Tom Tyler is ready to sell his ranch somewhere south of the border, and has the deal in hand when J. P. McGowan and his henchmen gun him down in his son's arms and take it, the money too. Some years later, the son, likewise grown up to be Tom Tyler -- if only we all could -- is trail bossing his herd down that way. He encounters McGowan and his cohort, as well as McGowan's nice niece, Natalie Joyce.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this B western. Not that I didn't think Tyler could act; I knew he could. But McGowan's directorial work would take a sharp downturn in the sound era, and the producer was W. Ray Johnston, best remembered for being one of the two partners of Monogram Films. But this was still the silent days, when costs were low, the script by Sally Winters, although not novel, is well thought out, Hap Depew is the cameraman, and editor Charles Hunt keeps the cuts close enough together that you're not left wondering when they're going to get on with it.
More than that, the print was sharp and clean. Oh, one of the five reels was missing, but the images were lovely, with only a few transitory scratches. I've grown too accustomed, alas, to looking at B movies as late as 1935 in which the hero in the big white hat walks across a blotchy landscape to open a door and close it behind him. What a pleasure to watch a movie where the actors can act, the cameraman's images are there on the screen as he meant them to be, and the editor keeps the pace moving along!
I've noticed this in other Gower Gulch productions from the silent era: they were definitely comparable to the majors. It was when they had to spend more money on sound equipment that the quality tanked. So take a look at what they could do way back when with a competent cast and crew.
Oh, yes: this being an Undercrank Production, accompanist Ben Model pulled out the Miditzer and gave us one of his typically graceful organ scores. That's more than you would have gotten in a small-town neighborhood theater on a weekend matinee!
