Best movies like Back Trail

Johnny Mack Brown was recruited by Chet Norman, the owner of a stagecoach line, to end the heist perpetrated by a mysterious knight who plays strange notes with a hiss of money before robbing them.

The "badmen" of the title in this average western from Monogram are Waller, a greedy express agent and Banker Jensen, who conspire to separate Bob Bannon from the gold found on his property. Bob's brother Jim and his two pals Whip Wilson and Texas arrive too late to save Bob from the bad guys. Hoping to flush out the killer, Whip arranges to auction off the property.

Johnny Mack Brown stars in this above-average B-Western from Monogram, penned under the pseudonym of Jess Bowers by veteran genre specialist Adele Buffington. Mack Brown plays Johnny Murdoch, a drifter arriving in Gold Flats in search of his prospector father. From old-timer Dusty Hanover (Raymond Hatton), Johnny learns that Old Man Murdoch was murdered for his claim by Rex Hillman (Holly Bane), a hireling of Carter Morgan (Bill Kennedy).

Johnny Mack Brown substitutes brains for brawn during most of Texas City. Cast once more as a U.S. marshal, Johnny investigates when several government gold shipments are hijacked. Someone has been tipping of the outlaws as to when and where the supposedly secret shipments will take place. The principal suspect is dishonorably discharged cavalry officer Kirby (James Ellison), but Johnny has a gut feeling that Kirby is innocent on all counts.

In this western, the Three Mesquiteers team up with a Texas Ranger to round up the outlaws who forced the ranger's younger brother into becoming a criminal.

Renfrew of the Mounties hunts brother-and-sister gold hijackers.

A band of outlaws, led by "Papa" Clellan, hold up in a ghost town as they plan an attack on a wagon train loaded with gold. The unexpected arrival of a stagecoach forces the gang to hold the passengers and driver as hostages. The later arrival of a wanderer, John Trey, sets in motion events not in "Papa" Clellan's original plan.

Trains are being robbed by a gang led by an outlaw on a beautiful white horse. The marshal sent to investigate finds out the horse beings to the girl he's in love with.

After Jim Blake saves Harve Tarlton's life, they become partners in a gold mining claim. After a while Harve reverts to his outlaw way of life. Everyone but Jim seems to know that Harve is bad but Jim merely thinks he needs a chance to go straight. But Jim's wife Helen has a plan to expose Harve as the outlaw he is.

Number 10 in Monogram's series of 24 "Range Busters" westerns, Crash Corrigan, Dusty King and Alibi Terhune, the Range Busters,enlist in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, but are mustered out and sent to Wyoming to clean up a cattle-rustling situation that is affecting the Army's meat supply. Arriving in North Butte, Crash's home town, they all get separate jobs. Jane Blanchard, a reporter from the Denver Daily, also arrives in town in search of a story, and is posing as a waitress. They learn that Jeff Miller is behind the huge combine of rustlers, but Miller also learns that they are the Range Busters and are on his trail. He and his henchmen engage the out-numbered Crash and Alibi in a fight, but Dusty stampedes a large herd of Miller's stolen cattle into the midst of the fray.

After the Texas Rangers are disbanded, the the reconstruction years following the Civil War, a private state-police force extorts money from the citizens in a "protection" scheme. Ex-Rangers Jimmy Wakely and "Cannonball" Taylor foil an arrest by state-police officers Hamon and Kelly. Commissioner Jed Brant tells his nephew that his old friend Jimmy is plotting against the law-and-order forces. Vic's fiancée and ranch-owner, Sheila Carol, refuses to sign up with the crooked police outfit, and believes Jimmy is an outlaw. On Chief Barton's order, Hamon shoots ex-Rangers Murphy and Payson, so they can be blamed for a raid on Sheila's ranch.

In Song of the Wasteland, Jimmy tries to uphold law and order in a tough frontier town.

Johnny Brownell, former Confederate officer turned Federal agent, is sent to Texas during the reconstruction years to obtain evidence against a gang of raiders who have been making life difficult for the local carpet-baggers. He saves the life of Shorty Kendall, an unreconstructed rebel about to be hanged, and this wins him the gratitude of Belle Chambers, a widow whose husband was killed in the Civil War who hates all Yankees with a fever.

