When the population of a small frontier town all sign a petition asking that the governor name their town the new county seat, the petition is stolen by outlaw Cherokee (George “Gabby” Hayes).  Cherokee substitutes a different petition requesting a pardon for a member of his gang, The Nevada Kid (Bob Steele).

The Nevada Kid gets his pardon, is released from prison, and returns to the town.  No one is happy to see him, even though he says that he has changed his ways.  Even if the pardon was gotten through illicit means (which the Nevada Kid himself knew nothing about), the Kid still says that he’s going to take advantage of his second chance.  When Chereokee and the gang start to demand that the Nevada Kid once again work with them, Nevada gets his chance to show whether or not he’s really left being an outlaw behind.

I never expect much from these Poverty Row westerns but The Nevada Buckaroo, despite having not a great title, is actually pretty good.  A very young-looking Bob Steele gives a good performance as the Nevada Kid and George Hayes show that, before he became everyone’s favorite sidekick, he was capable of being a very intimidating actor.  The movie actually has something to say about trust, community, and second chances.

I don’t know much about director John P. McCarthy and I think this is the first of his films that I’ve seen.  He and cinematographer Faxon M. Dean put together a film that looks infinitely better than the average B-western.  That was obvious with even the grainy print that I watched.  The final shot, of the Nevada Kid riding into the sunset, is a perfect western image.