This early sound western is something of a novelty. Shot on location in scenic locations in Arizona, it shows a visual sensibility
from the Silent Era, while featuring the onscreen talents of two actors we
don’t associate with each other today—William “Bill” Boyd before fame found him
as Hopalong Cassidy, and Clark Gable, before fame found him, period.
Plot. Boyd is the
grown foster son of a cattleman (William Farnum), and yearns to see Farnum
reconciled with a former partner (J. Farrell MacDonald), both of whom found him
as a toddler in the desert. In a complicated plot, Boyd discovers tungsten ore on
MacDonald’s land and tries unsuccessfully to get the two men to partner again
in what promises to be a lucrative mining project. But a couple of decades of
ill will have kept the two men enemies. Boyd then approaches MacDonald with a
mining deal of his own, and soon they are in business together.
Boyd also has eyes on MacDonald’s pretty rifle-toting
daughter (Helen Twelvetrees). This does not go down well with a new employee
(Clark Gable), a ranch hand who hires on in the middle of escalated hostilities
between the two former partners over access to water. He sabotages the mining
operation and interferes with time-sensitive delivery of ore in repayment of
bank loans.
