Toll of the Desert

Looking somewhat like Andy Griffith, young Fred Kohler, Jr., is a good- looking, amiable, and capable hero in this well-directed but familiar story.

The print I watched, at YouTube, was not very clear and was choppy and dark, but the movie generally held my attention and interest, in part because some of the leading players were not known to me, Kohler and the lovely Betty Mack, for example, though Tom London, Earl Dwire, and George Cheesbro certainly were.

The story was that of a boy and father separated by tragic events and going different paths, law-enforcer and law-breaker.

Though sometimes the acting was barely adequate, the camera angles and positions were usually superior. The scenery was used properly, and the action and fight scenes were always exciting, even though the lack of a Yakima Canutt directing them was apparent, even obvious.

Fred Kohler, Jr., often got his shirt ripped open and he was in good-enough shape to make that seem on purpose.

For reasons I don't know, his starring roles didn't continue, but he kept acting until the late 1970s.

Betty Mack was, according to statistics here at IMDb, 10 years older than he, but she didn't look it. She was lovely, very watchable, and good enough as an actress to make us want to see more of her.

Her acting career, though, ended in 1941, again for reasons I don't know.

So many of the other players here continued in movies a long time, without achieving real stardom, but at least making a living.

In this movie, they all worked together well, and brought to the screen an exciting and poignant adventure that I recommend. I hope, though, you can find a better print than the one I saw at YouTube.