Some background for Western movie fans before I get to the review. Edgar Dillard Glosup was born in 1907 and became a radio singer in the early Thirties. He appeared in bit parts and supporting roles in movie Westerns until he got his break in 1945 with a series of five color pictures with Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). In that respect he beat cowboy stars like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers to the draw; there were other Westerns done in color before, but never a series. Al LaRue appeared in three of them with Eddie Dean, this was before he became Lash, and before his last name was separated and spelled La Rue.
The first of these color flicks went by the title "Song of Old Wyoming", filmed in 1945. "Wild West" came out in 1946, and after the Cinecolor films were finished, PRC edited down "Wild West" and turned it into a black and white picture, and so we have "Prairie Outlaws", which is the version I just watched. This may explain why some of you may be wondering (like I was) why the Banister sisters Florabelle and Mollie (Louise Currie and Jean Carlin) just sat there like lumps throughout their limited screen time without saying a word. In the original picture, there was some good natured rivalry between our heroes over Florabelle, but she obviously preferred Dean. The romantic interludes were removed from "Prairie Outlaws" and that left LaRue simply closing out the picture promising to return for the Saturday night dance with tomboy Mollie.
One thing about Eddie Dean, he wasn't afraid to share the spotlight with fellow actors and he was one who liked to take chances. You get a good taste of that here, as partner Stormy Day (LaRue) gets to speak a lot in his scenes with Dean. I can't say for sure, but this would also have to be one of the first pictures in which LaRue gets to use his bull-whip in a couple of different situations quite effectively. Following his pictures with Dean, La Rue would get his own series of films with PRC billed as 'Lash'.
Now don't let me forget Roscoe 'Soapy Jones' Ates in this picture, who's here as the third member of a cowboy trio in the tradition of the Three Mesquiteers and the Range Busters. The running gimmick used by the cowboys has Eddie and Stormy interrupting Soapy every time he winds up to tell some tall tale. It's not over done and comes across fairly comical each time it happens.
As far as the story goes, Eddie, Stormy and Soapy foil town boss Judge Templeton (Warner Richmond) who's defying the westward expansion of the railroad and telegraph by inciting the local Indians and ordering his henchmen to rustle cattle and cause general mayhem. Fortunately, Eddie has an in with Chief Black Fox (Chief Yowlachie), who's willing to bide his time while Eddie and his partners get the goods on the bad guys. A former friend of Dean's, father of Florabelle and Mollie, was murdered and one of his guns was traced back to a Templeton henchman.
"Prairie Outlaws" comes in at under an hour, trimmed by about sixteen minutes from the original "Wild West". You have your standard horse chase scenes and shootouts, and in an early gunfight scene it was somewhat comical to see the outlaws stand right out in the open in front of their cabin as the good guys hid behind trees and boulders returning fire. The picture winds down with another wild brawl and shootout, as if to lend support to a comment made by Eddie to his partners earlier in the picture - "Where there's so much stew, there's bound to be a little gravy."
The first of these color flicks went by the title "Song of Old Wyoming", filmed in 1945. "Wild West" came out in 1946, and after the Cinecolor films were finished, PRC edited down "Wild West" and turned it into a black and white picture, and so we have "Prairie Outlaws", which is the version I just watched. This may explain why some of you may be wondering (like I was) why the Banister sisters Florabelle and Mollie (Louise Currie and Jean Carlin) just sat there like lumps throughout their limited screen time without saying a word. In the original picture, there was some good natured rivalry between our heroes over Florabelle, but she obviously preferred Dean. The romantic interludes were removed from "Prairie Outlaws" and that left LaRue simply closing out the picture promising to return for the Saturday night dance with tomboy Mollie.
One thing about Eddie Dean, he wasn't afraid to share the spotlight with fellow actors and he was one who liked to take chances. You get a good taste of that here, as partner Stormy Day (LaRue) gets to speak a lot in his scenes with Dean. I can't say for sure, but this would also have to be one of the first pictures in which LaRue gets to use his bull-whip in a couple of different situations quite effectively. Following his pictures with Dean, La Rue would get his own series of films with PRC billed as 'Lash'.
Now don't let me forget Roscoe 'Soapy Jones' Ates in this picture, who's here as the third member of a cowboy trio in the tradition of the Three Mesquiteers and the Range Busters. The running gimmick used by the cowboys has Eddie and Stormy interrupting Soapy every time he winds up to tell some tall tale. It's not over done and comes across fairly comical each time it happens.
As far as the story goes, Eddie, Stormy and Soapy foil town boss Judge Templeton (Warner Richmond) who's defying the westward expansion of the railroad and telegraph by inciting the local Indians and ordering his henchmen to rustle cattle and cause general mayhem. Fortunately, Eddie has an in with Chief Black Fox (Chief Yowlachie), who's willing to bide his time while Eddie and his partners get the goods on the bad guys. A former friend of Dean's, father of Florabelle and Mollie, was murdered and one of his guns was traced back to a Templeton henchman.
"Prairie Outlaws" comes in at under an hour, trimmed by about sixteen minutes from the original "Wild West". You have your standard horse chase scenes and shootouts, and in an early gunfight scene it was somewhat comical to see the outlaws stand right out in the open in front of their cabin as the good guys hid behind trees and boulders returning fire. The picture winds down with another wild brawl and shootout, as if to lend support to a comment made by Eddie to his partners earlier in the picture - "Where there's so much stew, there's bound to be a little gravy."
