RIDERS OF BLACK MOUNTAIN (1940) Tim McCoy, Pauline Haddon & Rex Lease | Western | B&W

Riders of Black Mountain is a 1940 Western film directed by Sam Newfield, under his pseudonym of Peter Stewart. It stars Tim McCoy, Pauline Haddon, and Rex Lease.

SYNOPSIS
Disguised as a gambler, U.S. Marshal Tim Donovan (Tim McCoy) rides the Black Mountain Stage, which is held up by Pete Smith (Ted Adams) and his gang. Tim and his pal, Tombstone (Ralph Peters), pursue the robbers and find them trying to open the strongbox. The outlaws flee, and Sheriff Clay Matthews (Rex Lease) arrives and arrests Tim and Tombstone as the robbers. Judge Harper (Frank LaRue), also a passenger, frees Tim and Tombstone.

Tim finds a charred money-bag in the Judge's fireplace, as the bandits, unknown to the Judge, had used his house as a rendezvous. Tim and insurance investigator George Harris (Edward Peil Jr.) join forces and discover that stage agent Biff Hunter (Jack Rutherford) and town banker Emmett Chase (Stephen Chase) are confederates of the gang. The sheriff still suspects Tim and gives him 24 hours to get out of town.

Tim captures Bart (George Chesebro), one of the gang wounded in the gun battle following the robbery, but Bart is shot from ambush just as he is about to give Tim the names of the gang leaders. The sheriff captures Pete, Biff, and gang lieutenant Jim Miller (Dirk Thane), but Tim and Tombstone, fearing the capture will spoil their plan to find the leaders and the gold, set them free. The sheriff offers a $500 reward for the capture of Tim and Tombstone.

Marshal Tim Donovan has been sent to investigate a series of holdups. Posing as a card sharp, he sets up a fake shipment, knowing that if the stage is robbed, the contact person will be identified. However, the day the stage is due, the Sheriff arrests the gang Tim was expecting to do the robbery. Disguising himself as a professional gambler, he believes he's found out who is feeding information to the outlaw gang committing the robberies. So he lets word get out that a valuable "shipment" is coming to town on the stage, knowing that if the stage is robbed, he will know who the "inside man" is. However, things don't go quite as planned.

CAST & CREW
Tim McCoy as Marshal Tim Donovan
Pauline Haddon as Betty Harper (credited as Pauline Hadden)
Rex Lease as Sheriff Clay Mathews
Ralph Peters as Sidekick Tombstone
Julian Rivero as Jose
Edward Peil Sr. as George Harris
Frank LaRue as Judge Harper
Ted Adams as Pete Smith - Henchman
Jack Rutherford as Biff Hunter
Stephen Chase as Emmett (credited as Alden Chase)
George Chesebro as Bart - Wounded Henchman
Dirk Thane as Jim Miller - Henchman

Directed by: Sam Newfield (as Peter Stewart)
Written by: Joseph O'Donnell (original screenplay)
Produced by: Sigmund Neufeld
Cinematography: Jack Greenhalgh
Edited by: Holbrook N. Todd
Music by: Lew Porter
Distributed by: Producers Releasing Corporation (1940)
Release date: November 11, 1940
Running time: 57 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English