The Vigilantes Return is a 1947 western film produced by Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 in Cinecolor

Cinecolor

Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two color film process, based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and Alan M...

. The film was shot in Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California.

Plot

Marshal

Marshal

Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...

 Johnnie Taggart, posing as an outlaw

Outlaw

In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...

 named "Ace" Braddock, comes to Bannack, Montana

Bannack, Montana

Bannack is a ghost town in Beaverhead County, Montana, United States, located on Grasshopper Creek, approximately upstream from where Grasshopper Creek joins with the Beaverhead River south of Dillon.-History:...

 to restore law and order. But he is recognized by Kitty, co-owner with Clay Curtwright, of the infamous Bull Whip saloon. But "bad-girl" Kitty keeps her mouth shut. When Johnnie's pal Andy reports a stage

Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

 holdup, Curtwright's henchman, Ben Borden, talks the sheriff and Judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 Holden into suspecting Johnnie. Johnnie reveals himself to Judge Holden as a government marshal, and the judge voices his opinion that Curtwright is the leader of the road agents, but voices it in the presence of his granddaughter, Louise Holden. The Judge doesn't know that Louise is in love with Curtwright, and she tips him off as to Johnnie's real identity. Curtwright frames Johnnie for a murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 and arranges for the crooked sheriff to promote a lynching

Lynching

Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...

 and Andy and Kitty help Johnnie escape jail. Johnnie rounds up vigilante

Vigilante

A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....

s and heads for a showdown at the Bull Whip saloon.

Cast

• Jon Hall
  Jon Hall
  Jon Hall was an American film actor.-Biography:Born Charles Felix Locher in Fresno, California, and raised in Tahiti by his father, the Swiss-born actor Felix Locher, he was a nephew of James Norman Hall, one of the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty...
  
   - Marshal Johnnie Taggart/'Ace' Braddock
• Margaret Lindsay
  Margaret Lindsay
  Margaret Lindsay was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive...
  
   - Kitty
• Andy Devine
  Andy Devine
  Andrew Vabre "Andy" Devine was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his distinctive raspy voice.-Early life:...
  
   - Andy
• Paula Drew - Louise Holden
• Jack Lambert
  Jack Lambert (actor)
  Jack Lambert was an American character actor born in Yonkers, New York specializing in playing movie tough guys and heavies. Best known for playing the psychotic cat-loving, iron-hooked Steve "the Claw" Michael in Dick Tracy's Dilemma.Following a stint on Broadway, Lambert moved to Hollywood and...
  
   - Henchman Ben Borden
• Jonathan Hale
  Jonathan Hale
  Jonathan Hale was a Canadian-born film and television actor.-Career:Born Jonathan Hatley in Ontario, Canada, Hale was well known as Dagwood Bumstead's boss, Julius Caesar Dithers, in the Blondie film series in the 1940s. He is also notable for playing Inspector Farnack in various The Saint films...
  
   - Judge Holden
• Robert Wilcox
  Robert Wilcox (actor)
  Robert Wilcox , was a U.S. movie actor of the 1930s and 40s. His career began in earnest in 1936 after being discovered doing a summer-stock production of The Petrified Forest...
  
   - Clay Curtwright
• Arthur Hohl
  Arthur Hohl
  Arthur Hohl was a stage and motion-picture character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began appearing in films in the early 1920s...
  
   - Sheriff
• Joan Shawlee
  Joan Shawlee
  Joan Shawlee , also credited as Joan Fulton, was an American film and television actress.Her most notable roles were small roles in Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder films. Her most famous role was as Sweet Sue in the 1959 comedy classic, Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack...
  
   - Ben's Girl (Joan Fulton)
• Lane Chandler
  Lane Chandler
  Lane Chandler was an American actor specializing in Westerns.-Early life:He was born as Robert Chandler Oakes on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the son of a horse rancher. At an early age, the family relocated to Helena, Montana, where he graduated from high school...
  
   - Messenger
• Wallace Scott - Bartender