A respected war correspondent is found murdered, with three bullets--from three different guns--in him. Three different men are arrested, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder, but only one can be the actual killer. A criminologist sets out to find who is really guilty.
A pearl stolen from an Indian idol results in nothing but trouble for its owner. After he receives death threats by note pinned to a dagger, he decides to gather his relatives in his old mansion for a reading of his will. Unfortunately, the family members are being mysteriously bumped off one by one. The butler and an heiress set out to discover what's going on.
For revenge the outlaw Morgan steals the Carruthers young son. Seventeen years later Carruthers arrives in the valley where Morgan, his gang, and the now grown Bob hide. After Morgan shoots Tracy, he tells Bob that Carruthers did it and sends Bob out after him. But unknown to Bob, Morgan has put blanks in his gun.
The Rangers in New Mexico are being disbanded but Bob Houston gets them to make one more ride. They go after the outlaw gang led by Hashknife. They catch Hashknife, but he escapes taking Barbara with him and Bob and Slim have to go after him again.
Having helped his father escape the law, Jim Curtis heads north with the Marshal chasing him. He and his pal Snicker elude the Marshall by changing clothes with two actors. Now forced to do vaudeville skits, Jim finds the man responsible for his and his father's problem working in the same saloon.
A cowboy detective goes up against a gang of big-city thugs trying to set up a protection racket out west.
An emergency at his Aunt's ranch gets Ed Randall leave from the Navy. He returns to find the water cut off and her note due the next day. When the man he seeks legal advice from is murdered, Ed is accused and he now finds himself in jail with a lynch mob forming outside.
A disgraced former District Attorney plots his revenge on the members of a criminal gang who had him framed and sent to prison.
Twin sisters, one good and honest and sweet, and the other given to totin' pistols and pulling robberies, keep confusing a detective about which one he his chasing for what, since he has different reasons for chasing both.
Shanghai Rose is the proprietress of a gin mill which doubles as a bordello. A murder occurs, and she is put on trial for her life. A series of flashbacks "reconstruct" the crime from several different points of view -- and as the story progresses, it becomes less and less obvious that Rich is the guilty party.
Bob Carson and sidekick Grizzly take a job driving a stage for a line that is being repeatedly robbed. The culprits place a large box on the stage in which Runt can hide and steal the gold without the driver or guard knowing it. When Bob realizes what is happening, he replaces Runt in the box in hope of catching the outlaws.
Kincade and Blake cause a mail plane carrying a payroll to make a forced landing in the desert. When they try to get the money, prospectors Ted and Si drive them away. With the pilot shot, Ted takes over as pilot figuring another attempt will be made and this time the Sheriff will be there.
Restored by the George Eastman House in 2001, this 1928 serial was considered a “last hurrah” for the silent-era serial, and brought together some of the biggest names of the era: director J.P. McGowan, actors Francis Ford and Joe Bonomo (a carnival strongman-turned-actor), producer Trem Carr (who would later help found Monogram Pictures), and a slew of silent-era supporting icons such as Ruth Hiatt, Grace Cunard, and more. Chapter names like “The Clutching Claw,” “The Devil’s Dice, “Galloping Fury,” and “The Invisible Hand” offer all one needs to know of the film’s concerns: to promise and deliver as much action and suspense as possible, and move our intrepid hero and heroine from one perilous situation to another. One of the biggest stars of the early silent era and a successful serials director in his own right, Francis Ford was the brother of director John Ford.
A playboy travels west after having killed his wife's lover. By chance, he happens to run into the man who has been falsely accused of the crime, who is himself on the run.
In a plot to take control of the Lazy Y ranch, which holds water rights to the local area, a rancher kidnaps the Lazy Y owner's daughter. The ranch foreman manages to eventually foil the plot and get the girl.
When the Nevada Kid gets caught in a stage robbery, the gang leader Cherokee gets him released by forging a petition to the Governor. The Kid tries to go straight but the stage he is guarding gets robbed. When the Sheriff jails Cherokee who was not in on the robbery, the Kid gets caught effecting Cherokee's escape and finds himself in jail again.
Money is mysteriously disappearing from a locked trunk atop the stage even though the trunk arrives still locked. When pals Bob Rivers and Grizzly get the jop driving the stage, the same thing happens.
Verdugo finds a young boy on the desert and raises him as his son. Now a grown man, Dan is framed for a stagecoach robbery by Brent, the same man that shot his father and tried to take him and his mother away twenty years earlier.
Steve O'Neil robs the stage and kidnaps Nita to keep Lopez from doing the same. Then he and Buckshot head for Lopez's hideout for a showdown. The townspeople head after them not knowing what they will find.
Bart Morgan controls the town of Cactus City and is keeping all men away from Jane Rankin. When Johnny Day arrives and takes an interest in Jane, Morgan tries to kick him out. Johnny refuses to go and the stage is set for a showdown.
