Oklahoma Frontier

It's the opening of the Cherokee strip and the Rankins are after a particular section. Frazier is also after the same section and has hired outlaws to make sure he gets it. When Jeff gives Rankin a map, the outlaws kill Rankin, steal the map, and Jeff ends up getting framed for Rankin's murder. He ends up in the hoosegow, sentenced to be hanged...

Johnny Mack Brown ditches his badge for a quiet life and with Fuzzy Knight in tow he travels to a town and gets framed for murder and has to find a way to prove his innocence. So much for a quiet life! There's some neat action, a lively land grab scene (stock footage) and a twist in the tale with Brown being accused of a friend's murder and the friend's sister is inclined to believe it. Something which I didn't understand because she claimed to love him and there's no reason for brown to kill her brother - this aspect is a bit weak as well as the murder framing bit, but if you are willing to overlook those things you will enjoy it. I did! It wasn't boring and the pace was decent.

Deputy U.S. Marshall Johnny Mack Brown kills a friend in the line of duty and hands in his badge. He's no killer, and he's off to the Oklahoma Land Rush. There he meets old friend Bob Baker and Baker's sister Anne Gwynne. He used to work for their father down in Texas. Now they've lost their ranch and intend to start over with the best claim in the Indian Territories. Brown knows the best route there.

James Blaine wants that piece of land too, so he steals Brown's map, kills Baker and frames Brown. Can comic sidekick Fuzzy Knight get him out before he's hanged?

Ford Beebe directs from his own script, and it's a spotty vehicle, with some erratic pacing. Neither does Knight get to do any good routines, although Brown plays the spoons with the Texas Rangers -- apparently his time at the University of Alabama wasn't entirely wasted when he wasn't playing football. The Land Rush looks to be made up mostly from library clips, but they're edited together very well, and cinematographer Jeome Ash's work is best in the establishing shots, workmanlike afterwards.

When the story begins, lawman Jeff McLeod (Johnny Mack Brown) shoots a gun in a gunfight and then quits. He's tired of the shooting and just wants to settle down. So he heads to Oklahoma for the upcoming Land Rush in the hopes of securing some land for a ranch. But when he arrives, he discovers that some local jerk is trying to do anything he can to get a particular piece of land. The man wants Jeff to help him but naturally Jeff won't because he's the hero. So the big bad bossman decides to frame Jeff for murder--getting him out of the way and Jeff's friend, Tom. Tom's friends turn out to be VERY stupid and believe Jeff killed him, though the eyewitnesses really did not see anything! The dead man's sister is particularly hard to understand--her character seemed bizarre to say the least. This part really makes no sense at all. Does Jeff stand a prayer or is he destined to become worm food? What do you think?!

This is a weak effort simply because the plot just doesn't make any sense. How would Tom's friends and sister all swear Jeff killed Tom when no one actually saw this happen? The sister is worse because she's in love with Jeff...and then is ready to hang him....and later declares her love for him and helps him!! Huh?! Didn't anyone read the script and noticed this didn't make sense? Apparently not. In fact, the only thing interesting about the film is the Oklahoma Land Rush...and to re-create it, they reused footage from other films!

By the way, about 5-10 minutes into the film, a headstrong guy who hates Jeff draws on him and Jeff shoots him in self-defense....in the chest (as you see the guy grabbing his chest when he's shot)...though everyone then says it was the shoulder...which it clearly wasn't. Maybe originally they were going to have the guy die and they changed their mind...and didn't bother re-shooting the scene.