Fugitive of the Plains (1943)

For me, Buster Crabbe will always be “Buck Rogers” or “Flash Gordon” so seeing him here toting a six-shooter doesn’t quite work. To be fair, though, he isn’t the worst aspect of this pretty mediocre story. He is “Billy the Kid” who is being falsely accused of being involved with a menacing gang of outlaws lead by “Kate” (Maxine Leslie). Someone is leaving notes for the sheriff (Karl Hackett) in his name and so he’s prime suspect for robbery when the stage sets off. What he doesn’t know is that he’s being set up - but by whom and why? It does try to pack quite a bit of story into this, but the production is all very basic and barring a few expertly choreographed tumbling moments from Al St.John is all instantly forgettable as the static Crabbe isn’t a natural at all and Leslie is no Barbara Stanwyck. Kills an hour, though.