Bar-Z Bad Men

Republic Pictures was famous for making the Gene Autry and Roy Rogers films. However, singing cowboy B-movies were not the only films they made and Johnny Mack Brown's westerns were a bit different--with no singing and a bit more grit.

The show begins with Brown behaving like a complete butt-head. He's shooting up the town for laughs and has way overstayed his welcome. So, after being banished, he heads to the Bar-Z ranch, as he's bought into a partnership with the owner. But, when he arrives, he learns that something serious is amiss. Men are shooting at his new partner and accusing him of cattle rustling! It turns out someone is stealing cattle and putting them on the Bar-Z in order to start a range war!! Can the now less butt-headed Brown find an answer to this mystery and still get the girl by the end of the film? What do you think?! Apart from the odd start of the film that had Brown uncharacteristically playing a jerk, the film is pretty typical of a B-western of the period minus the songs. Enjoyable and competent--the story is an interesting twist on the old cattle rustling theme!