Author Archive: Retro

Cal Weston, after an absence of many years (in a remake of his 1930
Universal film “The Fighting Legion”), rides into Mesa to visit his father,
co-partner of the town bank with Jud Winters. Cal discovers the sheriff and
the coroner, Doctor Crandall in his father’s office examining his body with
Crandall rendering a verdict of suicide. Cal knows it wasn’t suicide as the
gun is in his right hand and John Weston was left handed, and he cautions
Winters, the only person in town who knows his true identity, not to reveal
it. Cal then begins his quest to find the killer and the motive, a quest
hampered when the bank’s crooked bookkeeper Martin Carter has his henchman
Burl Adams and two accomplices ambush and shoot the examiner from the
country seat, and then has a fake examiner declare that the bank has been

When Owens’ gang shoots it out in a New York nightclub, detective Breezy
Kildare is wounded. After he recovers he takes a vacation at his father’s
ranch in Wyoming. Here he meets Owens again and finds him running a
protection racket. When Breezy tries to stop him, Owens makes plans to
eliminate Breezy. Written by Maurice VanAuken

Wolf Valley is in the throes of a land-grab engineered by Barlow and
Taylor. The fight against them is led by Billy Carson, who is framed on a
murder charge which the outlaws believe will drive him out of the
territory. But instead of running, Billy surrenders and stands trial before
Judge Ryan, a square shooter. After weighing the evidence, Ryan finds Bill
not guilty but sentences Billy to jail for 30 days for disturbing the peace
because the Judge thinks that is the only way to save Billy from the
vengeance of Barlow and Taylor. But, without Billy’s leadership, the
settlers are helpless and ranches are burned, cattle rustled, the town is
shot up, the bank robbed and the mining claim owned by Billy and Fuzzy
Jones is confiscated. Ryan releases Billy who puts on a fake mustache, gets
a sombrero and poses [...]

Jim Waters uncovers cattle rustling and deceit at the Bar-Z Ranch

Hanley shoots a man and then frames Bill Roberts. Being the Judge he then
holds court planning to hang Bill but Bill’s friends effect his escape.
Andy tries to lead Hanley astray by misleading him as to Bill’s location.
But Bill changes plans and Hanley catches up with him and this leads to the
showdown. Written by Maurice VanAuken

Canadian Mountie Mason is sent south of the border to look for a horse
thief with only a watch chain for evidence. He befriends young Andy and
when Calhoun hits Andy, Mason and Calhoun fight. In the scuffle Calhoun’s
watch with the missing chain is dislodged. Mason then sets out to bring in
Calhoun and his gang. Written by Maurice VanAuken

Sharpe has kidnaped an engraver and is flooding the country with
counterfeit bills. The FBI spots a town in miniature on a bill and sends in
Tim Hayes. Tim starts out by robbing Sharpe’s men of the phony bills. Then
he enters as a friend proposing to get rid of the money for Sharpe but
instead planning to bring in his men to round them up. Written by Maurice VanAuken

Tim Ross, formerly an agent for the Justice Department, is traveling with
the Doc Shaw medicine show as a sharpshooter. He runs into an old friend,
Tex Weaver, who is working undercover to roundup a bank-robbing band.
Later, while Tex is holding a coin for Tim to shoot out of his hand at a
show exhibition, another shot is fired from the outer circle of spectators
at the same time as Tim fires. Tex falls dead. Everybody, but Tim and
saloon girl Goldie Harris, Tex’s girlfriend, is convinced that Tim misfired
and hit his friend. Goldie has picked up the coin Tex was holding and knows
Tim did not miss his intended target. Tim rejoins the federal service and
swears vengeance on the real killer, Runniyon, a member of the gang.
Disguised as a Mexican caballero (with an added mustache and a large
sombrero [...]

The kidnappers of Herbert Scott have been paid the demanded ransom but have
not returned Scott. The police chief suspects Larry Scott, the spendthrift
nephew, but an opposing view is held by Morrison, federal operator in
charge of the case. He assigns Betty Mason, his best woman operative, to
the case. Written by Les Adams