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Sunset of Power is regarded as one of Buck Jones' more meritorious Universal westerns. The heavy of the piece, grim-visaged cattle baron Neil Brannum (Charles B. Middleton), drives everyone around him mercilessly, including his own granddaughter Ruth (Dorothy Dix). In retaliation, a caped-and-masked Spanish bandido stages nightly raids on Brannum's spread. Hero Cliff Lea (Jones) turns out to be the mysterious night rider, but his motives are pure and his crimes are forgiven. It wasn't the first time Buck Jones went the "masked avenger" route on screen, and it wouldn't be the last. Critics in 1936 felt that an inordinate amount of screen time was devoted to the cruelties of Middleton's character; in fact, he may have a larger part than official star Jones!