Best movies like Vigilantes of Dodge City

Searching for his wayward brother, saddle tramp Donnegan (Buck Jones) gets in trouble with a bully and is thrown off a freight train

The ranch of Red Ryder (Allan Lane) and his aunt, The Duchess (Martha Wentworth), is being used as the training site for "Gentleman Jim" Corbett (George Turner) for his upcoming fight in Carson City, Nevada for the heavyweight championship against Bob Fitzsimmons (John Dehner). Molly McVey (Peggy Stewart), the daughter of a U.S. Senator, crusading against prize-fighting in Nevada, complicates matters soemwhat when she conceives the bright idea of having Corbett kidnapped, thus causing the cancellation of the fight. The two men (George Chesebro and George Lloyd) she hires to do the kidnapping also add to the complications by kidnapping Ryder instead of Corbett. Meanwhile, a gang of crooks, led by McKean (Roy Barcroft), descend on the town intent on looting the town and also making off with the fight proceeds.

In this western, Red Ryder leads a wagon train of homesteaders into a ghost town and discovers that it has become an outlaw's hideout.

Red Ryder battles an unscrupulous fur thief named Hunter for the right to trap beaver and otter on the land of Chief Running Fox.

Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane help a Texas rancher against the railroad.

Wild Bill Elliot plays gambler Frank Graham, who heads to Kansas in search of his father's murderer. This being 1864, the local military presence is more preoccupied with keeping Southern sympathizers out of the state to worry about Graham's problems. Thus, our hero undertakes the task of exposing the killer himself.

Red Ryder returns to Sioux City, Wyoming, at the close of the Spanish-American War, settling down at the ranch of his aunt, The Duchess, with his pals Little Beaver and "Blizzard". But Red soon discovers that the country is over-run by rustlers.

Calvin Drake employs a group of low-lifes to drive away land owners along the path of a new railroad; Red Ryder opposes this strategy.

An interesting entry in Republic Pictures' long-running "Red Ryder" B-Western series, this film is not about hardy settlers braving the Colorado winters, as the title would suggest. Instead it's a sort of Reform School Western about a couple of wayward Chicago boys (Billy Cummings and Freddie Chapman) taken in by Ryder's indomitable aunt, "The Duchess" (Alice Fleming.) The boys escaped their very own "Fagin," Bull Reagan (Roy Barcroft), and were given a second chance on the lady's Western ranch. Unfortunately, Reagan returns to do a bit of cattle rustling, once again luring the boys into becoming his accomplices.

Jim Bannon is back as enduring cowboy hero Red Ryder in Eagle-Lion's Roll, Thunder, Roll. As ever, Ryder's cohorts are Little Beaver and the Duchess, here played by "Little Brown Jug" and Marin Sais. This time, Ryder tries to prove that a series of cattle raids and ranch fires were not the handiwork of masked Mexican do-gooder El Conejo.

In Elliot's initial appearance as Red Ryder, he finds himself framed for murder. Little Beaver then foils the crooked Sheriff's attempt to have Red killed escaping jail. When Hannah Rogers gives the Sheriff a note, Red sees her give him a signal. Gabby lifts the note and Red decodes it. The Duchess then gets a confession from Hannah enabling Red to set out after the outlaws.

California Gold Rush is set in 1849. Ryder heads to Sutter's Mill, where he must contend with claim-jumping and treachery.

In this western, Red Ryder rounds up a gang of horse thieves who have been stealing cavalry horses.

Redwood Valley residents raise $50,000 for blasting a mountain tunnel to bring a new railroad there. Town leader Bidwell engineers a plot to steal the money and to blame it on the Reno Kid (Bob Steele) who has recently broken out of prison in order to clear himself of false charges that sent him there and caused him to lose his ranch. The badly-wounded sheriff turns his badge over to Red Ryder. Reno visits his wife, Molly and their ailing son Johnny, and Red, also wounded, is brought there by Little Beaver. There, Red begins to believe Reno's story about being innocent. Written by Les Adams

The Duchess, the aunt of Red Ryder, comes to town to protect her property. Crawford, a town big-shot behind an outlaw gang, tries to prevent her from reaching her destination, but the attack is thwarted by Red. The latter is made town marshal, and when he gets too close to the truth and is making it too hot for the Crawford faction, Crawford has his henchman Luke kidnap Red's Indian friend Little Beaver.

A marshal searches for stagecoach robbers.

Red Ryder gets a telegram from his old friend Dan O'Connor asking for help in his fight against Faro Savage and his gang of rustlers. A gun dropped by Faro during a rustling raid makes Red and Sheila O'Connor, Dan's daughter, think they have ample proof against Faro but they are stymied by the law. Buckskin Blodgett and the Duchess, Red's aunt, find the body of O'Connor who was killed when Faro's men sent the sheriff out on a ruse. Sheila, discovered while rifling Faros office for evidence, escapes but not before she is recognized. Faro kills one of his own henchmen and then frames Sheila for the murder. Red and Little Beaver set out to clear Sheila and to try to find evidence against Faro and his gang. Written by Les Adams

A young boy and a veterinarian in a red convertible help thwart a gang of horse thieves. Director Fred F. Sears' 1954 outdoor drama stars Billy Gray, Phil Carey, Roy Roberts, Dorothy Patrick, Gordon Jones, Trevor Bardette and Morris Ankrum.

