In the late 30s and into the 40s, the western 'trio' films were popular. What this meant is that to keep up with the mega-stars of Bs (such as Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Hapalong Cassidy), studios took several second-tier western stars and packaged them as trios...such as The Three Mesquiteers, The Range Busters and the Texas Rangers. So, it's not all that surprising that Universal also tried this with Johnny Mack Brown....giving him not only a sidekick (Fuzzy Knight) but a handsome singing friend (Bob Baker) to round out the trio. Now considering most of Brown's films of this era didn't feature a trio, it seems that such a formula wasn't all that successful with his films.
Part of the plot to "Bad Man from Red Butte" is a very contrived and silly one. It seems that Gils is an evil outlaw and he has an identical twin, Buck (both are played by Brown). When Buck comes to a new town to settle with his two friends, folks there assume he's Gils...and are scared of him because of Gils' evil reputation. But the local evil boss, Benson, is confused...why would Gils get into a fist fight with him? And, why would he suddenly be on the side of law and order?
However, when the film DIDN'T focus on the 'evil twin', it was MUCH better and more interesting...though the local baddie trying to control the town IS a very familiar trope. Enjoyable...but silly due to the twins angle...and it would have at least been a BIT better had the evil twin had an evil twin goatee instead of a boring 5 o'clock shadow!
By the way, the women in this film are all dressed in fashions and hairstyles circa 1940...and the men look more like cowboys. I have no idea why they did this other than laziness.
