Ghost Town Law

In the 1930s, Buck Jones and Tim McCoy both starred in a variety of low-budget westerns. However, in the late 1930s Monogram Studios had an idea--put both these stars (plus Raymond Hatton) in a series of films to increase their drawing power. Their Rough Rider films are generally quite good for the genre, though they are also rather cheap B-movies nevertheless. The series ended, however, when Jones was tragically killed in a nightclub fire in 1942...making this one of the last entries in the series.

The film begins with two lawmen being murdered while they're on the trail of a crook. Why the two men were killed in this ghost town and why there's a tunnel under the place...these are things the viewer will have to learn through the course of the film.

The two Marshalls happened to be friends with Marshall Tim McCall (McCoy) and he's determined to investigate. Since this IS a Rough Riders film, you know that sooner or later Buck Jones and Raymond Hatton will arrive soon...and they play Marshalls Buck Roberts and Sandy Hopkins. And, as usual, they arrive separately and the pair are in disguise.

The film is pretty much what you'd expect and will see in other Rough Riders films...nothing brilliant but an enjoyable and competent B-movie.

"Ghost Town Law" was part of Monogram's Rough Rider series starring Buck Jones, Tim McCoy and Raymond Hatton playing undercover marshals. It is, in my opinion, one of the best of the series.

Two federal Marshals are murdered in a ghost town by an outlaw gang. Marshal Tim McCall (McCoy) is called in. He vows to avenge their deaths and calls in his partners, Buck Roberts (Jones) and Sandy "Killer" Hopkins (Hatton). The gang, headed by Ace (Tom London) and Gus (Charles King) are hiding out in an old gold mine which runs under the old town.

Heroine Josie Hall (Virginia Carpenter) arrives to find out what has happened to her brother and her aunt. She insists on going to her aunt's creepy old house with McCall where they meet Judge Crail (Murdock MacQuarrie) and Tom Cook (Howard Masters), the foreman of her aunt's ranch. Roberts arrives on the scene posing as a miner lost in the desert and feigning amnesia. He also has saddle bags full of gold. Sandy, meanwhile, has befriended an old prospector, Luke Martin (Milburn Morante).

Josie gets Luke to take her down into the mine where they are captured by Ace and the boys. As the Rough Riders close in on the bandits, they learn that they have a leader who is the brains behind them and.....................................................

This film has a little more action than most in the series. In addition to the creepy setting, there is a dandy fight between Jones and Charlie King (rare for this series). It's also unusual in that there are several cold blooded murders and references to same. As Ace says to Josie referring to her brother: "Oh he's buried out in the desert somewhere". There's the usual shooting the guns out of the outlaw's hands but the boys also appear to kill some of the bad guys. It was a mystery to me why the bad guys had to wear masks when they went up into the town. Who would recognize them in any event?

The chemistry between the three stars is what raised this trio above the other trigger trios of the day.

Even though this movie had all the requirements of a typical B Western, the only problem is it actually had a plot that was interesting. The movie had poor editing, poor sound and poor picture quality, all that was expected from this type of western. But the story and the actors were actually very good and the action was topnotch. Buck Jones, who is known for doing all of his stunts, made this action western believable and exciting.

The story involves two US Marshals being killed and in response they sent Marshal Roberts (Buck Jones) and Marshal McCall (Tim McCoy) to find the persons responsible for the murders. Along the way they run into a gang of roughs that are taking advantage of the law and it is up to the Marshals to put a stop to the high jinks. They even throw in a beautiful girl to make the story complete.

A well performed B western movie. Was not expecting much from the film but was pleasantly surprised with the fifth installment of the Rough Riders series.

And as the movie comes to a close and the music begins, it takes me back to the days as a youth watching Saturday Matinees at the local theater and loving every moment of the experience.

When two of their Marshal friends are killed, the Rough Riders are sent to investigate. They have to find the killers in a ghost town where the houses and an old mine are interconnected by secret passages and tunnels.

Ghost town, creepy house, creepy injun servant, eyes peering through the curtain, passageways and silhouette in the window - these things you find in Ghost Town law, an interesting western due to the atmosphere- there's a little sense of clarity to what's happening ( to be fair, that's down to the crackly audio and faded picture quality of the copy I had seen) but it gets better as it goes along. Has some good fights, rambunctious action and the real villain gets revealed. The set pieces - the ghost town and mansion is well done.

I found this about as good as "B" westerns get. Buck Jones and Tim McCoy made a superb team, with Raymond Hatton as solid support. It was fun to see cowboys who really were at home on a horse. These old westerns might have been simple, but the men who made them were often from the west and it shows in all sorts of little things, from the way they handle the dialog and behave around the the ladies to the way they mount and sit a horse. Such things go beyond acting and give these vintage horse operas a flavor that later, more prestigious, films simply could not match. The plot wasted no time on side issues, and the fact that the three Rough Riders were United States Marshals doing their duty made for clean and straightforward motivation, with the villains forceful and the action fast and furious. I found it fun all the way and would highly recommend it to fans of old westerns or to anyone who might be interested in why they were once so popular.