Death Valley Manhunt

Marshall Wild Bill Elliot pursues a retirement of ranching after enjoying a successful career. Elliot's friend, Gabby Hayes tries to get him to go to Death Valley, where Hayes owns land used for oil drilling. Elliot declines the offer but Hayes travels to the area with his dog, Teabone. Whilst in the nearby town, Hayes speaks with his friend and fellow oil driller Tex Benson, who warns him not to come into contact with a certain Richard Quinn, the field manager of another oil extraction company who has secret attempts to sabotage smaller oil companies.

Following an attack on his well by Quinn's henchmen, Benson proceeds to steal equipment from Quinn's own well. Quinn then takes Benson to court where Judge Jim Hobart (who reluctantly works for Quinn) issues an arrest warrant for Benson. Marshall Hugh Ward is sent to arrest Benson, but ends up being killed accidentally. Quinn claims the death was a murder by Benson and has him imprisoned by Hobart.

Wild Bill Elliott stars in another fast-paced, formula-ridden western that features great stunt work displayed in an exciting Stagecoach sequence in the beginning and ends with a rousing fight sequence on an oil rig. The latter is really well-staged and is a nail biter. The bit in the middle is engaging enough, though Gabby Hayes steals the scene a bit from everyone. An enjoyable b-western.

Bill Elliott becomes a US Marshal and helps a lot of independent oil wildcatters in Death Valley Manhunt. One of them is his former sidekick Gabby Hayes.

After bringing in a notorious gang the two split up, Elliott wants to take up the peaceable life of cattle ranching, after all he's a peaceable man. Hayes decides to become an oil wildcatter, but in his area all the wildcatters are being squeezed by an unscrupulous oil company executive. When the local law is accidentally killed, Elliott is sent into the area to straighten things out.

One of the interesting aspects of Bill Elliott's screen persona is that he comes across at times like a Dudley DooRight, especially in his early films. But usually he's also working a few angles that people around him don't get to bring the bad guys down.

Anne Jeffreys is in the cast to sing Carry Me Back To Old Virginny and for love interest. That's another thing, Elliott did make no secret of the fact he liked girls in his westerns, no kissing the horse for him. Jeffreys is the niece of Judge Herbert Hayes who is in league with the villain Weldon Heyburn.

Fans of Wild Bill should be pleased with Death Valley Manhunt.