"Riders of the West" was the seventh of eight Rough Riders films to come out of Monogram Pictures. The stories brought together the aging cowboy trio of Buck Rogers, Tim McCoy and Ray Hatton who usually met up at some point in the movie to thwart assorted villains and desperadoes. In this one, the boys are summoned by rancher Ma Turner (Sarah Padden), who's cattle have been stolen. The set up is a familiar one as local ranchers lose their herds to rustlers, they can't make their mortgage payments, and the crooked banker forecloses on their property. The cast of villains will be a familiar one to fans of 'B' Westerns, with Harry Woods as crooked saloon owner Duke Mason, and Walter McGrail as larcenous banker Miller.
Probably because they were getting older, the picture's heroes didn't engage in a lot of physical action, though Buck Jones can still put the hammer down when he's astride his horse Silver. Usually, Jones would take on an under cover assignment, but this time it's McCoy who impersonates a special investigator from the Cattlemen's Association after hijacking the real one away from a stagecoach holdup. The bad guys hoped to stop him from arriving at Red Bluff to complete his mission. Curiously, after learning that Investigator Dodge was hidden away in Ma Turner's hayloft, we never see him again. I wonder if he's still up there?
Though Monogram planned to continue the Rough Riders series, World War II intervened and Tim McCoy returned to active duty. Jones and Hatton made one more film as their characters Buck Roberts and Sandy Hopkins in "Dawn on the Great Divide". Hatton continued portraying the character Hopkins for Monogram as the sidekick for their new star Johnny Mack Brown, using themes that were developed to be used by the Rough Riders.
Probably because they were getting older, the picture's heroes didn't engage in a lot of physical action, though Buck Jones can still put the hammer down when he's astride his horse Silver. Usually, Jones would take on an under cover assignment, but this time it's McCoy who impersonates a special investigator from the Cattlemen's Association after hijacking the real one away from a stagecoach holdup. The bad guys hoped to stop him from arriving at Red Bluff to complete his mission. Curiously, after learning that Investigator Dodge was hidden away in Ma Turner's hayloft, we never see him again. I wonder if he's still up there?
Though Monogram planned to continue the Rough Riders series, World War II intervened and Tim McCoy returned to active duty. Jones and Hatton made one more film as their characters Buck Roberts and Sandy Hopkins in "Dawn on the Great Divide". Hatton continued portraying the character Hopkins for Monogram as the sidekick for their new star Johnny Mack Brown, using themes that were developed to be used by the Rough Riders.