Steele-ing Letters
Whilst Ted Warren (Bob Steele) was away fighting in WWI the people back home thought he had been killed. The reason is because of Kent (Charles King) who stopped his letters from reaching home so that he could muscle in on the Warren ranch, rustling the cattle and then foreclosing on the loan. And Kent is also muscling in on Ted's girlfriend Mary (Margaret Marquis). So a fair few people are surprised when Ted arrives back in town with Kent getting his henchmen to try and kill Ted and when that fails he shoot's Ted's father instead.
Have you ever read in the local paper about a postman being tried for stealing the mail they are entrusted to deliver? I have and I guess way back in the 1930s it was going on then as well with this Bob Steele western built around a crooked postmaster. Now I have to say when it comes to westerns I don't remember coming across another one where the Postmaster has the financial clout to own the loan on a ranch or the devious nature to rustle the cattle to make the owner have to hand over their property so it certainly is a bit of an intriguing set up even if of course it is the familiar routine of a crooked businessman stealing land and in this case women as well.
But the set up is not the only intriguing thing when it comes to "Last of the Warrens" as not only is this a western which is set post WWI it also has some surprising emotional scenes. When old man Warren sees his son having thought he had died it is a surprisingly touching scene. But then we have the events as they unfold and we discover what Kent's real motives are which whilst not overly original add a twist things and there are a few twists to this western which make you smile.
What this all boils down to is that "Last of the Warrens" ends up a much more entertaining movie than I expected but that is down to its almost oddball nature. As such for western fans the short comings may be too great even though it is surprisingly a lot of fun.
