"Crossed Trails" is a routine Johnny Mack Brown oater. But it's about his character's name...Johnny Mack. I'll bet that it took some soul searching to come up with that one. Not only that, the screenplay was written by, now get this, Colt Remington (Adele Buffington) .
Johnny Mack (Brown) rides to meet the stagecoach carrying young Melissa Hendrix (Kathy Frye) who is "engaged" to Johnny. Also on board is Maggie Flynn (Lynne Carver) who is on her way to a job at Jim Hudson's (Douglas Evans) saloon as a dealer.
In Mesa City, Hudson and his partner Blake (Steve Clark) are trying to get Melissa's guardian Bodie Clark (Raymond Hatton) to agree to the sale of Melissa's ranch witch contains valuable water rights thast affect the whole valley. When Johnny and Melissa arrive in town, Johnny puts the kibosh on the deal. Hudson tries to have Maggie "work on" Johnny in an effort to get him to change his mind.
Johnny is wise to her and rejects her advances. She in turn, becomes disillusioned with her boss. Hudson and Blake continue to apply pressure on Bodie along with cohort Steve Anderson (Milburn Morante). As Bodie and nearby rancher Bill Laswell (Ted Adams) return from looking at cattle, they hear two shots. Thinking that the shots came from Melissa's target practice, the two go their separate ways. When Bodie arrives at the ranch house, he discovers Anderson murdered. Hudson and Blake arrive to find Bodie standing over the body with the murder weapon in hand.
They take Bodie to the Sheriff (Bud Osborne) and have him charged with Anderson's murder. Bodie is put on trial. He feels confident that Laswell will exonerate him as they were together when they heard the fatal shots. Hudson and Blake send Curin (Zon Murray and Eddie (Bob Woodward) to "convince' Laswell to deny that he heard the shots.
When Laswell denies hearing the shots, he is found guilty. Johnny sees Curtin and Eddie leave the courtroom and trails them. He catches up to them just as Curtin shoots Laswell in the back. A gunfight ensues and Eddie is killed. Curtin races back to town to report to Hudson and Blake. A mob tries to lynch Bodie but are stopped when Johnny brings the wounded Laswell to town where he backs up Bodie's story.
Hudson and Blake prepare to "git outa hyar" when...........................
Oddly enough, since Hudson is a saloon owner and Maggie is supposed to be a dealer, we never get to see the inside of the saloon due no doubt to budget constraints. Brown is costumed in an all jean outfit which I thought, was more realistic than his usual fancy shirts. Veteran Bud Osborne, who isn't even given billing, tries to change his usual sinister image as the cowardly sheriff.
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