''The Law of the 45's'' (also known as ''The Mysterious Mr. Sheffield'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

) is a 1935 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

John P. McCarthy John P. McCarthy (March 17, 1884 – September 4, 1962), also known as J.P. McCarthy or simply as John McCarthy, was an American director and screenwriter of the 1920s through 1945. He began in the film industry in front of the camera, as an ac ...

. The screenplay was based on the 1933 novel of the same name by

William Colt MacDonald Allan William Colt MacDonald (December 2, 1891 – March 27, 1968), who used the name William Colt MacDonald for his writing, was an American writer of westerns born in Detroit, Michigan whose work appeared both in books and on film. Biography Hi ...

. It was the first film to be made of MacDonald's characters ''

The Three Mesquiteers ''The Three Mesquiteers'' is the umbrella title for a Republic Pictures series of 51 American Western B-movies released between 1936 and 1943. The films, featuring a trio of Old West adventurers, was based on a series of Western novels by W ...

'', that later became a

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

. Though only two of the characters, Tucson and Stoney, appeared in this film, Williams would appear as the missing member "Lullaby" Joslyn in ''

Powdersmoke Range ''Powdersmoke Range'' is a 1935 black-and-white Western film directed by Wallace Fox starring Harry Carey, Hoot Gibson, Guinn Williams and Bob Steele. It is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by William Colt MacDonald with characters wh ...

'' shot in the same year for RKO. Previously the Alexander brothers

Arthur Alexander Arthur Alexander (May 10, 1940 – June 9, 1993) was an American country soul songwriter and singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for AllMusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and that, though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff ...

and Max Alexander had released a series of Westerns starring Guinn Williams under their Beacon Pictures company. ''Law of the 45s'' was made by Max's Normandy Pictures.pp. 52-53 Pitts, Michael R. ''Poverty Row Studios, 1929-1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each'' McFarland, 2005

Plot

Tucson Smith and Stoney Martin are driving a herd of cattle to sell when they come into saving Charlie Hayden from a gang of killers. Tucson and Stoney sell their cattle to Hayden and agree to work for him, both as range hands and to stop the gang of killers hired from Mexico. Tucson explains that there are two laws; when the regular law is nowhere to be found, the law of the 45's takes over.

Cast

Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams Guinn is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: *Bill Guinn or Lew Meehan (1890–1951), American film actor *Colin Guinn, contestant in ''The Amazing Race'', a U.S. TV series *Dominick Guinn, (born 1975), A ...

as Tucson "Two-Gun" Smith *

Molly O'Day Molly O'Day (born Suzanne Dobson Noonan; October 16, 1909 – October 22, 1998) was an American film actress and the younger sister of Sally O'Neil. Biography Born in Bayonne, New Jersey, she was the youngest of 11 children of Judge Tho ...

as Joan Hayden *

Al St. John Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on ...

as Stoney Martin * Ted Adams as Gordon Rontell *

Lafe McKee Lafayette S. "Lafe" McKee (January 23, 1872 – August 10, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in more than 400 films from 1912 to 1948. Part of his career was spent with Art Mix Productions. McKee also worked as a stage actor from 19 ...

as Charlie Hayden (Joan's Father) *Fred Burns as Sheriff Tom *Curley Baldwin as Deputy Bill *

Martin Garralaga Martín Garralaga (10 November 1894 – 12 June 1981) was a Spanish actor who worked in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was married to opera singer and actress Rosa Rey. Biography Garralaga first came to the United States whe ...

as Joe Sanchez (Rontell's Gunman) *

Broderick O'Farrell George William Broderick O'Farrell (July 13, 1882 — September 2, 1955) was an American film and stage actor who appeared in both silent and sound films. He began his career at age 14, appearing onstage with the Baker Stock Company in his homet ...

as Sir Henry Sheffield *James Sheridan as Henchman Toral *

Glenn Strange George Glenn Strange (August 16, 1899 – September 20, 1973) was an American actor who mostly appeared in Western films and was billed as Glenn Strange. He is best remembered for playing Frankenstein's monster in three Universal films d ...

as Monte (Hayden Wrangler)

Notes

External links

* * 1935 films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels 1935 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language Western (genre) films {{1930s-Western-film-stub