Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
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'Shooting Showdown'
Monogram Ranch, Placerita Canyon


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Charles Starrett, Claire McDowell, Barbara Weeks, and Bruce Lane in a scene from the Columbia production "Shooting Showdown" in which Starrett is starred. Miss Weeks plays the leading feminine role, and Leon Barsha is the director. Filmed on location at the Monogram Ranch in Placerita Canyon from March 18-31, 1937.

Columbia Studios publicity photo. Photo by Irving Lippman, Columbia Studios.

Stamped print on back reads:

APPROVED
ADVERTISING ADVISORY COUNCIL
APR 13, 1937


Information From Turner Classic Movies website:

TWO FISTED SHERIFF(1937)
ALSO KNOWN AS: SHOOTING SHADOWS | SHOOTING SHOWDOWN | TWO GUN SHERIFF

ORIGINAL PRINT INFORMATION

Release Date: Jun 15, 1937
Premiere Information: not available
Production Dates: 18 Mar--31 Mar 1937
Duration (in mins): 58-59
Duration (in feet): not available
Duration (in reels): 6
Production Companies: Columbia Pictures Corp. of California, Ltd.
Distribution Companies: Columbia Pictures Corp. of California Ltd.
Country: United States

Working titles for this film were Shooting Shadows and Shooting Showdown. The picture was also reviewed in Motion Picture Daily under the title Two Gun Sheriff. Although Hollywood Reporter production charts list Dick Botiller in the cast, his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. Modern sources list the following additional cast members: Al Bridge, George Morrell, Tex Cooper, Maston Williams, Blackjack Ward, Hank Bell, Blackie Whiteford, Jack Evans, Fred Parker, Al Haskell, Ray Jones and Wally West.

Director: Leon Barsha
Director: Sam Nelson
Cast
Charles Starrett: [Sheriff] Dick Houston
Barbara Weeks: Molly Herrick
Bruce Lane: Bob Pearson
Edward Peil Sr.: Judge Webster
Alan Sears: Bill Slagg
Walter Downing: Doc Pierce
Ernie Adams: Sheriff Rankin
Claire McDowell: Miss Herrick
Frank Ellis: Gargan
Robert Walker: Lyons
George Chesebro: Prosecutor [Ed]
Art Mix: Bud
Richard Cramer: Taggert
Edmund Cobb: Deputy
Steve Clark: Red
Clem Horton: Barstow
Dick Alexander: Bull
Ethan Laidlaw: Burke
Charles Hamilton: Tex
Merrill McCormick: Hank
Charles Brinley: Blake
Bill Williams: Dunne
Lee Prather: Herrick
Dick Rush: Carter
Fred Burns: Stagecoach guard
Art Dillard: Slim
Joe Yrigoyen: Pete
Allen G. Siegler: Photography
Paul Perez: Screenwriter
William Colt MacDonald: Story
Irving Briskin: Executive Producer
Harry L. Decker: Associate Producer
William Lyon: Film Editor
George Cooper: Sound Engineer

Synopsis:

After Sheriff Dick Houston of Remuda Gap captures two men trying to rob a stagecoach, Bob Pearson, his friend and the foreman of the Herrick ranch, helps him bring them back to town. Bob is in love with Molly Herrick, but because her father disapproves of their love, Bob is fired from their ranch. The next day, Herrick is found shot in the back, with Bob standing over him, holding a smoking gun. The townspeople, led by Gargan, a former rustler, want to lynch Bob, but Dick stops them. Bob is taken to jail, where Dick listens to Bob's story and promises to help him. The case is rushed to trial and vigorously prosecuted, and although Molly states that she saw another man attempting to flee the ranch, Bob is found guilty. Dick decides to investigate the case further, and finds some broken matches near the spot where Herrick was killed. Meanwhile, Molly visits Bob at the jail, and seeing a mob forming outside, helps him to escape. Because Dick left the prisoner alone, Judge Webster takes away his badge. When Dick learns that Bob is at his old ranch, the Flying H, in Buckhorn, Dick goes there and is warned about outlaw Bill Slagg. As Bob tries to infiltrate Slagg's gang, Dick agrees to help the investigation at the Flying H, where Molly is now living with her aunt, Miss Herrick. Dick gets into a fight with Burke and Barstow, two of Slagg's men, and throws them off the ranch. Later, Dick enters a local saloon just as Bob is being inducted into the Slagg gang. After Dick leaves, Slagg states that he plans to kill Dick himself. When Dick returns to the saloon, Slagg deliberately cracks a matchstick, an admission that he killed Herrick. A shootout ensues, and just as the judge is about to arrest Dick, the dying Slagg confesses he killed Herrick out of revenge. After saying farewell to newlyweds Bob and Molly at the Flying H, Dick returns to his job as sheriff.


AL1960a: 9600 dpi jpeg from original print, collection of Alan Pollack
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