Miss Jones versus Brace Stevens.
Back in the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood apparently thought having stuttering guys in films (most often westerns) was a funny gimmick...sort of like having Porky Pig come to life. However, I have always hated this...not just because it's offensive but because it seemed like a cheap and unfunny way to elicit laughs. Often Roscoe Ates had this schtick but here in "Guns in the Dark", Syd Saylor played Oscar the stuttering idiot. It alone is a big reason I wasn't impressed by this film...which is a shame as I often love Johnny Mack Brown's films.
When the story begins, Johnny (Brown) and his partner are in northern Mexico and are planning to return to the States in the morning. They stop in a cantina and meet Oscar, a down and out knucklehead who has lost at poker. Feeling sorry for him, Brown joins the game and starts winning big...and hopes to give at least some of the winnings to Oscar. But soon, Mendez joins the game and it's obvious he's a ringer intending on cheating to get the money back. Soon, when it appears as if Brown's won another hand, the lights go out and shots ring out...and Johnny's partner is apparently dead. Johnny beats it back over the border. Not surprisingly, soon Mendez arrives and Johnny has trouble all over again...and sadly his only support is the annoying Oscar.
So despite the stuttering, is the film any good? Yes, it is. Brown is his usual agreeable sort of cowboy and the big fight at the end is pretty funny. Nice...I just hated the stuttering even if there supposedly was a good reason for it (as you learn at the end).
By the way, it is funny that when the film begins, Johnny's partner suggests they pick up a third friend and dub themselves 'the Three Mesquiteers'. The Three Mesquiteers was a B-western series begun by Republic the year before!