Thunder Town

Jim Brandon, an ex-con, returns to his old ranch after spending time in jail for a bank robbery he didn't commit. He is obsessed with finding the real crooks who framed him. While he was in prison, Brandon's girlfriend, Betty, became involved with the thuggish Duncan, a member of the Rankin mob. After several mysterious attempts on his life, Brandon begins to suspect that the Rankin gang may be the same men who framed him all those years ago...

Thunder Town is from later in the career of cowboy legend Bob Steele, and he spends the film with an uncharacteristic mustache. Western historians have speculated that Steele may have grown the facial hair because he was trying out for a part in an unspecified big studio picture (presumably Bob didn't get the part, because he doesn't have a mustache in any other movie!) Born Robert Bradbury, Jr., Bob Steele was one of the most popular cowboy actors during the Golden Age of Hollywood, starring in over 100 Westerns in the 1930's and 1940's. He began his career in the silent era co-starring along with his twin brother Bill in The Adventures of Bill and Bob series of short subjects (1920-1922). Before long, Bob struck out on his own and changed his surname to the more heroic-sounding "Steele" with 1927's The Mojave Kid. He is perhaps best known for starring in PRC's Billy the Kid series (he would later cede the role to Buster Crabbe.) A versatile actor, Steele also appeared as Curley in Of Mice and Men (1939) and a hitman in The Big Sleep (1946). Harry L. Fraser was an accomplished director of Westerns and cliffhanger serials going back to the silent age. Some of his most noteworthy accomplishments include the early John Wayne pictures Randy Rides Alone (1934) and 'Neath the Arizona Skies (1934). As a screenwriter, he penned the original film adaptations of Batman (1943) and Captain America (1944).

BONUS: Shanghai The Falling Horse (1946): Shot in Red Rock Canyon, this rare short subject shows how stuntman Fred Kennedy trains his horse "Shanghai" for work in motion pictures. The American Humane Association commended the film for demonstrating that "work in pictures for Shanghai...is actually less hazardous than on the race track or even on the bridle paths." Tragically, Fred Kennedy would break his neck falling off a horse during the filming of The Horse Soldiers (1959), dying in director John Ford's arms. Shanghai The Falling Horse is restored from an original 16mm color camera master.