Romance on the Range

Six wanted outlaws are rounded up and captured by the Cheyenne Kid. Collecting the reward money, Cheyenne instructs his sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones to give the money to a group of financially strapped ranchers. Alas, Fuzzy falls off his horse, loses his memory, and forgets what became of the money.

After encountering a group of bandits with plans to rape and steal from her, a young widow ventures into the wilderness in search of justice.

Lightning Carson's nephew has been falsely accused of murder. To get in with the gang, Lightning poses as a Mexican. He also appears as himself making his costume changes at his sister's ranch. Just as he about to bring in the gang, a henchman finds evidence of his masquerade and arrives to expose the hoax.

It took a lot of courage to set up a new production company devoted to "B" westerns in 1949, a year when the genre was showing signs of winding down. Filmed in Trucolor, Stallion Canyon was the maiden effort from Kanab Productions, a Utah-based organization. Former Sons of the Pioneers vocalist Ken Curtis made his starring debut in this one, playing a ranch foreman who does his best to track down a rogue stallion. The rest of the cast is comprised of unknowns, save for villains Ted Adams and Forrest Taylor. Cheaply produced, Stallion Canyon has the twin advantages of a relatively new leading man and excellent location photography.

Cowhand Drake discovers gold on the ranch of his boss, Joe Stuart and makes a deal with crooked lawyer Mel Porter to induce Stuart to sell. The latter refuses, and also orders Bill Cameron not to see his daughter Laurie again. Foreman Johnny Mack, after intervening, quits after he sees Stuart hit Laurie while quarreling over her proposed marriage to Cameron. Peddler Alibi Terhune witnesses the killing of Stuart by Clem Kettering, hired by Porter, and is taken prisoner. Cameron is blamed for Stuart's killing, escapes jail, but is persuaded by Johnny to go back and stand trial. Johnny rescues Alibi and the two work together on clearing Cameron's name, and bringing the real culprits to justice.

Banker Ned Owens refuses to call in the many unpaid loans made to the local ranchers as he knows they are being terrorized by a gang of crooks and unable to pay. But the secret leader of the gang is James Taylor large stockholder of the bank.....

A group of Arizona ranchers, trying to learn the identities of the Salt River Gang and prevent any further rustling, marks the currency that rancher Frank Abbott turns over to the gang to get his cattle back. Unfortunately drifters Dick McBride and Chito Rafferty are accused of being in the gang when they are found with the money, which they have actually won at the casino of saloon owner Brad Carew, a member of the gang. Dick and Chito break out of jail and hunt down the fleeing Carew in hopes of finding out who the true leader of the gang is.

A mystery man, identifying himself as the outlaw Nevada Kid, and his comical sidekick, help the townspeople of Canyon City solve a series of murders, robberies, and threats to destroy their new power dam in the first days of electrification of the wild west.

In Prairie Roundup, Fred F. Sears' direction brings a welcome jolt of vitality to Columbia's aging "Durango Kid" western series. Once again, Charles Starrett stars as Steve Carson, a lawman who is forced to assume the identity of masked do-gooder Durango. Framed for murder, Carson escapes to locate the real killer. It turns out that he was set up by cattle baron Buck Prescott, who eliminates competition by stealing livestock from other ranchers.

The Mesquiteers capture a horse thief who escapes justice through a crooked judge. They gather signatures urging the governor to investigate but a friend with the petition is murdered. Stony is accused.

A posse, hunting the assailant of Denton's Partner, captures Steve Carlisle (Charles Starrett), who identifies himself as a mineralogist sent to check the area for quartz for radio parts. Calling at the Denton ranch, Steve hires Cannonball Mullins (Dub Taylor), who has just been fired by Jane Fielding (Vi Athens), Denton's ward. Steve learns that she wants to sell the ranch to the Empire Syndicate. Paul Edwards (Lloyd Bridges), syndicate representative, plans to convert the ranch into a swank hotel-gambling operation. At a party which Jane gives for Edwards, Hiram Denton (William Gould), is murdered and Steve is accused. He and Cannonball escape before the sheriff can take them into custody, and in searching for evidence find that Jane and Edwards are married and have done the killings in order to gain the ranch.

Gene Autry is back near the saddle, trying to help out a crippled jockey. Gene is certain that the jockey can ride in the Big Race if the lad can regain his self-confidence. Meanwhile, Gene and comical sidekick Sterling Holloway have another problem on their hands: A rogue stallion has "kidnapped" Gene's prize mare. Piloting a plane, Autry seeks out and locates the stallion.

Universal's Ragtime Cowboy Joe is a modern western with a dash of music, not unlike the standard fare at Republic Pictures. The title character is a confused cowhand played by Fuzzy Knight, while the hero is Steve (Johnny Mack Brown), an undercover detective on the prowl for cattle rustlers.

Tired of being a cowboy movie star, Yorke quits the movies and buys a ranch so he can be a real cowboy. But just as in his films trouble arrives. This time it's bank robber Sampson and his two cronies.

On a ranch in Wyoming, one of the cowboys, Cheyenne Harry (Harry Carey), falls in love with his boss's daughter. But she decides to elope to the city with Captain Thornton, a wealthy visitor to the ranch. She quickly discovers that life in the city is not what she expected. Cheyenne, devastated by the loss of his fiancée, decides to go to the city to find her, and in the end rescues her from the grips of Captain Thornton and from the extravagant and decadent way of life in the city.

Tornado Range is one of five Eddie Dean westerns originally produced by PRC in 1947 but released the following year by Eagle-Lion. Cast as a troubleshooter for the U.S. Land Office, Dean is assigned to settle a deadly range war. Sure enough, the warring homesteaders and cattlemen are being whipped into a frenzy by a third party, who hopes to "divide and conquer," claiming the land for himself. Surprisingly, all-purpose PRC villain George Cheseboro isn't the culprit in this one; instead, he's cast as the father of heroine Jennifer Holt. Roscoe Ates is once more on hand for some questionable comedy relief.

The citizens and near-by ranchers of a western town are being besieged by a gang of rustlers and robbers, and a plea is made to the governor to send a troop of rangers. Shortly, thereafter a dude-costumed cowboy shows up but he only asks a lot of dumb questions and does a lot of stick-whittling as he wanders the streets and hangs out in the saloon with the regular barflies. The citizens mark him down as being 'tetched in the head.' Also, shortly after the whittler arrives, a mysterious black-masked rider begins to make life a bit tougher on them than it had been.

The Buck Jones western The Fighting Ranger utilizes its familiar plotline with excellent results. When Jones' kid brother is killed by the villains, our hero quits the Texas Rangers and sets off to seek vengeance on his own. He ends up just below the Mexican border, where bandit leader Cougar (Bradley Page) lives high off the hog, knowing he can't be extradited.

Blacksmith Pinto Peters calls on his old friend, Sam "Hurricane" Benton, to help him clear his son, Jimmy, of a murder charge. Hot-headed Jimmy, believes that the best way to cure a man of cheating at cards is to shoot him. He didn't shoot him enough, as the gambler only feigns death as part of a plot to gain possession of land owned by Pinto, as they know there is gold on the land buried there by an outlaw gang years ago.

Doan is trying to get control of the valley by having his night riders drive the ranchers out. Jack Benson hires on at the Williams ranch, the one ranch Doan must have. When Benson learns that Doan is the boss of the night riders, he joins up with him. He has a plan that both saves Williams' ranch and also brings Doan to justice.