Trouble in Sundown (1939)

Trouble In Sundown finds George O'Brien and his sidekicks Ray Whitely and Chill Wills investigating not just a bank robbery, but just why is whoever did the robbery want to ruin the reputation of banker Howard C. Hickman. For instance Hickman is not just accused of the bank robbery, but he's also framed for the murder of Deputy Jack Perrin who was pursuing him.

In a ton of westerns made at this time bankers during those Depression years of the 30s were more often than not the villains. It was easy enough to sell that. This western was a bit unusual in that Hickman is not the villain, but the real bad guys sure want to make it seem like he's in cahoots with them.

Had he not gone into more A list films Chill Wills could have done a whole career as a western sidekick. Ward Bond whose credits in 1939 also included Gone With The Wind and other A list films would be doing a lot more of those in the next two decades. Bond was one of the villain's henchmen.

There's action enough, but Trouble In Sundown also includes a bit of detective work by O'Brien and his companions. Still it's a solid B western for the Saturday matinée kid crowd.