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Shadow Ranch (1930)
By admin | September 28, 2011
Buck Jones in his second talking film. Buck’s friend (Frank Price) asks him to come to Shadow Ranch where he is trying to help the owner (Marguerite De La Motte). But he arrives too late, just as his murdered friend is being buried. Buck avenges his friend’s death and aids the ranch owner who has been fighting a losing battle against vicious land-grabbing, cattle rustling Al Smith.
A blazing showdown sets things right again. Atmospheric and a little darker than most Westerns of the time. The film was so popular that it was remade two years later with Ken Maynard. After two hitches in the army, Buck Jones (1889-1942) appeared in various Wild West shows and circuses. In 1917 he began his film career as an extra and stuntman. By 1919 he was playing lead roles and by 1921 he was a popular star. By 1928 things were going so well, Buck formed his own production company and produced his first film which flopped. He then formed his own Wild West show which also failed. Buck had lost a lot of money on these two ventures and went back to the studios.
Joining Columbia Pictures, he made his first talkie in 1930. That film and the next seven (including this one), were produced under the auspices of Sol Lesser and many were directed by Louis King, younger brother of the better-known director Henry King. After the first eight films, Columbia continued the series through 1934.