"The Dude Ranger" was the first in a series of film Westerns George O'Brien did for producer Sol Lesser, released by Fox Studios. That collaboration lasted for two years and resulted in a total of eight films. Irene Hervey, who appears as the romantic interest in this one, was also the leading lady in 1935's "Hard Rock Harrigan".
Western fans can file this one under the usual plot line in which a back East greenhorn inherits a cattle ranch from his uncle (it's always an uncle), and arrives to find that someone is rustling all the cattle. As can be expected, the main heavy Dale Hyslip (LeRoy Mason) is behind the gang that's robbing caretaker Hepburn (Henry Hall) blind, and he also has eyes for Hepburn's pretty daughter Ann (Irene Hervey). O'Brien's character Selby comes on the scene, and in a case of mistaken identity, decides to play along as a working hand on the ranch in order to do some undercover work. Veteran character actor Sid Saylor provides some interesting work as the rhyme singing sidekick to Selby, going by the name of Nebraska.
The story plays out pretty much as you'd expect, but there were two unique elements in the picture that are worth mentioning. An unseen villain's hand dumps a rattlesnake on Selby's bed in the middle of the night, with Nebraska making the save. Later, near the end of the picture when Selby confronts Hyslip over the money stolen from Hepburn's safe, he pretends to shoot the bad guy with an unusual behind the back maneuver that you'll just have to see for yourself. I also found it odd in retrospect that Selby and Hyslip never got into a traditional fist fight throughout the picture. The only time they roughed it up was when Selby knocked him off his horse just prior to the throw down I just mentioned.
The Selby/Ann Hepburn relationship see-saws back and forth throughout the story, but you know it has to end with the couple hitching up at the finale. I'd have to say that Irene Hervey is one of the prettiest female leads you'll find in a film going this far back, and that would go for any genre. She made a slew of films into the late 1940's, then popped up in numerous guest spots in dozens of TV series for the rest of her career.
Western fans can file this one under the usual plot line in which a back East greenhorn inherits a cattle ranch from his uncle (it's always an uncle), and arrives to find that someone is rustling all the cattle. As can be expected, the main heavy Dale Hyslip (LeRoy Mason) is behind the gang that's robbing caretaker Hepburn (Henry Hall) blind, and he also has eyes for Hepburn's pretty daughter Ann (Irene Hervey). O'Brien's character Selby comes on the scene, and in a case of mistaken identity, decides to play along as a working hand on the ranch in order to do some undercover work. Veteran character actor Sid Saylor provides some interesting work as the rhyme singing sidekick to Selby, going by the name of Nebraska.
The story plays out pretty much as you'd expect, but there were two unique elements in the picture that are worth mentioning. An unseen villain's hand dumps a rattlesnake on Selby's bed in the middle of the night, with Nebraska making the save. Later, near the end of the picture when Selby confronts Hyslip over the money stolen from Hepburn's safe, he pretends to shoot the bad guy with an unusual behind the back maneuver that you'll just have to see for yourself. I also found it odd in retrospect that Selby and Hyslip never got into a traditional fist fight throughout the picture. The only time they roughed it up was when Selby knocked him off his horse just prior to the throw down I just mentioned.
The Selby/Ann Hepburn relationship see-saws back and forth throughout the story, but you know it has to end with the couple hitching up at the finale. I'd have to say that Irene Hervey is one of the prettiest female leads you'll find in a film going this far back, and that would go for any genre. She made a slew of films into the late 1940's, then popped up in numerous guest spots in dozens of TV series for the rest of her career.