Code of the OutlawRepublic release of Louis Gray production. Directed by John English. Original screenplay by Barry Shipman. Photography Reggie Lanning; editor Charles Craft; musical score Cy Feuer. Completed December 15, 1941. Running time 55 minutes, originally to be released as ‘Riders of the Sunset Trail’. Released January 30, 1942 Daily Variety, March 2, 1942: In this one the Three Mesquiteers do a little job of social work on Bennie Bartlett, the young son of a prairie bandit who dies in a gun battle and makes the lad promise never to be a squealer. The story has a novel twist and should do as well as others starring Bob Steele, Tom Tyler and Rufe Davis. After they have killed most of the payroll robbery gang in a small western town, the Three Mesquiteers adopt Bartlett and take him to their ranch. He holds a receipt for the stolen money, which has been filed in a Wells Fargo express office. By kindness the Three Mesquiteers try to get him to finger the other bandits in the gang that had been led by his father, but Bennie won’t talk. He finally opens up when one of the other robbers shows up on the ranch and shoots Davis. The gunman takes the boy to the Wells Fargo office to claim the money, planning to kill him later. The lad leaves a clue behind. When Steele and Tyler return to the ranch and find Davis was just slightly wounded the trio rides after the boy. They rescue him in a wild chase, with the bandit aboard the stagecoach. Steele, Tyler and Davis are all excellent. Young Bartlett does a very good job of acting as the tough kid who finally learns that crime doesn’t pay. Others in the cast are Weldon Heyburn, Melinda Leighton, Donald Curtis, John Ince, Ken Duncan, Emil Dunham, Max Waldman, Chuck Morrison and Carleton Young. Direction by John English is first-rate and Louis Gray gives the picture the usual good production. Photography by Reggie Lanning and other technical work is okay. Barry Shipman’s screenplay makes all the principals appealing and has plenty of the fast action that western fans like. Motion Picture Herald, February 7, 1942:Those stalwart Three Mesquiteers, whose popularity is attested by the fact that they achieved eighth position in Motion Picture Herald’s Western poll, bring their joint talents to ‘Code of the Outlaw’, a western that meets the requirements demanded of this type of film. With the original screenplay by Barry Shipman and based on characters created by Wm Colt MacDonald, the story is a rather interesting one, and opens with the Three Mesquiteers being called upon to capture the bandits who have stolen a very large payroll. This brings them into contact with Bennie Bartlett, a tough youngster who knows the whereabouts of the stolen money since his father, now slain, was the bandit leader. The young outlaw finally begins to defrost under the benign influence of kindness, and the stolen money is restored. The sequences dealing with the transition of character and the conflict of young Bennie Bartlett are well done, for they are handled with understanding without resorting to maudlin sentimentality. Bennie acts the part with naturalness and should appeal to the men and boys in the audience. Horses, stagecoaches, hold-ups, shooting and action are satisfactory in evidence and music, too, makes its appearance in the song ‘Rootin’ Shootin’ Terror of the West’, which has a little more spirit than most songs of this genre. The Three Mesquiteers and ‘Code of the Outlaw’ aim to please, and they should. Louis Gray was the associate producer and John English directed. (Previewed at the company projection room before an audience of trade-press reviewers who seemed to be interested in the proceedings.)
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