Racketeers of the Range

source: Racketeers of the Range

I'll admit my expectations were low when starting to watch this routine B western from RKO. But I will just as freely admit I was pleasantly surprised how good it is. What helps this production, indeed any production with George O'Brien in the main role, is that we have a dependable lead who is no stranger to the genre. He's perfectly at ease in the saddle and even more at ease with his costars. I'm sure it was a very enjoyable experience to show up for work each day on the set of a George O'Brien picture. Mr. O'Brien made 17 of these modestly budgeted oaters at RKO between 1938 and 1940. He only stopped making them because he had re-enlisted in the navy and served in WWII. He had already been a decorated veteran in WWI. So he was a real hero, relatable to people. O'Brien still has his boyish looks at age 40, is still in shape (he takes his shirt off in one scene) and it's believable that leading lady Marjorie Reynolds' character would find him attractive. The kiss they share at the end is very passionate as far as screen smooches go. As for the plot, it's a routine drama about cattle rustling. The standard western conflict here is aided by the introduction of several gangster type villains. You might call this a western crime flick, where O'Brien and Reynolds must stop racketeers in their tracks. There's an impressive rustling scene that occurs at night, followed by a climactic sequence involving cattle on a train where good guys battle thieves. In one extended shot, O'Brien- a former movie stuntman- rides alongside the speeding locomotive and hops on to the side of one of the cars. In the next continuous shot, he climbs up to the top of the car, where he begins firing his gun. This is not done in a studio with a fake backdrop. And it is not filmed at a long angle with someone else performing the stunt work. In addition to the action and romance, none of which seems cliched, we have some very nice musical numbers by sidekick Chill Wills and musician Ray Whitley. One ditty infuses a country western melody with a bit of swing. It's a lot of fun. Every minute of this production is a lot of fun to watch.

George O'Brien was under contract to RKO for several years, during which he made a pretty neat series of westerns. He had an easygoing Irish charm, was a good actor and a tremendous athlete, and his westerns were models of the B genre--efficiently but not cheaply made, fast-paced but not rushed, briskly directed, and leavened with touches of clever humor not often found in B westerns, where comedy was usually restricted to overacting sidekicks and forced slapstick. Unfortunately, this is not one of O'Brien's better entries. One of the problems is that much of the action (and there isn't all that much of it to begin with) takes place on railroad cars, and the fact that these scenes were shot on a studio soundstage is painfully obvious by the surprisingly shoddy use of rear projection. The subject matter itself--a big meat packing company trying to squeeze its smaller competitors out of business so it can have the market to itself--doesn't really lend itself well to the western genre, and the result is that stretches of the film are, frankly, boring. Director D. Ross Lederman cut his teeth on B westerns at Columbia, first as a second-unit director and then as a director of Tim McCoy westerns, but he can't really do all that much here, being restricted as he was to a soundstage for much of the "action." There's a gun battle shot on location which takes place on a cattle train that's being attacked by outlaws, but it doesn't last long and is actually not done all that well. O'Brien tries hard, but this one just really doesn't work. It's worth one look, maybe, but O'Brien has done far better.

"Racketeers of the Range" was another of George O'Brien's RKO series westerns. This one deals with the meat packing business. The Lewis Company is the last of the independent meat packers trying to survive a takeover by large combine, Continental. Rancher Barney O'Dell (O'Brien) is the firm's largest creditor. Helen Lewis (Marjorie Reynolds) the owner of Lewis wants to sell out under the advice of her oily lawyer Roger Whitlock (Robert Fiske). Barney has the Lewis Company declared bankrupt and is appointed receiver thus blocking any sale foe 30 days. Barney meantime, meets with the ranchers and agrees to buy up their cattle and deliver them to Lewis which will save the company. To do this he mortgages his ranch and stands to lose everything if he fails to deliver. Whitlock along with cronies Hank (Bud Osborne) and Dutch (Ben Corbett) steal the cattle from Barney's ranch. Barney, Whopper Hatch (Chill Wills) and the boys pursue them and recover the cattle but the bad guys take over the train on which the cattle had been loaded and........................................................... This film is saddled with too many musical interludes featuring Ray Whitley and Wills crooning several forgettable ditties. Then there's Gay Seabrook as Penny Jones, Helen Lewis' friend who plays up to Whopper in an effort to provide unnecessary comedy relief. She does provide some amusement when she gets O'Brien up to dance a swing time jig. This was another instance of the story taking place in modern (1939) times complete with automobiles and clothes of the day mixed in with traditional western garb and six shooters. The premise of O'Brien and his boys chasing down large trucks on horseback was a bit of a stretch. The film also suffers from the fact that there were no recognizable villains (except for Osborne) in the cast.

