Valley of Wanted Men

LeRoy Mason, Russell Hopton and Paul Fix escape from State prison. With everyone after them, they head to Mason's home town. He insists he was framed for the money he stole from the bank he had been working for. Only two maybe believe him: Frankie Darro, his pal, and Drue Layton, Frankie's sister and Mason's ex-fiancee.... maybe. It was their father's bank.

What their father thinks is not mentioned. He doesn't even show up in this movie based on a Peter Kyne story. Kyne was both a prolific writer and a source for a great many movies, well over a hundred at last count. The best-known work based on his writing is THREE GODFATHERS.

It's shot in some beautiful scenery, full of woods and mountains by cameraman Arthur Reed, and directed by Alan James, usually a western specialist. I notice that former Hal Roach cameraman Len Powers is shown as production manager. Perhaps he had a hand in choosing the location.

There are some good performances here (by Mason in particular, and Grant Withers as a ranger), some standard ones (Darro is still playing the juvenile), and there are clear signs of padding: Al Bridge is handcuffed to a tree and he and Frank Rice spend a lot of screen time getting him free. However the story and camerawork are good enough to sustain the movie in spite of the usual Gower Gulch peccadilloes.

There's a manhunt on for three escaped convicts who are after some stolen bank loot after busting out of prison. Paul Fix and Russell Hopton are in on the robbery, but the authorities made a mistake in identifying the inside man and LeRoy Mason who was a cashier was arrested. Little does he realize that it was the bank manager himself Walter Miller who was the inside man and he's hidden the loot. The other two want to take it and run, Mason wants to prove his innocence.

Fortunately for Mason who usually graced many a B western as a villain, he has young junior Forest Ranger Frankie Darro on his side. In the end all is righted.

Why two men who did the job and who know who the boss was would want to escape with Mason who was framed is but one of the problems with this muddled story. It's a poverty row job from something called Conn Pictures so we start with low expectations.

And they are fulfilled.

The career of Frankie Darro is a bit of an enigma. Frankie was a very small guy and looked much younger than he actually was...and certainly didn't look like leading man material. Yet, despite this, he starred in a lot of mostly B-movies in the 1930s and into the 40s. "Valley of Wanted Men" is one of his starring vehicles....though I think the real star was LeRoy Mason, as he had the lion's share of time on screen...though who ever heard of LeRoy Mason?!

The story begins with a brutal prison escape. Dozens of prisoners are running about the prison yard...and getting mowed down right and left by the guards. Somehow three manage to escape--and Doyle (Mason) leads them back to his home territory. Why? Because Doyle insists he was framed and is an innocent man...and he aims to prove it. His 'pal' Dexter apparently set him up to take the fall for a robbery...and he intends to prove his innocence. But his other two associates are not so interested in anything but saving their butts and getting rich...and Doyle constantly needs to be on guard against these 'friends'. The only one who will help Doyle in this is Slivers (Darro)....as he never gave up his faith in Doyle and his innocence. What's next during this manhunt? See the film.

This film is pretty much what you'd expect from a Darro film--a decent amount of action, some punching and a happy ending. Not an especially deep film but one that apparently satisfied a lot of 1930s viewers....and harmless entertainment today.