1890, London, and a serial killer known as The Terror is murdering policemen. When gentleman thief Nicholas Revel unwittingly becomes the chief suspect, he must use his guile and wits to prove he’s not the killer; whilst also not getting caught for a jewel robbery he has just committed.

Andy Walker, bullied and taunted with being a coward, leaves town on a freight. The brakeman shoots two ruffians, but Andy is hailed as the hero and made a deputy sheriff.

Gene Autry becomes the new Sheriff after bank robbers kill the former sheriff. When Judge Beaumont is murdered, evidence points to the judge's wild son. Believing the young man, Gene tries to help.

In this western, a community revives the legend of Billy the Kid after robbers attack a stage coach. The deputy marshal believes the Kid is dead and even goes to the cemetery to exhume his body. Unfortunately, the grave is empty and as the marshal ponders the mystery, a masked rider shoots at him. The eagle-eyed lawman recognizes the man's horse and realizes that he is a prominent businessman in town.

Charles Starrett plays lawman Steve Forsythe in Ridin' the Outlaw Trail. Somewhere along the line, of course, Steve is obliged to don the mask of The Durango Kid, mysterious righter of wrongs. The "wrongs" in this instance include the theft of $20,000 in gold, and the "kidnapping" of a blacksmith's forge! Jim Bannon, who only a few months earlier had played the heroic Red Ryder, provides the villainy in this fast-paced "Durango Kid" entry

It's Wild Bill Elliot as Wild Bill Hickok in the Columbia B-western Lone Star Vigilantes. Returning from Civil War duty, Hickok, Tex Martin and Cannonball find that their Texas home town is under the rule of Colonel Monroe, a bush-league dictator with his own police force. In true Hitlerian fashion, Monroe extorts huge sums of money from the populace, terrorizing them into silence. Our three heroes set about to put an end to Monroe's regime, with time out for Tex Ritter's musical interludes.

The Range Busters head for Pinto Basin where a series of stage robberies have occurred. To try and find the gang's boss, Crash sends out a empty money box. The plan backfires when the boss has the Range Busters identified as the robbers. Thinking it is now safe, the bank sends out a big money shipment. Needing to rob the stage, the boss gets the boys out of jail so they can be blamed. But this is just the chance they need to catch the robbers.

A geologist has found oil on the neighboring ranches and teams up with Ace who has his gang create a reign of terror to get the ranchers to sell out. But to get rid of Red Ryder, Ace sends for the San Antonio Kid. Arriving, the Kid has a freak accident and Red comes along to save his life. When the Kid later meets with Ace he learns that Red is the man he has been paid to kill. Written by Maurice Van Auken

Up-and-coming Universal leading man Robert Stack made his western-movie debut in Badlands of Dakota. Set in the Dakotas during the days of the Great Gold Boom, the story finds brothers Jim and Bob Holliday (Stack and Broderick Crawford) dukeing it out over the affections of pretty Anne Grayson (Ann Rutherford). While all this is going on, Wild Bill Hickok (Richard Dix) does his best to neutralize the local criminal element-and to fend off the romantic overtures of boisterous Calamity Jane (Frances Farmer).

In this western, Red Ryder tries to be a good example for a young man who idolizes his father, an outlaw. The boy wants to follow in his father's footsteps when the hero intervenes.

One of two towns will be selected to be the County Seat and Editor Palmer has a gang working to make sure his town is chosen. Investigating the lawlessness, Red Ryder poses as an outlaw to get into the gang hoping to find out who the boss is. But Palmer knows Red and exposes his true identity when he arrives and Red and Gabby then find themselves prisoners of the gang. [Written by Maurice Van Auken]

Lambert has the stagecoach wrecked killing the Commissioner so his phony replacement can alter Coonskin's land survey. When Red Ryder exposes the survey hoax, Lambert has his stooge Sheriff put Red in jail.

Author Robert Louis Stevenson takes a trip to Napa Valley, California, in 1880 and gets involved in the exploits of a stagecoach driver who captures a hooded highwayman called The Monk. Supposedly inspired by a true incident, this offbeat Western based on Stevenson's The Silverado Squatters is a dandy, high-spirited adventure yarn.

Red Ryder tries to warn a duchess that her newfound beau has a history of murdering his wives.

