The Kid Ranger (1936)
Ranger Ray plans to marry stage driver Bill Mason's daughter Mary, but there are problems ahead....
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A bit overrated, but still an amazing film
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Sheriff William Farnum tracks down and kills a robber. It's his friend, who wanted the money to take his three-year-old daughter some place decent. Farnum hangs up his pistols, adopts the daughter and moves on. and eighteen years later, his confederate, Earl Dwire, tracks him down. and tells him that unless he helps him rob a payroll, he'll tell the daughter, now grown into Joan Barclay, the whole truth. He reluctantly agrees. Little do they know that Joan's intended, Bob Steele, will be riding guard on the money.This movie doesn't show up with Bob's acrobatic feats until late in the proceedings -- although it's a doozy when it comes up -- but there is plenty of riding and fighting and also William Farnum as virtual co-star for the B Western fans. Farnum had entered features in 1914 and was a well-regarded talent. Although his star had dimmed considerably with advancing age and the coming of sound to pictures, he continued to work regularly, half in important roles in B westerns, like his brother Dustin Farnum, and half in smaller and cameo roles in programmers. It's a good story, with some decent twists and should please fans of the genre.