After stagecoach rodeo racer John Bishop is framed for causing a competitor to have an accident, he’s hauled off to jail. Fortunately, Bishop’s boss, Bob Leadly (Henry B. Walthall), comes through for Bishop and helps him escape from the jail. To thank Bob, Bishop heads down to Mexico to search for Bob’s son, Bart (Paul Fix). The last that Bob heard, Bart was running with an outlaw gang called “The Brotherhood of Death.” The only way get out of the Brotherhood of Death is to die.
By an amazing coincidence both Bart and Bishop’s girlfriend, Mary (Shirley Palmer), are in the Mexican town of Sonora. To try to get Bart to return home, Bishop goes undercover and infiltrates the gang. Once inside, Bishop discovers that gang leader Monte Black (J.P. McGowan) is planning on robbing the silver mine that belongs to Mary’s father.
This is a John Wayne B-western, typical of the poverty row productions that he was making before John Ford cast him as the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach and made him into a star. This one features the usual horse chases and bar fights and John Wayne gives a solid-enough performance in the lead role. The most interesting thing about it is that, even though it’s a western, it’s set in modern times. I guess frontier days lasted longer in some parts of the county than in others.
John Wayne’s horse, Duke, appears in this picture and shows again that he was the most talented of all the horse actors in the 30s. He earned his co-starring credit.
Through the Shattered Lens 