Marshal of Reno

I love the opening of this Red Ryder with Red, Little Beaver, and Gabby Hayes literally stepping out from the pages of a Red Ryder comic book. Like any kid of my generation, I loved these movies. And this was a good kid's film. Lots of action, villains, and no girl to distract Red. Back then the hero could rescue a female but no romance, especially kissing which was referred to as mush. The hero was loyal to his friends and loved his horse, period.

Plot, what eight-year-old cared about plot. We liked action and this one has action. And with Gabby Hayes as the sidekick, we had some laughs. Frequently we could figure out who the bad guys were because the actors were bad guys in other cowboy films. We might not have known their names, but we did know their faces. Looking back, I could never figure out how Wild Bill Elliott could draw his guns so quickly with the handles turned backwards, I tried and I had sore wrists to prove it.

Watching those films during a Saturday matinee, I know my eyes were glued to the screen as I cheered Red and booed the bad guys along with my friends. As an adult these films look cheap and repetitive, but they weren't made with a 21st century audience in mind. Back in the 50s, they fed our need for heroes; someone we could imitate in real life. We were Red Ryder, Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Wild Bill Hickok out there chasing Indians or rustlers, or bank robbers. We stepped into those personas to be as brave as our heroes.

One of two towns will be selected to be the County Seat and Editor Palmer has a gang working to make sure his town is chosen. Investigating the lawlessness, Red Ryder poses as an outlaw to get into the gang hoping to find out who the boss is. But Palmer knows Red and exposes his true identity when he arrives and Red and Gabby then find themselves prisoners of the gang.

A good Red Ryder entry with a good idea about a newspaperman and his gang of outlaws trying to up the crime element in Ryder's town so it won't win the count seat and another town will. But of course Red Ryder smells a rat, but he is helped by the funny Gabby Haynes who is always a treat to watch, little Beaver and Jay Kirby. The pace is swift so is the action.

Red Ryder, Gabby Hayes, and Little Beaver have come home to the Duchess's ranch and there's trouble a brewing. An unexpected rash of lawlessness of all kinds including a stagecoach holdup with the driver killed. Two innocent kids, Jay Kirby and Blake Edwards are accused of the deed and our trio of heroes have to prove what they already know. Blake Edwards and that's the future award winning director himself is killed and Kirby is on the run.

All this outlawry is quite organized and it's done to make sure that another city other than Red Ryder's hometown becomes the county seat. Why that's so important to the bad guys is never really explained. Without an explanation I think the whole film is rather ridiculous.

Wild Bill Elliott is your tall in the saddle cowboy hero with Bobby Blake as Little Beaver and Gabby Hayes as Gabby Hayes.

One of the worst of the Red Ryder series from Republic.