Powerful

Great Film overall

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Tom Keene plays a US Deputy Marshal undercover with a pair of raffish sidekicks Julian Rivero and Ernie Adams who sign on to William Welsh's ranch to find out who's been doing the cattle rustling. Rochelle Hudson is Welsh's daughter and she kind of likes Keene. But the next door neighboring ranch is run by Marie Wells who's boss lady of the rustlers and the ranch is a blind. In fact Keene's cover is nearly blown when he drops his badge. Why would he not store the badge in a safe place until needed is a mystery best explained in a seance with the writers.A lot of the comedy is Falstaff like as Rivero and Adams who don't know they've hooked up with a marshal keep padding their outlaw resume. They can be pretty funny at times.Decent horse opera for the front row kids of 1932.

Another decent Tom Keene western in which he must help the pretty gal hold onto the ranch. In this case it's Rochelle Hudson, like Keene a dedicated actor who never quite made the transition to the top ranks, although both are kindly remembered by the fans.These early RKO B westerns (in fact, Radio-Pathe, with the Pathe rooster crowing atop the world) are technically interesting pieces. They are simply plotted and written, but with plenty of real talent behind the camera and the prints that show up on Turner Classic Movies show off the fine cinematography of Ted McCord and daring stunt work of Yakima Canutt. Fans of the singing cowboy subgenre should have a look, because this is how they started, with the rough buckaroos relaxing at the camp fire or serenading a senorita.