Bad Man from Red Butte

The sixth and last of the Universal series (produced and distributed by Universal Pictures years before the existence of MCA/Universal, which some film-history revisionist thinks was the distributor in 1940) with the trio of Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight and Bob Baker. Prior to this series of six films, Bob Baker had starred in 12 Universal westerns (from December of 1937 to February of 1939) before being cast in a secondary role in this series. He was dropped from the studio contract list, after this film, and his next appearance in a Universal film came in Abbott and Costello's 1942 "Ride 'Em Cowboy" as a day-player as the bus driver while Ella Fitzgerald sings "A Tisket, A Tasket", making him one of the classic Hollywood "chicken today-feathers tomorrow" cases. Brown and Knight would be paired together for 15 more together at Universal, and then in an additional seven, joined by Tex Ritter, before Brown left Universal in 1943 for his long-lived series at Monogram. Universal remade this one as "Cheyenne Roundup" with Brown and Ritter. Plot has the town of Cripple Creek suffering under a lawless reign led by outlaw boss Hal Benson, renegade killer Gils Brady and a crooked justice of the peace, Hiram T. Cochran. The latter also holds a mortgage on the Bax-X ranch owned by Dan Toddhunter. Buck Halliday, lawyer Gabe Hornsby and Spuds Jenkins arrive in town, and everyone believes that Buck is Gils Hornsby until ex-school teacher Miss Woods, who knew them as young boys, tells Tibby Mason that they are twin brothers. Buck arranges a loan (making him the Loan Arranger) for old man Toddhunter to pay off his mortgage. Benson sends his henchmen to steal the money, and Buck finds Gils dying of a gunshot wound. Benson accuses Buck of murder, and the latter is nearly lynched by a mob led by Benson and Cochran. Gabe enters an election opposing Cochran and wins. He runs Cochran out of town while Buck takes care of Benson and his gang. Buck and Tibby become engaged.