The Ridin' Fool

Steve Kendall rescues roving gambler 'Boston' Harry from a lynching party. With a posse hot on their tail, the pair flee to the waiting arms of the seductive Juanita. The temptress uses her charms to extract every last dollar from both Steve and Harry, before turning them over to the law. The two are jailed for a murder they did not commit and must find a way to escape if they are to avoid the hangman's noose and prove their innocence.

Bob Steele is directed by J.P. McCarthy in this Amity Pictures production, which would be remade in 1935 as Desert Trail starring John Wayne. Steele starred in scores of Poverty Row westerns, often directed by his father, Robert N. Bradbury. A journeyman performer, Steele had the ability to do fine work outside of the genre, notably playing Curly in the 1939 classic Of Mice and Men.

Bob Steele's first Western of 1931, THE RIDIN' FOOL presented the bantamweight star as Steve Kendall, a young cowboy saving gambler Boston Harry (Ted Adams) from being hanged by a group of vigilantes who accuse him of having killed Jim Beckworth. The fugitives hide out at Juanita's hacienda and while their mercenary hostess (Jacqueline Velez) decides how to best fleece her guests, the posse arrives. Escaping once again, the two friends end up at Poker City, where they become rivals for the attention of pretty Sally Warren (Frances Morris). Never able to stay out of trouble for long, both are soon arrested for a crime actually committed by Nikkos (Al Bridges) and Sally's no-good brother Bud (Eddie Fetherston). Sally, however, helps our heroes escape, and during the ensuing shootout, a mortally wounded Bud confesses to the killing of Beckwith, thus vindicating Boston Harry.