''Two Gun Man'' is a 1931 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

film directed by

Phil Rosen Philip E. Rosen (May 8, 1888 – October 22, 1951) was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed more than 140 films between 1915 and 1949. He was born in Malbork, Marienburg, German Empire (now, Malbork, Poland), grew up ...

and starring

Ken Maynard Kenneth Olin Maynard (July 21, 1895 – March 23, 1973) was an American actor and producer. He was mostly active from the 1920s to the 1940s and considered one of the biggest Western stars in Hollywood. Maynard was also an occasional screenwrit ...

, Lucille Powers, and Charles King. It was released on May 15, 1931, by

Tiffany Productions Tiffany Pictures, which also became Tiffany-Stahl Productions for a time, was a Hollywood motion picture studio in operation from 1921 until 1932. It is considered a Poverty Row studio, whose films had lower budgets, lesser-known stars, and overall ...

and was later re=released by Amity Pictures.

Plot

Carson City, Nevada Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on th ...

, 1896: A large consolidate cattle company aims to bring in 40,000 head of cattle under the Federal government's

open range In the Western United States and Canada, open range is rangeland where cattle roam freely regardless of land ownership. Where there are "open range" laws, those wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a fence to keep animals out; th ...

program. This will wipe out the local ranchers. To speed up the demise of the locals, Tulliver, the head of the cattle conglomerate decides on a two-prong attack in the

range war A range war or range conflict is a type of usually violent conflict, most commonly in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the American West. The subject of these conflicts was control of " open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing ...

. First he hires

gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the te ...

s, called "Two Gun Men" based on the pair of revolvers they carry. The second plan is infiltrating a

fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

of his men who act as range hands for the locals, but do all they can to destroy their herds. During a gunfight in the street, Tolliver sees two new arrivals, Blackie and Old Joe. Impressed by their behaviour under fire, Tolliver decides to hire Blackie as one of his Two Gun Men. Blackie says he will only work for him if he accepts his elderly mentor Joe. Tolliver laughs at Joe's age, Blackie replies what better recommendation is there for a two gun man than surviving into old age. Tolliver agrees to hire them. When Blackie sees what Tolliver is up to, he changes his mind on signing up. After Joe leaves to eat, Blackie stays behind for dinner at the saloon and meets Kitty, an amusing

bargirl A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a bar, either individually or, in some cases, as a performer. The exact nature of the entertainment varies widely from place to place; depending on the venue this can be individual enterta ...

and they strike up a relationship. As Tolliver is enraged that Blackie changed his mind about working for him, he gets angrier as he his sweet on Kitty. Tolliver belts Blackie with a

sucker punch A sucker punch (American English), also known as a dog shot, coward punch, king hit or one-punch attack (Australian and New Zealand English) or cold-cock (American English), is a punch made without warning or while the recipient is distracted, ...

with

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (variously referred to as knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, knucklebusters, knuckledusters, knuckle daggers, English punch, iron fist, paperweight, or a classic) are "fist-load weapons" used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckles ...

and throws him out. Old Joe comes back with his two guns that he holds the saloon at bay with where Blackie wants the chance to get even with Tolliver in a fair fight, where Tolliver comes out second best. Blackie and Joe get hired by the local ranchers where they train them to be two gun men.

Cast list

as Blackie Weed * Lucille Powers as Joan Markham * Charles King as Thorne * Nita Martan as Kitty *

Murdock MacQuarrie Murdock MacQuarrie (August 25, 1878 – August 20, 1942) was an American silent film actor and director. His name was also seen as Murdock McQuarrie. MacQuarrie was born in San Francisco, California, and attended school there. He was the ...

as Rancher Markham *

Lafe McKee Lafayette S. "Lafe" McKee (January 23, 1872 – August 10, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in more than 400 films from 1912 to 1948. Part of his career was spent with Art Mix Productions. McKee also worked as a stage actor from 19 ...

as Joe Kearney * Tarzan, the Wonder Horse as Tarzan *

Tom London Tom London (born Leonard T. Clapman; August 24, 1889 – December 5, 1963) was an American actor who played frequently in B-Westerns. According to ''The Guinness Book of Movie Records'', London is credited with appearing in the most films in ...

as Tulliver *

Walter Perry Walter Laing MacDonald Perry, Baron Perry of Walton, OBE, FRS, FRCP, FRSE (16 June 1921 – 17 July 2003) was a distinguished Scottish academic. He was the first Vice Chancellor of the Open University. Life Perry was born in Dundee, son o ...

as Riggs * Will Stanton as Kettle Belly

References

External links

* * * Films directed by Phil Rosen American Western (genre) films 1931 Western (genre) films 1931 films Tiffany Pictures films American black-and-white films 1930s American films 1930s English-language films {{1930s-Western-film-stub