Guns of the Law

This is the 11th 'Texas Ranger' film from the PRC series. Like Republic with its 'Mequiteer' films and Monogram with its 'Range Buster' and 'Rough Rider' films, tiny PRC also did series westerns with the Texas Rangers, which consisted of Dave O'Brien, James Newell and Guy Wilkerson.

In this installment, new surveys are suddenly showing that a lot of folks will be losing land. Now a small mistake is one thing, but the old and new surveys weren't at all the same....and the Rangers investigate. They do so by aiding an addle-brained old man and his daughter.

This film is very simple and straight-forward....providing a nice script, decent acting and some nice singing. My wife, who hates these old B-westerns even commented about how nice the singing was! I was rather blown away by the film, as PRC productions usually are crap....but this one was worth my time. So much so that I think I'll try some other entries in this series.

The tough as nails surveyor (Jack Ingram) is switching the stakes and bringing the villains to bear on the unsuspecting ranchers. Bud Buster isn't having any of it, "the judge will hear about you scallywags it's a confounded outrage". Unbeknownst to him, General Jones has been dead 10 years and Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson) doesn't have the heart to tell him. To add to his problems, his good friend and attorney Kendall Lowther (Charles King) may be playing for the other team. Three Texas Rangers are on the case and that may not be enough. James Newill proves he's one of the best singing cowboys in the business and Dave O'Brien does a great job before his comedy writing days. Jennifer Holt as Lillian Wilkins Bob Kortman as Joe Hyslop round out a solid western cast.

That weaponry belonging to Dave O'Brien, James Newill, and Guy Wilkerson are the Guns Of The Law referred to in the title. The three are Texas Rangers and in this film of the PRC series they are responding to some crooked surveying that is throwing a lot of honest ranchers off their land.

The call for help came from Budd Buster and Jennifer Holt, father and daughter owners of a small ranch and Buster was at one time Guy Wilkerson's commanding officer in the Confederate army. But he's gone a bit soft in the head and to put him at ease, Wilkerson wears his old Confederate uniform throughout the picture.

B westerns sometimes had a populist tinge to them and Guns Of The Law definitely fits in that category. For villains we get a crooked surveyor and a crooked lawyer behind him. But they get taken care of in the usual cowboy way.

PRC was a poverty row studio so don't expect much. Still it's OK entertainment then and now for a Saturday matinée.