West of Rainbow's End (1938) | Directed by Alan James

A former Texas Ranger, Tim Hart, comes out of retirement when his foster father, Lightning Ed, is murdered while investigating a string of train robberies near the settlement of Rainbow’s End. Tracking the gang, Tim discovers that a seemingly respectable local figure, George Johnson, and his henchman Speck are behind the crimes. As he digs deeper, Tim must protect the Carter family ranch, expose the bandits, and bring justice back to a troubled frontier town.

Genre: Western / Action

Director: Alan James

Alan James was an American film director and writer whose career stretched from the silent era into the sound period. Working largely in low-budget Westerns and action pictures, he became a familiar name in the B-movie world, turning out tightly paced, modestly budgeted films for studios such as Monogram and related independents. His work often featured rugged locations, fast-moving plots, and dependable cowboy leads, helping to define the look and feel of 1930s programmer Westerns.

Star Cast:

Tim McCoy as Tim Hart

Kathleen Eliot as Joan Carter

Walter McGrail as George Reynolds / Johnson

George Cooper as Happy

Mary Carr as Mrs. Martha Carter

Bob Kortman as Speck

Hank Bell as Joe

Frank LaRue as Lightning Ed

Reed Howes as Ted Crane

Edward Coxen as Joel Carter

Jimmy Aubrey as Postmaster Jed

George Chang as Elmer the Cook

At the time of its release, West of Rainbow’s End played mainly in the B-Western circuit, where audiences looked for straightforward stories, clear heroes and villains, and plenty of action. Tim McCoy’s presence as a seasoned cowboy star gave the film extra appeal to fans familiar with his earlier work. While it did not attract major critical attention and was not positioned as an “A” picture, it served its purpose as a solid, one-hour frontier adventure on double bills and Saturday matinees, particularly in small-town and rural cinemas.

Fun Facts:

The film runs just under an hour (about 57 minutes), which was typical for Monogram’s Western programmers of the late 1930s.

West of Rainbow’s End was released in January 1938, during a particularly busy period for Tim McCoy, who was starring in a run of low-budget Westerns aimed at the matinee market.

The story centers on train robberies and a ranch land grab, themes that were popular in 1930s Westerns because they allowed for both action set pieces and local-town intrigue.

Several supporting players, such as Bob Kortman, Hank Bell, and Frank LaRue, were regular faces in Westerns of the era, often appearing uncredited or in character roles across many similar productions.

Although some modern references list Conn Pictures Corporation in association with the film, contemporary documentation and later databases also credit Concord Productions and Monogram Pictures as key companies involved, reflecting the often tangled nature of small studio arrangements in the 1930s.