Trigger Trail (1944)

Director:

Lewis D. Collins

Writers:

Ed Earl Repp (original screenplay)
Patricia Harper (additional dialogue)

Release Date:

7 July 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Tagline:

TERROR On The TRIGGER!

Plot:

Before it became the Oklahoma Territory, Rance Hudson, a crooked eastern-financier, schemes to steal...

Plot Keywords:

Rancher | Law School | Henchman | Arson | Land Grab

Cast

Rod Cameron	...	Clint Farrel
Fuzzy Knight	...	Echo
Eddie Dew	...	Sheriff Bob Reynolds
Vivian Austin	...	Ann Catlett
Lane Chandler	...	Slade, the crooked Deputy
George Eldredge	...	Rance Hudson
Robert 'Buzz' Henry	...	Chip Kincaid (as 'Buzz' Henry)
Davison Clark	...	Silas Farrel
Michael Vallon	...	Bender
Richard Alexander	...	Henchman Waco (as Dick Alexander)
Jack Rockwell	...	Joe Kincaid
Budd Buster	...	Tug Catlett
Ray Whitley	...	Gilroy, Foreman / Musician (as Ray Whitley and His Bar-6 Cowboys)
The Bar-6 Cowboys	...	Cowhands / Musicians (as Ray Whitley and His Bar-6 Cowboys)

Runtime:

USA:59 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Quotes:

Slade, the crooked Deputy: You haven't got enough evidence to swing a jury.
Clint Farrel: I've got enough evidence for you to swing a rope.

Soundtrack:

Twilight on the Prairie

Universal knew how to make good B-westerns...

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

...and Universal-International seldom did.

We're not talking "Stagecoach" or "My Darling Clementine" A-genre westerns here (so those who can't judge films relative to their budget and intended audience need to look the other way and leave this for us B-western fans), but Universal's B-westerns, until they closed that unit in 1946, took a back seat only to Republic in the 1940's field of B-westerns in terms of booking and grosses and, in terms of realism (another relative word) and plots, often beat the leader. After 1939 Universal didn't mix the 19th and 20th centuries and they didn't have any hosses that could outrun V-8 Fords or "Woodie" station wagons that had a head start of several miles.

This one is another version of Oliver Drake's favorite plot ploy, whether as the producer or as a director or a writer, which always found the good guy guys (Cameron and Eddie Dew here) in conflict with each other until the last ten minutes when they would band together and rout the bad guy, who was responsible for the conflict in the first place.

Clint Farrell (Rod Cameron) returns from law school and finds many of his friends illegally jailed, and his boyhood friend, Sheriff Bob Rynolds (Eddie Dew)unable to cope with the situation since he has to abide by the letter of the law. All this happens because Rance Hudson (George Eldredge), a crooked Eastern financier (a redundant description if there ever was one), has come to the Oklahoma territory and devised a legal scheme to beat the ranchers out of their ranches. Cameron hangs around a while in his sissy law-school frock coat, but soon shucks that and puts on a brace of matching pistols (only after reading his law books, of course)and hits the trigger trail.