Pirates of the Prairie

Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Holt is sent to a part of Texas where a committee of vigilantes rule the roost. They've had a kind of unofficial sanction to operate in the area as there is no regularly constituted law. But there've been complaints of late so Tim is asked to investigate and put them out of business if necessary.

It sure is necessary all right. Western villain Roy Barcroft has taken over the vigilantes to use in a scheme to get land for a railroad depot and right-of-way.

For a bunch of films that Holt made at this time for RKO where he was their B western cowboy star, he had for a sidekick Cliff 'Ukelele Ike' Edwards. Note that in several films in this time period before Holt went to war, Edwards was used. He was a big singing star in the twenties whose career was on the skids until Walt Disney used him as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio. Edwards was the voice behind When You Wish Upon A Star, the Academy Award winning song of 1940. He then settled back into doing B films and lower for the rest of his film career. After Holt got out of the service he used Richard Martin as Chito Rafferty, his most famous sidekick.

Tim Holt always had straight forward B westerns with no subtle shadings of gray in the characters. This one is no different.

This Tim Holt western is a remake of the 1940 LEGION OF THE LAWLESS, starring George O'Brien, Holt's predecessor as RKO's leading B western star. The plot is a good one, about Tim Holt being sent to deal with the vigilantes who are ruining the town, and Cliff Edwards (best known today as the voice of Jiminy Cricket) is on hand for comic relief and the occasional song. Holt is still a little callow for the lead in a western, but he has a few good moments and the gloss of good writing, some nice photography by Nick Musuraca and post production carry it along for the hour that it takes.

The westerns were the most conservative of movies and it shows in the occasional iris cuts. But some of that may be laid at the feet of director Breatherton, who directed B movies, mostly westerns, for a quarter of a century and who started out as an editor -- the ability to 'cut in the camera' led to an efficiently shot production. The result here is a fairly attractive western for fans of the genre.

Holt was in Ambersons that year and later Sierra Madre. Not a problem that he was maybe the best of a certain type in that era. He used the freedom given in these B westerns to make some magic. This is about the sacredness of the badge. This has beautiful photography with a flawless print. Ike is a big plus here particularly with his remarkable singing. Without the horses this is nothing. The task of bringing law to the lawless led seamlessly to the message at the end to buy war bonds. Readily apparent is the reason for the B's: that democracy requires defending, vulnerable to the enemies of its future.

Tim Holt, as Deputy Marshal Larry Durant, is sent to Spencerville where a gang of vigilantes has been terrorizing the citizenry. Going undercover as a gunsmith, Larry quickly learns that the leader of the vigilantes, John Spencer (John Elliott), is an honest man who only seeks to establish law and order. The real brains behind the crimes, meanwhile, are revealed to be Spencer's brother-in-law, Lou Harmon (Roy Barcroft), and his chief henchman, Leighton (Charles King), who speculate in the coming of the railroad by forcing the townspeople to relinquish their land.

Pirates of the Prairie is a quality b-western that has an intriguing subject - vigilantes and rail road - and mixes action, humour and drama really well. It's quite engaging and well-plotted. Tim Holt is great as always and he's got a good sidekick in Cliff Edwards, who sings a couple of songs. Roy Barcroft, of course, plays the heavy.