a5c7b9f00b Ben Wade and his partner Frosty return to Bellounds' ranch where twenty years earlier Wade was wanted for murder. Unrecognized, he gets a job on the ranch and soon becomes involved in Folsom's cattle rustling and a chance to settle an old score. Under a false name, famed outlaw Pecos Bill gets a job at the Bellounds ranch along with his sidekick Frosty. Bill is actually Ben Wade, former owner of the Bellounds ranch and father of beautiful young Collie, the girl the two ranch foremen are fighting over. Ben works unrecognized, biding his time until he can expose the men who, years before, killed his partner and framed him for the crime, then stole his ranch. It's a truism, more true in Hollywood than anywhere else, that the book is better than the movie.<br/><br/>Not, I'm finding frequently, when it comes to Zane Grey books.<br/><br/>"Mysterious Rider" was the rather generic title of Grey's book that was made as "Mark of the Avenger," also a rather generic title.<br/><br/>Again, Maurice Geraghty turned an excellent story into an even better screenplay, with enjoyable dialog moving along the exciting action.<br/><br/>Douglas Dumbrille as a cowboy … I still am having some difficulty fully accepting it, but by gosh he was great! He was as at ease as any long-time cowboy star and thoroughly believable, because he was a star-quality actor, one of the best.<br/><br/>Sidney Toler, whom I had seen once recently in a similar best-pal role, still surprised me: He was perfect!<br/><br/>He and Dumbrille are just excellent actors, likable and believable in roles that are not what they were or became famous for. Excellent.<br/><br/>Russ Hayden is again a good-looking, likable, downright perfect cowboy, a fine actor in parts like this, and who should have become one of the biggest cowboy stars.<br/><br/>There are other superb actors, and some familiar cowboy faces, that make this an almost perfect movie, one I watched in a rather poor-quality print at YouTube, but which I would watch again.<br/><br/>There might be better prints around, and I hope you find one, but I really hope you get to see this excellent B western, well directed, well photographed motion picture that should leave you as it did me, thoroughly satisfied and ready for more. Ben Wade decides to return to his father's old ranch 20 years after he was framed for a murder and his foreman (who framed him) took over the ranch. In those 20 years, Wade had become the Pecos Kid, highway bandit, who's also had Frosty Kilburn tag along. No one recognizing him, Wade is given the job of tending the hounds by William Bellounds (who framed him). Rustling has been a problem at the ranch, but Bellounds does little about it since a) its not legally his ranch and b) evidence might point to his son Jack, a former convict, who has connections with the head of the rustling gang cap Folsolm. Wade dons his Pecos Bill disguise riding teaming with ranch foreman Wils Moore, who seems to be in trouble at the ranch cause of his love for Collie, the actual ranch owner and Wade's daughter (she's unaware of both facts) and later when accused of leading the rustling gang with Pecos Bill. Wade learns more about the rustlers' actions and, with Frosty, have a showdown at their headquarters in the desert. Excellent B western, even though this may be considered a B+. Unlikely casting here works, considering Dumbrille and Toler may be the oddest of western pairings but both give great performances. The film is more plot and character driven rather than the emphasis on action and Selander's direction really makes that decision succeed. The Saguaro Forest in Arizona made for some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in any western, most notably in the film's shootout climax. Rating, 10.
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