''Red River Robin Hood'' is a 1942 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Lesley Selander Lesley Selander (May 26, 1900 – December 5, 1979) was an American film director of Western (genre), Westerns and adventure film, adventure movies. His career as director, spanning 127 feature films and dozens of TV episodes, lasted from 1936 to ...

with a

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

Bennett Cohen Bennett Cohen (August 28, 1890 – June 10, 1964) was an American screenwriter and director. He wrote for more than 180 films between 1915 and 1953. He also directed 17 films between 1925 and 1934. He was born in Trinidad, Colorado and died ...

and starring

Tim Holt Charles John "Tim" Holt III (February 5, 1919 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures. In a career spanning mo ...

. It was released by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

. The plot was inspired by

Zorro Zorro (Spanish language, Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed a ...

. This was the last Tim Holt Western until after the war.Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story.'' New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p185

Plot

In the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, Scott Yager wins a court case upholding an old Spanish land grant which gives him ownership of much of the ranching land around the town of Red River. The angry ranchers must now give up their land to Yager, or become his tenants. Cowhand Jim Carey, and his sidekick, Ike, have left their former employer to return to Jim's ranch and his business partner, Chet Andrews. They learn from the newspaper editor, Sam Sterling, about Yager's case and that Chet is in jail for resisting an officer. They also meet his daughter, Carol. Yager's men disrupt Sterling's office because of Sterling's negative editorials. The sheriff intercedes, but after the fight, Ike discovers a tin star stuck to his shirt. Jim and Ike use the star as a ruse to free Chet. The sheriff discovers the escape, but Jim, Ike and Chet get away. Because the ranchers don't have enough money to pay Yager rent for very long, the trio decide that Jim and Ike will return Chet as a "prisoner" under a ruse of a double-cross to gain Yager's trust. Yager takes them in to his gang. Jim and Ike go undercover as masked men and leave messages to the ranchers to "stay and fight" signed by "Mr. Justice." The pair then rob Yager's men of the rent they collect and return it to the ranchers. Jim and Ike return to Yager and claim they, too, were robbed by Mr. Justice. Yager and his gang report the robberies to the sheriff and Yager decides to evict the ranchers, who, under the law, have 30 days to leave. Sam Sterling questions the authenticity of the land grant and sets out to prove it is fake. Jim reports to Yager that he should put the land grant document in a safe place after overhearing people talking about it. As Yager retrieves the document, Jim and Ike accost him as "Mr. Justice," knock Yager unconscious and give the document to Sterling who reviews it and returns it. Yager regains consciousness and finds Jim and Ike tied up outside, claiming Mr. Justice ambushed them. Yager concludes Sterling wanted to look at the document and likely knows who Mr. Justice is. Yager confronts Sterling and Carol at the newspaper office. Jim and Ike are hiding out there. They put out the lights and a fight ensues after which Jim, Ike and the Sterlings get away. Jim and Ike return and, with Yager, discover the capes and masks worn by Mr. Justice. Yager tells two of his henchmen to dress up as Mr. Justice and retrieve his rent money. As Carol is obtaining petition signatures to re-open the case, she is resisted by the ranchers who were robbed by Mr. Justice (Yager's henchmen). Jim and Ike's cover is blown and they are taken hostage by Yager. Carol suspects Yager's men are posing as Mr. Justice, rounds up a posse, and heads to Yager's ranch. Meanwhile, Jim and Ike engage in a skirmish with Yager and his men. Yager escapes and Jim pursues him. Ike subdues the henchmen as Carol and the posse arrive. Jim subdues Yager. Yager and his men are given long prison sentences. Carol and Jim embrace and Ike comically falls off a ladder as he re-enacts the final skirmish with Yager and his men.

Cast

as Jim Carey *

Cliff Edwards Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971), nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American singer, musician and actor. He enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standar ...

as Ike * Barbara Moffett as Carol Sterling *

Eddie Dew Eddie Dew (January 29, 1909 – April 6, 1972) was an American actor, film director, and television director. As an actor, he is best remembered for his starring roles in B movie western films during the 1940s. In the 1950s he became active in ...

as Scott Yager *

Otto Hoffman Otto F. Hoffman (May 2, 1879 – June 23, 1944) was an American film actor. He appeared in almost 200 films between 1915 and 1944. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California, from lung cancer. Hoffman's Broadway credit ...

as Sam Sterling *

Russell Wade Russell Wade (June 22, 1917 – December 9, 2006) was an American actor. Life and career Russell Wade was born on June 21, 1917, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He signed an RKO contract in 1942. Having appeared in 80 films, his last one was '' ...

as Chet Andrews *

Tom London Tom London (born Leonard T. Clapman; August 24, 1889 – December 5, 1963) was an American actor who played frequently in B-Westerns. According to ''The Guinness Book of Movie Records'', London is credited with appearing in the most films in ...

as Sheriff Del Auston *

Earle Hodgins Earle Hodgins (October 6, 1893 – April 14, 1964) was an American actor. Career Early in his career, Hodgins was active in stock theater, including working in the Ralph Cloninger troupe of Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Siegel Stock compan ...

as Deputy Pete * Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart as Henchman Denver *

Reed Howes Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * R ...

as Henchman Buck Owens *

Kenne Duncan Kenne Duncan (February 17, 1903 – February 5, 1972) was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor. Hyped professionally as "The Meanest Man in the Movies," the vast majority of his over 250 appearances on camera were Westerns, but ...

as Henchman Ed Rance

References

External links

* {{Lesley Selander 1942 films 1942 Western (genre) films Films directed by Lesley Selander American Western (genre) films Films produced by Bert Gilroy RKO Pictures films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films