Arizona Terrors
Cast & Crew
George Sherman
Don "red" Barry
Lynn Merrick
Al St. John
Reed Hadley
John Maxwell
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
On their way to buy horses for Rock City rancher Henry Adams, cowboys Jim Bradley and Hardtack spend the night in a small town where gambler Jack Halliday runs a crooked poker game. When another player accuses Halliday of cheating, Halliday pulls a knife and is about to kill him when Jim shoots the weapon out of his hand. Halliday escapes and joins his partner, Larry Madden, a forger who is creating a document, "signed" by King Charles III of Spain, granting a million acres of Texas grazing land to Halliday's "ancestor." Posing as Don Pedro de Berendo, Halliday presents the document and his claim is upheld. Halliday and Madden then begin a reign of terror, charging the resident ranchers outrageous rents and evicting them if they cannot pay. Meanwhile, after buying the horses and herding them across Texas, Jim and Hardtack reach Rock City, where they antagonize the gang by refusing to pay a toll to get to Adams' ranch. Adams explains the situation, and when the gang seizes the horses as payment of the toll, Jim determines to stay and see justice done. Jim writes to President McKinley about Rock City's problems, but is told that McKinley is away on a goodwill tour. Frustrated, Jim and Hardtack don masks and begin robbing the gang of the money they have extorted, then return it to the ranchers. One afternoon, while being chased by the gang, Jim and Hardtack inadvertantly jump onto McKinley's goodwill tour train. They explain their problems to the president, who promises to send in the cavalry when they wire him with evidence of Halliday and Madden's wrongdoing. Upon returning to the ranch, Jim and Hardtack learn from Adams' daughter Lila that he has been taken to Halliday's hacienda. That night, Jim and Hardtack sneak into the hacienda and free Adams, although one of the gang members is killed during the fracas. As they are fighing, Jim sees Halliday throw a knife and realizes that he is the gambler they encountered earlier. Jim and Hardtack are arrested and convicted of killing Halliday's henchman, but, with Lila's help, find evidence of Madden's counterfeiting. Lila wires the information about the forgery and Halliday's identity to McKinley, but the president is assassinated before he can help. Sheriff Wilcox, believing that Jim and Hardtack are innocent, fakes their execution and helps them escape. Because the townspeople think that their heroes are dead, however, they rush to the hacienda, intent on lynching Halliday. Needing to get the evidence, Jim and Hardtack reach the hacienda first and get the fake Charles III seal from Halliday, who kills Madden with a knife when he attempts to stop him. Halliday is prevented from escaping by Lila's dog, "Duke," and is soon convicted of his crimes. The ranchers' land and money are returned to them, and Jim and Hardtack decide to stay and help Lila run her ranch.
Director
George Sherman
Cast
Don "red" Barry
Lynn Merrick
Al St. John
Reed Hadley
John Maxwell
Frank Brownlee
Rex Lease
Lee Shumway
Tom London
Del Henderson
Bud Osborne
John Merton
Fred Toones
Chuck Morrison
Jack Kirk
Kermit Maynard
Stanley Blystone
Harry Semels
Hooper Atchley
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Born to the Saddle. Modern sources include Curley Dresden and Herman Hack in the cast.
