Desperate Trails

A sheriff (Russell Simpson) is desperate to get his hands on money being transported on the stagecoach and he's desperate to rustle cattle; and he's desperate to push a lovely lady (Frances Robinson) off her ranch. To counter the schemes of this corrupt man wearing a badge, a territory marshal has just sent a federal agent to clean things up. Que; Johnny Mack Brown as the agent, who instantly tackles rustlers, saves Frances from a tampered wagon with no brakes and the crooked sheriff.

The action in this 1939 western is quite exciting: in one sequence, the hero shoots at a gang of outlaws, one-handed, with a repeating rifle, never missing his target! There's some good stunt work featuring two guys falling off their horse via their loosened saddle and a rope. There's some romance and some decent comic shenanigans by Fuzzy Knight. But it's Russell Simpson as the crooked sheriff who steals the scene. However, his choice of hired henchmen is poor. They are quite useless.

The set-up for this Johnny Mack Brown western is pretty standard for old B-movies. Some rustling has been going on and the local sheriff seems powerless to stop it...though in reality it's because the sheriff is corrupt and is behind all the crime. SO the government sends a federal agent to investigate and Steve (Brown) poses as an ordinary guy, not a federal marshal. During the course of the film, Steve does a lot to bring law and order to the town and figure out who's behind all the monkey business.

The casting of Russell Simpson as the sheriff is a bit unusual. Simpson was a frequent supporting actor in these films but usually played good guys. On hand as the sheriff's co-conspirator is the skeletal Clarence Wilson, who often does play old sourpusses and corrupt types. On the good guy side, Fuzzy Knight is on hand and does a fine job...mostly because he doesn't use his all too familiar stuttering bit. Bob Baker is also there, mostly to look pretty and sing a few tunes.

So is this any good? Considering it's Johnny Mack Brown, you expect it to be very good. His laid back, easy-going style is quite the contrast to most B-western heroes and it makes for a nice little B. Well worth seeing even if the plot is very familiar.