By the time this skillfully made six reel western was released, Johnny Mack Brown, as Jack "Nevada" McKenzie, and Raymond Hatton, as his sidekick Sandy Hopkins, had established a pedigree as the most often filmed set of partners (eventually 45 titles) in cinematic cowpoke history and here the two, as undercover U.S. Marshals, employ their customary system of splitting up in order to better assay the capabilities of their criminal rivals. As they arrive at the troubled town to which they have been assigned, a bank robbery is in progress, after which event Sandy takes up the tools of a recently deceased cobbler in order to gather rumours and other intelligence of the bandits, while Nevada, with Brown's characteristic shrewdness, aggressively infiltrates the gang, as the partners' activities dovetail toward an exciting conclusion. LAW MEN is directed by Lambert Hillyer, whose smooth ability at all types of action fare avoids the temporally parochial badge worn by some "B" western helmsmen, is photographed in atmospheric fashion by undervalued Harry Neumann, while Glenn Tryon's script largely avoids the hackneyed, and capable character actors Edmund Cobb and Robert Frazer are present in key roles, with the dialogue between the two leads full of happily easy conceits.
7 Reviews
Amusing western programmer
dbborroughs20 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Johnny Mack Brown star s in a tale of two federal agents sent to investigate a series of bank and stage robberies. Brown works his way into the gang hoping to find the brains behind the operation while his partner takes the position of town shoe maker (a job he knows nothing about). Talky but very amusing western tale that takes a clichéd tale and turns it into something fun. There are no surprises here except perhaps in how enjoyable the film is thanks to the films comic edge which isn't over done. Thinking about it I shouldn't be surprised since Brown has always been one of the better western stars with films that kept the formula from being too bland. Worth a look.
Despite a very familiar plot,, I also found it entertaining and worth my time.
planktonrules16 October 2012
This film stars Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton--two very familiar B-western stars. While Johnny was a star, Raymond made a huge number of films at the #2 or #3 friend--and here he plays Brown's friend and colleague. The pair arrive in town to investigate some stage coach robberies and like so many of these B-westerns, the pair are US marshals AND go incognito. Brown insinuates himself into the gang in order to figure out who 'Mr. Big' is (again, a familiar plot element) and Hatton is a good-guy who has come to town to make boots (a job he is ill-equipped to do). Between the two of them, they manage to avoid death when Brown's secret is exposed AND make he actually care because I felt like I'd seen this film many times before. Why? Well, I think there are two main reasons--there was no singing to clutter the film (which sometime seemed to get in the way of plot in some of Roy Rogers' and Gene Autry's films) and the acting was very good. Hatton was wonderful as always as a funny but surprisingly competent sidekick and Brown was his usual solid self. All in all, an enjoyable film that kept my interest.
"This is the first time my bank has been robbed this year"!
classicsoncall23 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Johnny Mack Brown and Ray Hatton borrow a page from a Rough Riders script and ride into the town of Verdine as strangers to investigate a string of stage robberies, almost certainly to have been masterminded by an inside man. I can't tell you how many B Westerns I've seen with a similar plot, but I still get a kick out of watching them. This one's made enjoyable by Marshal Sandy Hopkins' (Hatton) work as an undercover agent taking up the trade of a cobbler. His reward for gunning down a bank robber at the beginning of the story was a boot repair shop, so even if he doesn't know what he's doing, it's fun to watch.
The surprise of the story for me was seeing old Sky King himself, Kirby Grant, in a role as bank assistant Clyde Miller almost a decade before taking up the popular Fifties TV show. He makes for a handsome good guy who eventually helps Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie (JMB) make the save by exposing his boss Bradford (Robert Frazer) as the brains behind the bank and stagecoach heists.
Besides the usual presence of a good looking leading lady (Jan Wiley), there's a secondary comic relief character who's also a woman, Isabel Withers, brandishing a firm grip on the situation when Sandy shows up with a couple of busted fingers. Her character Auntie Mack has already 'nursed two husbands to a comfortable grave', so I thought sure she was going to set her sights on Sandy as Number #3. That didn't go anywhere, but it would have been interesting to see.
