I know that I said yesterday that I was done with Eddie Dean westerns but I decided to watch one more, just because it was short and, based on the other Eddie Dean films I had seen, I assumed that it would be undemanding. 

(I was right.)

Tumbleweed Trail opens with Brad Barton (Bob Duncan) and his group of colorfully named henchmen (one is named Dead-Eye) ambushing and apparently killing a rancher named Bill Ryan (Kermit Ryan), who also happens to be Barton’s half-brother.  Barton wants to take control of Ryan’s ranch and he’s even forged a will to to convince the land office to give it to him instead of Ryan’s children.  If this plot sounds familiar, it’s because much of it was recycled for Black Hills.

What Barton did not count on was the arrival of singing cowboy Eddie Dean (played by real-life singing cowboy Eddie Dean) and his sideick, Soapy (Roscoe Ates).  Eddie and Soapy get jobs working on Ryan’s ranch.  Eddie finds time to sing a few songs and to fall for Bill’s daughter, Robin (Shirley Patterson).  Everyone loves Eddie’s singing but he’s not make much progress when it comes to proving that Barton’s will is a fake.  Just when it seems like not even Eddie and Soapy will be able to stop Barton, there’s a “surprise” ending that you’ll see coming from a mile away.

This one is uninspired, though some of my reaction could be due to having already seen Eddie Dean go through a similar plot in Black Hills.  Eddie sings a lot but that’s about all he does in this routine poverty row western.  Bob Duncan is a generic villain.  Of the three Eddie Dean films that I’ve watched, Tumbleweed Trail was the most forgettable.  It’s for fans of the genre only.

Eddie’s horse in Tumbleweed Trail is played by Flash.  Flash gets second billing, above Roscoe Ates.

This, I’m pretty sure, was my final Eddie Dean movie.