Knights Of The Range

Paramount's "Zane Grey" series continued rolling into the 1940s with Knights of the Range. Taking a break from the studio's Hopalong Cassidy pictures, Russell Hayden stars as Renn Frayne, a college-educated youth who finds more than he bargained for when he heads westward. After a terrifying run-in with an outlaw gang run by a bloke named Gamecock (Morris Ankrum), Frayne aligns himself with heroine Holly Ripple (Jean Parker), whose father's cattle ranch is in danger of falling into the hands of the villains. Victor Jory manages to play on both sides of the fence as wily gambler Malcolm Lascallie. Knights of the Range was directed by Lesley Selander, who like star Hayden was an alumnus of the Hopalong Cassidy unit.