Marked Trails (1944) John P. McCarthy, Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, Veda Ann Borg

November 29, 2022

Following completion of the “Trail Blazers” series, Bob Steele and Hoot Gibson were paired in three other Monogram westerns, with the only connection to the “Trail Blazers” series being Steele and Gibson in the cast and production and distribution by Monogram, with various Monogram people serving as production supervisors i.e., William Strobach on this entry and Victor Hammond on the other two. This one finds Jack Slade (Mauritz Hugo) and Mary Conway,alias Blanche (Veda Ann Borg), being recognized as known and wanted crooks by deputy marshal Harry Stevens (Steve Clark) and, when he orders them out of town, Slade kills him. His son, Bob Stevens (Bob Steele) and friend Parkford (Hoot Gibson) become U.S. Marshals and proceed to rid the town of the cut-throat gang that has been terrorizing the citizens. Bob goes undercover as an outlaw and works his way into the gang, while Hoot poses as a Dude who goes about making fiery speeches on behalf of law and order.