Square Shooter (1935)

Square Shooter: Directed by David Selman. With Tim McCoy, Julie Bishop, Erville Alderson, John Darrow. Having been framed for murder, Tim returns from prison to clear his name and retrieve the ranch taken from his uncle with a forged will. He finds the real will but his friend Johnny becomes jealous when he sees Tim with his girlfriend and gives Tim’s hiding place away to the men responsible for Tim’s trouble.

“Routine oater at best. Mc Coy can do the hard-eyed stare with the best of them, while his 20- gallon hat tops about everything in sight. The plotu0026#39;s a fairly standard one—Baxter (McCoy) getting back from townu0026#39;s crooks whatu0026#39;s been stolen from him. I like the unexpected twist with young Johnny (Darrow) that makes a surprise plot complication. The trouble is thereu0026#39;s neither much action nor hard riding (with one notable exception). Plus, the scenery never gets out of the LA area scrublands. Still, this was a payday for a lot of middle-age supporting actors, including the 45-year old McCoy and the sepulchral Charles Middleton also known as Ming the Merciless from the old Buck Rogers serial. All in all, the 60-minutes is not in the front rank of horse operas but still enough for this front-row geezer.”