Bruce Cabot vs. Warren William in Wild Bill Hickok Rides (1942)
Warners slowed super westerns to a
near-vanishing point by 1942, Errol Flynn being redirected into modern-set
combat for a war's duration. That left lesser, though still recognizable, names
to do battle on good's behalf against rote villainy hardly more nuanced than that
of series B's. Latter is province of unsteadily upon horseback Warren William,
merely shifting schemes from skyscraper to saloon environs. Bruce Cabot's
Hickok upholds civic virtue, excessively clean-cut here to compensate perhaps
for bad guy-ing Dodge City
a few years back. Extras are in abundance, and it's not stock footage, although
a burst dam looks borrowed from Gold Is Where You Find It. Story elements of
The Oklahoma Kid get repeat airing, WB stuck on empire builder themes and outlawry
attendant on that. Pace drags on "law and order" observed in lieu of
direct villain disposal, but Code dictate wouldn't permit vigilantism, thus
wait through dullish trial for baddies to get theirs. Wild Bill is OK if it's comfort
cowboys you want, though a Bob Steele or Tim McCoy gets the job done quicker.
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