Daring Danger

When "Daring Danger" begins, Tim (Tim McCoy) is having a silly brawl with one of his cowhands, Bull Bagley. I say silly because they look as if they are in fast-forward mode--and it looks awfully fake. Soon, Bagley goads Tim into a shoot-out--and Tim doesn't know that Bagley unloaded his gun! Not surprisingly, Bagley shoots Tim but because Tim is a hero, he's going to live--even though he was shot with a .45 at about 10 feet--which would kill you 99.999999994% of the time!

Time passes. Now Tim is on the lookout for Bagley who has skedaddled. This brings him to the town of Dry Gulch where he learns that a local boss-man is trying to force a rancher and his daughter off their land. Not surprisingly, Bagley works for this evil boss-man. But, Bagley's hand was shot and he cannot have the requisite shoot-out until later--and in the meantime, Bagley and his boss plan on killing Tim.

The film is worth watching simply for a chance to see Vernon Dent (a frequent co-star in Three Stooges and later Buster Keaton films) singing a duet with McCoy. Yes, for the first time in seeing several dozen Tim McCoy films he sings!! This is pretty weird.

Otherwise, the film is about what you'd expect. Sure, there is the lame fight at the beginning but on the other hand, it has one of the more violent ends to a baddie I can recall in a B-western, as Bagley gets the crap shot out of him!! Plus, while it's clearly a B-movie when it comes to the plot, McCoy films tend to be better than average due to his being a little more believable and manly than the pretty-boy cowboys. Much of this is because in real life, McCoy was quite the horseman and shooter. For more about this, read through his very interesting IMDb biography.

Tim McCoy is tracking down the man who emptied his gun and then forced him into a duel. He runs into Alberta Vaughn, whose father's ranch is being squeezed and takes a hand in the matter in this fine little B western.

Particularly pleasing is the participation of Vernon Dent. Dent had been a reliable member of Mack Sennett's troupe, playing businessmen and heavies; he would end his career playing the same sort of roles for Jules White's comedy unit at Columbia. Here, as a bartender, he gets to show off his fine singing voice and indulges in a pleasure duet with Colonel Tim. He's not comic relief, but plays a fine role. People often forget that these comic actors were first and foremost actors.

Wallace MacDonald also has a nice role as Jughandle, who appears to be a lazy barfly. In fact, everyone is good. Director Ross Lederman, who rarely excelled, certainly handled this quick little movie well.