Prairie Law (1940) User Reviews

Ding Dong Bell Curry in the Well!

[bsmith5552 · 6/10 · 12 May 2018]

The title, "Prairie Law" actually has some relevance to the plot of this George O'Brien film.

Self appointed Judge Ben Curry (Paul Everton) is selling off worthless land to naïve settlers unaware that it is unfit for farming. At the same time, he has established a town where he can set the laws to his own end.

Rancher Brill Austin (O'Brien) has been allowing the settlers free access to the water on his ranch. He meets the fair young Priscilla Brambull (Virginia Vale) at the spring. He escorts her home where he meets her father Franklin Brambull (Henry Hall) whom Curry has "appointed" prosecuting attorney. and her brash young brother Larry (Dick Hogan) who immediately takes a dislike of Brill.

Curry and his men are meanwhile rustling Brill's cattle, slaughtering them and having the meat brought to Pete Gore's butcher shop for sale to the settlers. Curry sets up a phony election whereby he gets control of the County Seat. When Sheriff Jim Austin (J. Farrell MacDonald) questions Gore, Gore murders him. Gore is held for the murder by town constable Jackson (Bud Osborne) for trial. The trial is a farce and Gore goes free.

Brill decides to send Franklin Brambull to the governor to have the change in the County Seat overturned. He succeeds and Brambull is appointed as judge. Gore is quickly arrested and put on trial and is found guilty but escapes. After Brill and his pal Silent (Slim Whitaker) dump Curry in the town's fake well, Gore and the boys organize and ride against Brill and the other ranchers and..............................................................................

Another fast moving entry in the O'Brien series. there's plenty of action including a street brawl and climactic shoot out as well as time for O'Brien to romance the heroine.

There's a number of "unbilled" familiar faces in the cast. In addition to Osborne, we have Lloyd Ingraham as the jury foreman, Hank (mustachio) Bell and Cactus Mack as jurors, Ed Brady as the bailiff, Billy Benedict as an under aged voter and Hank Worden as a homesteader.

Bad guys buy the law and order

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 17 September 2019]

In this RKO western George O'Brien stars as a cattleman bringing a herd home and when he gets there he finds a bunch of homesteaders on what was public land. It's been sold to them by agent Paul Everton who's a real sharp sort.

This is an argument used in westerns like the Sea Of Grass and McLintock where land used for buffalo and cattle does not have the rich soil deep enough to support agricultural crops. Everton knows it, O'Brien knows it, and soon the suckers who bought the land will. And Everton's also the town judge.

In any event the herds are stalled ripe for a little nickel and dime rustling another of Everton's schemes. The steers are butchered and the meat sold to town butcher Cy Kendall who really operates with a low overhead and a wide profit margin.

When the sheriff J. Farrell MacDonald investigates he's killed by Kendall and that spurs George O'Brien into action as MacDonald was his uncle.

I have to say that Everton was a truly crafty villain. Takes a lot to bring him down.

Enough gunplay to satisfy any western fan.

law in the old west

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 7 October 2019]

Shenanigans! Local judge Curry (Paul Everton) is up to no good in the new west. selling land that won't support cattle or farming. Brill Austin (George OBrien) has the only water around, and he knows that Curry is lying to folks. New arrivals, the Brambull family has been suckered in, but they don't seem to want Austin's help. and Cilla Brambull (Virginia Vale) keeps changing her story. clearly, they are up to something... Can the side of right win out over all the corruption and town officials on the take? moves pretty slowly, but mostly a pretty solid story of the old west. It does get a bit silly near the end... a gun fight breaks out during the jury deliberations, and they keep on deliberating, clearly for humor. O'Brien had started in the silents, and was pretty busy in films until the end of the 1940s. Directed by David Howard. he died quite young at 45. not much information on him anywhere.

Crooked judges, rigged elections and rustlers.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 15 September 2021]

Brill Austin (George O'Brien has a ranch and like many others in the area, cattle have been disappearing. However, the local judge obviously is a crook and works with the rustlers. When the sheriff confronts one of the rustlers, he's murdered and the judge wants to release the murderer. But Brill and the other ranchers insist that the man be tried at the county seat. After all, murder cases and the like are NOT local matters. So, to get around this, the judge and his hoodlum friends hold a surprise election and declare a new county and their town is the county seat...and a quickie trial releases the murderer. As a result, there really is no law in Prairie Rose....and unless the Governor does something, lawlessness will reign in this town and all the ranchers will be driven off for good.

This is a pretty typical B-western, though O'Brien is certainly not a typical B-cowboy. While a good actor, he's the most ordinary looking cowboy you can imagine...even more so than Gene Autry. But the film is entertaining, well made and a bit better than the average B-western. It especially ends well...with a funny confrontation scene at the end.