The Best (and Worst) of the West! Reviews and Observations on B-Westerns by Boyd Magers Review Archives

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Printing this webpage: I would suggest you do NOT attempt to print this.  When last I checked, this would require a bunch of pages to print.  Plus the reviews are not in any particular order, so it would be difficult to wade through all those pages looking for a film title, western hero, etc.  If you wish to have this information locally on your PC, I would recommend you click on "File" and then do a "save as" in Internet Explorer or Netscape. And save this page on your hard drive (as an .htm or .html file type).  If you also want Boyd's picture, the red stars and garbage can, put your mouse pointer on each image, click with your right mouse button, and do a "save image or picture as" to the same area on your hard drive where the main page will be saved.  The Search/Find function noted above will work on webpages saved to your hard disk.

Individual film reviews - as well as the complete The Best (and Worst) of the West! film review collection - is copyright ©2000-2009 by Boyd Magers. All rights reserved.

The Ratings

Superior

Good

OK

Poor

A real dud !

 SON OF PALEFACE (1952 Paramount)
As much a satirical western comedy as it is a straight B-western, and first time director Frank Tashlin makes you part of the merriment, making this possibly, Bob Hope's funniest movie (sans his Road pictures with Crosby). Tashlin had written Hope's hit THE PALEFACE and here Tashlin (who also co-scripted) comes up with a witty sequel with Hope playing his own idiot son. The original character of THE PALEFACE dentist was done by Hope and now his Harvard graduate son, Junior, comes west to claim an inheritance left by his father. Problem is, the strong box is empty, leaving Hope to contend with a town full of irate citizens Pop left owning. Hope runs a heavy bluff that he'll pay up while he and Pop's old-timer friend Paul E. Burns search for where Daddy hit the loot. Meanwhile, notorious outlaw The Torch, Jane Russell, and her bandits led by Bill Williams stage a series of gold robberies that brings to town the Governor's special investigator Roy Rogers and pal Lloyd Corrigan disguised as a singer and a patent medicine salesman. Masquerading as a singer in "The Dirty Shame saloon, Russell romances Bob in hope (pun intended) of finding Daddy's gold herself. SON OF PALEFACE is a joyful satire of every cowboy cliché with nothing overlooked. Hope rattles off one-liners while the action goes through Indian uprisings, lynch mobs, posses, ghost towns, singing cowboys, horse-tricks, desert mirages, quick-draws, saloon brawls, outlaw hideouts, and more. Wisely, the picture revives the Oscar winning "Buttons and Bows" from THE PALEFACE, with a few new twists from Hope, Russell and Rogers. Also included is "There's a Cloud In My Valley of Sunshine" and Four Legged Friend" sung by Roy. It's fast, witty and rootin' tootin' Technicolor fun all the way.

 THE DURANGO KID (1940 Columbia)
Although technically a Durango Kid western, this 1940 Charles Starrett entry bears little resemblance to his Durango Kid series which didn't actually begin until 1945 and some 30 Starrett B-westerns later. Besides Starrett's costuming being different, here he is a masked avenger whose "secret identity" is revealed to all by the picture's end as opposed to the Lone Rangerish figure Durango became from 1945 on beginning with THE RETURN OF THE DURANGO KID. In this one-timer, Starrett is a young man returning to his home ranch just as his father (Frank LaRue) is killed by Kenneth MacDonald and his gunmen (Francis Walker, Steve Clark) when LaRue discovered MacDonald's plans to drive out the nesters and take over the valley. Starrett takes up the mantle of the mysterious Durango Kid to avenge his father's death. He's aided by the Sons of the Pioneers (who sing a lively "There's a Rainbow Over the Range"), a reflective "The Prairie Sings a Lullaby" and a rousing "Cherokee Strip") and neighboring rancher Forrest Taylor and his daughter Luana Walters. An excellent B-western, certainly not the action-crammed type the '45-'52 series became, but especially noteworthy for the cunning word-play between Starrett and MacDonald from scripter Paul Franklin. But whoops - one obvious Boo Boo derides the picture: watch for the automobile in the background of the scene where MacDonald stops Walters on the trail. Another oddity is an-early-in-the-film wanted poster on The Durango Kid posted by MacDonald before Starrett becomes active as Durango against MacDonald, therefore making it an impossibility for MacDonald to put up such a poster.

 STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (1955 United Artists)
Joel McCrea's most neglected and obscure western. McCrea wound his six film contract with Universal-International in 1954 and signed up with independent producers Leonard and Robert Goldstein who had this screenplay based on a Louis L'Amour story. The producers let Joel select his own director and he chose Jacques Tourneur, not a familiar western director, but one who McCrea liked for his work on STARS IN MY CROWN in 1950. McCrea is an integrity-bound no-nonsense circuit riding judge who backs up his calls with his fists and six guns. Arriving in a town long controlled by land baron John McIntire, McCrea finds himself standing alone as he's forced to arrest McIntire's loutish son, Kevin McCarthy, for murder. Despite the town's fear of McIntire, first the sheriff (Emile Meyer), then two witnesses side with McCrea to ensure justice is done. This is no wild action film, but Tourneur creates mounting suspense and rising tension with no plot turns being predictable. Well developed supporting cast includes Robert Cornthwaite as a milquetoast lawyer supporting McIntire and scheduled to marry McIntire's niece, Miroslava; Emmett Lynn, the town drunk; John Carradine, a well spoken town lawyer; Roy Roberts, a cousin loyal to McIntire; hotel clerk Dabbs Greer; brutish gunman Lane Bradford; gunsmith Walter Baldwin and his daughter Nancy Gates. All this in a surprisingly tight, taut 66 minutes. Originally filmed in Anscocolor.

 SUNDOWN IN SANTA FE (1948 Republic)
"In 1870, near Santa Fe, a series of armed robberies was marked by a dagger like the one found on John Wilkes Booth. On this thin clue, the Army revived its search for Walter Durant, the fugitive leader of the Lincoln murder ring," so reads the prologue to this Allan "Rocky" Lane historical adventure which is total fiction, bearing no resemblance to any truth about the aftermath of the assassination of President Lincoln. In truth, the only knife found on Booth was a Bowie knife, which many people carried at that time. There was no Walter Durant associated with Booth at any time and certainly no gold robberies in 1870 linked to the "Lincoln murder ring". Primary oddity about this Lane B is that it was originally to be filmed as Monte Hale's next western. However, a horse fall sidelined Monte, so to save some existing riding footage already filmed, Republic made a few script changes, allowing Rocky to wear a Hale-styled shirt and leave his regular mount Blackjack behind while, as an Army intelligence agent, the Army sent him to New Mexico to investigate the series of gold robberies being perpetrated by newspaperman and wannabe empire builder Trevor Bardette - along with his henchies Roy Barcroft and Lane Bradford. With the help of Nugget (a bit different styled role for Eddy Waller as the part was originally intended for Monte Hale's partner Paul Hurst), Rocky learns information for every robbery comes from Rand Brooks, the son of Sheriff Russell Simpson. Brooks has been swayed by his love and devotion to pretty Jean Dean, in reality Barcroft's traitorous daughter who is only using Brooks to gain information for Bardette.

 ARROW IN THE DUST (1954 Allied Artists)
There's plenty of Cavalry vs. Indians action as hard bitten Army deserter Sterling Hayden is compelled by conscience to masquerade as a dead Cavalry Major (Carleton Young) and assume leadership over young Lt. Keith Larsen to lead a wagon train through deadly Indian territory. Among the members of the wagon train is gun-running Tudor Owen who has a wagonload of repeating rifles the savages want to get their hands on. Naturally, there's also romance on the trail as Hayden falls for beautiful Coleen Gray. John Pickard essays another of his faithful but tough Cavalry sergeant roles for which he was so typecast. Jimmy Wakely not only sings "Weary Stranger" over the title credits, but has a minor role as a trooper. Directed in Technicolor by B-vet Les Selander..

