The Renegade Ranger

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.

This pretty good RKO B western stars George O'Brien, whose career, which was going pretty hot in silent days, wound up in this series of solid B westerns for RKO. After he retired in 1940, his mantle was picked up by Tim Holt. The entire series is entertaining, even if there are usually some flaws -- in this one, there is a lot of trouble matching lighting from one shot to the next.

But the story is pretty good: it's a Reconstruction story, about how the ruthless carpetbagger is stealing old property through spurious tax claims. In this case, it's old Spanish Land Grant owners, in the person of Rita Hayworth, newly delatinized in appearance but still playing Hispanics.

Tim Holt is still learning his craft here and he's pretty stiff and callow seeming. He rarely got a chance to show his real ability and spent a long, happy career in B westerns, although he occasionally poked his head up, most notably as the junior gold prospector in THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE.

The rest of the movie is fun for looking at veteran talent: Neal Hart and Tom London in front of the camera, Oliver Drake in a scripting credit. All in all, a pleasant way to spend an hour, especially for fan of Hollywood westerns.

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.

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.

A story of the texas rangers, with western regulars george o'brien and tim holt. Twenty year old hayworth, in one of her first roles as rita hayworth; she was billed as rita cansino in most of her earlier roles. She is probably best known for "gilda". (how was she not even nominated for that role? Maybe because she was such a bad girl.) here, the rangers need to round up judith alvarez, even though she claims she was only defending her own property against a land grab. What is the truth? Who can she trust? Can she get fair treatment from the texas rangers? It's a typical western. Mostly talk for the first half of the one hour shortie. Then we head out on the horses. Even a couple of songs thrown in. It's not bad. Pretty mellow, no big surprises, but it's okay. Fun to see young miss hayworth so early on. Directed by david howard. He died young at age 45, just three years after this film!