Hooper Atchley and Edward Hearn are the local bankers, and not very good ones. The bank is almost broke, so they ship the money by railroad, rob the train and get the money and the insurance. They blame Hoot Gibson, who has a grudge against the railroad; he has driven the last railroad agent out of town. However, when pretty Sally Blane turns out to be the new one, he is more interested in her than his vendetta.
It's a fairly good B western, but for most of its length, Gibson's humorous charms are wasted. It's only in the last half of the movies, and in the exciting end sequence, when he thwarts the latest scam, that he shows off some trick riding and athletics. I thought that another of the good actors in the B westerns, could have starred in this movie just as well. Clearly, Hoot is present largely for marquee value. The movie seems to concentrate largely on filmizing Peter B. Kyne's novella than on making it a vehicle for Gibson -- not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I -- or, doubtless, its audience, was expecting.
Instead, director Otto Brower seems to focus more on Miss Blane, and who can blame him? Despite the obvious haste with which this was shot, it's very watchable.
It's a fairly good B western, but for most of its length, Gibson's humorous charms are wasted. It's only in the last half of the movies, and in the exciting end sequence, when he thwarts the latest scam, that he shows off some trick riding and athletics. I thought that another of the good actors in the B westerns, could have starred in this movie just as well. Clearly, Hoot is present largely for marquee value. The movie seems to concentrate largely on filmizing Peter B. Kyne's novella than on making it a vehicle for Gibson -- not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I -- or, doubtless, its audience, was expecting.
Instead, director Otto Brower seems to focus more on Miss Blane, and who can blame him? Despite the obvious haste with which this was shot, it's very watchable.