The old bromide about the western town run by outlaws as a hideout for their fellow crooks makes a return appearance in Monogram's Land of the Outlaws. Since the crooks include such reliable disreputables as Charles King and John Merton, the good guys really have their work cut out for them. But not to worry! The heroes are Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton, whose B-western track record is unbeatable. Land of the Outlaws was directed by Lambert Hillyer, whose sense of rhythm and pace had saved many another inexpensive oater.

U.S. Marshal Whip Wilson (Whip Wilson) decides to take a vacation and visit his old friend Winks Grayson (Andy Clyde), the ex-sheriff. Upon his arrival Whip learns of Winks' suspicions regarding newly-elected Sheriff Tanner (William Ruhl as William H. Ruhl), and the story of a frame-up of Paul Davis (Ted Adams) and his son Bud (Riley Hill), now being released from prison. Following a holdup and a killing, a band of outlaws hide at the Davis ranch, implicating them again. Paul is hot and Bud goes to jail. Whip and Winks work to clear Bud and expose the real leader of the outlaw gang.

Cowhand Drake discovers gold on the ranch of his boss, Joe Stuart and makes a deal with crooked lawyer Mel Porter to induce Stuart to sell. The latter refuses, and also orders Bill Cameron not to see his daughter Laurie again. Foreman Johnny Mack, after intervening, quits after he sees Stuart hit Laurie while quarreling over her proposed marriage to Cameron. Peddler Alibi Terhune witnesses the killing of Stuart by Clem Kettering, hired by Porter, and is taken prisoner. Cameron is blamed for Stuart's killing, escapes jail, but is persuaded by Johnny to go back and stand trial. Johnny rescues Alibi and the two work together on clearing Cameron's name, and bringing the real culprits to justice.

As other "B"-western series kept dropping like flies in 1952, Johnny Mack Brown kept grinding 'em out for Monogram. In Man From Black Hills, Johnny tries to help locate his saddle pal Jim Fallan's (James Ellison) long-lost father. Arriving in a small mining town, Johnny and Jim discover that Jim's father has established a financial empire--and that a local opportunist (Randy Brooks) has capitalized on this by claiming to be the old man's son.

Veteran cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown plays a cattle buyer turned prairie sleuth in this low-budget oater from Monogram, which co-stars perennial old-timer Raymond Hatton as a retired U.S. Marshal assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a rancher. As the two old friends soon learn, a gang of smugglers headed by the town's banker (Frank LaRue) needs the use of the Flying Arrow Ranch for their nefarious purposes.

A cowboy frees a rancher framed for murder by outlaws after his ranch.

A mysterious masked rider and his gang are murdering ranchers and robbing stages. Government Agent Johnny Mack Brown has been called in to help the Sheriff.

Johnny Mack Brown was nearing the end of his starring career when he appeared in the Monogram oater Dead Man's Trail. Brown and his youthful sidekick Jimmy Ellison come to the aid of imperiled Barbara Allen. At this point, Johnny was too long in tooth and thick around the middle to qualify as a romantic lead, hence the presence of Ellison.

Johnny Williams (Johnny Mack Brown) returns to his home town of Beaufort, and finds himself when being chased by banker Henry Stevens (Tristram Coffin), Grangers Association head Les Travers (Ed Cassidy as Edward Cassidy) and real estate agent Frank Wilkins (Ted Adams.)

Having briefly abandoned his standard "Nevada Jack McKenzie" characterization in Flame of the West, cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown was back as Nevada Jack in Monogram's The Lost Trail. Vowing to bring in a gang of stagecoach outlaws, Nevada redoubles his efforts when he learns that the owner of the stagecoach line is pretty Jane Burns (Jennifer Holt).

Range Law stars Johnny Mack Brown as "Nevada" and Raymond Hatton as "Sandy", the same characters they played in most of their mid-1940s Monogram westerns. This time, Nevada and Sandy, US marshals both, set out to collar some renegades who've been driving out the local ranchers. It's just possible that one of said ranchers is behind this land-grabbing scheme.