source: Racketeers of the Range

George O'Brien was under contract to RKO for several years, during which he made a pretty neat series of westerns. He had an easygoing Irish charm, was a good actor and a tremendous athlete, and his westerns were models of the B genre--efficiently but not cheaply made, fast-paced but not rushed, briskly directed, and leavened with touches of clever humor not often found in B westerns, where comedy was usually restricted to overacting sidekicks and forced slapstick. Unfortunately, this is not one of O'Brien's better entries. One of the problems is that much of the action (and there isn't all that much of it to begin with) takes place on railroad cars, and the fact that these scenes were shot on a studio soundstage is painfully obvious by the surprisingly shoddy use of rear projection. The subject matter itself--a big meat packing company trying to squeeze its smaller competitors out of business so it can have the market to itself--doesn't really lend itself well to the western genre, and the result is that stretches of the film are, frankly, boring. Director D. Ross Lederman cut his teeth on B westerns at Columbia, first as a second-unit director and then as a director of Tim McCoy westerns, but he can't really do all that much here, being restricted as he was to a soundstage for much of the "action." There's a gun battle shot on location which takes place on a cattle train that's being attacked by outlaws, but it doesn't last long and is actually not done all that well. O'Brien tries hard, but this one just really doesn't work. It's worth one look, maybe, but O'Brien has done far better.

"Racketeers of the Range" was another of George O'Brien's RKO series westerns. This one deals with the meat packing business. The Lewis Company is the last of the independent meat packers trying to survive a takeover by large combine, Continental. Rancher Barney O'Dell (O'Brien) is the firm's largest creditor. Helen Lewis (Marjorie Reynolds) the owner of Lewis wants to sell out under the advice of her oily lawyer Roger Whitlock (Robert Fiske). Barney has the Lewis Company declared bankrupt and is appointed receiver thus blocking any sale foe 30 days. Barney meantime, meets with the ranchers and agrees to buy up their cattle and deliver them to Lewis which will save the company. To do this he mortgages his ranch and stands to lose everything if he fails to deliver. Whitlock along with cronies Hank (Bud Osborne) and Dutch (Ben Corbett) steal the cattle from Barney's ranch. Barney, Whopper Hatch (Chill Wills) and the boys pursue them and recover the cattle but the bad guys take over the train on which the cattle had been loaded and........................................................... This film is saddled with too many musical interludes featuring Ray Whitley and Wills crooning several forgettable ditties. Then there's Gay Seabrook as Penny Jones, Helen Lewis' friend who plays up to Whopper in an effort to provide unnecessary comedy relief. She does provide some amusement when she gets O'Brien up to dance a swing time jig. This was another instance of the story taking place in modern (1939) times complete with automobiles and clothes of the day mixed in with traditional western garb and six shooters. The premise of O'Brien and his boys chasing down large trucks on horseback was a bit of a stretch. The film also suffers from the fact that there were no recognizable villains (except for Osborne) in the cast.

I'll admit my expectations were low when starting to watch this routine B western from RKO. But I will just as freely admit I was pleasantly surprised how good it is. What helps this production, indeed any production with George O'Brien in the main role, is that we have a dependable lead who is no stranger to the genre. He's perfectly at ease in the saddle and even more at ease with his costars. I'm sure it was a very enjoyable experience to show up for work each day on the set of a George O'Brien picture. Mr. O'Brien made 17 of these modestly budgeted oaters at RKO between 1938 and 1940. He only stopped making them because he had re-enlisted in the navy and served in WWII. He had already been a decorated veteran in WWI. So he was a real hero, relatable to people. O'Brien still has his boyish looks at age 40, is still in shape (he takes his shirt off in one scene) and it's believable that leading lady Marjorie Reynolds' character would find him attractive. The kiss they share at the end is very passionate as far as screen smooches go. As for the plot, it's a routine drama about cattle rustling. The standard western conflict here is aided by the introduction of several gangster type villains. You might call this a western crime flick, where O'Brien and Reynolds must stop racketeers in their tracks. There's an impressive rustling scene that occurs at night, followed by a climactic sequence involving cattle on a train where good guys battle thieves. In one extended shot, O'Brien- a former movie stuntman- rides alongside the speeding locomotive and hops on to the side of one of the cars. In the next continuous shot, he climbs up to the top of the car, where he begins firing his gun. This is not done in a studio with a fake backdrop. And it is not filmed at a long angle with someone else performing the stunt work. In addition to the action and romance, none of which seems cliched, we have some very nice musical numbers by sidekick Chill Wills and musician Ray Whitley. One ditty infuses a country western melody with a bit of swing. It's a lot of fun. Every minute of this production is a lot of fun to watch.