Lash LaRue - King of the Bullwhip

(From Old Corral collection)

Above is the intrepid trio from one of PRC's best westerns, the Cinecolor WILD WEST (PRC, 1946) which has a running time of about 66 minutes. A couple years later, this film was edited, shortened and released in a B&W version titled PRAIRIE OUTLAWS. From left to right are rangers Al LaRue, Eddie Dean and Roscoe Ates. Dean is riding 'Flash'.

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

KING OF THE BULLWHIP (Ron Ormond/Western Adventure, 1950) is probably Lash's most remembered film ... and one of his best. In that, he does a cliff-top "battle of the whips" against the baddie "El Azote" who was played by Dennis Moore.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is the pressbook cover for KING OF THE BULLWHIP (Ron Ormond/Western Adventure, 1950). Pictured in the upper right are Fuzzy St. John, Jack Holt and Tom Neal. In the bottom left corner are Anne Gwynne and Tex Cooper. Cooper portrayed "Buffalo Bill".

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from left to right are Al St. John, Lash and Raymond Hatton in a lobby card from THE DALTONS' WOMEN (Western Adventure, 1950). Lash and Fuzzy are billed fourth and fifth, and this has to be their worst western. Boyd Magers' review of this film begins with the words "Tangled mess", and that about sums it up. LaRue and St. John would do four more films after THE DALTONS' WOMEN. Sadly, that final four consisted of (mostly) stock footage culled from their earlier adventures.

(From Old Corral collection)

Above - Al 'Fuzzy' St. John and Lash LaRue battle it out with Archie Twitchell in a lobby card from THE VANISHING OUTPOST (Ron Ormand/Screen Guild, 1951).

LaRue gets his own starring series for PRC. Eight films were made.
Date	Film Title	Director	Leading Lady	Sidekick	LaRue role
1947	LAW OF THE LASH	Ray Taylor	Mary Scott	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Cheyenne Davis
1947	BORDER FEUD	Ray Taylor	Gloria Marlen	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Cheyenne Davis
1947	PIONEER JUSTICE	Ray Taylor	Jennifer Holt	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Cheyenne
1947	GHOST TOWN RENEGADES	Ray Taylor	Jennifer Holt	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Cheyenne Davis
1947	STAGE TO MESA CITY	Ray Taylor	Jennifer Holt	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Cheyenne Davis
1947	RETURN OF THE LASH	Ray Taylor	Mary Maynard	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Cheyenne Davis (AKA The Cheyenne Kid)
1947	THE FIGHTING VIGILANTES	Ray Taylor	Jennifer Holt	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Cheyenne Davis
1947	CHEYENNE TAKES OVER	Ray Taylor	Nancy Gates	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Cheyenne Davis
Then comes a half dozen Lash and St. John oaters for producer/director Ron Ormond and Western Adventure Productions, Inc. company. These were released through Screen Guild.
Date	Film Title	Director	Leading Lady	Sidekick	LaRue role
1948	DEAD MAN'S GOLD	Ray Taylor	Peggy Stewart	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Lash LaRue
1948	MARK OF THE LASH	Ray Taylor	Suzi Crandall	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash LaRue
1948	FRONTIER REVENGE	Ray Taylor	Peggy Stewart	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash LaRue
1949	OUTLAW COUNTRY	Ray Taylor	Nancy Saunders	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash La Rue / The Frontier Phantom
1949	SON OF BILLY THE KID	Ray Taylor	Marion Colby	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Jack Garrett
1949	SON OF A BADMAN	Ray Taylor	Noel Neill	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash LaRue
Ron Ormond was involved in the final batch of Lash and St. John oaters. But these were released through Realart. Ormond directed five of the six.
Date	Film Title	Director	Leading Lady	Sidekick	LaRue role
1950	KING OF THE BULLWHIP	Ron Ormond	Anne Gwynne	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash LaRue
1951	THE DALTON'S WOMEN	Thomas Carr	Pamela Blake	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash LaRue
1951	THE THUNDERING TRAIL	Ron Ormond	Sally Anglim	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash LaRue
1951	THE VANISHING OUTPOST	Ron Ormond	Sharon Hall	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash LaRue
1952	THE BLACK LASH	Ron Ormond	Peggy Stewart	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash LaRue
1952	THE FRONTIER PHANTOM	Ron Ormond	Virginia Herrick	Al 'Fuzzy' St. John	Marshal Lash La Rue/The Frontier Phantom
Footnotes: 1. circa 1948, PRC had become Eagle-Lion, and they re-issued WILD WEST in a much edited and shortened B&W version titled PRAIRIE OUTLAWS, and that title is NOT on the above list. 2. in his 20 STARRING films, LaRue was either "Cheyenne something-or-other" (8 times) or Lash LaRue (11 times). That pattern was broken with SON OF BILLY THE KID (Western Adventure, 1949) when Lash portrayed "Marshal Jack Garrett", son of real west lawman Pat Garrett.

In the photo right are Lash LaRue and his trail pard, Alfred 'Al' 'Fuzzy' St. John (1892 or 1893 - 1963). He created a screen character that ultimately would be fine tuned into the 'Fuzzy Q. Jones' screen persona that endeared him to so many western movie fans.

His busiest sidekick days were at Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) in the 1940s. At PRC, he did all 17 Lone Rider westerns with George Houston and Bob Livingston as well as all 42 of the Bob Steele and Buster Crabbe Billy the Kid/Billy Carson sagebrushers. After the Crabbe series ended in 1946, Fuzz got a new partner, Lash LaRue, and they teamed up for 20 oaters for PRC and Ron Ormond's Western Adventure production company.

You can also spot St. John doing saddle pal duties with Fred Scott at Spectrum Pictures, Jack Randall at Monogram, and Don Barry at Republic.

Al St. John passed away from a heart attack on January 21, 1963 in Lyons, Georgia while working with the Doc Tommy Scott Wild West show.

(From Old Corral collection)

(From Old Corral collection)

Left is Jennifer Holt (1920-1997), the daughter of movie star Jack Holt and sister of RKO cowboy hero Tim Holt.

She did a bunch of B westerns in the 1940s, co-starring with Johnny Mack Brown, Rod Cameron, others. And she also played the female lead in a couple of cliffhangers, ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (Universal, 1943) and HOP HARRIGAN (Columbia, 1946).

She was Lash's most frequent heroine/female lead, appearing in four of his PRC starring oaters. They also worked together in the Eddie Dean SONG OF OLD WYOMING (PRC, 1945).

Jennifer was a busy gal at PRC circa 1947-1948. In addition to those four LaRue adventures, she also did four with Eddie Dean.

In three Eddie Dean Cinecolor westerns for Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC).
Date	Film Title	Star	Director	Leading Lady	Sidekick	LaRue role
1945	SONG OF OLD WYOMING (Cinecolor)	Eddie Dean	Robert Emmett Tansey	Jennifer Holt	Emmett Lynn	Cheyenne Kid
1946	THE CARAVAN TRAIL (Cinecolor)	Eddie Dean	Robert Emmett Tansey	Jean Carlin	Emmett Lynn	Cherokee
1946	WILD WEST (Cinecolor)	Eddie Dean	Robert Emmett Tansey	Louise Currie & Jean Carlin	Roscoe Ates	Stormy Day