mark.waltz The sins of one generation will not fall onto the sins of another. That is the theme of this B western where the ward of a wealthy man goes out to search for the rightful heir to the estate that he has been promised, and finds his own heritage. Johnny Mack Brown risks everything but wins it all by proving his integrity. His father ran off, being accused of a vile murder, and the wealthy patriarch of the community takes him in, having just rejected his own daughter for marrying against his will. He knows that he has a granddaughter somewhere, and Brown intends to reconcile them. When he gets too close, he is accused by the girl's own ward (William Farnum) of being a member of a group of bandits, and after only much violence occurs is he able to prove his innocence. Ironic coincidences occur, and wrongs are righted. Interesting for having a stronger story than normal, and in spite of minuscule budgeting, it comes off pretty well. Beth Marion is a decent heroine, but it is Farnum and Lloyd Ibgraham as the gruff but kindly grandfather/mentor who win acting honors.

MartinHafer This film begins with a fight. In the process, one of the guys shoots and hits the other man's son, Johnny. The father thinks the boy is dead and shoots the other man dead as he tries to speed away from the ranch. For some odd reason, now the father is wanted for murder (this charge seemed odd considering the circumstances and witnesses). So, Dad goes into hiding and a neighbor by the odd name of 'Sir George'(?) raises the boy.Twenty years pass. The boy is now grown and played by Johnny Mack Brown. He loves his adopted father and wants to help Sir George locate his long-lost granddaughter. So, he leaves for New Mexico and finds the lady is now being harassed by an evil galoot (Trent). In the process he also unexpectedly finds his father--but neither knows the other at first--but Dad knows he doesn't like this stranger! What's next with this weird and rather contrived plot? See the film for yourself! Like other Johnny Mack Brown films, it's NOT of the singing cowboy variety nor is he some pretty-boy cowboy. It is a compactly made B-movie--solid and done on the cheap. Now this does NOT mean it's a bad film but it lacks the polish, big name stars and background music you might get in a higher budgeted movie. But, like many Bs, it does have the occasional bad actor (the lawyer could barely deliver his lines). It also saves on money by having the actors actually fight it out without the use of stunt doubles--which actually improved the quality of the film. Overall, it's pretty good but there are LOTS of pretty good westerns out there---and most likely this one will get lost among the crowded genre.

classicsoncall The hook for this 'B' Western is that most of the principal characters wind up with different names about half way through, so if you don't pay attention, it's pretty easy to get lost. There's also a twist to the ending in that John Wellington Jr. (Johnny Mack Brown) never gets to find out that the man he has a brawl with earlier in the picture is actually his father. Rand/Wellington Sr.(William Farnum) high tailed it in the opening set up when he killed a man after thinking his young son was murdered by a stray bullet. The recognition of the grown son occurs when a horseshoe shaped scar is revealed on the son's chest during said brawl.Fans of the genre who have seen more than a handful of these oaters will easily recognize the behind the scenes talent of stunt coordinator Yakima Canutt. His 'under the buckboard drag' is a signature move, and done here with incredible finesse. There's no way to be certain about this, but I wouldn't be surprised either if that 'buckboard over the cliff' maneuver was used elsewhere as a chapter ending finale to one of the era's ubiquitous Western serials.For this viewer, seeing Johnny Mack Brown at this point in his career was like watching John Wayne during one of his own Robert North Bradbury directed Lone Star Westerns from the same year. Both actors were still quite young in their film careers, with only a casual resemblance to their older selves. And like John Wayne, this Johnny was able to close out the picture with the sweetheart he had his eye on throughout the story.

Leslie Howard Adams A film somewhat overly-ripe in melodrama and acting (not unexpected with William Farnum in the cast), but that is more than compensated for in the overall style, content, intent and sincerity. The contrast between the tree-shaded civilization of Virginia and the stark vastness of New Mexico makes it one of the most visually interesting B-western ever made; the skillful blending of pure action and story progression is about the best to be found in any of the Johnny Mack Brown or Bob Steele westerns from producer A.W.Hackel and, not to take anything away from cameraman Bert Longenecker on this film---and the great Archie Stout on many others from the same director---the outdoor photography here serves as further proof that cigar-chomping director Robert North Bradbury had an eye for composition.