One of the few Buck Jones westerns in which he set aside his usual hero personna and played a character much in the vein of those played by William S. Hart in the silents...not all good or all bad.As such, relative speaking,"Desert Vengeance" hits a couple of more adult themes than usually found in series B-westerns.The sub-plot revolves around the conflict between the outfits of bandit Jim Cardew(Buck Jones) and Lynn McBride(Albert J. Smith as Al Smith)for control of Skyfields,a town surrounded almost entirely by impassable deset.During a visit to San Francisco, following a ship voyage, Jim meets and falls in love with Anne Dixon(Barbara Bedford,), the supposed sister of a man,Hugh(Douglas Gilmore),Jim has befriended. Then Jim learns that Anne and Hugh aren't really brother and sister but,for what ever else they may be, are also a pair of swindlers and crooks. Determined to punish Anne, he persuades her and the false brother to come to Skyfields and, once there, works them like slaves. Anne and Hugh try to escape by walking across the desert. Anne breaks down and Hugh leaves her to her fate. Jim rescues Anne and takes her back to Skyfields, where McBride's outlaw band attacks Cardew's stronghold and a terrific battle takes place. The only survivors are Jim and Anne,and they turn their faces toward civilization to start life anew on a more honest basis.
—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>