Cheyenne Roundup

Okay oater-- lots of hard riding and gunplay, along with a final big brawl. But don't expect much scenery since the shoot never leaves greater LA. The plot's more complex than most, Brown getting to play two parts as identical twins. Seems good guy Brown (Buck) is helping clean up boomtown that bad guy Brown (Gils) has helped corrupt—so keep a scorecard to tell them apart. Meanwhile Ritter's ace Sheriff is brought in to help. And guess what—there's Fuzzy Knight for comic relief gargling out what may be the worst song in oater annals. Good thing Jimmy Wakely's Trio is on hand to get back my ears. No, no fan of these matinees follows them for logic. I mean catch all the shooting where no one aims and horses never go down no matter how big the fusillade. After all, we front-row kids would have stormed the screen over a dead horse. And I guess this now front-row geezer would still storm the screen, TV, that is. Anyhow, it's an okay time-passer without being anything special.

This story is, at first, confusing. After all, you see that Gils and his friends are wicked crooks....and Gils is played by Johnny Mack Brown! Now this is crazy, as Brown ALWAYS played the hero. Well, here's how they get away with this. It seems that the evil Gils is just a twin...and his identical twin Buck is good and honorable! And, Buck pretends to be his brother in order to clean up the town of El Dorado and make it fit for settlers.

So is this any good? Yes. Like several of Brown's films he made for Universal, he's assisted by Tex Ritter and Fuzzy Knight and the film is enjoyable...albeit strange with the whole twin angle. Worth seeing...a decent B-western.

A gang of outlaws takes over El Dorado, a ghost town, just before gold is rediscovered there. With the boom comes easy money for Gils Brandon and his henchmen. Meanwhile, vigilantes, seeking to curb the lawlessness of the town, offers the job of Marshal to Steve Rawlins. On the day that Gil's fiancée, Ellen Randall, arrives in town, Gil is shot when he makes an attack on the new Marshal. Discovered in a dying condition by his twin brother, Buck Brandon, Gil regrets his outlaw past and asks Buck to make El Dorado a decent place. Steve learns of the relationship and enlists the aid of Buck in cleaning up the town.

Cheyenne Roundup is a fun western, a little farfetched with a twin angle but I actually liked that aspect, especially when we get to see Johnny Mack Brown as a bad guy, at least for the first half before his brother takes over as a good guy in the guise of his bad brother in order to tame the town, with the help of Tex Ritter. Yes it's fairly convoluted but all the fun for it. Then there's some good humour from Fuzzy knight who, in the beginning, is a storekeeper, sheriff and judge all rolled into one as the sole person in a ghost town, that's before the bad Johnny Mack brown and his pards take over, reinstating the ghost town into a thriving town. Quite plot driven than the usual shoot em up B oater and ends with a lively shootout and brawl.

This western has it all .Top stars,production values,and plot.Johnny Mack Brown plays a dual role of twin brothers,one good and one bad, Gils and Buck Brandon.The plot opens with Gils being run out of town by Marshall Tex Ritter Gils vows that someday he will return to take care of Ritter. Later Gils and his gang,Roy Barcroft,Robert Barron and Harry Woods come across a ghost town,gold is discovered, and the three become rich. Gils sends for his girlfriend Jennifer Holt.Before they can marry,Gils sets out to fulfill his promise to kill Ritter.To reveal more of the plot would take away the suspense of watching this very good B western.Brown and Ritter handle the fights,riding and gun play in fine fashion,William Sickner lenses with a sharp eye for detail and Hans Salter provides a score that perfectly compliments the on screen action.Elmer Clifton directs the cast with a sure hand. Three big stars.

Johnny Mack Brown comes out west to meet up with his identical twin brother, Johnny Mack Brown, only for them to find one of them is dying. So Brown goes undercover as himself with the gang who -- I almost wrote 'what' there -- shot him, breaks off his engagement with Jennifer Holt, and runs Tex Ritter to get the rascals out.

I hope that's as clear as mud. It's better than I've misdescribed it, and under Ray Taylor's direction, moves along at a good clip: just under an hour. Universal could turn them out with a bit of gloss, and this one has it.