"ACE OF ALL COWBOY HEROES! See him PROVE that at scrappin', fightin' and shootin' he can take on all comers and make 'em eat dust!"02 April 1943Western58 mins
The first of a long-running series of Monogram-produced westerns starring Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton that replaced the Rough Riders series following the death of Buck Jones in the Boston night club fire. Though the next three years featured Brown (as Nevada Jack McKenzie) and Hatton (in his Sandy Hopkins role from the Rough Riders series) as undercover marshals in some form or another, this initial entry had Brown as a lone rider seeking vengeance and he and Hatton's characters were unknown to each other through most of the film. Hopkins offer McKenzie a marshal's job at the end of the film, which the Brown character declined and rode off alone on his quest. This quest didn't take long as by the next film in the series Nevada Jack McKenzie was a full-fledged U. S. Marshal.
Tom Evans (Jon Dawson), nephew of U.S. Marshal Sandy Hopkins (Raymond Hatton), has just trailed his cattle to Yucca City, where he intends to sell to Ben Crowley (Harry Woods), owner of practically everything in town.
Bart Morgan controls the town of Cactus City and is keeping all men away from Jane Rankin. When Johnny Day arrives and takes an interest in Jane, Morgan tries to kick him out.
Riders of the Dusk is another of Monogram's formula Whip Wilson westerns. Since the studio couldn't build an entire film around Wilson's bullwhip prowess, a plot was called for.
Taylor's men are robbing incoming supply wagons to enable Taylor to sell goods at inflated prices. The Vigilantes led by Frank Jackson are doing the same so the ranchers won't starve.
With the railroad coming, Nixon is after the ranchers land. Using a stooge land agent, his method is to claim the person they bought their ranches from never had title to the land and their deeds are worthless.
Dan Ballard, a respected citizen in the western town of Silver Lode, has his wedding interrupted by four men led by Ned McCarty, an old acquaintance who, as a US Marshal, arrests Ballard for the murder of his brother and the theft of $20,000.
Caroline Bird, the crotchety and stingy owner of Bird Milk Products, is not amused when her employees at the Dairyville factory, the oldest plant in the company, broadcast a special radio program in honor of her birthday.
A wild playboy is framed by crooks for a robbery he didn't commit and eventually lands in prison. There he becomes pals with the prison's most hardened criminal, who plans a daring escape.
Cagney is a human dynamo as a drifter who helps save ailing Grace George from losing her newspaper. The pace is fast, and audiences of all ages will be pleased.
British-born David T. Bamberg was a magician who went by the stage name of Fu Manchu. He was so popular in Mexico and South America that he was given the opportunity to star in a series of crime / horror / mystery films between 1943 and 1949.
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