Richard Dix was such a versatile actor and while he could play anything (he even started a series based on "The Whistler" a few years before he died) I think it was Westerns that he was best suited to. "The Kansan" was his last western and the supporting cast reads like a Hollywood Who's Who - Albert Dekker, Eugene Palette, Victor Jory, Robert Armstrong, Willie Best. It might not be from a big studio but the cast is tops!!!
John Bonneville wakes up in hospital, not knowing what has happened to him. He has been made Marshall because he stopped the James Gang from robbing the town bank. He was just passing through and is not too keen on being made a Marshall. Most of the town are eager for him to have a go, especially Eleanor (Jane Wyatt, looking very fetching) who not only nurses him in hospital but also runs the town hotel.
Sheriff Steve Barat (Albert Dekker from "Dr. Cyclops") has bought up a lot of land and is charging huge fees for people wanting to use the roads. When Bonneville's old friend, Tom Waggoner (Eugene Palette) asks him to help get his cattle across, John realises the Sheriff isn't as honest as he thought. He also realises why he was made a Marshall - so he could be just a pawn in the Marshall's scheme. There is a fight in the saloon that is action packed and very realistic. When the two bandits who caused the fight, are released from jail on bail, Waggoner is killed. The Sheriff, who put up the bail plans to ship the bail money to Kansas, with his brother's help. Victor Jory plays Jeff and even though he is at first eager to help his brother (he has gambling debts) he ends up on the right side of the law. His death saves the town.
Robert Armstrong plays Malachy a bandit who helps John and Willie Best plays "Bones" in yet another humiliating depiction of a black man.
Recommended.
John Bonneville wakes up in hospital, not knowing what has happened to him. He has been made Marshall because he stopped the James Gang from robbing the town bank. He was just passing through and is not too keen on being made a Marshall. Most of the town are eager for him to have a go, especially Eleanor (Jane Wyatt, looking very fetching) who not only nurses him in hospital but also runs the town hotel.
Sheriff Steve Barat (Albert Dekker from "Dr. Cyclops") has bought up a lot of land and is charging huge fees for people wanting to use the roads. When Bonneville's old friend, Tom Waggoner (Eugene Palette) asks him to help get his cattle across, John realises the Sheriff isn't as honest as he thought. He also realises why he was made a Marshall - so he could be just a pawn in the Marshall's scheme. There is a fight in the saloon that is action packed and very realistic. When the two bandits who caused the fight, are released from jail on bail, Waggoner is killed. The Sheriff, who put up the bail plans to ship the bail money to Kansas, with his brother's help. Victor Jory plays Jeff and even though he is at first eager to help his brother (he has gambling debts) he ends up on the right side of the law. His death saves the town.
Robert Armstrong plays Malachy a bandit who helps John and Willie Best plays "Bones" in yet another humiliating depiction of a black man.
Recommended.