In this Western, an outlaw tries to escape from a gang of robbers after they refuse to assist a gang member wounded during a stagecoach caper. He and the wounded outlaw leave and try to steal a stagecoach as their ex-gang robs it. The sheriff's daughter observes the incident. Believing that the two outlaws were trying to save the stage, she takes them into town where the "heroes" are given jobs working for the stage.

Kirk Baxter has been sent to investigate murder and robbery involving gold shipments. Identifying a gang member by his bullets, he uses that man's horse to locate and join the gang. He learns the gang is tipped off to the shipments by a mine employee using carrier pigeons. But the next message reveals his true identity and he is made a prisoner.

After a brief mid-1940s burst of originality, Monogram's Johnny Mack Brown western series settled back into the commonplace with such entries as Flashing Guns. In this outing, Brown tries to save his pal Shelby (Raymond Hatton) from being thrown off his ranch by crooked banker Ainsworth (James E. Logan). To do this, our hero must prove that the banker is in cahoots with the local gambling boss (Douglas Evans).

U.S. Marshals Nevada Jack McKenzie and Sandy Hopkins are working undercover to capture a gang stealing horses from the Navajos, and to capture the killer of a Ranger. Nevada poses as an outlaw to get in with the gang and find the leader, while Sandy pretends to be a drunken old horse thief that has knowledge of where the Navajos have hidden their ponies.

Johnny Mack Brown comes to the aid of a beleaguered female freight line operator in this standard Monogram oater directed by veteran Lambert Hillyer. Having saved his old friend Faro Jenkins and young Dave Porter from marauding outlaws, Ranger Johnny Hudson learns that the attack may be part of a concerted effort by bandits to drive Dave's sister Peggy out of the freight business. Unbeknownst to Johnny and the Porters, the crimes are committed on behalf of local banker Gordon Gregg who wants to bankrupt the freight business in order to take over the valuable Porter ranch.

Johnny Mack Brown goes up against a female boss villain in this unusual Western from Monogram. Hired to look into dirty dealings in the town of Medicine Flats, Johnny learns that Kansas City Kate (Christine McIntyre), the owner of the Golden Spur Saloon, has been waging a war against local prospectors, one of whom is found murdered. Not appreciating Johnny's interference, Kate has her henchman Cameo (Tristram Coffin) take a shot at him and when that fails, hires a notorious gunslinger, the Cherokee Kid (I. Stanford Jolley).

Monogram added several songs and a barn dance to this otherwise standard Johnny Mack Brown hay burner, in which the veteran cowboy star comes to the aid of a beleaguered female rancher. Just "drifting along," Steve Garner (Mack Brown) obtains the job of foreman on a spread belonging to pretty Pat McBride (Lynne Carver). Unbeknownst to Pat, local banker Jack Dailey (Douglas Fowley) not only holds the mortgage on the ranch but is also the man responsible for the death of Pat's father. Read more at http://www.allmovie.com/movie/drifting-along-v90041#OtPRR6jLd1ubhlQv.99

Monogram's Whip Wilson western series was in its final year of existence when Lawless Cowboys hit the screen. Set in the contemporary West, the film casts Wilson as a Texas Ranger on the trail of a crooked gambling ring.

Jimmy and Cannonball find the body of Don Muquel after he has been shot and robbed by henchmen Ramsay and Sturgis. Jimmy is accused of the crime by Jose Esteban but the latter's rich uncle, Don Esteban, clears his friend Jimmy. Jose accuses the the settlers, led by John Chambers, of confiscating the land of the native Californians, through murder and theft. Actually, surveyor Willard Jackson is making forged copies of stolen land-grant papers after his men have killed the rightful owners. Playing both ends against the middle, Ramsay urges Chambers and his daughter, Diane, to drive off the Californians.

In one of his better Monogram Westerns, Johnny Mack Brown goes up against a crooked saloon owner with more than one murder on his conscience. Steve Corbin (Tristram Coffin) and his gang of cutthroats are terrorizing the townspeople of Rimrock, who in self-defense hire Johnny Macklin (Mack Brown) as new town marshal.

Johnny Mack Brown dodges bullets while he tries to figure out who stole the Mexican gold and who killed the newspaper editor.