Last night, we watched Buster Crabbe in "Rustler's Hideout"(1945), another entry in his 23-film Billy Carson series, with Al St. John as his sidekick. Buster and Al, "Billy" and "Fuzzy" respectively, are drovers this time, leading a herd of beeves over Medicine Pass, where it's rumored that cattle are stampeded, then rustled, when they cross to the other side. Billy rides ahead to check it out. There's a town across the pass, so Billy stops at the saloon there and joins a card game, cards being a way to get a feel for the clientele, encourage gossip, and learn who might be doing the alleged rustling. During the game, it becomes clear that someone is cheating. Could it be Charles King? Maybe not, because he's doing his Well-Dressed Banker Thing, where you know he's up to no good but you can't prove it, and he's probably holding back at first, not cheating at cards so he can scam you big time later. When Billy says, "someone at this table is double dealing", King does his "who me?" routine. "Cheat at cards? I never even carry a gun, it wouldn't be safe for me to cheat." Of course, King not carrying a gun means he carries the smallest one possible, a Derringer, the better to sneak it from his pocket and plug someone.
But because he's a "respectable" banker, no one would believe him capable of murder, let alone cheating at cards, so, while Billy is picking out the wrong guy - a henchman - King and his partner, the town lawyer John Merton, are leading the stampede gang with a view toward acquiring enough cattle to start a ranch. At the same time, King is embezzling funds from his own bank so he and Merton can buy the local meat packing plant. Then they'll have the beef market cornered in the region. But for the longest time, Billy isn't on to them. He's sure the rustlers are led by "Hammond" (Lane Chandler), a troublemaker from the bar who he singled out at the card game.
Finally, the last thing on King and Merton's wish list is a piece of property on which to launch their beef monopoly, and King gets the ingenious idea to use gambling as a means to acquire the sprawling Crockett Ranch. As the Crockett's financial advisor, he knows that young "Jack Crockett" (Terry Frost) has an attachment to the games at the town's casino. King heads over there with a pair of loaded dice, lets Jack win a couple rounds to shark him, then cleans him out. Then, "to be a good sport and give you a chance to win your money back", King tells Jack he'll extend him some credit, "if you're willing to put up the deed to your Dad's ranch". "How'm I supposed to do that?" Jack responds. "Well, son, that's for you to figure out. Do you want to keep playing or don't ya?" Jack does, of course, want to keep going, and does run home to appropriate Dad's deed, but by the time he returns to the casino and the dice game, two new players have joined - Hammond and Fuzzy. Fuzzy has his own set of dice, which are even more loaded than Charles King's. Fuzzy starts clearing the table of chips, which screws up King's scheme to shark Jack Crockett. To make matters worse, Billy has caught the gambler Hammond at Dad Crockett's ranch, trying to rustle some horses. He's about to force Hammond to reveal who's behind the overall rustling scheme, but just when Hammond is about to talk, Merton shoots him through the windum. Then he and King frame Billy for the murder. But at least, now Billy knows who the real enemy is. Can he get out of jail and stop the steal of the Crockett Ranch? We love the Billy Carson series (having seen five of the 23 films), and "Rustler's Hideout" gets Two Big Thumbs Up. The lone drawback is that Fuzzy doesn't get much screen time for his hijinx, perhaps due to the fuller script. Still, it's highly recommended, it's got Charles King, and the picture is very good. ////
The previous night, we found a very early Bob Steele, entitled "The Man from Hell's Edges"(1932), in which Bob, as the movie opens, is in Walla Walla State Prison aka "Hell's Edges". He's doing a long stretch for train robbery and murder, but he stages a daring breakout with his cellies. The warden sends out a search party with hound dawgs, and the other men are all caught and returned to Walla Walla, but Bob - in a Snoopy-esque crossing of a No-Man's Land (fields, mountains) manages to get away, and at an outlaw's camp on the outskirts, he meets up with some old crime buddies, who are abetting his escape. They take him to a hideout on the other side of the mountains, where he hopes to rejoin his old gang. His pals tell Bob he'll have to okay it with someone called "The Chief", the gang's new leader. "Who is he?" Bob asks. "You'll find out when you meet him" is the answer.
In the meantime, when Bob gets to town (he hasn't yet met The Chief), he's drinking buttermilk in the bar when he sees a gun poking out from behind a curtain. It's trained on the Sheriff, so Bob - as always super quick on the draw - shoots the gun from out of the assassin's hand, thus saving the Sheriff's life. Grateful, the Sheriff now wants to make him a deputy, not knowing of Bob's criminal past. In addition, the Sheriff's sweet daughter has fallen for him. Bob figures that being a deputy is good cover, because no one will ever suspect him of being an escaped convict.
But there's one man in the bar who seems to know who he is, a Bandito named "Lobo" (Julian Rivero). Lobo is a former gunfighter, known by the Sheriff, who's tried to deputize him too, because of all the crime in town. The Sheriff is in need of as many fast gunmen as he can get, but Lobo has declined, saying he does not fight anymore. Yet he still wears his bandolier, and he keeps an eye on Bob.
Even though Bob's a deputy, his old gang still expects him to participate in their upcoming robbery. He agrees, on the condition they finally introduce him to The Chief, but The Chief has his own agenda, to screw the gang out of their shares of the money, once the robbery is over, and he won't meet with Bob until he's doggone good and ready. I can't tell you who he is, but it will turn out that The Chief is responsible for Bob being sent to Walla Walla in the first place, though not for the reasons you would think.
During all of this, there are major league punchouts, horses jumping off cliffs into lakes (I hope they weren't hurt), and a two minute finale, consisting of expository dialogue, in which Bob will provide a surprise ending. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Man from Hell's Edges". It's highly recommended (especially for the escape scene) and the picture is razor sharp. ////
That's all for tonight. I'm listening to, of all things, "Untitled" by The Byrds, a combination live/studio double album released in 1970. Sometimes, when I'm typing, I'll just play whatever comes up in my Youtube recommendations. This time, The Byrds were recommended (perhaps because I was listening to Spooky Tooth recently), and I love The Byrds hit singles, but those songs were all I previously knew. Anyhow, I'm listening to the live disc right now and, man, it's smokin' hot. Boy, were these guys some good players; you don't always hear this caliber of live playing from California guitar bands of the era. So that's an out-of-the-ordinary LP for me this evening. I'm also listening late night to "Rienzi", Wagners first opera, which is much more expected from me, and is tremendous. And speaking of tremendous, if you ever want to hear one of the small handful of Greatest Musicians Who Ever Lived, go to Youtube and search Vladamir Sofronitsky plays Chopin. The very first link that comes up is 71 minutes of just that, Sofronitsky playing Chopin. Make sure you are in a meditative mood, late night is best, and listen with no distractions. Sofronitsky once said that every time he played, he was playing to God. I'd imagine God gave him a standing ovation.
I hope your week is going well and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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