Law of the Badlands

Ten years after the Civil War has ended, the Governor of Texas asks Leander McNelly to form a company of Rangers to help uphold the law along the Mexican border. With a few veterans of the war, most of the recruits are young men who have little or no experience with guns or policing crime.

Having fled to Mexico from the U.S. many years ago for killing his father's murderer, Martin Brady travels to Texas to broker an arms deal for his Mexican boss, strongman Governor Cipriano Castro. Brady breaks a leg and while recuperating in Texas the gun shipment is stolen. Complicating matters further the wife of local army major Colton has designs on him, and the local Texas Ranger captain makes him a generous offer to come back to the states and join his outfit. After killing a man in self-defense, Brady slips back over the border and confronts Castro who is not only unhappy that Brady has lost his gun shipment but is about to join forces with Colton to battle the local raiding Apache Indians.

Walter Brennan is back as the clever and funny over the hill Texas Ranger Nash Crawford. This time the gang must face corruption in their own home town. The gang put their heads together to clean up their town, take back the rule of law and rehabilitate the town lush (played by Fred Astaire) along with way.

In this western, a frontier detective disguised as an entertainer performs for the leader of an outlaw gang. At the same time, he learns the whereabouts of the outlaws' hideout. Unfortunately, his true identity is revealed and he must escape if he is to bring the gang to justice.

Peggy Barlou is a young rancher who refuses to sell her spread to greedy stage-line proprietor John Rankin. Tex Haines, meanwhile, is accused of killing Bill Dugan, Rankin's bodyguard, but eludes capture long enough to hook up with Dave Wyatt and Panhandle Perkins, a couple of rangers in disguise.

Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves known as Comancheros.

This film was produced and released in 1944 by Film Enterprises for the 16mm school-and-institutional market, and was picked up and released in 1948 by Astor for theatrical 35mm showings. Both versions finds the citizens of Rockford upset over a series of murders and robberies. The Sundowners, Andy Clyde (Andy Clyde), Jay Kirby (Jay Kirby) and Russ Wade (Russell Wade), ride into Rockford and innocently takes jobs with Tug Wilson (Jack Ingram) and his tough crew of line riders, who are in cahoots with Yeager (Hal Price) in a big land swindle scheme.

Someone has been stealing ore from a valuable smelting mine. One of the independent mine-owners victimized by the crooks is pretty Joan Manning, making the Rangers' mission a bit more pleasant.

In this western, fake settlers make themselves at home on an ex-ranger's ranch and drive him away. A shady newspaper publisher and a gambler then conspire to take over the land. Fortunately, another ranger endeavors to help his pal. Enlisting the aide of his fellow rangers, they get oust the homesteaders. The publisher and the gambler shoot each other and the retired ranger gets his ranch back.

A man searching for a stolen army payroll is joined by several men after the reward money.

Two down-on-their-luck former outlaws volunteer to be Texas Rangers and find themselves assigned to bring in an old friend, now a notorious outlaw.