Rangers of Fortune (1940) DVD-R

Starring Fred MacMurray, Patricia Morison, Betty Brewer, Albert Dekker,
Gilbert Roland, Joseph Schildkraut, Dick Foran
Directed by Sam Wood

Print: black/white
Runtime: 80 min.
Genre: western
Print Quality: B

Fred MacMurray stars as a US Army misfit who, with pals Albert Dekker
and Gilbert Roland, roam the west in search of adventure. Arriving in a
small town, they befriend the elderly newspaper editor (Arthur Allen) and
his young granddaughter (Betty Brewer). The trio learns that the
community is under the thumb of a covetous land baron (Joseph
Schildkraut), who is endeavoring to push out the ranch owners and take
over the territory. Advertised by Paramount Pictures as a standard
western, Rangers of Fortune is full of startling surprises, not the least of
which is the fact that Fred MacMurray doesn't get the girl (Patricia
Morison). In one scene, villain Joseph Schildkraut explains his
motivations so persuasively that he seems to be more in the right than
the heroes. And despite Paramount's promotional buildup of their new
child star Betty Brewer, the studio had no qualms about killing off her
character some ten minutes before the end!