Death Valley Gunfighter

Last updated

Death Valley Gunfighter
Death Valley Gunfighter poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by R. G. Springsteen
Screenplay byRobert Creighton Williams
Produced by Gordon Kay
Starring Allan Lane
Eddy Waller
James Nolan
Gail Davis
William "Bill" Henry
Harry Harvey, Sr.
Mauritz Hugo
Cinematography Ernest Miller
Edited by Arthur Roberts
Music by Stanley Wilson
Production
company
Distributed byRepublic Pictures
Release date
  • March 29, 1949 (1949-03-29)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Death Valley Gunfighter is a 1949 American Western film directed by R. G. Springsteen and written by Robert Creighton Williams. The film stars Allan Lane, Eddy Waller, James Nolan, Gail Davis, William "Bill" Henry, Harry Harvey, Sr. and Mauritz Hugo. The film was released on March 29, 1949, by Republic Pictures. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

A wagonload of quicksilver on its way from the Lucky Brothers Mine to Panamint Wells is raided by the Death Valley Gang, the third shipment to be stolen in two months. At the mine the 2 remaining brothers, ailing Les and crotchety Nugget, are about to tell the miners their pay is ready when the bandits arrive. When Les starts to cough he reaches for a handkerchief and is shot and killed. Sheriff Keith Ames, who is courting the brothers' niece Trudy, whose father was also murdered by outlaws, sends for Rocky Lane, who was a friend of Keith's father, to help sort out the trouble.

Nugget arranges for a loan from banker Vinson McKnight, who only agrees when Keith tells him Rocky is on his way, unbeknownst to Nugget, who won't accept help from anyone. McKnight tells Shad, leader of the gang, about the loan and Rocky. Shad tells his lieutenant Tony Richards to send for his brother Snake, who has a grudge against Rocky, to kill Rocky and then impersonate him when he gets to town. He tells Tony to get out of town so that he and Snake are not seen together. Snake ambushes Rocky but Rocky escapes and then kills Snake and finds the letter from Tony.

In town, Rocky gets a job at the mine. He then finds a note from Shad who thinks he is Snake. When the replacement payroll arrives, Nugget sends Rocky ahead to the mine, and takes the payroll in a buckboard with mine worker Sam riding shotgun. Nugget is ambushed but Rocky and Keith intervene. Nugget is knocked out when the horses get loose from the buckboard and drag him along the ground. Rocky tells Sam not to tell Nugget that he and Keith saved him.

Shad tells McKnight that Snake is helping the sheriff and he didn't get the payroll. When he goes to find Tony to tell him get Snake back on their side, McKnight panics and gets ready to steal the bank's money and run away. He is interrupted by Shad and Tony who are about to go to the mine to stop the quicksilver from bring used to pay off the loan. Rocky arrives in town to see Nugget and Tony recognizes him. Rocky's plan, though he tells Trudy it is Nugget's, is to send the quicksilver across the desert and for Keith to drive a decoy wagon along the road. The next morning, Keith arrives and is talking to Trudy when Tony visits and tells Keith that Rocky is really his brother Snake and that anything Rocky/Snake does is nothing to do with him. Trudy lets slip that the quicksilver wagons will be going across the desert. When Rocky arrives, Keith disarms him and finds the letter. Rocky then disarms Keith, confirms with him that Tony knows about the quicksilver and races off to find Nugget and the wagons.

He arrives just in time to detour them before they are ambushed. The gang starts to follow them but Keith and a posse arrive. Keith shows Nugget the letter and asks him if he saw any outlaws. Nugget is convinced. He arrives at the bank and tells McKnight he has the quicksilver. McKnight says he can't accept the quicksilver and needs cash. Nugget says he has a buyer arriving the next day and wants to store the quicksilver in the bank. Shad, who is watching through a door, indicates to McKnight to accept. Shad's plan is to steal the quicksilver and blame Rocky, whom he intends to break out of jail. The gang surprises Keith in the jail, pistol-whip him and tie him up. They take Rocky out of town to a deserted homestead. When they get there Rocky escapes, leaving 2 of he gang dead, and rides back to town and frees Keith.

Rocky tells Keith the whole story about him and snake but Keith is not convinced until Rocky tell's him detail's about his father only someone who knew him would know. Rocky goes to fetch Nugget and tells Keith to fetch Tony. They hide in the vault and when Shad forces McKnight to open it they leap out but Shad escapes. After a shootout Rocky captures Shad.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>The Apple Dumpling Gang</i> (film) 1975 film directed by Norman Tokar

The Apple Dumpling Gang is a 1975 American comedy-Western film directed by Norman Tokar. The plot is about a slick gambler named Russell Donovan who is duped into taking care of a group of orphans who eventually strike gold. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions.

Meek Cutoff was a horse trail road that branched off the Oregon Trail in northeastern Oregon and was used as an alternate emigrant route to the Willamette Valley in the mid-19th century. The road was named for frontiersman Stephen Meek, who was hired to lead the first wagon train along it in 1845. The journey was a particularly hard one, and many of the pioneers lost their lives.

