The picture opens with Eddie Dean aboard Flash singing the title song "Driftin' River", and Dean's voice sounded unusually strong. Some would argue that he had the finest voice of all the singing cowboys and his effort here makes a good argument. He also joins in with The Sunshine Boys on a snappy tune later in the picture, "Way Back in Oklahoma".
The story itself is one of your standard horse rustling adventures, with Eddie and partner Soapy Jones (Roscoe Ates) teaming up to foil an outlaw bunch headed by Dow City town villain Joe Marino (Dennis Moore). Marino envisions new arrivals in the territory bringing law and order with them, so obviously that can't be allowed. Marino's tactics include raiding the railroad company's equipment and supplies to thwart the advance of civilization.
My summary line quote refers to character J.C. Morgan (Shirley Patterson), who makes a sale offer to a local Army Major for three hundred horses, but Marino's gang stays a step ahead by rustling them over to Lost Canyon. Eddie gets to infiltrate the bad guys when he's mistaken for an outlaw named Whistlin' Sam Wade (Wylie Grant), and winds up stampeding the horses through town in an exciting finale.
It would have been curtains for Eddie and Soapy though if one of the outlaws named Tucson (Lee Bennett) hadn't had a change of heart and come to their rescue in the town saloon. Marino's men had the drop on Eddie, but Tucson shot the light out and created enough of a diversion to make the save. Funny, but it wasn't very long and someone switched the lights back on - how did that work?
Well it doesn't have to make a lot of sense, and that's one of the reasons I enjoy these old time oaters so much. Picking out the inconsistencies and outright goofs make for a fun time, and you don't have to invest much more than an hour at a time to do it.
0 out of 0 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
