The Renegade Ranger

This is a film basically about crooked land trickery in the old west, specifically Texas in this case. Such activities historically were well documented for a time along the Rio Grande on the far south Texas border rather than so specifically the Pecos River area of Texas which was mostly just empty desert, but do form a footnote in the five hundred year history of the Spanish Colonial New World and its later ex-colonies the Republic of Mexico and Republic of Texas (later to merge into the U.S. and become a State). The colorful border atmosphere is somewhat captured in this otherwise routine western movie.

Established star and real-life American hero George O'Brien is strong in the lead role and young buck Tim Holt is an unpredictable and mercurial kid Ranger and they are both fine in their roles, ordinary as the roles may be. Veteran actors do good work in support.

But now the reason for my review of this movie: stunning young Rita Hayworth. Her beauty and screen presence jump off the screen. She has obviously got "it". Her acting is forceful and her wardrobe ranges from pretty dresses to riding clothes that do not (or cannot) constrain certain parts of her upper torso. As a side note, I could mention that she does an impressive amount of her own horsemanship in this film. And if I was a rider in her vigilante justice group I would surely follow her to hell and back. Hayworth is a young actress giving a good performance here that sets her up for the launch of her soon to be mega-stardom, and deservedly so.

OK, its only an ordinary b-western. But the film's three starring performers elevate it well above what it otherwise would be.

THE RENEGADE RANGER (1938) is a 59-minute B-western about how white expansion in Texas forced out Spanish and Mexican landowners. Rita Hayworth plays Judith Alvarez, daughter of a Spanish landowner whose land has been taken by white landgrabbers working with a corrupt sheriff. She leads a band of Spaniards and Mexicans in making attacks on the ranchers who've taken their land illegally. Tim Holt plays a frustrated ex-Texas Ranger who wholeheartedly joins Alvarez' band and helps in their efforts. He even acquires a Mexican girlfriend (Cecilia Callejo). George O'Brien plays Holt's Texas Ranger buddy who joins the gang himself, working undercover, on assignment to capture and arrest Miss Alvarez. Holt is torn between loyalty to Alvarez and her cause and his friendship with O'Brien. O'Brien gradually falls in love with Judith himself, which complicates matters even further.

This is a fascinating movie on multiple counts, not least of which is the presence of Rita Hayworth in the role of an Hispanic crusader against white depredations. Hayworth was of Spanish descent herself (real name: Margarita Carmen Cansino) and her band is cast entirely with actual Mexican actors. (The more B-westerns I see, the more I realize that appropriate ethnic casting of Mexican and Indian roles was the rule and not the exception in this genre.) Hayworth was all of 19 when she made this and she was already a great beauty, adorned in stylish western fashions that bring out the best in her. It's easy to see the roots of the glamorous movie star and pinup queen she'd become in a few short years.

Also, the whites, except for the two male stars, O'Brien and Holt, are generally bad guys here and the taking of land from its original owners is condemned. (No word though, about the souls who occupied the land before the Spaniards arrived, but that's another story.) I've seen another western with this plot recently, "California Frontier" (1938), starring Buck Jones as an army officer working undercover in California to thwart white landgrabbers taking land from Mexicans. Rita herself had co-starred in a similar western in 1936, REBELLION. I imagine that further exploration into the vast uncharted territory of the B-western will yield additional gems.

Renegade Ranger, The (1938)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

A couple Texas Rangers (George O'Brien/Tim Holt) are hired to bring in a ranch owner (Rita Hayworth) who is raging a battle against the government over land stolen from ranchers. She's painted as a murderer but really she's just acting as a Robin Hood type. Even at 60-minutes this RKO Western is deadly dull without any excitement. There are your typical fist fights and shoot outs but all of them are deadly dry as is the relationship between O'Brien and Hayworth. The only saving grace is Holt in his supporting role and Hayworth is somewhat interesting.

Sad to say if it were not for the presence of Rita Hayworth as the outlaw queen in this film, The Renegade Ranger would be sadly forgotten today. As it is it's not a bad B western from RKO and it featured the guy who would be that studio's B picture cowboy hero Tim Holt.

George O'Brien stars in The Renegade Ranger and he's gone undercover to arrest Rita Hayworth. She's the descendant of former a Spanish land grant family and she and her tenants are being cheated systematically by crooked politicians. But he's got a complication he didn't figure on. Former Texas Ranger Tim Holt who is in fact the title character has turned outlaw and has joined Hayworth. He doesn't give O'Brien away, but in fact he convinces O'Brien to start investigating the corrupt land grabbing politicians in the region.

The film is a well constructed and well plotted B film. In the Citadel Series Films of Rita Hayworth, George O'Brien said that Rita was a promising newcomer who was eager to learn and took advice and criticism well. Everyone knew she was headed for bigger and better things.

And she certainly was.

A story of the texas rangers, with western regulars george o'brien and tim holt. Twenty year old hayworth, in one of her first roles as rita hayworth; she was billed as rita cansino in most of her earlier roles. She is probably best known for "gilda". (how was she not even nominated for that role? Maybe because she was such a bad girl.) here, the rangers need to round up judith alvarez, even though she claims she was only defending her own property against a land grab. What is the truth? Who can she trust? Can she get fair treatment from the texas rangers? It's a typical western. Mostly talk for the first half of the one hour shortie. Then we head out on the horses. Even a couple of songs thrown in. It's not bad. Pretty mellow, no big surprises, but it's okay. Fun to see young miss hayworth so early on. Directed by david howard. He died young at age 45, just three years after this film!