The Renegade Ranger

Sad to say if it were not for the presence of Rita Hayworth as the outlaw queen in this film, The Renegade Ranger would be sadly forgotten today. As it is it's not a bad B western from RKO and it featured the guy who would be that studio's B picture cowboy hero Tim Holt.

George O'Brien stars in The Renegade Ranger and he's gone undercover to arrest Rita Hayworth. She's the descendant of former a Spanish land grant family and she and her tenants are being cheated systematically by crooked politicians. But he's got a complication he didn't figure on. Former Texas Ranger Tim Holt who is in fact the title character has turned outlaw and has joined Hayworth. He doesn't give O'Brien away, but in fact he convinces O'Brien to start investigating the corrupt land grabbing politicians in the region.

The film is a well constructed and well plotted B film. In the Citadel Series Films of Rita Hayworth, George O'Brien said that Rita was a promising newcomer who was eager to learn and took advice and criticism well. Everyone knew she was headed for bigger and better things.

And she certainly was.

RKO's B Westerns were always strong in the acting and script department. And "The Renegade Ranger" is no exception. Long-time cowboy star George O'Brien is solid as always. But it's relative newcomers Tim Holt and Rita Hayworth that really shine. Holt seethes with talent and emotion. And Hayworth just seethes.

You can tell both are headed for great things. Holt would become RKO's top B Western star with occasional forays into A pictures such as "Magnificent Ambersons" and "Treasure of the Sierra Madre". And Hayworth would become a superstar.

The writing is equally solid. Frequent B scribe Oliver Drake gives a sympathetic portrayal of Mexican outlaws in Texas. Proving once again that B Westerns aren't as politically retrograde as many think.

Yup, all this is good. But RKO B Westerns also have downside. The action isn't that well-staged. And there's never enough of it. This film is no exception there either. Promised fights are over too quick. Promised showdowns look confused and unfocused. And without good action, a Western can really drag. And this one does.

Still "The Renegade Ranger" is worth a watch for the intriguing plot, reliable O'Brien and especially the nascent talents of Holt and Hayworth.

THE RENEGADE RANGER (1938) is a 59-minute B-western about how white expansion in Texas forced out Spanish and Mexican landowners. Rita Hayworth plays Judith Alvarez, daughter of a Spanish landowner whose land has been taken by white landgrabbers working with a corrupt sheriff. She leads a band of Spaniards and Mexicans in making attacks on the ranchers who've taken their land illegally. Tim Holt plays a frustrated ex-Texas Ranger who wholeheartedly joins Alvarez' band and helps in their efforts. He even acquires a Mexican girlfriend (Cecilia Callejo). George O'Brien plays Holt's Texas Ranger buddy who joins the gang himself, working undercover, on assignment to capture and arrest Miss Alvarez. Holt is torn between loyalty to Alvarez and her cause and his friendship with O'Brien. O'Brien gradually falls in love with Judith himself, which complicates matters even further.

This is a fascinating movie on multiple counts, not least of which is the presence of Rita Hayworth in the role of an Hispanic crusader against white depredations. Hayworth was of Spanish descent herself (real name: Margarita Carmen Cansino) and her band is cast entirely with actual Mexican actors. (The more B-westerns I see, the more I realize that appropriate ethnic casting of Mexican and Indian roles was the rule and not the exception in this genre.) Hayworth was all of 19 when she made this and she was already a great beauty, adorned in stylish western fashions that bring out the best in her. It's easy to see the roots of the glamorous movie star and pinup queen she'd become in a few short years.

Also, the whites, except for the two male stars, O'Brien and Holt, are generally bad guys here and the taking of land from its original owners is condemned. (No word though, about the souls who occupied the land before the Spaniards arrived, but that's another story.) I've seen another western with this plot recently, "California Frontier" (1938), starring Buck Jones as an army officer working undercover in California to thwart white landgrabbers taking land from Mexicans. Rita herself had co-starred in a similar western in 1936, REBELLION. I imagine that further exploration into the vast uncharted territory of the B-western will yield additional gems.

Too bad that George O'Brien is largely forgotten among front row kids. He may not have the charisma nor singing voice of a Rogers or LaRue, but his burly physique is perfect for action roles. Here it's really Holt who has the eye-catching charisma. No wonder he was soon featured in his own series. Of course, the chief attraction is Rita Hayworth before her career took off. She's certainly a striking presence, but for curiosity seekers like myself, it's hard to tell with that hat on whether this was before or after her hairline was raised. It certainly made a difference in appearance. Check out Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935) for a revealing glimpse.

The programmer itself has a couple of good plot twists— a tricky ex-Ranger Holt with a wobbly moral compass, and a misled Ranger O'Brien who chases after the wrong gang. The plot's also driven by a conflict between Latinos whose land ownership derives from Spanish land grants and a ruthless frontier land-grabber who wants to scheme the land away from them. Conflict over Spanish land authority is an interesting historical twist I never really thought about. On the other hand, I've got to agree with another reviewer who finds the action scenes foreshortened and not very exciting. Anyway, it's the thoughtful storyline, along with Holt and Hayworth that make this oater worth sticking around for.

A "6" on the matinée scale

Renegade Ranger, The (1938)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

A couple Texas Rangers (George O'Brien/Tim Holt) are hired to bring in a ranch owner (Rita Hayworth) who is raging a battle against the government over land stolen from ranchers. She's painted as a murderer but really she's just acting as a Robin Hood type. Even at 60-minutes this RKO Western is deadly dull without any excitement. There are your typical fist fights and shoot outs but all of them are deadly dry as is the relationship between O'Brien and Hayworth. The only saving grace is Holt in his supporting role and Hayworth is somewhat interesting.