Prairie Justice


Prairie Justice is a 1938 American Western "B" movie directed by George Waggner and starring Bob Baker as a singing cowboy.

Plot

Baker plays an undercover marshall investigating a series of stage coach robberies. After his father is killed, he determines to get justice, pretending to be a drifter while gradually gathering clues to the identify of the killers. Early in the story Bob meets Anita, who is trying to save her ranch after all her cattle have been stolen. Bob woes Anita with his guitar. Finally he goes after the bad guys in a shoot-out. After justice had been done, Anita agrees to marry Bob.

Cast

Director George Waggner wrote the script, using the pseudonym Joseph West. Fleming Allen wrote several of the songs, including "Starlight on the Prairie", "40 Miles From Water", "High Falutin' Cowboy" and "Trailin' My Way To You". Dorothy Fay, who shortly after filming ended married Tex Ritter, another singing cowboy, provides the love interest. The film is one of the first to introduce a faithful dog as the cowboy's companion.

Critical reception

One reviewer said of Baker's performance: "Baker has good looks, a pleasing personality, and seems to have the intelligence to do better acting than most of the western heroes." Another said, "Baker is so overconfident in this role, it hurts, but then, this was just one of 10 films he made in 1938."