By Richard Harland Smith
The Plunderers
Brief Synopsis
A cavalry officer must join forces with an outlaw he has been tracking to fight a Sioux war party.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Joseph Kane
Director
Rod Cameron
Johnny Drum, also known as Johnny Corrigan
Ilona Massey
Lin Conner
Adrian Booth
Julie Ann McCabe
Forrest Tucker
Whit Lacey
George Cleveland
Sheriff Sam Borden
Film Details
Also Known As
The Far Outpost
Genre
Western
Release Date
Dec
1,
1948
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Republic Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Republic Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Location
Chatsworth--Iverson Ranch, California, United States; Kernville, California, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 27m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Color (Trucolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Synopsis
In the 1870s, while flirting with saloon singer Lin Conner and her friend, Julie Ann McCabe, in Barnaby's general store, Johnny Drum, a fugitive wanted for murder, is confronted by Sheriff Sam Borden. When Sam attempts an arrest, Johnny shoots him, then flees the store. Johnny then steals Julie's horse and eludes Deputy Tap Lawrence's posse. On the trail, Johnny is attacked by Sioux warriors, but is saved by Whit Lacey, an outlaw accused of raiding Eben Martin's mining operation. Aware that Johnny, too, is a wanted man, Whit convinces him to participate in a fake marriage to his sweetheart, Julie, whom Tap has been doggedly following in the hope that she will lead him to Whit. Posing as Julie's old flame, Johnny Corrigan, Johnny returns to town, where he and Julie are married by a phony justice. Soon after, Johnny meets secretly with Sam, whom he pretended to shoot as part of an Army undercover operation, and speculates that an inside source has been giving Whit information about Martin's mines. Johnny then leaves town with Lin and Julie, who happily reunites with Whit on the trail. To Julie's dismay, Whit announces that he has one more job to do before they can head for California and makes plans with Calico, his right-hand man, to steal horses from a passing herd. When Whit tries to sell the stolen horses to an Army officer, a cowboy wounded during the ambush identifies him as a horse thief, and Whit barely escapes with his life. That evening at Whit's hideout, Whit informs Julie that she, Johnny and Lin have to return to town for a few days. In town, Johnny, whose eyes were covered coming and going from the hideout, gives Sam some drawings he made of the surrounding area, hoping that a surveyor will be able to pinpoint the hideout's exact location. Later, the wealthy Martin proposes to Lin, but to Johnny's relief, she turns him down. Johnny then makes his own proposal and kisses the surprised singer. The next day, after Johnny buys a supply of ammunition and he, Lin and Julie leave for the hideout, Tap tells Martin that Sam's murder was faked. Unknown to Tap and Sam, Martin is behind the raids on his mine, which he hopes to sell for a large profit. After Martin sends a messenger to Whit's hideout with news of Johnny's impersonation, Whit, who has grown as fond of Johnny as Johnny has of Whit, allows him to escape. As Whit, Calico, Julie and Lin flee the hideout, they are captured by Sam and his deputies. Sam takes Julie, Lin and his two prisoners, who have refused to reveal who sent the note about Johnny, to an Army outpost, where they are to be jailed temporarily. Out of loyalty to Julie, Lin begs Johnny to release Whit, and when Johnny refuses, she rejects his proposal. Having recently arrived at the outpost, Martin, fearing exposure, incites the locals to form a lynch mob against Whit and Calico. Just as they are about to hang the prisoners, a band of Sioux Indians, led by Red Cloud, shoots a flaming arrow of war into the outpost. Johnny frees Whit and Calico to help in the fight, and as the three men prepare to reclaim an outer building from the Sioux, Calico forces Martin to accompany them. After the men overwhelm the Indians guarding the building, Calico exposes Martin as his boss. Julie then makes a dash for the building and is reunited with Whit, who is compelled to knock her out in order to return her to the outpost. Johnny orders Martin to carry the unconscious Julie back, and when Martin refuses, Whit shoots him. Johnny then volunteers, but as he runs toward the outpost, an arrow pierces Julie's back, killing her. The well-armed Indians then blast a hole in the outpost and swarm inside, and Whit and Calico are killed during the fiery battle. After much bloodshed, Cavalry troops arrive and subdue the Indians. Later, Johnny is discharged from the Army, and he and Lin look forward to married life on Johnny's Texas ranch.
Director
Joseph Kane
Director
Cast
Rod Cameron
Johnny Drum, also known as Johnny Corrigan
Ilona Massey
Lin Conner
Adrian Booth
Julie Ann McCabe
Forrest Tucker
Whit Lacey
George Cleveland
Sheriff Sam Borden
Grant Withers
Deputy Tap Lawrence
Taylor Holmes
Eben Martin
Paul Fix
Calico
Francis Ford
Barnaby
James Flavin
Sergeant major
Russell Hicks
Cavalry colonel
Maude Eburne
Old dame
Mary Ruth Wade
Pioneer girl
Louis R. Faust
Sentry
Rex Lease
Sgt. Steel
Augie Gomez
Indian Eddie
Tex Terry
Rancher
Kenneth Macdonald
Ranchcer
Hank Patterson
Hostler
Hank Bell
Stage driver
Tex Parker
Gump
Dewey Troub
Bide
Al Murphy
Waiter
Guy Wilkerson
Loafer
Garrett Craig
Leader
Clayton Moore
Night rider
John Hilton
Tom Powers
Forrest Taylor
Homesteader
House Peters Jr.
