The Gambling Terror

Jeff Hayes cuts a deal with the local saloon keeper and sets up his profitable gambling operation in the back room. A secret syndicate is demanding protection money from all of the local businesses and Jeff is soon forced to contribute. Citizens refuse to testify against the gang, because any rancher or shopkeeper who resists is murdered. Joining forces with newspaper publisher Frank Garret, Jeff is determined to root out the extortionists, and put an end to their reign of terror.

Johnny Mack Brown came to Hollywood in the mid-1920s as an All-American collegiate football star with rugged good looks and a urge to perform before the camera. Signed to MGM in 1926, he appeared in films with Jackie Coogan, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo and Mary Pickford, but he soon found himself struggling for attention in Clark Gable's considerable shadow. A move into smaller studio B-Westerns proved to be just what Brown needed to jump-start his career and he emerged as one of the top ten box-office draws in westerns during the 1940s.

• western