Wooden acting and poor quality special effects mar this Ken Maynard Western. Miniatures of the dam bursting and resulting water rushing down on the ranch simply do not impress today. Nor does the rear projection supporting what could have been a excellent scene where the hero is saved by his horse. Good opening shots of horses falling into the river. Ward Bond plays the bad guy.
2 Reviews
More cattle rustling to block the homesteaders.
mark.waltz5 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This B western is fortunate to have been made by Columbia's second feature unit rather than a poverty row studio like Mascot or Monogram. Even Republic made better westerns than those Z grade studios. But nothing can hide bad rear projection which occurs during a key scene where hero Ken Maynard's rear is literally burning as he's being dragged by the villain's (Ward Bond) horse. Then there's the miniatures used for the flood sequence as a dam breaks, threatening to destroy the entire valley just because the local cattle men don't want barbed wire on the prairie. It's up to Maynard to protect John Elliot's land from being taken away from them, as well as romance his pretty daughter (Beth Marion). The eccentric Zella Russell provides comic relief as Marion's overly protective aunt. This is ok for what it is, but I've seen much better B westerns that didn't have so much filler. After this film, I never want to hear "Camp Town Races" ever again.
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