After stringing along the town folk that they're unknown to each other, the pair of Marshals join forces at the finale to smoke out the bad guys and bring them to justice. Kirby Grant drops one of the henchmen in a bar room showdown along with the lawmen, which brought him full circle to a marriage to Miss Phyllis (Jan Wiley) before the final curtain. For a standard B oater, I have to say I enjoyed this one, as the usual antics were made enjoyable by the fine cast doing their job well.
The surprise of the story for me was seeing old Sky King himself, Kirby Grant, in a role as bank assistant Clyde Miller almost a decade before taking up the popular Fifties TV show. He makes for a handsome good guy who eventually helps Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie (JMB) make the save by exposing his boss Bradford (Robert Frazer) as the brains behind the bank and stagecoach heists.
Besides the usual presence of a good looking leading lady (Jan Wiley), there's a secondary comic relief character who's also a woman, Isabel Withers, brandishing a firm grip on the situation when Sandy shows up with a couple of busted fingers. Her character Auntie Mack has already 'nursed two husbands to a comfortable grave', so I thought sure she was going to set her sights on Sandy as Number #3. That didn't go anywhere, but it would have been interesting to see.
After stringing along the town folk that they're unknown to each other, the pair of Marshals join forces at the finale to smoke out the bad guys and bring them to justice. Kirby Grant drops one of the henchmen in a bar room showdown along with the lawmen, which brought him full circle to a marriage to Miss Phyllis (Jan Wiley) before the final curtain. For a standard B oater, I have to say I enjoyed this one, as the usual antics were made enjoyable by the fine cast doing their job well.
Bank Robbery
StrictlyConfidential28 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
"Law Men" was originally released back in 1944.
Anyway - As the story goes - Two U. S. Marshals are sent to stop a gang responsible for robbing stages and banks as well as uncover the identity of the gang's leader. While one agent goes undercover to infiltrate the gang, the other poses as a cobbler in order to stay in tune with the community. Finding out the gang leader's identity only adds complications when it's also discovered that there is someone tipping off the gang on the investigation.
Anyway - As the story goes - Two U. S. Marshals are sent to stop a gang responsible for robbing stages and banks as well as uncover the identity of the gang's leader. While one agent goes undercover to infiltrate the gang, the other poses as a cobbler in order to stay in tune with the community. Finding out the gang leader's identity only adds complications when it's also discovered that there is someone tipping off the gang on the investigation.
Undercover again
bkoganbing24 September 2015
In another of the series of westerns that Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton did for Monogram, the two US Marshals are undercover once again. It's the pattern apparently of all the westerns they did in this series.
Brown pretends he's an outlaw to infiltrate the gang that Edmund Cobb the saloon owner is running. They're getting a little too good at holdups so it's obvious Cobb has an inside man. Hatton takes over the town bootmaker's shop and with absolutely no experience in the trade makes a holy mess of it.
Law Men is a competently made B western that I'm sure the Saturday matinée crowd of kids enjoyed immensely.
Brown pretends he's an outlaw to infiltrate the gang that Edmund Cobb the saloon owner is running. They're getting a little too good at holdups so it's obvious Cobb has an inside man. Hatton takes over the town bootmaker's shop and with absolutely no experience in the trade makes a holy mess of it.
Law Men is a competently made B western that I'm sure the Saturday matinée crowd of kids enjoyed immensely.
Quite average
coltras3521 February 2022
Two US marshalls go undercover to bring down the gang of outlaws behind a series of bank robberies, one joining the bandits and the other masquerading as a cobbler at the next town they are targetting. They discover the gang has a mysterious accomplice who is tipping them off.
Law men is an average b- western with a familiar plot, however It's competently made, got good action sequences, though it can be quite plodding at times, but Johnny Mack Brown and his side kick makes this watchable.
Law men is an average b- western with a familiar plot, however It's competently made, got good action sequences, though it can be quite plodding at times, but Johnny Mack Brown and his side kick makes this watchable.
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