Once again, a Buck Jones B-movie from Columbia surpasses all expectations. In 1933's Treason , our lantern-jawed hero infiltrates a band of southern militants to bring an outlaw to justice. Set against the backdrop of real history, I was entirely unprepared for the moral and ethical complexity of this story. Joan Randall (Shirley Grey) and her band of confederates are riding through Kansas in the immediate wake of the Civil War, apparently wreaking havoc wherever they go. After they burn a town to the ground, Jeff Connors (Buck Jones) goes undercover to bust up the band from the inside. In order to do this, he has to look like the real deal, so he has himself branded with a hot iron to complete his disguise. While the camera doesn't show the actual skin-searing act, it lingers on his face as the smoke rises from his chest for longer than necessary. Pre-Code cinema, man. This was the first time in the film that I realized I was watching something outside the traditional "l...
