The Red Rope

The Red Rope has Bob Steele getting ready to marry Lois January, but he finds out quite abruptly that he's come to the attention of a notorious outlaw called "The Rattler". For some reason Steele has got the Rattler to bare his fangs as he's made it known that Steele has his name on one of the Rattler's bullets.

The mystery here is just why has The Rattler got it in for Steele. Bob is relatively new to the area, arriving a few years earlier and not talking about his past. In addition there's another neighboring rancher who may like to marry January.

Lew Meehan is the Rattler and Karl Hackett is the disappointed suitor. One interesting character is the sharp shooting parson who is supposed to marry Steele and January. Forrest Taylor is the preacher with the quick trigger finger. More should have been done with him.

Steele also escapes from the outlaw's clutches in an incredibly stupid way from the outlaw point of view.

All in all The Red Rope is a sub par B western.

Rattler Haynes' (Lew Meehan) gang is gunning for Bob Steele. But Steele makes it interesting with his athleticism and ability to do his own stunts. Of course there's a great fight scene with Charles King. Stage veteran Forrest Taylor is great as Parson Pete and western favorite Lois January is an expert with horses but didn't get to show her riding skills in this one. Bobby Nelson put in a spirited performance as the kid who's at Steele's side. Frank Ball as Pop Duncan puts in another fine performance as the father of the bride. Great 'cat and mouse' action as Bob Steele is caught in the crossfire.

Grant Brade is in debt to John Duncan. Brade plans to eliminate that debt by marrying Duncan's daughter, Betty. But SHE wants Tom Shaw to be her husband. So Brade hires Rattler Haynes and company to stop the weddin' and kill Shaw, who, however, intercepts a note from Brade to Haynes, and tears it in such a way as to make the Haynes gang go gunnin' for Brade's. This film also introduces us to Pastor Pete, who ain't afraida nobody; and Betty's kid brother, Jimmy, who's good at bein' in somebody's face. An example of dialogue and unreality of movement that typifies many movies of the 1930s.

Bob Steele is about to be married to Lois January, but Lew Meehan and his gang of outlaws have the ranch blockaded. Only fighting preacher Forrest Taylor (who has the best role in the movie) is willing to defy them. Bob can't figure out why, so he decides he'll tackle the whole gang on his lonesome.

When Republic began backing Bob Steele's B westerns and his father left for Monogram, Bob was on his own, and it was good and bad. The writing averaged a lot better than the scripts his father turned out -- this one was by George H. Plympton from a story by Johnston McCulley, and you can't have better cinematic pulp than that! Likewise, the production values were better.

On the other hand, the stories were no longer written to show off Bob's athletic and acrobatic skills. In this one, he doesn't mount his horse eccentrically, he doesn't punch anyone until forty-six minutes into the movie, and the big fight at the end has the good guys riding in to save him!

B Westerns had their stars, just as surely as the major studios did, and the best of them were star vehicles, written to the strengths of their stars. This one may be a good B Western, but it is a generic B Western, that any youngish actor who could ride a horse could lead. As glad as I am to see Bob Steele in a Western, I'd prefer to see him in a Bob Steele Western, and this isn't one.