboy charm thus showing Leslie, who from afar, watched Gallaway in action and realized that Rita was two timing him! What Gallaway found out is that Rankin was in he process of violating the US Neutrality Act by secretly planning to ship horses as well as guns and ammunition to some South American rebels who were planning to overthrow their democratically elected government!

It's when Gallaway's cover was blown that the action in the movie really started to pick up. Getting captured together with Leslie, who finally came to his senses, by the Rankin gang he escaped from his captors and held off the Rankin gang until help in the person of Sheriff Clemens, Bob Burns, and his posses arrived. This prevented Rakin from getting both the horses and guns on board the steamship San Carlos that was anchored off shore and ready to ship them to the rebels in South America.

***SPOILERS*** Knowing that the jig was up and trying to makes his escape from the law by getting on board the San Carlos, by rowboat, Rankin's escape plan was foiled by Gallaway in his lassoing the rascal before he could get out of harms, or lassoes, way.

If it's not the color of their suit, it's their mustache or their hat. The hat has almost a droopy look, not proud and erect, and for calculating rancher John Miljan, he's the operator of a smuggling ring, wearing a droopy hat. This B western (with a modern setting) has federal agent George O'Brien (RKO's go to guy for B westerns prior to Tim Holt) going undercover to get the goods on Miljan, joining his gang, and helping out William Stelling whose signature on papers Miljan has could have him framed as well.

Future "Dr. Kildare " co-star Laraine Day is sparkling here as the heroine, with Rita La Roy the alluring femne fatale. The story moves fast, isn't taxing on the brain, and includes a few musical bits as well, sung by Ray Whitley and his band. These B westerns are usually never more than competent, really don't have any surprises and always end with the good guy winning and the bad guy either taken away in cuffs or a body bag. But as long as the studio ranch out in the middle of the San Fernando Valley was disguised and dressed up differently, audiences didn't care. It serves its purpose, so in this case, it's a good sturdy saddle that Gene Autry would soon be crooning himself.