Men of the Plains (1936)

Produced for around 10,000 dollars by Gower Gulch entrepreneur Arthur Alexander, this the fourth of six Rex Bell Westerns was distributed through the newly founded Grand National exchanges. Jim Dean (Bell) and Dad Baxter (John Elliott) are postal inspectors assigned to investigate a series of gold shipment robberies from the mines near Goldflat. They quickly discover that the brains behind the robberies is Goldflat bank president Travis (Forrest Taylor, whose last name was misspelled "Tailor" in the onscreen credits). Travis is in league with young telegraph operator Billy Sawyer (George Ball), who warns his girlfriend, Laura Long (Joan Barclay), not to arrive on a certain stage earmarked for an attack. Laura never receives the message but Jim and Dad manage to get the passengers, including the girl, off the stage before the planned heist. Dad is later murdered by Travis' henchmen, Cole (Roger Williams) and Johnson (Charles King), and Billy is mortally wounded in the final shootout. Before he expires, Billy makes Jim promise not to tell Laura about his involvement. A handsome and personable former Fox star, Rex Bell was the husband of silent screen icon Clara Bow. He left films to successfully run for the office of lieutenant governor of Nevada. Men of the Plains was written by Robert Emmett Tansey who also functioned as Robert F. Hill's assistant director. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi