Scarlet River [1933] [DVD]

Judy Blake (Dorothy Wilson) is about to lose her ranch to rival rancher Clink McPherson (Hooper Atchley) because she cannot even pay the interest on a loan he had made her. Unknow to Judy, her foreman Jeff Todd (Lon Chaney Jr. as Creighton Chaney) is using his job to further McPherson's plot to obtain Judy's ranch, by poisoning her cattle, stealing her stock and burning her feed crops. Judy is about to give up the struggle and marry Jeff when she receives a letter from Tom Baxter (Tom Keene), western movie star and independent producer, who wants to use her ranch and land as a production setting.

This does not fit into the plans of McPherson and Jeff, and more so the latter as he observes Judy and Tom falling in love. Tom suspects that Jeff is working with McPherson but doesn't tell Judy as he has no proof. While Tom and the film crew are on location far from the ranch house, the masked McPherson and henchmen kidnap Betty, and also, as a ruse make it appear as if Jeff is a kidnap victim rather than one of the kidnappers. They leave a note threatening to kill Judy unless Tom and his film unit leave the area within twenty-four hours. With the aid of Judy's kid brother, "Buck" Blake (Billy Butts), Tom locates the hideout, and gets inside by disguising himself as "Dummy"(James Mason), a mute member of the gang, while "Buck" rides for help. ~ imdb