"The Brand of Hate Vintage" 1934 Western Movie Poster

 "The Red Rider" Vintage 1925 Western Movie Poster

"Two Gun Man" Lobby Card, 1926

Throughout the '20s and '30s westerns were, for the most part, made cheaply and tossed out to the masses. Rare was the western star who made it to the big, major city movie houses. Those who made the leap were William S. Hart, Tom Mix, and with The Two-Gun Man, Fred Thomson. Thomson earned his stripes; he and his highly-trained horse, Silver King, had been working in the lower-budget field since the early '20s and had built an impressive fan base. In this feature, Thomson plays Dean Randall, a hero of the Great War who comes home to his horse and his father's ranch. He saves a family in a wagon train -- a father (William Courtwright), daughter Grace (Olive Hasbrough), and three orphan children. Back at the ranch, Dean discovers that his father (Joe Dowling) has been conned out of his cattle by rustlers. In addition, the rustlers have gotten a mortgage on the ranch and are threatening to evict the old man. The strain kills Dad Randall, but Grace convinces Dean not to take violent revenge. So he uses his wits instead (plus a lot of impressive stunts with Silver King) to get back the cattle and see that justice is served against the rustlers. This film, and the ones that followed it, showed a lot of promise for Thomson's future; sadly, his death in 1928 kept that promise from being fully realized. A beautiful card and frame.