RED RYDER WESTERNS: THE COMPLETE CINECOLOR COLLECTION [2 DVD] [1949]

The Red Ryder movies were based on the character created by Fred Harman for his newspaper comic strip, which ran from 1938 to 1964. Legends has it that Red Ryder and his faithful sidekick Little Beaver would go wherever needed, to defend the innocent, bring crooks to justice and restore the peace. The color, Red Ryder Westerns, featuring the Cinecolor process, were all produced by Eagle-Lion Films and starred Jim Bannon as the Red Ryder. The collection features all 4 of the Cinecolor movies (the only produced in color!): Ride, Ryder, Ride! Roll, Thunder, Roll!, The Fighting Redhead and The Cowboy and the Prizefighter.
THE FIGHTING REDHEAD
Dir. Lewis D. Collins | Stars: Jim Bannon, Don Reynolds, Emmett Lynn, Marin Sais | with John Hart, Peggy Stewart
Red Ryder gets a telegram from his old friend Dan O’Connor asking for help in his fight against Faro Savage and his gang of rustlers. A gun dropped by Faro during a rustling raid makes Red and Sheila O’Connor, Dan’s daughter, think they have ample proof against Faro but they are stymied by the law. Buckskin Blodgett and the Duchess, Red’s aunt, find the body of O’Connor who was killed when Faro’s men sent the sheriff out on a ruse. Sheila, discovered while rifling Faros office for evidence, escapes but not before she is recognized. Faro kills one of his own henchmen and then frames Sheila for the murder. Red and Little Beaver set out to clear Sheila and to try to find evidence against Faro and his gang. Written by Les Adams
55 mins., Cinecolor, 1949
COWBOY AND THE PRIZEFIGHTER (1949)
Dir. Lewis D. Collins | Stars: Jim Bannon, Don Reynolds, Emmett Lynn, Marin Sais | with John Hart, Lane Bradford
In the fourth and last Red Ryder (following “Ride, Rider, Ride”, “Roll, Thunder, Roll” and “The Fighting Redhead” in that order) of the Equity Pictures for Eagle-Lion distribution, filmed in Cinecolor, Red Ryder takes Steve Stevenson, who has saved Red’s life, to his ranch and gives him a job. Red’s aunt, the Duchess, knew Steve’s father, who supposedly committed suicide after losing his ranch betting on a prizefight. Steve refuses to believe that his father took his own life and the Duchess backs him up. On the way to town, Red, Steve, ranch hand Buckshot Blodgett and Red’s young Indian pal, Little Beaver, break up an attempted stagecoach robbery. Mark Palmer, the gambler who caused the death of Steve’s father, is a passenger. In town, Steve meets Sue Evans, who is going to work for saloon owner Bart Osborne. Palmer and Osborne are working together and want Ryder’s ranch, and they develop a plan to have Red fight Palmer’s pugilist, Bull Massoon. Steve, a boxer in college, takes Red’s place. Steve loses to Massoon, but before Red can determine whether it was a fair fight, a rider reports a robbery of the stage office. Red goes after the outlaws, and the gold is recovered. Red maneuvers a fight with Massoon, and beats him after Massoon drops a piece of lead pipe hidden in his hand. Palmer admits to having murdered Steve’s father, and Steve learns that Sue was forced to work for Osborne to pay off a debt owed by her brother. Written By: Les Adams
59 mins., Cinecolor, 1949
ROLL, THUNDER, ROLL! (1949)
Dir. Lewis D. Collins | Stars: Jim Bannon, Don Reynolds, Emmett Lynn, Marin Sais | with Nancy Gates, Glenn Strange
In the second of the four Cinecolor “Red Ryder” films PRODUCED by Equity Pictures and released and DISTRIBUTED by Eagle Lion Films (USA), Red Ryder finds two silver conchas, the trademark of bandit El Conejo, at a raided ranch. He reports the raid to Marshal Bill Faugh but tells him that he suspects that El Conejo, a Robin hood type character, is being framed. El Conejo shows up at the saloon and accuses Ace Hanlon, the owner, of framing him. Red prevents El Conejo from killing Hanlon, and says he will deliver him to the Marshal. On the way, El Conejo’s men captures Red and is about to be executed, but the bandit, ever the sport, gives Red a chance to defend himself. Red beats El Conejo to the draw, without shooting him, and then, since he is innocent, convinces him he will be better off in jail. Red, his friends Buckskin Blodgett and Little Beaver, his aunt, the Duchess and the Marshal’s fiancé, Carole Loomis are guarding El Conejo in jail, figuring that Hanlon’s gang will try to free him since they can’t blame raids on him while he is in jail. Carole leaves to go home and finds her uncle, Happy Loomis, unconscious in the street after having been beaten up. She summons her friends who leave Buckskin as the sole guard in the jail. Hanlon’s men overpower Buckskin, take El Conejo to a ranch, shoot and wound the rancher who sees only El Conejo, and then they let El Conejo escape. The Marshal is not happy with this turn of events, but Red and Buckskin have a foolproof plan, or as close to foolproof as anything involving an Emmett Lynn character could be. Written by Les Adams
60 mins., Cinecolor, 1949
RIDE, RYDER, RIDE! (1949)
Dir. Lewis D. Collins | Stars: Jim Bannon, Don Reynolds, Emmett Lynn, Marin Sais | with Peggy Stewart, William Fawcett
Riding the plains with Little Beaver and Buckskin Blodgett, Red Ryder encounters bandits trying to hold up the stagecoach carrying Libby Brooks, owner of the Devil’s Hole newspaper, and her brother Gerry. Red drives off the attackers. Gerry prints an editorial condemning gunmen and Frenchy Beaumont, owner of the hotel and saloon, tells his henchman Blackjack Keno to kill Gerry. Red prevents this but Frenchy, an expert duelist, challenges Gerry and in a duel kills him. Red hears about the duel from his aunt Duchess and Gerry’s sweetheart Marge but arrives too late to stop it. Red joins Libby in a fight against Frenchy and his gang, and tries to jail Frenchy, but fails as the Sheriff and Judge Prescott jails Frenchy’s henchman Pinto but are forced to free Frenchy on lack of evidence. Red challenges Frenchy to a duel but he is badly wounded. While recovering he wonders why he failed to hit Frenchy, and then thinks he knows why Frenchy always manages to kill expert gunmen who are his opponents but is never hit himself. Recovered, he goes looking for Frenchy for a rematch. Written by Les Adams

Format  2 DVD

Language  English

Region  All

Runtime  59

Year  1949

Color  Cinecolor