Film

Death Rides the Range

Name: Death Rides the Range
Director: Sam Newfield
Released: 1939
Rating: 6
Cast: Ken Maynard, Fay McKenzie, Julian Rivero, Ralph Peters, John Elliott

1939 · 58 min · ★ 6 · Dir. Sam Newfield

The otherwise standard Ken Maynard western Death Rides the Range is distinguished somewhat by a topical slant. The plot concerns a group of spies from an unnamed foreign country (gee, they sure sound German) who head westward to undermine American morale. Into this malaise wanders Maynard, supposedly a rootless cowpoke but in reality an FBI agent. Things begin to heat up when the villains lay claim to a helium well on the property owned by heroine Fay McKenzie. The film's silliest moment occurs in mid-stream, when chief villain Charlie King begins beating up everyone within arm's length, with nary a scratch on his own person.