Sentinel
Wheaton Chambers
Justice
Jack O'shea
Bartender
Craig Lawrence
Posseman
Steve Clark
Posseman
Monte Montague
Deputy
Bud Osborne
Outlaw
Tex Cooper
Miner
Ken Terrell
Indian
Hugh Prosser
Crew
Gerald Adams
Screenwriter
Frank Arrigo
Art Director
Dale Butts
Music
Jack Elliott
Composer
Gerald Geraghty
Screenwriter
Aaron Gonzales
Composer
James Edward Grant
Based on an Original story by
Peggy Gray
Hairstylist
Kenneth Holmes
Production Manager
Joseph Kane
Associate Producer
Don Keyes
Stills
Gerry Lambrecht
Grip
William H. Lingard
Composer
Howard Lydecker
Special Effects
Theodore Lydecker
Special Effects
Bob Mark
Makeup Supervisor
Jack Marta
Director of Photography
John Mccarthy Jr.
Set Decoration
Richard Moder
Assistant Director
Joe Novak
Camera Operator
Adele Palmer
Costume Design
Charles E. Pratt
Composer
Arthur Roberts
Film Editor
Morton Scott
Music Director
Charles Thompson
Set Decoration
Dick Tyler
Sound
Dorothy Yutzi
Script Supervisor
Film Details
Also Known As
The Far Outpost
Genre
Western
Release Date
Dec
1,
1948
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Republic Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Republic Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Location
Chatsworth--Iverson Ranch, California, United States; Kernville, California, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 27m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Color (Trucolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Articles
The Plunderers
Cowboy star Rod Cameron got his start in Hollywood as a bit player and stuntman, making do with limited screen time until Republic Pictures on Poverty Row gave him his first starring role -not as a western hero but as a federal agent ankling Axis rats. The success of the 1943 serial G-Men vs the Black Dragon led to a like-minded follow-up, Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943), in which Cameron returned as two-fisted Yankee counterspy Rex Bennett. The big studios took notice of Cameron's rough-hewn handsomeness and impressive physical prowess, with Universal tapping the strapping Canadian as a replacement for its departing matinee star Johnny Mack Brown. At Universal, Cameron appeared in both shoot-em-ups and such prestige pictures as Mrs. Parkington (1944) with Greer Garson and Salome Where She Danced (1945) with Yvonne De Carlo until a regime change in 1947 left him a free agent. Cameron returned to Poverty Row, working for both Monogram and Republic, taking the lead for the latter in the Technicolor western The Plunderers (1948). Anticipating Raoul Walsh's White Heat (1949), the film tells the tale of a government agent who poses as a wanted man to infiltrate Forrest Tucker's outlaw gang. If leading lady Ilona Massey looks familiar, fans of Universal horror may remember her as the Baroness Frankenstein of Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943) while future Lone Ranger star Clayton Moore appears in a small role.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
The Plunderers
Cowboy star Rod Cameron got his start in Hollywood as a bit player and stuntman, making do with limited screen time until Republic Pictures on Poverty Row gave him his first starring role -not as a western hero but as a federal agent ankling Axis rats. The success of the 1943 serial G-Men vs the Black Dragon led to a like-minded follow-up, Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943), in which Cameron returned as two-fisted Yankee counterspy Rex Bennett. The big studios took notice of Cameron's rough-hewn handsomeness and impressive physical prowess, with Universal tapping the strapping Canadian as a replacement for its departing matinee star Johnny Mack Brown. At Universal, Cameron appeared in both shoot-em-ups and such prestige pictures as Mrs. Parkington (1944) with Greer Garson and Salome Where She Danced (1945) with Yvonne De Carlo until a regime change in 1947 left him a free agent. Cameron returned to Poverty Row, working for both Monogram and Republic, taking the lead for the latter in the Technicolor western The Plunderers (1948). Anticipating Raoul Walsh's White Heat (1949), the film tells the tale of a government agent who poses as a wanted man to infiltrate Forrest Tucker's outlaw gang. If leading lady Ilona Massey looks familiar, fans of Universal horror may remember her as the Baroness Frankenstein of Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943) while future Lone Ranger star Clayton Moore appears in a small role.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Tap, it ain't every man that gets the chance to see his own funeral. I don't know that I rightly like it though. It seems kind of ghostly like. There's my cousin, Pete, all red-eyed...mostly from corn, not from grief. And there's banker Havens sad as can be. But probably wondering will my house bring money enough at auction to cover the mortgage.- Sam Borden
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was The Far Outpost. Although the viewed print was black-and-white, the film was released in color. Opening credits include the following written statement: "From the history of the Old West comes this story of the Outlaw Trail. In the 1870's renegades and gunfighters rode almost unchallenged in the territories of Wyoming and Arizona. Law enforcement was practically unknown, dependent as it was on widely scattered army posts and local sheriffs who were ineffectual against the outlaw gangs which attacked swiftly and escaped into the rugged wilderness...." Some scenes in the film were shot on location at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, CA and in Kernville, CA. According to a January 1948 Hollywood Reporter news item, William Elliott was originally slated to star in the picture. A mid-June 1948 news item lists Holly Bane, Tom Moffatt and Lynn Farr in the cast, but their appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Hollywood Reporter production charts add Houseley Stevenson to the cast, but his appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Modern sources add John Hart and Roy Barcroft to the cast.
