Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

" Guns of the Pecos" was another in Warner Bros. "Singing Cowboy" series starring Dick Foran. This time around he's a Texas Ranger named Steve Ainslee.Major Burton (Gordon Hart) is charged with bringing a herd of wild horses in for the army. Judge (don't call me Roy Bean) Hardy (Robert Middlemass) is a corrupt judge holding court in a saloon. He instructs his gang Henry Otho, Monte Montegue, Bud Osborne and Milton Kibbee to rustle the herd. Along comes "The Singing Ranger" Steve Ainslee to join up with the rustlers, undercover of course. He gets to sing another song while riding herd to the horses.Major Burton, who has a fetching young daughter Alice (Anne Nagel) by the way, rushes to save his herd but is shot dead by the rustlers. One of the rustlers removes Burton's wallet. Later, while carrying a $25,000 cheque for Judge Hardy, He loses it to Steve. Steve seeing the cheque with Hardy's name on it, formulates a plan to have Hardy reveal himself as the head man by catching him red handed cashing the cheque (which is for the selling of the horses).While foiling a break in attempt by Hardy's men, Steve is arrested for Major Burton's murder and the rustling when Alice recognizes her father's wallet. Steve's partner Jeff Carter (Eddie Acuff) manages to aid Steve's escape. Steve and Jeff hide out at Alice's ranch but are discovered by Hardy and his men. Hardy sends for more men and they attack the ranch. Steve sensing defeat, rides for help from Ranger Headquarters. Capt. Norris (Joseph Crehan) and the rangers ride with Steve to the rescue. But, will they get there in time? Meanwhile the beleaguered few fight on until..................................................... Of note is the mock trial of loud mouthed drunken Hardy critic Wellman (Gordon "Wild Bill" Elliott) who is fined the amount in his wallet and tossed out the front door of the saloon. Acuff provides what little comedy relief there is through his unwanted advances from Aunt Carrie (Fay Holden). Foran gets the girl but wisely doesn't marry her this time but gets to serenade her..

Featuring Dick Foran as the "Singing Cowboy" with his trusty horse Smoke "the Wonder Horse". Also appearing in the film is the prolific "B"-movie stock player Eddie Acuff.The setting begins with a placard describing the lawlessness of Texas before the advent of the Texas Ranger. We are then introduced to a small town judge, Blake, who is "The Law" of the community. He is also corrupt, involved in rustling horses. Under orders, his gang steals all the horses from Major Burton, who lives out on the range with his sister and daughter, Alice.During the rustling, Major Burton is killed and his wallet taken by one of the criminals. Dick Foran sings a couple of songs and runs across Judge Blake's gang out on the range. He is hired by them to help "bring in" the load of stolen, now re-branded, horses to Dodge City. When that's done, Foran notices Judge Blake's name written on the check given to his gang foreman, Wellman (Bill Elliot, who also appears in Trailin' West). Foran then fights Wellman and takes the wallet, with the check inside, back to Texas Ranger headquarters, where he is employed. Evidently, he was working undercover trying to find out who was in charge of the rustling.The "Singing Cowboy" goes back to the town intending to trick the judge into convicting himself. Once there, he meets Alice Burton and tells her what he's trying to do. Unfortunately, while Foran is accusing the judge, he reveals the wallet, which Alice quickly identifies as her father's. The judge then accuses Foran of being the murderer, and he is trapped. But, his Ranger partner (Acuff) helps him to escape, and they head for Major Burton's ranch to convince Alice, again, that he's a Ranger trying to catch Judge Blake.The final third (or more!) of the film is a shootout between the judge's gang and Burton's farm hands, led by Foran's partner. In the meantime, Foran has gone back to Ranger's HQ to get help. Will he arrive in time to save the day and marry Alice?

Guns Of The Pecos casts Dick Foran as a singing Texas Ranger who goes on an undercover assignment to nail a Judge Roy Bean like character who being both a judge and an outlaw has a nice little racket going in the town that he rules. As Foran notes to his captain "Rangers are as popular as rattlers" in that neck of the woods.Robert Middlemass plays the crooked judge who is Roy Bean in all but his groupie like devotion to Lily Langtry. Anne Nagel plays the daughter of a ranch owner who is killed when his herd of horses is rustled. She gets a nice taste of Foran's baritone and after that she's his.Middlemass is really something to see. Walter Brennan might have taken notes on what Middlemass does in Guns Of The Pecos before he played Roy Bean in The Westerner. Fans of the singing cowboy genre and Dick Foran in particular should be pleased with this one.

Abuse of authority, corrupt lawmen, corrupt judge, bandits, shootouts, good guys, bad guys, damsels in distress, this movie has everything you'd look for in a western. Watched this movie on the late,late,late show on AMC hoping it would put me to sleep, but I ended up following the plot lines and staying up to watch the ending, even though I knew that the bad guys always lose in the end. Happily, not too much singing, enough gun play to keep it interesting.The only problem I had with this movie was the actor they chose for Judge Blake, his acting leaves much to be desired, and he fails to convey just how evil and corrupt a man his character is.All in all a pretty good movie for it's day. Compared to other movies of this era I've seen, I'd give it a 9/10, compared to all movies, it's a 7/10.