Riding the Sunset Trail

Cattleman Jim Dawson is shot down by gunmen employed by his own half-brother, Jay Lynch. With a forged will, Lynch "inherits" his brother's ranch, some of the most valuable land in the county. But when he tries to take possession, Dawson's daughters, Betty and Sugar, refuse to be evicted from their home. The women have also hired tough-as-nails cowpoke Tom Sterling, who is more than capable of keeping Lynch's gun slingers at bay. It becomes evident, ownership of the Dawson ranch will not be decided in a court of law, but by blazing lead.

Tom Keene made a career out of playing self-assured cowboys who relied more on their clever wits and cunning than on their fists and firearms. His handsome smile and rugged physique garnered him legions of loyal fans. One unusual feature of this modestly-budgeted Monogram production is that there is not a single interior shot.

Before changing his name to Richard Powers, cowboy hero Tom Keene spent the waning days of his stardom at Monogram, churning out westerns like RIDING THE SUNSET TRAIL. When ingenue Betty Dawson (Betty Miles) and her kid sister Sugar (Sugar Dawn) are cheated out of their cattle ranch, Tom Sterling (Keene) and his sidekick Mendoza (Frank Yaconelli) vow to get the ranch back for the girls. This requires Sterling to cross six-guns with Pecos Dean (Gene Alcase), a former friend who'd turned bad. The climax is a shootout between our heroes and the minions of chief heavy Jay Lynch (Kenne Duncan). Formerly a bit too overenthusiastic in his screen appearances, Tom Keene turns in a restrained, well-modulated peformance in RIDING THE SUNSET TRAIL.