Border Vengeance (1935 film)

For the silent film, see Border Vengeance (1925 film).

Border Vengeance
Film poster
Directed byRay Heinz
Written byForbes Parkhill
Based onThe Return of the Muley Kid
by R. Craig Christensen
Produced byWillis Kent
StarringReb Russell
Kenneth MacDonald
Clarence Geldart
CinematographyJames Diamond
Edited byS. Roy Luby
Production
company
Willis Kent Productions
Distributed byMarcy Pictures Corporation
Release date
  • June 5, 1935 (1935-06-05) (US theatrical)
Running time
56 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Border Vengeance is a 1935 American Western B movie directed by Ray Heinz, written by Forbes Parkhill based upon the novel The Return of the Muley Kid by R. Craig Christensen. The film had its premiere on June 1, 1935 and was released to theaters on June 5.[1][2][3][4] [5][6]

Plot

A rancher is murdered by Flash Purdue (Kenneth MacDonald) after he catches Flash in the act of rustling his cattle. Flash diverts attention from himself by accusing the nearby Benson ranch of being the ones who perpetrated the deed. When his family is accused, Peeler Benson (Reb Russell) shoots at Flash and hits his ear. As a mob grows, he is able to get to his family in time to warn them so that they are able to escape across the border to safety. Hoping to clear his family's name, Peeler decides to stay behind, and joins a traveling rodeo circuit under the name The Muley Kid. Five years later he returns to town and is captured by Flash, who intends kill him out of vengeance for the injury to his ear.

Cast

Background

The project starred former football player Lafayette H. "Reb" Russell, and was filmed in 1934 by Willis Kent, an independent filmmaker known for his low budget exploitation melodramas.[7]

Critical reception

According to Hans J. Wollstein of Rovi, even as "bottom-of-the-barrel filmmaking on all fronts", the film did have good points. The climatic finale of a nighttime shootout was "quite effective", and with "blood oozing", it was one of the few films of its genre to show the effects of a bullet on its victim. However, the padding out of the film by its inclusion of rodeo footage of former Western hero Rex Bell and horse stunt and trick rider Montie Montana "manages to drag out the 58 minutes of running time almost beyond human endurance".[7]

References

  1. ^ Michael R. Pitts (2005). Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each. McFarland & Co. pp. 211–212. ISBN 0-7864-2319-6.
  2. ^ Don Miller; Packy Smith; Ed Hulse (1993). Don Miller's Hollywood corral: a comprehensive B-Western roundup. Riverwood Press. p. 63. ISBN 1-880756-03-X.
  3. ^ Alan G. Barbour (1971). The thrill of it all. Macmillan. pp. 63.
  4. ^ Jim Craddock (2005). Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever 2005. Thomson/Gale. pp. 129. ISBN 0-7876-7470-2.
  5. ^ Alan G. Fetrow (1992). Sound films, 1927–1939: a United States filmography. McFarland. p. 61. ISBN 0-89950-546-5.
  6. ^ "Border Vengeance (1935)". Retrieved May 21, 2011.
  7. ^ a b Hans J. Wollstein. "Border Vengeance". Rovi. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2011.