O Vale dos Bandidos

A rancher is murdered for his land, his son tries his hand at revenge until his equally untimely death, and Wild Bill Elliott, who along with his friend Gabby, is framed for the murder in the slickest bit of trickery you can imagine. They escape, join up with ranchers, try to persuade them not to become vigilantes, and bring the crooked lawyer behind it all to justice.

Hidden Valley Outlaws is another fast-paced Republic Pictures western featuring Wild Bill Elliott and Gabby Hayes. The plot is bustling as usual with some nice twist and turns. There's an interesting villain in Roy Barcroft who plays an unscrupulous landgrabbing lawyer with a penchant for butterflies. He schemes well as a good villain should but going against Wild Bill and Gabby Hayes is a difficult thing. It ends with a rambunctious fight scene on a train. Earle Hodgekins has a good role as a crook in Barcroft's employ pining for a big starring role in Chicago. He plays a fair sheriff which leads up to our two heroes getting framed for murder.

A really horrific example of Hollywood racism prevents Hidden Valley Outlaws from being a top Wild Bill Elliott western. Fred Toone was cast in this film using his 'Snowflake' character and sad to say he was integrally written into the plot. It's probably why this Elliott film is little seen today.

Because otherwise this was a pretty good western with a really crafty villain played by Roy Barcroft who is a bottom feeding shyster attorney in this film double crossing his clients.

Who are the honest ranchers in Hidden Valley and who are fighting claim jumping in the name of a 'Head Rights' disputed claim. This was an act to benefit veterans of the Civil War, presumably Union veterans who were given the rights to a quarter section of territory if unoccupied and unclaimed. These rights were bartered like money though and the claims weren't always on unoccupied land.

Which brings Wild Bill Elliott and sidekick Gabby Hayes into the picture. When Barcroft cons them by use of an itinerant actor Earle Hodgins in on his schemes that turns out to be a big mistake. You don't rile a peaceable man.

Hidden Valley Outlaws is for a B western an intricately plotted item. But it also involves using the Toone character who is a family retainer as part of Barcroft's schemes. The gullibility and slowittedness of the Snowflake persona is really quite degrading.

Still Hidden Valley Outlaws does have some originality going for it and it wouldn't rate as high as it does with me if it hadn't.