Roll Along Cowboy
Cast & Crew
Gus Meins
Smith Ballew
Cecilia Parker
Stanley Fields
Ruth Robinson
Wally Albright Jr.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Randall Porter and Barry Barker, two ranchhands at the Circle Star Ranch, ask their boss, Old Man Morgan, for the pay he's been holding for a year so that they can go to Chicago, a desire Barry has had for five years. Because Morgan will not be able to get the money for a couple of weeks, he gives them a note for $2,500 on a ranch owned by an old friend, Mrs. Edwina M. Blake, whom he hasn't seen for a couple of years. At the Blake ranch, men working for Odie Fenton, a nearby rancher, have been urging the Blake ranchhands to quit Mrs. Blake and work for Fenton as Mrs. Blake may lose the ranch because she owes back taxes. As Randy and Barry approach the Blake ranch, Fenton's men tell them that they are wasting their time going there for work. When Randy meets Mrs. Blake's pretty daughter Janet and learns that her mother is in bed from the strain of fighting to keep the ranch, Randy convinces the petulant Barry not to bring up the matter of the note until the next day. In town, after Fenton coerces a banker into agreeing to refuse to loan Mrs. Blake money, he learns about Randy and Barry and orders his man Bixby to run them off or kill them. That night, Barry shows Janet's young brother Danny, who sports a cheerful disposition despite having been confined to a wheelchair since he fell off a horse, how to play the guitar, and the two hands sing for the family by Mrs. Blake's bed. Attorney, Arthur J. Hathaway, who has been courting Janet but who is in league with Fenton, interrupts to bring news that the bank has refused to loan her money and suggests that she sell her cattle, for which she paid $30,000, to Fenton for $5,000. Randy and Barry learn from an old ranchhand that every other man has left the ranch to work for Fenton after being paid in advance by Mrs. Blake. Randy and Barry then find the drunken hands in a saloon in town, and after Randy beats Fenton in a fistfight, the hands agree to return to Mrs. Blake's ranch. A few days later, Barry learns from Mrs. Blake that a specialist, Dr. Cooper in nearby Redville, said that he might be able to do something to help Danny walk again, but that his fee is $1,500. As Randy, Janet and the hands round up the cattle to sell so that Mrs. Blake can pay the back taxes, Fenton gathers men together to scatter the herd that night. In town, Barry gives Hathaway the note on the ranch as collateral for a loan for $900, planning to use it and $600 of his own money to pay Dr. Cooper. Hathaway interrupts Randy romancing Janet and shows her the note, claiming that it is the reason Randy wants her to sell the cattle. Seeing that Janet is stung, Randy rides off. Meanwhile, Dr. Cooper puts a cast on Danny's legs and tells Mrs. Blake that he promised not to reveal who paid him. That night, Randy and Blake, seeing Fenton's men attempt to scatter the cattle, chase them off. Barry leads Mrs. Blake's ranchhands to head off the cattle, while Randy tackles Fenton from his horse and carries him off. Fenton now says that he will pay top market price for the cattle, and Barry punches Hathaway. Later, as Barry is about to leave for Chicago, he learns that Randy, who is singing to Janet, has decided to stay. He instead invites Danny, who now walks, to go with him, and when Mrs. Blake approves, Danny is overjoyed.
Director
Gus Meins
Cast
Smith Ballew
Cecilia Parker
Stanley Fields
Ruth Robinson
Wally Albright Jr.
Frank Milan
Gordon Elliott
Budd Buster
Harry Bernard
Buster Fite And The Saddle Tramps
Monte Montague
Bud Osborne
Crew
Jerry Bos
Milton Brown
Tom Carman
Arthur Hilton
Roy Ingraham
Daniel Jarrett
Albert Jordan
Sol Lesser
Wilbur Mcgaugh
Abe Meyer
Harry Neumann
Lew Porter
Teddy Powell
Lewis J. Rachmil
Walter G. Samuels
Harry Tobias
Leonard Whitcup
Lyle Womack
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The title card in the opening credits reads, "Zane Grey's Roll Along Cowboy." The original story by Grey was written for the 1934 film entitled The Dude Ranger, produced by Atherton Productions, an earlier company owned by Sol Lesser. The story was eventually published as a novel in 1951. Modern sources list the following additional cast members: Herman Hack, Syd Saylor and Frank Ellis. The Dude Ranger was directed by Edward F. Cline and starred George O'Brien.
