Brothers Ben and Joe Murdock are in trouble at their bank by embezzling their funds and are looking for someone to blame when they decide to rob the express train carrying their funds then collecting on the insurance. They see an easy target in Jim Bonner, who with pals Skeeter Cole & Horsetail Wright, have been causing trouble with railroad station operators due to their dislike of the railroad. This changes when the railroad puts Marion Meade as the station operator and Jim immediately falls for her, going out of his way to impress her. The Murdocks carry out their plan to rob the train, but Jim recovers the money but is blamed for the robbery because of his beef with the railroad and is jailed. Needing Jim as a scapegoat, the Murdocks have their gang try to bust Jim out of jail, but Jim manages to escape beforehand when he learns of another attempt to rob the train and has to recover the money before the sheriff catches up with him. Not much action in this B western, as typical with many of Hoot's solo efforts, but he still manages to win the audience over with his charm and the story is not that bad here. Robbins and Brown here are OK as comic relief, but Blaine really shines as the love interest for Hoot and the chemistry between them really helps carry the film. Rating, based on B westerns, 6.
Review of The Local Bad Man
