The Renegade Ranger

Texas Ranger Jack Steele is assigned to bring in former ranch owner Judith Alvarez, now the leader of a gang who is waging war against the crooked government official who cheated the ranchers out of their land. Steele is determined to bring her in as she still breaking the law, though deep down he knows she's in the right, but Larry, an ex-Ranger, who is part of Judith's gang, is trying persuade him not to hand her in to the authorities as the law is ruled by the crooked official.

George O' Brien stars in the renegade Ranger, a decent western with the usual well-tread formula, but the fast-pace, a striking Rita Hayworth and Tim Holt who oozes charisma and a well-structured plot keep it 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.

Too bad that George O'Brien is largely forgotten among front row kids. He may not have the charisma nor singing voice of a Rogers or LaRue, but his burly physique is perfect for action roles. Here it's really Holt who has the eye-catching charisma. No wonder he was soon featured in his own series. Of course, the chief attraction is Rita Hayworth before her career took off. She's certainly a striking presence, but for curiosity seekers like myself, it's hard to tell with that hat on whether this was before or after her hairline was raised. It certainly made a difference in appearance. Check out Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935) for a revealing glimpse.

The programmer itself has a couple of good plot twists— a tricky ex-Ranger Holt with a wobbly moral compass, and a misled Ranger O'Brien who chases after the wrong gang. The plot's also driven by a conflict between Latinos whose land ownership derives from Spanish land grants and a ruthless frontier land-grabber who wants to scheme the land away from them. Conflict over Spanish land authority is an interesting historical twist I never really thought about. On the other hand, I've got to agree with another reviewer who finds the action scenes foreshortened and not very exciting. Anyway, it's the thoughtful storyline, along with Holt and Hayworth that make this oater worth sticking around for.

A "6" on the matinée scale

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.

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!