 HELLFIRE (1949 Republic)
One of the best and most unusual westerns ever made, and certainly William Elliott's best western by far, right in the good-badman mold of Elliott's "hero" William S. Hart. Crooked gambler Elliott reforms and agrees to raise the money "by the rules" to build a church for preacher H. B. Warner who lost his life protecting Elliott in a barroom flare-up. In time Elliott comes across outlaw Marie Windsor who has a price of $5,000 on her head, enough to build the church. His promise to Warner, however, calls for persuasion rather than capture and violence. Pursuing Windsor is Elliott's old friend Marshal Forrest Tucker as well as outlaw brothers Jim Davis, Paul Fix and Lou Faust. During the course of trying to convince Windsor to give herself up, Elliott learns Marie is searching for her long lost sister - a sister she doesn't realize is now married to Marshal Tucker. Tucker wants to keep his wife innocent of the fact her sister is an outlaw which is why he's determined to capture Windsor. When Elliott sizes up the dangerous situation, he quickly has himself appointed a deputy and arrests Windsor. In a final showdown, Tucker is badly wounded by Windsor who then learns her sister is Tucker's wife. As Windsor finally sees the error of her ways and is repenting, the outlaw brothers arrive. About to gun Windsor down, she is saved at the last minute by a fast-shooting Elliott. Billed as an Elliott-(Dorrell and Stuart) McGowan production, this powerful, stirring movie had to be Bill's finest moment. Finely crafted by R. G. Springsteen utilizing gorgeous, in Trucolor, Sedona, AZ, locations and terrific second unit action work from Yakima Canutt. Cowboy cancer alert: Bill smokes his pipe.

 KIT CARSON (1940 United Artists)
An excellent action film with marvelous cinematography by John Mescall and Robert Pittack that quite loosely mixes fact and legend to come up with a stirring tale. Randolph Scott was originally slated to play Kit Carson in this Edward Small production but, for reasons lost to the ages, Jon Hall (affecting a western accent that is a bit disconcerting and off putting) is the fabled frontier scout and Indian fighter. Hall and his friends, Harold Huber and Ward Bond, hire on to guide Captain John C. Fremont (Dana Andrews) and his troops - plus a caravan of settlers led by wagon boss Clayton Moore - across the plains and mountains to California. Along the way, fighting off Shoshone Indians at every turn, a love triangle develops between Hall, Andrews and Lynn Bari that is full of gentleness and understanding. Approaching California, a new menace arrives in the form of vile Mexican Governor General C. Henry Gordon who aspires to be emperor of Mexico and California. Gordon arms the Shoshone through his half-breed liaison Charles Stevens, but Hall, Andrews and the others manage to defend a hacienda (owned by William Farnum), but not without great loss. Producer Small spared no expense in mounting this fine western. Filmed mostly in Mounument Valley, director George B. Seitz's stirring battle scenes are expertly staged and photographed. And - along the way - there are some statements made about torture and warfare that still seem relevant today - 66 years later.

 GENTLEMEN WITH GUNS (1946 PRC)
Al "Fuzzy" St. John sends for his ol' pal Buster Crabbe to help out when big rancher Steve Darrell (wearing the biggest 10-gallon hat in B-westerns) and his henchies Frank Ellis and George Chesebro try to grab off Fuzzy's ranch for the water rights. Failing intimidation, Darrell frames Fuz for a murder he didn't commit just as his mailorder bride, Patricia Knox, arrives by stage. The money-hungry wench traitorously makes a pact with Darrell to go ahead and marry Fuzzy before Sheriff Budd Buster hangs him for murder. Then, as his widow, she'll sell the ranch to Darrell. Although the plot's a bit different, and Fuzzy's antics are highlighted, it just doesn't qualify as one of the better Crabbe PRCs.

 OUTLAW STALLION (1954 Columbia)
Under appreciated little modern-west B with plenty of terrific Technicolor wild horse footage from producer Wallace MacDonald and director Fred Sears. Contemptible Roy Roberts and his lackeys (Gordon Jones, Chris Alcaide, Bob Anderson, Trevor Bardette) are rustling wild horses in a restricted area, turning their black stallion loose to steal all the mares away from a wild white stallion's herd. Their underhanded deeds are nearly discovered by lady rancher Dorothy Patrick, her son Billy Gray and local deputy Phil Carey, Patrick's boyfriend, when the white stallion, while protecting his herd, kills both Bob Anderson and the black stallion in a wild fight. Roberts gains control of the white stallion but when Patrick and Gray discover he is a wild horse runner Roberts kidnaps the boy and his mother to shut them up. Carey and Sheriff Morris Ankrum capture the truck rustlers in a thrilling old west meets new west finale. Truly a horse lover's delight. Filmed on the Jack Garner Ranch.

 WEST OF RAINBOW'S END (1938 Monogram)
Retired railroad detective Tim McCoy is bent on revenge after his railroad detective foster-father (Frank LaRue) is murdered by the robbers he was tracking. Through Kathleen Eliot, who operates the local beanery, Tim learns devious Walter McGrail and his polecats (Bob Kortman, Reed Howes, Hank Bell, Robert Walker) are attempting to cheaply buy out rancher Ed Coxen, then sell the property to the railroad at a huge profit. The gang tries several times, unsuccessfully, to gun Tim, but when they kill his pal George Cooper, Tim really gets his mad-on and goes gunning for McGrail and his men. Touring with Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus, McCoy had been off the screen in '37 after his 10 picture series for Puritan in '35-'36. Producer Maurice Conn (1906-1973) had run his own studio (Ambassador) from '34-'37 but had now formed Concord Productions to produce B-westerns with McCoy and Jack Randall for release by Monogram. This was the first of four with McCoy. What's interesting to note in Robert Emmett (Tansey's) script, is Tim's habit of always chewing gum before he goes into action; an idea later "picked up" by Jess Bowers (aka Adele S. Buffington) when she wrote the Rough Riders scripts in '41-'42. Of course, in the Rough Riders pictures its Buck Jones, not McCoy, who always chews gum before the fight starts. Cowboy cancer alert: Tim smokes a cigarette. WEST OF RAINBOW'S END is an auspicious beginning to Tim's short four-film Conn/Monogram series, fairly routine stuff with a neat barroom shootout. Nothing new, but it paved the way for PHANTOM RANGER, the best in the group.

 FORT DEFIANCE (1951 United Artists)
Ben Johnson's best little western, a highly underrated, nearly forgotten picture. Ben's out for vengeance as he scours the Southwest searching for Dane Clark (in an excellent good-badman role) whose desertion during a Civil War battle cost the lives of men in Johnson's company. Tracking Clark to his desert ranch, Ben finds Clark's blind younger brother, Peter Graves. While waiting for Clark's arrival, Ben and Peter form a bond, causing Ben to reconsider his mission of revenge when Clark does arrive. Excellent action sequences from director John Rawlins amidst spectacular Utah scenery, in gorgeous Cinecolor, as the two opponents develop a begrudging friendship while fighting off marauding Indians together and still fighting among themselves. Finale has Ben's revenge decision made for him when another vengeance-seeking outlaw (Craig Woods) arrives trying to kill the whole family.

 McKENNA OF THE MOUNTED (1932 Columbia)
Just a fair Northwestern as Buck Jones is drummed out of the Mounties and publicly disgraced. We viewers seem to be the only ones who suspect that's only a ploy, allowing Buck to turn outlaw and infiltrate effeminate Niles Welch's outlaw ring. Even Buck's girl, Greta Grandstedt, begins to distrust him. Not enough action as Buck and Welch primarily engage in a war of words. In only his first feature, character player James Flavin is badly miscast as Buck's Mountie brother, his East Coast Irish brogue wildly betraying him. Flavin was married for more than 30 years to B-actress Lucile Browne.

 REBEL IN TOWN (1956 United Artists)
A family of ex-Confederate soldiers on their way home, (father J. Carroll Naish, sons Ben Cooper, Ben Johnson, John Smith, Sterling Franck) stop in a decidedly Union-sympathizing town for water from a well. A young boy points his toy pistol at them and one son (Smith) overreacts and shoots down the youngster. They all flee in fear, even though the level-headed son (Cooper) argues for returning to explain what happened. The boy's father, a Confederate hater, John Payne, sets out on a long vengeance trail, eventually finding Cooper left for dead by his treacherous brother (Smith). Payne and his wife (Ruth Roman) nurse Cooper back to health, with Payne unaware Cooper is one of the Confederates. Finely made, the level of tension and frustration in a hopeless situation continually mounts. To the film's detriment is an unfitting title tune by Les Baxter. Former B-stars Kermit Maynard and Jack Perrin have small bit roles.

 MULE TRAIN (1950 Columbia)
U.S. Marshal Gene Autry rides into a situation where cement, something new in the west, is a motivating factor. Gene comes to the aid of old pal Pat Buttram when Pat's partner in the discovery of cement is killed. Robert Livingston, a contractor, is the culprit secretly attempting to obtain the land. Lady Sheriff Sheila Ryan (Buttram's real life wife) at first seems to be on Gene and Pat's side, but is eventually revealed to be Livingston's boss. It's a simple B-western plot, but the angle of the lady heavy gives it some novelty. As usual with Autry, production quality is high all around. Over 30 versions of the hit title song were recorded, with the most popular being Frankie Laine's with sales zooming past the 1,000,000 mark. Gene reportedly paid $20,000 for the rights to "Mule Train" for this picture.