Substituting for Allan Lane, who'd been called away to active military service, Bill Elliot stars in the Republic "Red Ryder" western Marshal of Laredo. This time, Red comes to the aid of a frontier lawyer, who is suspected of being an outlaw

Tired of being a cowboy movie star, Yorke quits the movies and buys a ranch so he can be a real cowboy. But just as in his films trouble arrives. This time it's bank robber Sampson and his two cronies.

Bill Elliot is back as Red Ryder in Cheyenne Wildcat. Also back are Ryder's perennial cohorts Little Beaver (Bobby Blake, later Robert Blake of Baretta fame) and the Duchess (Alice Fleming). When not pummeling the bad guys, Ryder is the reluctant apex of a love triangle.

Red Ryder convinces homesteaders to settle in Paradise Valley. Business men in nearby Central City want control of the valley and water supply and propose to build a dam for half interest in the land. They use Red to generate interest in the dam but when the dam is completed, they rig the stockholder's meeting so Central City will get the water.

In this western, brave Red Ryder and his sidekick save a murdered judge's son from going to jail by proving that someone else killed his father.

While he goes to his lender to repay his debts, Sam Perry is robbed. He decides to hunt down the bandit, whose description corresponds strangely to that of Dutton, known as "Dude".

Carson City Raiders is a western film directed by Yakima Canutt in 1948. Rocky Lane (Allan Lane) wants to help Nugget Clark (Eddy Waller) save his freight line. Meanwhile, Dave Starky (Harold Goodwin) is impersonating the outlaw Fargo Jack (Steve Darrell). But why? There's a lot of confusion in Carson City in this Western about hidden identities. Who is truly behind the gang of stagecoach robbers?

Singing cowboy Whip Wilson, the foreman on a cattle drive, quits his job to pursue five bank robbers who murdered his brother.

A government agent uncovers the truth behind a series of raids on a freight company.

Red Ryder KO's a fight racket with sidekick Little Beaver (Little Brown Jug) and a new friend.

"Iron Mike" Haines (Tom Chatterton), a crooked sheriff, and "Hands" Weber (Roy Barcroft), the town blacksmith, are in cahoots and have been robbing stages, silver mines, etc., and framing innocent ranchers and cowhands with their deeds. They set out to rob the stage and frame Red Ryder (Bill Elliott as Wild Bill Elliott) for it, but the plan backfires and the sheriff is killed. The sheriff's son, Tommy (Jack McClendon), arrives home from college and is given his dad's job, not knowing he was a crook, and swears to get the man who killed him. Weber tells Tommy that Red killed his dad and Tommy sets out to get Red.

Tom Lambert arrives and Long John Case gets him into trouble. To protect his wife and son he refuses to talk and is sent to prison. Long John then gets Lambert's son into his outlaw gang but Lambert is told the boy's problems are caused by Red Ryder. So Lambert breaks prison planning to kill Red. [Written by Maurice Van Auken]

Don "Red" Barry, Republic's answer to Jimmy Cagney, stars in The Apache Kid. Barry plays Pete Dawson, a pugnacious cowboy who dons a mask and becomes a stagecoach robber. It's all in a good cause, however: Dawson is stealing from the town boss (Leroy Mason) who has ripped off a group of miners. Heroine Lynn Merrick is the daughter of the local judge, so naturally she misunderstands Barry's motives, at least until fadeout time.

Black Eagle is based on The Passing of Black Eagle, a short story by O. Henry. William Bishop stars as Jason Bond, who stays out of trouble by the simple expedient of avoiding other people. Unfortunately, the plot dictates that Bond must come into contact with several characters, all of whom end up fleecing our hero in one way or another. Even so, Jason manages to enjoy a brief romance with pretty Ginny Long (Virginia Patton) before returning to his life of carefree vagabondage. A very minor film, The Black Eagle makes the most of its excellent supporting cast, including Gordon Jones, Trevor Bardette, Will Wright and stuntman extraordinaire Richard Talmadge.

Red Ryder and his comical sidekick take on a new batch of bad-guys in this western, the 16th in the Red Ryder series. This time the heroic duo try to save a female rancher from a greedy financier who wants her land so he can exploit the enormous oil fields lying under it.

Monogram's Outlaws of Texas is surprisingly bereft of the action highlights one might expect from star Whip Wilson. This time, the Whip and his saddle pal Andy Clyde play heroes Tom and Hungry who work undercover to break up a gang of bank robbers.

At least 10 percent of the 58-minute Eddie Dean western Shadow Valley is comprised of stock shots from earlier Dean oaters. This time, the star plays as U.S. marshal who comes to the rescue of the standard damsel in distress (Jennifer Holt, sister of Tim and daughter of Jack). The double-dyed villain (George Cheseboro) is a crooked lawyer (and former train robber) who wants to lay claim to the heroine's ranch.

Charlie, Danny and Gavin are down on their luck and out of work. After a chance encounter with Killer Ken, a self defense instructor, they decide to start their own security company, HeadLock Security. With not much experience but unbridled enthusiasm they may have bitten off more than they can chew