Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as Wild Bill Hickok: ...

Dir: Clifford Smith

Bashful ranch hand Aleck is in love. To help him get his girl, Red Saunders goes to town and convinces Lindy, whom Red thinks is the object of Aleck's affections, to come to the ranch. Meanwhile, Ah Sing, "the ranch Chinaman," steals the cowboys' clothes and pawns them. Red and Lindy meet with Ah Sing and the pursuing, half-clad cowboys at a gambling hall and regain the lost clothing. Red discovers he has brought the wrong girl, but the situation brightens when she consents to his proposal.

Dir: Clifford Smith

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Keith of the Border perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Texas Ranger Jack Keith, is instructed to track down a gang called the Border Wolves, whose brutal raids have terrorized the countryside. When several members of the gang murder a band of squatters, Black Bart, the head outlaw, has Keith arrested for the crime, but the ranger escapes and flees to a lonely cabin. There he meets Hope Waite, who has come to the Southwest to meet her father, General Waite, and look for her long lost sister. Keith takes her to a boarding-house and places her in the care of Mrs. Murphy, but Bart, having met the girl earlier, discovers her whereabouts. The crook asks her to cash a check for him without revealing that he stole it from General Waite, whom he believes he murdered with the gang of squatters. General Waite arrives in town unharmed, followed by Christie McClaire, his missing daughter. After the family is reunited, Keith rounds up the Wolves and returns the general's check to Hope.

Dir: Clifford Smith

Meg Carter is the daughter of the man who runs the "Hell's Agony" saloon. He is killed in a row, and Meg takes it upon herself to keep the business going. This requires her to mix in and put a stop to any and all fights, which she does with the assistance of her constant companions, her two revolvers. Brian McTavish, who is supposed to help maintain law and order in the town, tries to take advantage of Meg, and a man by the name of Bad Lands O'Connor prevents him. For this McTavish determines to get even. A number of murders have been committed near O'Connor's cabin, and McTavish fastens them on his rival by lying. The crowd is about to hang the innocent man when Meg effects his rescue. She gets McTavish to consent to a test of marksmanship with her and defeats him, the life of O'Connor being her prize. There is a wedding in town shortly and Meg and O'Connor are the principals.

Dir: Clifford Smith

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Girl of Hell's Agony perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

"One Shot" Ross, who has brought law and order to the town of Painted Gulch, decides to hang up his six-shooters when he sees the daughter of one of his victims sobbing over her dead father's body. While traveling East, Ross's stagecoach is held up and Ross, knocked unconscious, is taken to a nearby cabin owned by the Sheridans. After Mr. Sheridan is killed when he inadvertently stumbles upon Jim Butler and his gang dividing up the spoils from the stage robbery, Ross takes pity on Nan, the old man's daughter, and decides to bring the outlaws to justice. Feigning feeble-mindedness, Ross obtains a job on Butler's ranch and uncovers evidence which proves that Butler is the leader of the outlaws. Heading the posse, Ross captures Butler's gang and then rides off to the Sheridan cabin where, in a shootout, he rescues Nan from Butler.

Dir: Clifford Smith

Bob Allers, an unfortunate consumptive, and his wife are traveling to Arizona for medicinal purposes. On the way, a highwayman robs them of horse and money. Destitute, they are befriended by William "Red" Saunders, whose sympathy and innate love for his fellow man lands Allers a job in the local saloon. Soon after, when the same highwayman attempts to rob the saloon, Allers kills him with a hammer thrown in self-defense, unaware that the outlaw is the brother of the sheriff. Convicted for murder by the vengeful sheriff, Allers is defended by "Red." The corrupt jury makes its final decision based on whether a crawling fly reaches the top of a window pane. Allers is acquitted, then reunited with his happy wife and newborn child, and they all leave together.

Dir: Clifford Smith

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of One Shot Ross perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

The heroine of "The She Wolf" walks into "The Last Hope" saloon in "Mad Dog" one night, and discovers the Chinese owner and a crooked sheriff cheating a stranger at a game of cards. Drawing her shooting irons she starts to take a hand in the game herself. During the fighting that follows, the stranger is wounded, and the heroine carries him off to her shack and takes care of him. Several days later, the sheriff, who is the head of a band of outlaws, robs the mail coach and leaves a number of letters scattered on the road. The two-gun young woman picks up one of the letters and learns that it was written by Sallie Bigby to her sweetheart, John Williams. It tells him that Sallie's father is in the power of the Chinese saloon keeper, and that she will be compelled to marry him unless she is rescued. "The She Wolf" goes to the place, starts a lively scrap for the second time, and carries Sallie off to her cabin. Here matters are arranged properly. Sallie and her sweetheart meet and the stranger lets it be known that he intends to make the girl who nursed him back to health his wife.

Dir: Clifford Smith

Jim Walton, the sheriff of El Dorado, orders Joe Malone to stop working an abandoned mine that he has uncovered. Later, Malone recognizes Edith Strang, the dancing girl who is passing through town with the quack Doc Hamilton, as the rightful heir to the abandoned mine. Malone informs the doctor of the fabulous riches within their grasp, and the doctor departs for the East to interest capital in the property. While he is away, Malone tries to double-cross the doctor by marrying Edith, but Walton discovers his plan and offers the girl protection. Upon his return, the doctor reclaims Edith from the sheriff, and that night, sensing wrongdoing, Walton goes to the doctor's cabin. There he finds that Edith is being forced to sign away her rights to the mine. Walton forces Malone to confess that the mine belonged to Edith's dead parents, and thus restores the girl to her birthright. Edith then prepares to go to school in the East, but at the last minute decides to remain and marry the sheriff.

Dir: Clifford Smith

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Fly God perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Unhappy with William "Red" Saunders, the foreman of the Chanta Seechee Ranch in Oklahoma, its Eastern owners send a Boston tenderfoot named Albert Jones to manage the ranch with "Eastern business methods." Red prevents the angry cowboys from quitting, but they insist on making Jones the butt of their jokes and tricks. Upon learning that Jones's niece, Loys Andres, is planning a visit, the boys plan a rowdy reception for the woman, whom they expect will be an old maid. Loys's beauty, however, surprises them all, and Red's bunk-mate, Kyle Lambert, falls in love with her, and he soon proposes. When Jones tries to break up the romance, Red arranges for an elopement, but as the lovers reach the ford, a rustler called "Squint-Eye" Lucas fires at them, slightly wounding Kyle. Loys returns to the ranch for help, Red shoots Lucas, and Kyle is rescued, after which Loys and Kyle marry. Beaten, Jones gives the couple his blessing.

Dir: Clifford Smith

Bosom friends Jeff Flagg and Jim Lee launch a cattle-raising business, but their prospects are so seriously threatened by Ed Crane and his nearby copper mining operations that Jim moves to another town. Crane tries to assault Jeff's sweetheart, Helen Dryer, and in the attempt is shot and killed by her brother Vic. Jeff, accused of the murder, leaves town closely pursued by Sheriff Sol Durkee, who hopes to identify Jeff by the scar on his left arm. In a faraway town, Jeff meets up with his old friend Jim, who, in a poker game brawl, shoots the scar away from Jeff's arm. The two return home, and when Vic finally confesses that he killed Crane to preserve his sister's honor, Jeff is exonerated. Jeff and Jim discover rich copper deposits on their ranch, and Jeff, now a wealthy man, proposes to Helen.

Dir: Clifford Smith

A ranch owner hires a young woman as foreman over a rambunctious group of cowboys.