SYNOPSIS:
A horse rustling outfit, the Black Diamond gang, is making off with wild horses intended to be used by the Texas rangers. During one of the ambushes, the unscrupulous marauders rustle five horses while injuring Cyclone, one of the rangers’ best and most temperamental stallions.
Having had his fill of these incidents, Ranger Sunset Carson [Sunset Carson] is charged with the task of recapturing the stolen mares and apprehending the rustlers. As it turns out, the rangers do not possess jurisdiction over the Three Corners territory in which the gang is hiding out as the stretch of land has yet to be annexed into the state of Texas.
As Carson prepares to ride out, a stage carrying goods and the musical group Little Joe’s Wranglers led by Shorty [Joe Hiser] arrives with pretty Helen Bennett [Pat Starling] in tow. In an ironic coincidence, Bennett and the troupe are headed to Three Corners as well so that Bennett may surprise her brother Tim [William Val] and her sister Rita [Polly McKay] who own the trading post. Sunset heads to the post while Captain McCloud [Forrest Matthews] attempts to convince Helen not to make the trip.
Another individual who wishes to ride with Sunset is Jed Thomas [Al Terry], whom aspires to be a ranger just like Carson. Sunset is reluctant to take Jed with him but ultimately concedes when convinced by McCloud that it’s a good idea. Before the two mount to head to badmen territory, Jed charges lazy ranch hand Kelly [Bob Curtis] with the task of looking after Cyclone.
Unbeknownst to Sunset and the rangers, Rita and Tim Bennett have been involved in the rustling out of hatred for the rangers who crippled Tim and murdered their father during a battle some time ago. In addition to the rustling, the villains are also conspiring to sabotage the vote which would annex their area with the state of Texas.
After unsuccessfully trying to recoup the stolen horses, Jed and Sunset return to the rangers’ ranch to discover Cyclone’s condition has worsened. However, Jed nurses the mustang along and is rewarded by McCloud officially initiating him into the rangers. Sadly, as this is transpiring, Cyclone kills a ranch hand and is ordered to be destroyed. Jed, upset by this news, makes off with Cyclone during the night and deserts the rangers. McCloud tells Sunset to apprehend Jed and bring him to justice.
Sunset catches up with Jed and attempts to arrest him but is promptly attacked by Cyclone. Jed assists his injured friend and brings him to Three Corners to be taken care of. Rita begrudgingly offers to help Sunset. Jed decides to stay at the trading post with Sunset threatening to bring him to justice as he is forced off the land.
Sunset returns to the rangers and requests that the annexation process be expedited given the knowledge held by the Black Diamond gang. Kelly rides out to inform the villains of Sunset’s plans and the gang heads off to ambush Sunset, the rangers and the annexation committee. Jed overhears these plans and races off to warn Sunset. As Sunset is conversing with the other ranch owners, Jed meets up with them as the Black Diamond gang arrives. Sunset engages in battle with the baddies and brings them to justice.
REVIEW:
How the mighty have fallen. “Fighting Mustang,” released in February 1948, seems as if it is a relic of another, much earlier, time. Indeed, the film comes off more as one of Victor Adamson’s dingy, impoverished productions of the early thirties then the slickly produced westerns being made during the latter half of the forties.
One time top Republic Pictures star Sunset Carson’s meteoric rise and catastrophic fall are on full display in this dreadful excuse for celluloid produced by Walt Mattox’s aptly named Yucca Pictures. This was one of five bottom of the barrel productions Carson made after he was fired from Republic due to inappropriate conduct at a studio function. The first, “Sunset Carson Rides Again,” was filmed and released in color in 1948; however, the color process was so poor that the film ultimately played in black and white in most areas.
It simply boggles the mind that no other studio wanted Sunset. He was a fantastic action star for Republic and one of the tallest cowboys ever to grace the silver screen, who oozed charisma and looked fetching atop a horse. Perhaps Sunset was blackballed from Gower Gulch due to his behavior, however he could have found a new home at considerably lower-tier Monogram. I suppose no one wanted to take the risk.
While his Republic westerns are legendary for their gloss and their uncompromising action, these dinosaurs are just as legendary for their ineptitude. Interestingly, prolific producer and director Oliver Drake was the source of these sorry stinkers. Drake, who had produced several westerns since the silent era, was in the twilight of his career and it shows. These Carson films were produced on the flimsiest of shoestrings on Drake’s ranch in Valyermo, California. Mostly filmed outside with amateurish actors and fights that would make Reb Russell blush. Indeed, there is only one interior shot in the entirety of Fighting Mustang. The acting is stiff and unconvincing from everyone except for Sunset, who appears just as disgusted to be in these turkeys as anyone watching in the theatre likely was.
Sunset is surrounded not only by the most wooden actors imaginable but also the worst musical group ever to have the misfortune to have their lack of talent preserved on film forever. The nauseating musical numbers never cease and this seems to be the trend in these Drake produced Carson films. It’s as if Drake and his associates could not find enough material to fill the usually 58-minute runtime of a typical “B” western so they decided to pad out the duration of the film with these horrendous musical numbers. That’s right, they had to pad out a film with a runtime of just under an hour in length.
Many film scholars have lamented that the likes of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff suffered through their last films with a sadness that reveals itself in the finished product. Once top stars who could not get arrested and whose talents were vastly under utilized. While I cannot in good faith compare Sunset Carson to Bela Lugosi, one does see a similar feeling of dread on his face during the course of these films.
This is what makes reflecting back on his legacy that much more troubling. While Paramount Pictures and Viacom have kept his beautiful Republic westerns under lock and key and have never released them on contemporary home video, these duds are all over the internet, being sold by outfits like Alpha Video. Indeed, I hesitated to even watch a Carson film until I was able to acquire his Republic films. Incidentally, I have taken to my YouTube channel, Geno’s House of Rare Films, and have uploaded the complete western filmography of Sunset Carson, including his superior Republic films in an effort to keep his legacy alive. If the studios who control this material have no interest in preserving it, it is up to individuals like myself to do the job.
While the Drake films may be the most easily accessible, I would strongly recommend audiences avoid them and to either hold out for comprehensive restorations of his Republic films or simply watch them for free on my YouTube channel. The only reason to watch these “Dreadful Drakes” as I call them is to see how horrendous the genre could be. If you are a Carson completist, watch films like “Fighting Mustang” at your own risk, but don’t cry to me about wanting that precious time back.