Gentleman from Dixie

Released after serving a long prison sentence for a murder he did not commit, Thad Terrill seeks refuge at Terrill-Oaks, his brother Lance's horse farm. A gifted horse trainer, he is a tremendous help to Lance, and is adored by his six-year-old niece, Betty Jean. But Margaret, his brother's beautiful but cold-hearted second wife, has nothing but contempt for the ex-convict. Thad is pained to discover that Margaret is carrying on an affair with Matt Brawley, a wealthy horse breeder. At Brawley's urging, Margaret sells Betty Jean's horse, Jumping Jack, breaking the little girl's heart. Even worse, Thad is beginning to suspect that Brawley is the very same man whose lying testimony sent him to prison.

Marion Marsh is a scene-stealer as the sister-in-law you love to loathe in this fine Monarch Production. Some of her most notable motion pictures include Svengali (1931), The Road To Singapore (1931) and Crime and Punishment (1935). Jack La Rue left Broadway to play gangsters in Hollywood. He appeared in many fine productions including A Farewell To Arms (1932), The Story Of Temple Drake (1932), Captains Courageous (1937) and Road To Utopia (1946).

Veteran screen menace Jack LaRue is the unlikely hero of Monogram's GENTLEMAN FROM DIXIE--and no one seems more surprised at this atypical casting than LaRue himself! The star is cast as ex-convict Thad Terrill, who upon his release heads to his family estate in the Deep South. It is here that Thad proves he's really a swell guy underneath by reuniting his young niece Betty Jean (Mary Ruth) with her long-estranged mother Margaret (Marian Marsh). He also manages to prove that he was innocent of the charge that sent him to prison by exposing the actual miscreant. Stereotypically cast as a faithful black retainer, Clarence Muse manages to invest a great deal of dignity and warmth in his two-dimensional character, and even gets to sing a couple of his own musical compositions.