 SCARLET RIVER (1933 RKO)
There's a whole sub-genre of westerns about the making of westerns. These include COWBOY STAR with Charles Starrett ('36), THE BIG SHOW with Gene Autry ('36), IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD with Richard Dix ('37), HOLLYWOOD COWBOY with George O'Brien ('37), HOLLYWOOD ROUND-UP with Buck Jones ('37), SHOOTING HIGH with Gene Autry ('40), COWBOY AND THE BLONDE with George Montgomery ('41), TWILIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE with Johnny Downs ('44), DING DONG WILLIAMS with James Warren ('46), OUT CALIFORNIA WAY with Monte Hale ('46), UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS with Roy Rogers ('48), SONS OF ADVENTURE with Russell Hayden ('48), KID FROM GOWER GULCH with Spade Cooley ('49), GRAND CANYON with Richard Arlen ('49), HOEDOWN with Jock Mahoney ('50), and even a few borderline cases like BELLS OF ROSARITA, THRILL SEEKER, SIOUX CITY SUE and TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD. But SCARLET RIVER is the grand-daddy of them all. Picture begins with comedic overtones as slow-burn director Edgar Kennedy keeps being bothered by encroaching civilization on his western film landscapes. Tom Keene's film company goes looking for a real-west location at Scarlet River Ranch and finds more than they bargained for, encountering crooked foreman Lon Chaney Jr. plotting to steal the ranch from Dorothy Wilson by rustling her cattle then having his banker pal, Hooper Atchley, foreclose. Features RKO backlot cameos from Joel McCrea, Myrna Loy and Bruce Cabot. Director Otto Brower has Yakima Canutt perform his "under the wagon" stunt. Betty Furness nearly steals the picture as Keene's sharp-tongued movie-within-a-movie leading lady and frustrated, stuttering, wanna-be screenwriter, ranch hand Roscoe Ates, adds a few moments of laughter, but somehow all the parts never seem to jell and SCARLET RIVER never rises above more than just a pleasing hour with a new-found premise.

 FLESH AND THE SPUR (1956 Hy Productions/AIP)
Dirt farmer John Agar's twin brother is murdered, setting him off on a trail of revenge. Along the way he encounters callous gunman Touch (Mike) Connors (who co-produced with Alex Gordon) who teaches Agar how to handle a gun; trick gun artist/showman Raymond Hatton and his daughter Joyce Meadows and Indian girl Marla English whom they rescue from Indians who have staked her out on an ant hill. The group pursues the Checker Gang, led by Kenne Duncan, whom Agar believes the killer. In the twist ending, when Duncan is finally gunned down, Connors reveals Duncan was his father and it was he - Connors - who actually killed Agar's brother. Now it's Agar against Connors in a final showdown. There's a couple of good fights (choreographed by stuntman Tom Steele) but Charles B. Griffith's over scripting and some lackluster photography ultimately doom this Edward L. Cahn directed B. Kermit Maynard, Buddy Roosevelt, Frank Lackteen and Dick Alexander can be glimpsed if you don't blink. Originally filmed in Pathé Color, surviving prints seem to all be in b/w. Fast-gun artist Arvo Ojala served as technical advisor and has a no-blink role as well.

 DON'T FENCE ME IN (1945 Republic)
If there ever was a Gabby Hayes starrer, this is it. Cole Porter's hit song provides the story basis for Dorrell and Stuart McGowan to come up with one of Roy Rogers' most intriguing and fun filled features. Republic skillfully pulled out every trick in their book to make this film acceptable to a wide audience. There's plenty of music, including the Sons of the Pioneers' famous "Tumbling Tumbleweeds", dance routines and songs by Dale Evans, Roy putting Trigger through his paces, standard western action, nightclubs and gangsters and possibly the most hilarious "funeral scene" ever filmed. Just great fun and pure entertainment. Two things to notice - compare Roy's warbling of "My Little Buckaroo" to baritone Dick Foran's version; then look for the WYOMING OUTLAW ('39) 3 Mesquiteers one-sheet behind Roy in the song-filled finale. Story has "Spread" magazine's investigative reporter Dale Evans tricked by her editor (Robert Livingston in a throwaway role) into heading west to probe into the legend of Wildcat Kelly (Gabby Hayes), an infamous road agent who was killed and buried 40 years ago - or was he? Through her snooping Dale discovers Kelly faked his death and that Gabby has been leading an honest life the past 40 years, now living on Roy's dude ranch. Against Roy's wishes, Dale prints the story in "Spread" which leads to an attempt on Gabby's life by gangster Marc Lawrence. Faking Gabby's death once again, Roy, the Pioneers and Dale hunt down the gangsters who really killed the person found in Wildcat Kelly's grave. So infectious is "Don't Fence Me In", even those doubting-Thomases of this "singing cowboy" stuff must have enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek nature of this picture.

