Arizona Bound

Retired marshal Buck Roberts (Buck Jones) has left law enforcement and is enjoying life on his northern Arizona ranch when he receives a telegram from Marshal Bat Madison (Jay Wilsey) requesting his aid in stopping a rash of stagecoach robberies near villain invested Mesa City, and off he goes as a fast-paced Rough Riders (Jones, Tim McCoy, Raymond Hatton) adventure begins. Representing the forces of good against the forces of evil in this Monogram series, the three stalwarts have arrived separately and apparently unknown to each other into the plagued town, Roberts as a cattle buyer, Hatton as Sandy Hopkins, a cattle dealer, and McCoy as Parson McCall, an itinerant preacher, and quickly come up against Steve Taggart (Tristram Coffin), the ringleader of the bandit gang they seek. Roberts volunteers as a stage driver for the company owned by Ruth Masters (Luana Walters), but is framed with the responsibility for the holdups transferred to him and it falls to the other two Riders to rescue their jailed comrade, giving Jones, aboard his splendid steed Silver, an opportunity to display his riding and stunt ability in one of his final appearances before his untimely death in Boston's Cocoanut Grove fire the following year. Although this film does not receive strong direction, the cast and crew perform their duties very well indeed, with Slim Whitaker in his accustomed role as evil henchman, and the rugged Jones and hard-eyed McCoy as usual seem more than capable of handling any adverse situation which might present itself.

My father (88), was a fan of Buck Jones and other Western Movie Stars back when he was a kid in the 1930's. He grew up with them. He was 10 in 1933 when "Gordon of Ghost City" was released. We are watching these serials and movies, and he will go...OK, now so-and-so person will fall off their horse and it will look like they are trampled...and it will happen. he remembers the pattern. Funny. I don't think he remembers the stories. But they remind him of the times he went to the movies as a kid. A few shorts, a cartoon, and two features for like a DIME!!!!!

These Rough Rider series of movies are pretty standard fair, but interesting, and fairly well made. There is plenty of action, and trouble. They all follow the same formula. 3, seemingly unrelated people come to town, and come at the problem from different angles. But of course they know each other, and are actually working together...they are...."THE ROUGH RIDERS"...US Marshals.

Good entertainment for kids, and grown ups alike, we are well entertained.

Three heroes Buck Roberts, Tim McCall and Sandy Hopkins are undercover Marshals out to stop villains who seek to destroy a stage line. The owner has been killed and his daughter Ruth Masters has taken over in her dads place running the coaches. Tristram Coffin stars as the dastardly Steve Taggert who will stop at nothing to ruin the Masters Stage company business.

Ok western starring Tim McCoy, Buck Jones and Raymond Hatton, but it's familiar and an ordinary, only the stars and the action keep it afloat. The finale is quite thrilling, though.

Watching this first of the Rough Rider series of B westerns for Monogram it occurred to me that someone in that studio thought it would be a good idea to team three veteran cowboys. No love interest for these guys. They're about business always.

Tim McCoy, Buck Jones, and Raymond Hatton all have careers dating back to the silent era. Hatton in fact was in some of the earliest films made in Hollywood. I'm sure the front row Saturday matinee kids liked them. But this was a trio that their parents might appreciate.

These three are all doing separate things but they answer a call from a US Marshal friends who says that in a certain Arizona town the gold miners are being systematically robbed when they ship with Luana Walters stagecoach line. All three drift in separately and pretend not to know each other. Do you doubt they get the job done?

This was a good beginning to the series.

Former lawman Buck Jones is called to Mesa City, Arizona in order to get to the bottom of the constant stagecoach and gold-shipment robberies. Framed for the hold-ups, Jones teams up with "preacher" Tim McCoy and good-old-boy Raymond Hatton to uncover the real culprits.

The first in Monogram Pictures' Rough Riders series, this is mostly by-the-numbers, with little action. However, it's redeemed somewhat by an exciting, action-packed climax and an inspired performance by McCoy, who's flamboyant character introduction, where he refuses to "dance" to a blazing six-gun before turning the tables and forcing the whole saloon to sing "Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie", is the film's highlight.