You can't go too long without watching a Tim McCoy movie, so we did just that with "The Outlaw Deputy"(1935), in which Tim goes straight to stop a payroll robbery gang. As the movie opens, he's part of a small time group of thieves who pull occasional jobs by robbing other criminals at their hideouts. Tim's gang lives outside society and they steal just enough to keep going, but one day, they take a bag containing a payroll shipment. Tim wants nothing to do with a rip-off of that magnitude, and he takes the bag back to town to turn it in. At the payroll office, he says he "found" the bag, and befriends a young clerk named "Chuck" (George Offerman Jr.). Tim offers to ride with Chuck on the next delivery, to protect him against another robbery, but Chuck turns him down, saying he'll be okay. Well, you can guess what happens; Chuck gets shot and dies. Tim finds him. The money is gone, and so is Chuck's prize watch, which he showed to Tim back in town. This is the last straw for Tim as far as his own crime career is concerned. He tells his old thief buddies that he's hanging up his hat. "I'm heading into town to find out who killed Chuck". He doesn't say what he's gonna do when he finds the killer.
When he gets to town, he stops at the saloon to size up the clientele. In any Western, you're gonna find some no-goodnicks in the bar, but this time it seems like they're filling the joint. It's like a Hell's Angels club meeting. They're trashing the place and laughing, throwing food around and terrorising the waitress. After they overturn all the tables and smash all the chairs, Tim pulls his pistol and stops them. "Get your wallets out, Gents. We're taking up a collection for all the furniture you ruined." They stop laughing and drop money into Tim's hat. The Sheriff hears about this, and asks Tim to become his deputy. "There's so many of those troublemakers, it's too much for one man." Tim at first demurs, thinking about his past. What if the Sheriff finds out he used to be a robber? But then the Sheriff's sweet daughter (Nora Lane) asks him to please help her Dad, and he can't say no. In no time, between the two of them, Tim and the Sheriff run the bad guys out of town. Tim posts a sign in front of the bar: "No guns allowed". We need him nowdays! He's also got his eye on a card-sharp who he suspects is double dealing. He can't prove it, but he's leaning on the guy, and he's still looking for the man (or men) who killed Chuck. Then, all of a sudden his old thief buddies pay him a visit. "We've got a job you can't turn down", they tell him, thinking he'll give up his commitment to the Sheriff. They figure, "once a thief, always a thief", but Tim won't bite, especially when they tell him they've graduated to stage robbery. "I'm not gonna help you", he says, "and don't let me catch you". The card-sharp overhears their conversation and learns that Tim used to be a criminal. Now he's out to blackmail Tim, to get him off his back, but Tim undercuts him by going to the Sheriff and confessing. "Yes, I was once a wanted man, but never for murder or bank robbery." He explains that he was a small-time thief. The Sheriff lets it go because Tim was honest, and he needs him.
But the card-sharp won't let the matter drop, and takes a potshot at Tim from behind a curtain. I can't tell you why, but there's a major twist. "The Outlaw Deputy" is one of the rowdier entries in the genre, and depicts what I imagine it was often like inside a bar in the Old West. I often equate the bad guys from that time as akin to the bikers of the 1960s, because of their nasty dispositions and total disregard for the law. This movie shows it. Then Tim McCoy shows up, and wouldn't it be great if we had a Tim McCoy in every town? Also turning in a fine performance is Nora Lane, who is fast becoming a Top Western Sweetheart. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Outlaw Deputy". The picture is very good. ////
The previous night, we had the great Ken Maynard in "Six Shootin' Sheriff"(1938), which has a similar set-up to "Outlaw Deputy". As it opens, Ken, as "Jim 'Trigger' Morton", is just out of stir, after a stint for bank robbery. But he didn't do it; he was framed by a crook named "Ace Kendall" (Warner Richmond), so he rides back to town, where Ace is waiting at a card game. "Bring it on", says Ace in front of his honchos. "Yeah, I framed you, whatcha gonna do about it?" Then Trigger shoulder-shoots him and Ace shuts up. That's the last we hear from him, but the Bar-X ranch hands are a whole 'nuther matter. They're trouble, night in and night out, at the local saloon and around town. They've never heard of Trigger, so when he comes into the bar and orders a water (because he's trying to go straight), they make fun of him. One, named "Big Boy" (Richard Alexander), tries to roust him, and it's a mistake on all of their parts because they learn that he's not called Trigger for nothing (though he mostly shoots guns out of hands, so don't worry, he's not a killer).
His shootin's so good that old "Zeke" (Lafe McKee) is sent by the citizens to offer him the job of Sheriff. "Every Sheriff we've had is layin' up on Boot Hill, but you......you got somethin' ", Zeke tells him. Trigger can't believe they'd want him as Sheriff. Yes, he was framed by Ace Kendall, so on that score he's an innocent man, but he was still once an outlaw. "Why would you want me"?, he asks. "Because a man can change " is Zeke's answer. So, Trigger accepts the job and starts cleaning up the town. His first order of business is rousting the Bar-X gang from the saloon. He's so quick on the draw that they decide to play it straight after that. We never hear from them again. But there's one last hurdle from Trigger's past that won't be so easy to escape. His old gang is looking for him, led by "Chuck" (Walter Long), his former henchman, who has now co-opted Trigger's younger brother. Trigger does have some loyalty to Chuck, because Chuck provided the evidence that freed him from jail in the Ace Kendall frameup, but Chuck is still tied to gang life whereas Trigger wants to go straight. He rides out to meet Chuck and the gang, and tries to tell them, "I'm the Sheriff now. Please don't try to rob our town. I'm telling you this as your former partner and friend, but I'm the law. I'll arrest you if you come."
Chuck thinks he's bluffing or joking, and when Trigger leaves, he plans with his honchos the robbery of the post office, which is holding a huge payroll stash. Old Zeke has already asked Trigger to look after the postmistress "Rose Morgan" (Jane Keckley), whose sweet daughter "Molly" (Marjorie Reynolds) has a crush on Trigger. She does find an old Wanted poster of him, from when he was framed, and it disillusions her and makes her cry. But in the long run she retains her faith in him, because Mom says he's a changed man. But now his old gang, led by Chuck and including Trigger's brother, are gonna try to take the post office payroll and rob Rose Morgan . This will culminate in Trigger confronting them in the middle of the night, after Molly tries to stop the robbery by herself.
This is classic Ken Maynard, just White Hat against Black Hats, with no music or comic relief. His films usually featured sincerity as the lead quality, that's what Maynard's image was about. He was the ultimate "aww shucks ma'am" cowboy, who - even if his character had a criminal past - was always out to do the altruistic thing. He never was a ladies man, per se, and in this film he confesses women make him nervous, but that only draws Molly closer to him. She sweeps his floor and loves him from afar (in a great performance by Marjorie Reynolds in a small, low budget film), and the other noticeable thing, besides the lack of comedy (which is rare in a 60 minuter) is that there's nothing to do for Tarzan, Maynard's legendary trick horse. No rescues, no riderless runs; I hope he got a new agent after this role! Still, "Six Shootin' Sheriff" has one of the best and most layered scripts we've seen in a Ken Maynard film, and it gets Two Big Thumbs Up. The picture is very good. Maynard always presented good values and a Saturday Afternoon Matinee image for kids. He was the real deal. ////
That's all for tonight. I'm listening to "The Tain" by Horslips, and "Waters of Change" by Beggar's Opera, another great one by those guys. I hope you had a nice weekend and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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