Flame of the West on AllMovie

Flame of the West has always attracted more attention than most of Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram westerns, if for no other reason than the offbeat casting of Douglass Dumbrille. Usually seen in villainous roles, Dumbrille herein offers a sincere, effective performance as a scrupulously honest US marshal named Nightlander. When he takes on a gang of crooked gamblers, Nightlander is shot down in cold blood, compelling frontier doctor John Poore (Johnny Mack Brown) to put his Hippocratic oath on the back burner and strap on the shootin' irons. Raymond Hatton contributes his usual grizzled comedy relief in Flame of the West, while Joan Woodbury is interestingly cast as a saloon-hall girl without a heart of gold. Flame of the West works so well on a dramatic level that the musical interludes of Pee Wee King seem downright intrusive.