Death Valley Manhunt (1943)
Unknown to oil company president Ross, his man Quinn is pulling a swindle on the independent drillers. Quinn controls both the Judge and the Marshal. But when the Marshal is accidentally killed, Wild Bill Elliott is brought in as the new Marshal and things begin to change.
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It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.
Bill Elliott becomes a US Marshal and helps a lot of independent oil wildcatters in Death Valley Manhunt. One of them is his former sidekick Gabby Hayes.After bringing in a notorious gang the two split up, Elliott wants to take up the peaceable life of cattle ranching, after all he's a peaceable man. Hayes decides to become an oil wildcatter, but in his area all the wildcatters are being squeezed by an unscrupulous oil company executive. When the local law is accidentally killed, Elliott is sent into the area to straighten things out.One of the interesting aspects of Bill Elliott's screen persona is that he comes across at times like a Dudley DooRight, especially in his early films. But usually he's also working a few angles that people around him don't get to bring the bad guys down.Anne Jeffreys is in the cast to sing Carry Me Back To Old Virginny and for love interest. That's another thing, Elliott did make no secret of the fact he liked girls in his westerns, no kissing the horse for him. Jeffreys is the niece of Judge Herbert Hayes who is in league with the villain Weldon Heyburn.Fans of Wild Bill should be pleased with Death Valley Manhunt.