A man wrongly accused of murder escapes from prison to clear his name, but is mistaken for a town's new lawman.A man wrongly accused of murder escapes from prison to clear his name, but is mistaken for a town's new lawman.A man wrongly accused of murder escapes from prison to clear his name, but is mistaken for a town's new lawman.
Anders Van Haden
- Marshal Bob Dinsmore
- (as W.A. Howell)
Chris Allen
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Barney Beasley
- Barfly
- (uncredited)
Milton Brown
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Jack Cheatham
- Prison Guard Mathews
- (uncredited)
Frank Ellis
- Barfly
- (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw
- Henchman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe word "Marshall" is misspelled on the replaced title credit on the surviving print shown on Western Channel; the correct spelling, which would have appeared on the original Columbia title credits is "Marshal".
- GoofsIn the 1955 Hygo TV/Gail Pictures re-release, Matthew Betz's name is misspelled "Mathew".
Featured review
Marshall or Marshal...it's still a dandy picture.
In the 1950s, a small company bought up a lot of old B-westerns and chopped them to pieces in order to fit them into a television format of one hour. This often meant removing the original titles and replacing them with crappy ones to trim a minute or two from the film. In the case of "The Fighting Marshal", however, they screwed up and misspelled it "The Fighting Marshall". Interestingly, when the captioner recently created closed captions, they obviously saw the title and copied the same mistake! Still, whichever you call it, "The Fighting Marshal" or "The Fighting Marshall" (meaning a guy whose surname is Marshall), it's still a decent little film.
The film begins with Tim Benton (McCoy) in prison!! Considering he's supposed to be a nice-guy cowboy here, this certainly IS a surprise. However, you soon learn he's been framed and the warden has learned that Benton is to be pardoned. But, before anyone can tell Tim, he and a real baddie, Red Larkin, escape!
Soon after their escape, they are captured by a lawman, Marshal Bob Dinsmore. Dinsmore is planning on taking them to the town where he's about to be installed as their new lawman. But the escapees get the jump on him. Tim decides to impersonate the Marshal, though what to do with the real one is a serious plot problem. No problem- -Larkin murders him while Tim is in town.
Once installed as the new lawman, Marshal 'Dinsmore' (Tim) proves himself to be very effective and tough. He also soon discovers the same two men who lied to have him convicted--and he catches them committing more crimes and arrests them. While they can vouch for Tim being innocent, remember that the law actually already KNOWS this. The other glitch in all this is Larkin--he's a thug and needs killing!
This film has a lot going for it--much more than a typical B- western. The plot isn't filled with the usual clichés (such as a guy who's in prison but is really a federal agent under cover!), the fight scenes are awfully good and the shooting probably done by McCoy himself, as he was a champion shooter in real life. Well worth seeing.
The film begins with Tim Benton (McCoy) in prison!! Considering he's supposed to be a nice-guy cowboy here, this certainly IS a surprise. However, you soon learn he's been framed and the warden has learned that Benton is to be pardoned. But, before anyone can tell Tim, he and a real baddie, Red Larkin, escape!
Soon after their escape, they are captured by a lawman, Marshal Bob Dinsmore. Dinsmore is planning on taking them to the town where he's about to be installed as their new lawman. But the escapees get the jump on him. Tim decides to impersonate the Marshal, though what to do with the real one is a serious plot problem. No problem- -Larkin murders him while Tim is in town.
Once installed as the new lawman, Marshal 'Dinsmore' (Tim) proves himself to be very effective and tough. He also soon discovers the same two men who lied to have him convicted--and he catches them committing more crimes and arrests them. While they can vouch for Tim being innocent, remember that the law actually already KNOWS this. The other glitch in all this is Larkin--he's a thug and needs killing!
This film has a lot going for it--much more than a typical B- western. The plot isn't filled with the usual clichés (such as a guy who's in prison but is really a federal agent under cover!), the fight scenes are awfully good and the shooting probably done by McCoy himself, as he was a champion shooter in real life. Well worth seeing.
helpful•11
- planktonrules
- Jun 6, 2015
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Fighting Marshall
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime58 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.20 : 1
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