Desert Bandit

Don “Red” Barry as a cowpoke who poses as a corrupt Ranger to catch a gang of gunrunners. Sue Martin: Lynn Merrick. Largo: William Haade. Tim Martin: James Gillette. Hawk: Jim Wessel. Capt. Banning: Tom Chatterton. Ordway: Tom Ewell. Hatfield: Robert Strange. Directed by George Sherman., Bantam-weight western star Don “Red” Barry certainly deserved his designation as “The Cowboy Cagney” in Republic’s Desert Bandit. Barry is cast as two-fisted Texas Ranger Bob Crandall, who after being dishonorably discharged heads to the Mexican border to start life anew. He falls in with a gang of gun runners, headed by corrupt lawman Largo (William Haade). It turns out, of course, that Crandall’s “disgrace” was merely a ruse to allow him to work undercover in bringing Largo and his minions to justice. More realistic than most Republic B oaters, Desert Bandit is climaxed by a tension-filled shootout between hero and villain.