The Ghost City

Bill Temple sets up a printing press in town determined to publish a paper that will expose crime boss Jim Blane and send him to the gallows. Blane sends a hired gunman to shoot down his nemesis, but it is Temple who survives the ensuing gunfight. When the town is emptied by the news of a gold rush, Blane seizes the opportunity to rob the bank and flee for the border, knowing that Bill Temple will be hot on his trail.

Hollywood stunt man Bill Cody landed his first starring role in Dangerous Odds (1924). He was unrelated to "Buffalo Bill" Cody, but sharing his name certainly didn't harm his career. Cody starred in B-Western productions for three decades most notably Frontier Days (1934), The Vanishing Riders (1935) and Lawless Border (1935). In some of his most popular films he was joined by child actor Andy Shuford, as in this Monogram production, which also features perennial heavy Charles King.

GHOST CITY was one of eight Monogram westerns which teamed veteran cowboy star Bill Cody with juvenile performer Andy Shuford. The motivating factor in this one is a valuable gold mine which rightfully belongs to heroine Helen Foster. The deed to the mine is currently (and illegally) in the possession of villain Walter Miller, but Cody aims to alter this status quo. The film is dominated by fight scenes and riding interludes, with scant attention paid to the romantic subplot (much to the relief of Bill Cody's younger fans). Jack Carlyle, who later had a career in "exploitation" pictures, plays a surly deputy.