It's been five years since sheriff Tex Haines (Tex Ritter) hung up his guns in the town of Red Rock after sending the Kern gang to jail. Now the Kerns are back with a vengeance, arriving with guns blazing in a rousing opener with the intention of forcing the men of the town to work in their local gold mines.
Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson formed a Western cowboy trio of the Forties that went by the name of the Texas Rangers. In this story, the boys swear in the local ranchers as territorial Rangers, but once they get their assignments, they operate almost like a vigilante committee. Their first order of business is to blow up the mines, and with the Kern Gang on the defensive, make their attack in a final showdown to put down the bad guys for good.
In any other B Western, the plot would have been fairly typical, but it's Ritter's rousing reference to the country's forefathers and their defense of freedom and liberty that strikes the viewer as being something just a bit different. Released in September of 1944 just a few months after America's landing on the beaches of Normandy in World War II, this film was definitely geared toward instilling a sense of patriotism in the matinée viewer. My summary line further captures the spirit of the war effort whereby women were called on to fill in for all types of jobs while the men were off to battle.
Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson) generally handles the comedic chores for the Rangers, and this time out he has a gimmick with a homing pigeon that he keeps on hand just in case the telegraph lines are compromised. Henchman Pete (Charles King) shoots the bird out of the sky when he first takes off on a mission, and if I had to bet, this is the only time in film history that a pigeon played possum long enough to get up later and make another go of it. Probably best not to think on that one too long.
The grand finale results in a mega showdown back in Red Rock as the Rangers storm the Kern gang, and in a move I haven't seen before, the two main villains (I.Stanford Jolley and Marshall Reed) wind up shooting each other! But wait, that wasn't the biggest twist. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that for once, Panhandle got the girl!
Ritter, Dave O'Brien and Guy Wilkerson formed a Western cowboy trio of the Forties that went by the name of the Texas Rangers. In this story, the boys swear in the local ranchers as territorial Rangers, but once they get their assignments, they operate almost like a vigilante committee. Their first order of business is to blow up the mines, and with the Kern Gang on the defensive, make their attack in a final showdown to put down the bad guys for good.
In any other B Western, the plot would have been fairly typical, but it's Ritter's rousing reference to the country's forefathers and their defense of freedom and liberty that strikes the viewer as being something just a bit different. Released in September of 1944 just a few months after America's landing on the beaches of Normandy in World War II, this film was definitely geared toward instilling a sense of patriotism in the matinée viewer. My summary line further captures the spirit of the war effort whereby women were called on to fill in for all types of jobs while the men were off to battle.
Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson) generally handles the comedic chores for the Rangers, and this time out he has a gimmick with a homing pigeon that he keeps on hand just in case the telegraph lines are compromised. Henchman Pete (Charles King) shoots the bird out of the sky when he first takes off on a mission, and if I had to bet, this is the only time in film history that a pigeon played possum long enough to get up later and make another go of it. Probably best not to think on that one too long.
The grand finale results in a mega showdown back in Red Rock as the Rangers storm the Kern gang, and in a move I haven't seen before, the two main villains (I.Stanford Jolley and Marshall Reed) wind up shooting each other! But wait, that wasn't the biggest twist. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that for once, Panhandle got the girl!