The Unknown Ranger (1936)

For Bob Allen's first starring western, Nate Gatzert dusted off his script about a mare-stealing stallion used for Ken Maynard's "Strawberry Roan" in 1933 (and by indie producer Harry Webb for at least six films in a ten year period.) Rancher Jim Wright (Edward Hearn) is losing mares right and left from his herd and everybody in sight is pointing the finger of guilt at a wild stallion. Ranger Bob Allen (Bob Allen),posing as an aimless wanderer, comes along and proves the real rustlers are men, led by Vance Rand (Harry Woods), and the horse is an innocent dupe and ruse. The first film in which western-veteran Wally Wales (which wasn't his real name to begin with) first used Hal Taliaferro as his screen-billing name and that was the name he worked under and got paid by for the rest of his long career, credited or uncredited. The wonder is that he even had a career following this film in which he did a song called "Frankie's Flaming Fandango" in drag, a little ditty co-written (with Dave Ormont) by Lee Zahler,the king of tin-can scores in hundreds of westerns and poverty-row features.Zahler seldom wrote songs. The three in this film show why, and clearly show that song-writing was not his strong suit, even with veteran western-music performers such as Cactus Mack, Robert "Curly" Hoag and Rudy Sooter on hand to perform them.