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Bill Elliott becomes a US Marshal and helps a lot of independent oil wildcatters in Death Valley Manhunt. One of them is his former sidekick Gabby Hayes.After bringing in a notorious gang the two split up, Elliott wants to take up the peaceable life of cattle ranching, after all he's a peaceable man. Hayes decides to become an oil wildcatter, but in his area all the wildcatters are being squeezed by an unscrupulous oil company executive. When the local law is accidentally killed, Elliott is sent into the area to straighten things out.One of the interesting aspects of Bill Elliott's screen persona is that he comes across at times like a Dudley DooRight, especially in his early films. But usually he's also working a few angles that people around him don't get to bring the bad guys down.Anne Jeffreys is in the cast to sing Carry Me Back To Old Virginny and for love interest. That's another thing, Elliott did make no secret of the fact he liked girls in his westerns, no kissing the horse for him. Jeffreys is the niece of Judge Herbert Hayes who is in league with the villain Weldon Heyburn.Fans of Wild Bill should be pleased with Death Valley Manhunt.
