Ranger Rocky Lane is quickly on the case when the stagecoach carrying convicted murderer Ed Archer (Bob Steele) is attacked by bandits allowing Archer to escape. After sequestering his loudmouth fellow passenger's (Eddie Acuff) clothing and ditching his prison garb, Archer sets a trail back to his home town to prove his innocence. Archer, a former mine owner, thinks the answer might lie in Placer City, now a ghost town. When Rocky catches up to Archer at his old friend Ben Shaw (John Hamilton) and his niece Joan's house, he begins to suspect there may be something to Archer's story. With the help of Old Codger Nugget Clark (Eddy Waller), Rocky begins to unravel the mystery.
This was Allan Lane's second movie with his new-found "Rocky Lane" persona. The amazing thing about the Rocky Lane series is how consistently good they are. It's hard to point to a stinker in the whole bunch. Bandits of Dark Canyon, like the rest of the Rocky Lane series is a testament to what can be done with a decent script and not a lot of money. As with most of Rocky's movies there is less talk and more action. Loaded with gunplay, chases and fistfights it also plays up the mystery angle, enhanced by the night time scenes shot on the Ghost Town Set.
In addition to Steele, Hamilton and Acuff the cast also includes veteran bad guy Roy Barcroft and Leroy Mason, another hombre who through the years often found himself on the wrong side of the law. This time he appears briefly as a prison guard in one of his last parts.
Classic Rocky Lane. Definitely worth a watch.
8 out of 10 stars
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