<i>Angel and the Badman</i> 1947 American Western film by James Edward Grant

Angel and the Badman is a 1947 American Western film written and directed by James Edward Grant and starring John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey and Bruce Cabot. The film is about an injured gunfighter who is nursed back to health by a young Quaker woman and her family whose way of life influences him and his violent ways. Angel and the Badman was the first film Wayne produced as well as starred in, and was a departure for this genre at the time it was released. Writer-director James Edward Grant was Wayne's frequent screenwriting collaborator.

<i>Taggart</i> (film) 1964 film by R. G. Springsteen

Taggart is a 1964 American Western film directed by R. G. Springsteen and starring Tony Young and Dan Duryea. It was the film debut of David Carradine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddy Waller</span> American actor (1889–1977)

Edward Waller was an American stage, film and television actor.

<i>Crossfire Trail</i> 2001 television film by Simon Wincer

Crossfire Trail is a 2001 American made-for-television western film directed by Simon Wincer and starring Tom Selleck, Virginia Madsen, and Wilford Brimley. Based on the 1954 Louis L'Amour Western novel of the same name, the film is about a wanderer named Rafe Covington who swears an oath to his dying best friend to look after his beloved wife and Wyoming ranch, only to encounter other forces who strongly desire the ranch and the woman for their own purposes.

Conagher is a 1991 American Western made-for-television film based on the 1969 Louis L'Amour novel of the same name co-produced and distributed by Turner Network Television.

<i>Saddle the Wind</i> 1958 film

Saddle the Wind is a 1958 American Western film directed by Robert Parrish, written by Rod Serling, produced by Armand Deutsch, and starring Robert Taylor, Julie London and John Cassavetes. The picture was filmed in Metrocolor and CinemaScope.

<i>Arizona Gunfighter</i> 1937 film by Sam Newfield

Arizona Gunfighter is a 1937 American western film directed by Sam Newfield and starring Bob Steele, Jean Carmen and Ted Adams. It was produced and distributed by Republic Pictures.

<i>Outlaws of Sonora</i> 1938 film

Outlaws of Sonora is a 1938 American Western "Three Mesquiteers" B-movie directed by George Sherman. It stars Bob Livingston, Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune. Livingston has a dual role as Mesquiteer Stony Brooke and his outlaw doppelgänger Dude Brannen. Films in the Mesquiteer series are normally considered traditional Westerns but Outlaws of Sonora is an exception; it has a revisionist theme as an early example of the Outlaw/Gunfighter sub-genre.

<i>Hit the Road</i> (1941 film) 1941 American crime comedy film directed by Joe May

Hit the Road is a 1941 American comedy crime film directed by Joe May and featuring the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys alongside Gladys George, Barton MacLane and Evelyn Ankers. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.

<i>The Gunfighters</i> (1987 film) 1987 film

The Gunfighters is a 1987 television Western film, starring Art Hindle and George Kennedy, directed by Clay Borris.

<i>A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof</i> 1968 film

A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof is a 1968 Italian Spaghetti Western comedy film.

<i>The Singing Vagabond</i> 1935 American Western film

The Singing Vagabond is a 1935 American Western film directed by Carl Pierson and starring Gene Autry, Ann Rutherford, and Smiley Burnette. Written by Oliver Drake and Betty Burbridge, the film is about a cowboy who rides to the rescue when badguys kidnap a beautiful woman.

"Viva la Mexico" is the season premiere of the second season of the American television drama series Hell on Wheels, which aired on August 12, 2012 on AMC. The eleventh episode of the series is written by Tony Gayton and Joe Gayton, and directed by David Von Ancken. In the episode, on the run for his crimes, Cullen Bohannon robs trains with a group of ex-Confederate soldiers, while Lily Bell and Thomas Durant continue the Union Pacific Railroad's westward progress.

<i>Marshal of Cedar Rock</i> 1953 film

Marshal of Cedar Rock is a 1953 American Western film directed by Harry Keller and starring Allan Lane, Phyllis Coates and Eddy Waller.

<i>Blood Arrow</i> 1958 film

Blood Arrow is a 1958 American Western film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and written by Fred Freiberger. The film stars Scott Brady, Paul Richards, Phyllis Coates, Don Haggerty, Diana Darrin and Jeanne Bates. The film was released on April 1, 1958, by 20th Century Fox.

<i>Oklahoma Badlands</i> 1948 film by Yakima Canutt

Oklahoma Badlands is a 1948 American Western film directed by Yakima Canutt and written by Robert Creighton Williams. The film stars Allan Lane, Eddy Waller, Mildred Coles, Roy Barcroft, Gene Roth and Earle Hodgins. The film was released on February 22, 1948 by Republic Pictures.

<i>Back Trail</i> 1948 American western film, directed by Christy Cabanne

Back Trail is a 1948 American Western film, directed by Christy Cabanne. It stars Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, and Mildred Coles, and was released on July 18, 1948.

<i>The Tall Stranger</i> (film) 1957 film by Thomas Carr

The Tall Stranger is a 1957 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Thomas Carr and starring Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo. It is based on the novel of the same name by Louis L'Amour.

References

  1. ↑ "Death Valley Gunfighter (1949) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ Hal Erickson. "Death Valley Gunfighter (1949) - R. G. Springsteen | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Death Valley Gunfighter". Afi.com. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.