 WEST OF CHEYENNE (1931 Syndicate)
Tom Tyler's Dad, Lafe McKee, is convicted of the murder of a neighboring rancher (Frank Ellis), a murder actually committed by The Laramie Kid (Harry Woods) who holes up in Ghost City, a village of wanted men west of Cheyenne. Tom vows to track down Woods and clear his father, so he poses as a wanted outlaw to gain entrance to Ghost City. Tom's pal Ben Corbett goes along to help. There's a couple of traditional cowboy songs sung by an unknown group in this early Harry S. Webb directed talkie that is pretty standard Tyler fare.

 GUNFIGHTERS (1947 Columbia)
After being forced to shoot a friend in a duel, fast-gun Randolph Scott swears to take off his gunbelt forever but finds himself drawn to the middle of a range war when he's blamed for the murder of his best friend. Now Scott must prove to the dead man's kid brother (John Miles) that he's innocent. Naturally, Scott is forced to strap on guns once more to bring an end to the tyranny of local land baron Griff Barnett, his devious foreman Bruce Cabot, hired gunslinger Forrest Tucker (in a really underwritten, wasted role) and mean, crooked deputy Grant Withers. To complicate matters, Scott becomes involved with the land baron's two daughters, nice girl Dorothy Hart and conniving Barbara Britton who is in love with Cabot. Alan Le May's script from Zane Grey's TWIN SOMBREROS seems to need a bit more "polish", but Scott is terrific as always, plus the gorgeous Sedona locations (abetted by Vasquez Rocks, Jauregui Ranch and Monogram Ranch) in Cinecolor are enough to recommend this one. Produced by Harry Joe Brown, he and Scott went on to form their own (Ranown) production company. Joined by director Budd Boetticher, they produced several very respected medium budget westerns (RIDE LONESOME, TALL T, etc.).

 DAYS OF OLD CHEYENNE (1943 Republic)
Don Barry's B-westerns always stood apart from the traditional, stalwart, pure-clean hero. Barry projected a certain quiet, authoritative menace, often playing a man on the edge, a reformed outlaw or a vengeance bound gunfighter. DAYS OF OLD CHEYENNE runs neck and neck with TULSA KID for Barry's best; it's certainly his most unusual plot-wise - for that matter of all B-westerns. Norman S. Hall's screenplay has wild, unsettled Barry offered the job of town marshal of Cheyenne by political boss William Haade after Barry beats the tar out of saloon owner William Ruhl in a dispute over Barry's pal Emmett Lynn. Barry accepts in the belief Haade is really interested in cleaning up the town. Working with crusading newspaper editor Charles Miller, his daughter Lynn Merrick and their adopted son Harry McKim, Barry soon discovers Haade is the power behind both an outlaw gang and Governor Herbert Rawlinson. Even so, Don becomes head of the territorial Rangers after busting up a bank robbery by outlaw Bob Kortman in which young McKim is killed. When Governor Rawlinson, formerly under Haade's thumb, decides to go straight, Haade has him killed and through his devious political machinations has Barry appointed temporary territorial Governor, believing he can still control Barry. Haade soon learns this is not the case as Don turns the tables on the crooked political boss and brings the gang to justice. Even though the scope of this one-hour B-western is vast, under Hall's script and Elmer Clifton's direction it never feels rushed. DAYS OF OLD CHEYENNE shows the depth a B-western can plumb and what can be done within the confines of the B-western structure when in the capable hands of talents like Clifton, Hall and Barry. Oldtime director Elmer Clifton (1890-1949), born in Chicago, started acting on the stage as a young boy and began appearing in movies as early as 1914. Legendary D. W. Griffith hired him as an assistant director. Clifton soon became a director himself, including the masterful DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS ('22). However, by the time sound came in Clifton found himself helming poverty row material for Louis Weiss, J. D. Kendis and others. But Clifton struggled on as best he could, both directing and scripting B-westerns here and there with Buck Jones, James Newill and others until he finally regained some ground with several Johnny Mack Brown/Tex Ritter B's at Universal. For whatever reason, his stay at Republic was brief - two Don Barry's (DAYS OF OLD CHEYENNE and SUNDOWN KID, BLOCKED TRAIL with the 3 Mesquiteers, and co-director with John English on the CAPTAIN AMERICA serial). He then signed on at PRC to helm many in their Texas Rangers series, as well as churning out a few scripts for Jimmy Wakely and Buster Crabbe. His final directorial jobs were bottom of the barrel efforts with Cal Shrum, Spade Cooley and Bob Gilbert. As Mike Nevins wrote in WESTERN CLIPPINGS, "When Clifton was bad, he was horrid, but when he was good, he was very, very good." As he is with DAYS OF OLD CHEYENNE, adding neat touches such as overhead camera shots during a barroom brawl, and at the end, after standing alone gunning down Haade, Barry walks slowly out as Clifton has the camera pan down as Barry empties his spent six-gun shells on the floor.

