Summaries

Wildcat Kelly has been dead and buried for years. Or has he? Dale is a reporter for an Eastern magazine who comes West to find out the true story of Kelly, of whom Gabby seems to have mysterious knowledge.

Roy, the proprietor of a dude ranch where Gabby is working as a hired hand. Dale is a photojournalist working for "Spread" magazine sent from New York to investigate a long-dead highwayman by the name of "Wildcat" Kelly. After finding out, by snooping around the ranch, that Gabby is in fact "Wildcat" Kelly, she publishes her findings in the magazine and Gabby is shot. Word is put out that Gabby died of the gunshot and a funeral is arranged. During the lying in state, Dale hides near the casket and photographs all the mourners as they pass by the casket. After the ceremony, Gabby reviews all the photos and picks out the man he saw shot him. By means of a description of the kill supplied to the local sheriff the suspected killer is traced to a local nightclub called the Westward Ho. Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers get a job entertaining at the club to try to locate and build a case against the gunman. By having Gabby make an appearance at the club and scaring the gunman into going to his boss, they find that he was working for the club's owner, one Henry Bennett. Bennett sends his gunman away until things quiet down. Later a gunshot is heard and Bennett announces that his assistant (the gunman) has been killed with what is discovered to be "Wildcat" Kelly's gun. The police seal off the club and discover Gabby hiding in one of the rooms. The final resolution comes about that Bennett a.k.a. Benson had claimed the reward for "Wildcat" Kelly through illicit means and had killed a man who could connect him to the wrongfully obtained reward. Bennett then had the man's body buried in the coffin which had contained a sandbag in place of "Wildcat's" body. "Wildcat" Kelly, never having been killed in the first place, was only trying to avoid being prosecuted for past crimes by means of faking his own death. In the end, Gabby is found innocent and Bennett convicted of murder and his club ceased and sold at auction and thereafter bought by Roy.—Anonymously

Toni Ames, the star reporter of a muck-raking picture magazine, is sent to Twin Wells, where Wildcat Kelly, daring and colorful desperado is buried in a lonely desert outside the town and her editor has sent her to find out if Kelly is actually dead, as there are rumors to the contrary. At the R-Bar-R Dude Ranch she meets Gabby Whittaker who claims to have been Wildcat's best friend. By accident, she learns that Gabby is actually Wildcat. Her story arouses the interest of the Governor because of a pending murder charge against Wildcat, and also that of Henry Bennett, the man actually responsible for the only crime ever attributed to Wildcat. Bennett sends his henchman Cliff Anson to kill Gabby, but he is only wounded, a fact that is undisclosed. Roy Rogers, Gabby's best friend, suspects Bennett, and he and the Sons of the Pioneers and Toni get booking at The Westward Ho, Bennett's club. Gabby then returns from the dead, scares Anson into confessing and Roy and the Sons round up the rest of the gang.—Les Adams <[email protected]>

Details

Keywords
  • b western
  • singing cowboy
  • western music
  • title song
  • rogers and evans
Genres
  • Drama
  • Western
  • Music
Release date Oct 19, 1945
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Approved
Countries of origin United States
Language English
Filming locations Lake Arrowhead, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Production companies Republic Pictures (I)

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 11m
Color Black and White
Aspect ratio 1.37 : 1

Synopsis

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