Everyman's Law (1936)

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This above-average Johnny Mack Brown Western from A.W. Hackel's low-budget Supreme Pictures features the bizarre spectacle of an infant contentedly sucking on the barrel of Mack Brown's gun. The scene is played for warm-hearted comedy with Mack Brown and two wizened gunslingers (Frank… More This above-average Johnny Mack Brown Western from A.W. Hackel's low-budget Supreme Pictures features the bizarre spectacle of an infant contentedly sucking on the barrel of Mack Brown's gun. The scene is played for warm-hearted comedy with Mack Brown and two wizened gunslingers (Frank Campeau and John Beck) all beaming at the clever toddler. The three gunfighters are hired by Sheriff Horace Murphy and cattle rancher Lloyd Ingraham to drive off the local homesteaders, but when they miss a rendezvous due to their baby-sitting endeavors, Roger Gray and his gang are deputized instead. Gray and company, however, robs both the sheriff and Ingraham before turning their attention toward pretty Beth Marion, the baby's presumed mother. Mack Brown, who reveals himself to be a Texas Ranger in disguise, manages to clear up the mess, arrest the guilty and make the valley safe for the homesteaders. Miss Marion on her part reveals herself to be the baby's aunt and a relieved Mack Brown promises to become a steady caller. Despite a rather complicated plot, Everyman's Law is engrossing most of the way and Mack Brown works well with the dour-looking Campeau and Beck. A scene where the three engage in a bit of target practicing on Miss Marion's laundry is played to the hilt and the entire baby-sitting sequence is an eye-opener, to say the least. The scruffy-looking Gray makes a particularly fiendish villain in his B-Western debut and his climactic fight with Mack Brown is well-staged by director Albert Ray. Johnny Mack Brown was to make 16 low-budget but slightly off-beat Westerns for Supreme Pictures 1935-1937 before moving on to Universal. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi