The Dalton boys — Emmett (Alan Curtis), Grat (Lon Chaney Jr.), Bob (Kent Taylor) and Ben (Noah Beery Jr.) — have decided to hang up their guns, head to Argentina and take up ranching.
But they need to rest up and re-shoe some of the horses, so they stop by a ranch owned by old family friend Tex Walters.
They find Walters struggling to make ends meet and minus any ranch hands because of a $4,600 debt that’s soon coming due.
The bank in Skeleton Creek won’t extend his loan. That’s because there’s a scheme afoot to push ranchers off land along a railroad right of way.
In fact, Walters winds up dead trying to stop cattle rustlers, prompting the Daltons to hang around a bit longer to help his widow.
In the meantime, Emmett has fallen for newspaperman’s daughter Mary Bohannon (Martha O’Driscoll) and is considering turning himself in.
Mary’s promised to wait for him. And he figures his prison stint won’t be too long because he’s never killed.
Ah, but the Dalton brothers are about to be accused of murder and a whole lot more.
The man behind the land-grabbing is using their presence to lay blame of his henchmen’s unlawful activities at the feet of the Dalton gang.
The Dalton brothers — Alan Curtis as Emmett, Kent Taylor as Bob, Noah Beery Jr. as Ben and Lon Chaney Jr. as Grat — find purpose and trouble in Skeleton Creek in The Daltons Ride Again (1945)
Review:
The 1940s spawned lots of glamorized biographies of famous outlaws. This one, told flashback style as Emmett stands trial, has to be among the more fanciful.
We have the Daltons coming to the aid of a widow. We have the Daltons doing dishes to help out. We have the Daltons trying to solve a mystery the town sheriff can’t.
In fact, we have the Daltons using the skills they’ve learned as outlaws to do all sorts of good deeds. And we have a very improbable romance between Emmett and pretty Mary.
“Gunsmoke” fans will be quick to spot Milburn Stone as one of the men involved in the land-grabbing scheme. One of the best things about the film is the surprise identity of the ringleader.
Martha O’Driscoll as Mary Bohannon and Alan Curtis as Emmett Dalton, at odds over a mud-splattered dress in The Daltons Ride Again (1945)
Directed by:
Ray Taylor
Cast:
Alan Curtis … Emmett Dalton
Lon Chaney Jr. … Grat Dalton
Kent Taylor … Bob Dalton
Noah Beery Jr. … Ben Dalton
Martha O’Driscoll … Mary Bohannon
Jess Barker … Jeff Colton
Thomas Gomez … Professor J.K. McKenna
John Litel … Michael J. Bohannon
Milburn Stone … Parker W. Graham
Walter Sande … Wilkins
Douglas Dumbrille … Sheriff Hoskins
Stanley Andrews … Tex Walters
Virginia Brissac … Kate Bohannon Walters
Runtime: 72 min.
Douglas Dumbrille as Sheriff Hoskins getting information from town drunk McKenna (Thomas Gomez) in The Daltons Ride Again (1945)
Memorable lines:
Mary Bohannon, after Emmett Dalton has splattered her new dress with mud and offers to buy her a replacement: “If you think ladies let strange men buy her clothes, you’re badly mistaken.”
Emmett Dalton: “I don’t know much about ladies, but I’m gonna be a gentleman if it kills you.”
Kate Walters, on asking for a loan extension: “I don’t know much about banks.”
Grat Dalton: “Well, we do.”
Sheriff Hoskins, once the land-grabbing scheme has been exposed: “I must say, I’m glad to have the matter cleared up. But it’s kind of galling to have it done by a bunch of outlaws.”
Lon Chaney Jr. as Grat Dalton, trying to talk sense into Park W. Graham (Milburn Stone), one of the men involved in the land-grabbing scheme in The Daltons Ride Again (1945)
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