The Courageous Avenger

A lawman's investigations into the repeated robberies of gold bullion shipments leads to the discovery of a slave labour camp. Creaky and forgettable low-budget Western which succumbs to the usual lazy writing and bad acting after showing early promise.

Lawman Johnny Mack Brown is called in to hunt down a gang of cutthroats who rob gold shipments as they pass through the desert, murdering the escorts with silver bullets. In a bizarre twist, the baddies own a silver mine in which they force a handful of scrawny men to work as slaves!

A standard-issue Saturday matinée B-western, this is straight-forward and pleasant enough entertainment for fans of the genre. Brown's always a good hero, the heavies extremely nasty, and leading lady Helen Erickson extremely good-looking!

Filled with great cinematography, Courageous Avenger features some breathtaking rocky desert scenery that add to the film's atmosphere, as do the scenes of the creepy, half-crazed old men chained to a spinning wheel. They look as if they belong in a 1930's zombie movie!

Kirk Baxter has been sent to investigate murder and robbery involving gold shipments. Identifying a gang member by his bullets, he uses that man's horse to locate and join the gang. He learns the gang is tipped off to the shipments by a mine employee using carrier pigeons. But the next message reveals his true identity and he is made a prisoner.

Great desert scenery, John Mack Brown's easy going delivery and some intrigue are some of the decent things here, however it was just average with a plot that just tickboxes. Action at the end is good - fine stunt work with Brown skimming underneath a fast moving wagon. No CGI!!

Probably the best actor in this generally good cast is Warner Richmond -- the brawn heavy! Taking nothing away from the others, Mr. Richmond is almost likable, for a bad guy, and shows more personality than anyone else in the cast.

Then, for something else almost completely different, there is a story of, as someone titled his review, "prisoners in the desert." Not what we expect in a cowboy movie.

Johnny Mack Brown was, even from his silent movie days, a likable, good-looking guy, and capable of good acting, but in "The Courageous Avenger" he is not given much need of it.

He handles the action just fine, as the athlete he was, but mostly he is called upon to be brave and strong.

There is a lot to like in this film, but it seems long, even at less than one hour, so maybe some tighter editing would have helped.

And the stunt work was rather primitive for 1935. Yakima Canutt had not yet taught the entire movie industry how to stage a fight scene.

There is some good stunt work, though, including a Yakima Canutt type of being dragged under a rolling wagon. Note: the directing here was better than, for example, the first Indiana Jones movie, where Indie was dragged under a truck, but his clothes don't get torn or even dusty. Robert N. Bradbury was, therefore, a better director than whoever did "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (whatever happened to that guy?) because you see our hero mussed and dusty.

"The Courageous Avenger" is probably more interesting than exciting, but it is definitely that and I certainly am glad I saw it. I recommend it to you, too, and you can see it at YouTube. Unfortunately, the print I saw is only mediocre, but still worth watching.

This is added a couple days later: At least two reviews wonder why the bad guys use silver bullets, but that IS explained. It was, in fact, a perfectly good explanation by the chief bad guy.

The Courageous Avenger casts Johnny Mack Brown as an express agent investigating a series of gold shipment robberies that occur in the desert. Shipments take the desert trail, but they never return and often drivers and guards are found dead. Brown has a personal interest because the last driver killed was the brother of his girl friend Helen Erickson.

There's an inside man who is getting word to his confederates on the desert by an old tried and true method which I will not reveal, it's half of the story. In addition though these guys have another racket going. Out there on the desert these outlaws have found a silver mine and they waylay travelers on the desert to work as slave labor in said mine. They make silver bullets to use which sure does mark their victims, but also gives them away. Not like they're the Lone Ranger who's a good guy or they're hunting werewolves and really need those bullets. Why not just go into town and get the regular lead kind? Interesting gimmick, but kind of dumb when you analyze it.

The Courageous Avenger has however got an exciting climax where Brown rounds up the whole gang with a nice chase scene through the desert where some good stunt work is featured. It's not a great film, but passable enough entertainment.