OKLAHOMA RAIDERS

(director: Lewis D. Collins; screenwriters: Betty Burbridge/original story Bennett Cohen; cinematographer: William Sickner; editor: Norman A. Cerf; music: Paul Sawtell; cast: Tex Ritter (Lieutenant Steve Nolan ), Fuzzy Knight (Corporal Banjo Bonner ), Jack Ingram ( Arnold Drew), I. Stanford Jolley (Higgins), Dick Alexander (Duggan), George Eldredge (James Prescott), Stephen Keyes (Boone Talbot), Jennifer Holt (Donna Rose), John Elliott (Judge Clem Masters); Runtime: 57; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Oliver Drake; Universal Pictures; 1944-B/W )

“There’s plenty of action, making it an enjoyable oater.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The loose remake of “Come on Danger” (filmed in 1932 and 1942) is just fine. It’s Tex Ritter’s last film of value and his last one for Universal. Lewis D. Collins (“Waco”/”Texas Bad Man”) crisply directs the B western and it’s written by Betty Burbridge, as a re-working of the Bennett Cohen story.

During the Civil War, Lieutenant Steve Nolan (Tex Ritter) and Corporal Banjo Bonner (Fuzzy Knight) are sent by the Union Army to buy cavalry horses and to trail and capture “El Vengador/The Avenger”, the outlaw leader whose gang is stealing herds of wild horses before they can be delivered to the Army. They go undercover and arrive at Benton, Oklahoma, in disguise as cowpunchers. There they locate the villains (Jack Ingram and George Eldredge). They lead them to their leader, a former rancher named Donna Ross (Jennifer Holt) who is known as El Vengador.

There’s plenty of action, making it an enjoyable oater.

REVIEWED ON 4/1/2019 GRADE: B-   https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/