THE PURPLE VIGILANTES (1938) Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan & Joan Barclay | Western | B&W

The Purple Vigilantes is a 1938 American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, and Max Terhune. Written by Betty Burbridge and Oliver Drake, the film is about a rancher who organizes other ranchers to form a vigilante group in order to rid their town of outlaws. After the outlaws are defeated, some of the men, posing as the vigilant group, go on a crime spree. The Purple Vigilantes is the 12th entry in the Three Mesquiteers series of B-movies produced by Republic Pictures. The film was released in the United Kingdom as Purple Riders because at that time the word "vigilante" was unknown in Britain.

SYNOPSIS
David Ross organizes the ranchers into a vigilante group to rid the town of outlaws. The plan succeeds but the trouble starts when some of the men form a new vigilante group and posing as the original one plunder for loot.

CAST & CREW
Robert Livingston as Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan as Tucson Smith
Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin
Joan Barclay as Jean McAllister
Earl Dwire as David Ross
Earle Hodgins as J. T. McAllister
Francis Sayles as Wiliam Jones
George Chesebro as Eggers
Robert Fiske as George Drake
Jack Perrin as Duncan
Ernie Adams as Blake
William Gould as Jenkins, Saloon Owner
Harry Strang as Murphy
Ed Cassidy as Sheriff Jim (as Edward Cassidy)

Directed by George Sherman
Written by William Colt MacDonald
Screenplay by Betty Burbridge, Oliver Drake
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Cinematography Ernest Miller
Edited by Lester Orlebeck
Music by Alberto Colombo
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release date January 24, 1938
Running time 58 minutes
Country United States
Language English

NOTES
John Denvir, in his book, Legal Reelism: Movies as Legal Texts, compared the hooded-and-robed vigilantes in the film to the Ku Klux Klan. He cited The Purple Vigilantes as being "the series western most clearly inspired by the Klan", noting that the film was "treating its hooded terrorist organization as originally serving a legitimate purpose but corrupted over time."