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Buck Jones' first sound western, The Lone Rider, was not a rousing success. The former Fox star had left that studio at the changeover to sound in favor of touring with a circus. The tour proved a major flop, and the show closed after playing only forty-one stands. Returning to Hollywood, Jones was essentially starting all over in the film industry and could only command a $300 salary for The Lone Rider. Stardom would return with later series entries, but at the time the actor had good reasons to be worried. The producer of Jones' comeback western was Sol Lesser whose Beverly Productions released through Columbia. Jones played The Hell's River Kid, an outlaw mistaken for a hero during a stagecoach hold-up. He becomes the leader of a vigilante group while keeping his past life a secret; until, that is, the chief outlaw (Harry Woods), begins to dig up the truth. Jones, however, heroically defeats the gang and his past is forgiven. Despite the lukewarm reception, this film was remade by Jones in 1934, as The Man Trailer, and again in 1939, as The Thundering West, a vehicle for Columbia's newest western star, Charles Starrett.