 THE BOUNTY MAN (1972 ABC Circle Film)
Tough but righteous bounty hunter Clint Walker is after cut-throat John Ericson, but after Clint captures Ericson they're pursued by scroungy bounty hunters Richard Basehart, Rex Holman, Dennis Cross and Wayne Sutherlin who plot to take Ericson away from the lone Walker ... dead or alive. Matters get even more complicated in Jim Byrnes' lean, mean, excellent script when Walker is forced to take along Ericson's girlfriend, Margot Kidder. This Aaron Spelling TV-movie was made at a time when TV-movies still looked like "real" movies. Also in the cast - Gene Evans and Arthur Hunnicutt.

 MOONLIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE (1935 Warner Bros.)
Ads shouted, "A new star in the saddle to spur you to cheers and stir you to song! Different! Dangerous! Quick on the trigger! Ready with a song! Six-feet-three of hard galloping, heart-walloping cowboy ... riding high, wide and handsome to stardom!" Billed as "First of the new Warner westerns", it was WB production supervisor Bryan Foy's decision to get back into series westerns, a genre they'd abandoned since the '32-'33 John Wayne westerns, which were mostly remakes of their Ken Maynard silents. Foy at first sought out WB leading man Lyle Talbot who had a good, but seldom used singing voice, but Talbot declined as he was not fond of horses. Foy then turned to Dick Foran who possessed a trained singing voice and projected a likeable personality. Although the Foran westerns have solid production values and the benefit of strong casts, what Warner Bros. never got right was what historian Les Adams called "that self-taught, down-home, Mama-and-all-them brand of Americana so easily and naturally projected by Gene Autry, Tex Ritter and Roy Rogers among the singers, and John Wayne, Buck Jones, Bill Elliott and Johnny Mack Brown among the straight action performers." William Jacobs' screenplay for this first Foran has Dick blamed for a killing he didn't commit. Learning the murdered man's son, little Dickie Jones (and his Mom Sheila Manners), will lose his father's ranch unless he occupies it by midnight and stays on the property til he's 21, Dick pitches in to help, eventually rooting out ranch foreman Joe Sawyer as the real killer trying to prevent Dickie from inheriting the ranch so he and his crooked partner Robert Barrat can grab off the spread. Foran's sidekick (he didn't have a steady one as most B-western stars did) is always hungry George E. Stone. For no other reason we can see than Warners was building up his popularity with plans in mind for starring roles, Gordon (Wild Bill) Elliott has a small role as a cattleman's investigator. WB used him this-a-way in a couple more Foran westerns before Elliott found a starring-stable with producer Larry Darmour through Columbia and, of course, later Republic. Cowboy cancer alert: Foran holds a cig in his hand at dinner.

 LAST OF THE FAST GUNS (1958 Universal/International)
Gunslinger Jock Mahoney is hired by invalid millionaire Carl Benton Reid to find his long lost brother, Edward Franz, who disappeared into Mexico 15 years ago. If Franz isn't found, Reid's share of the business goes to Reid's conniving partner. The partners' gunman, Gilbert Roland, is determined to get control of the business, but can't do it if Franz is found. It's a long, slow 81 minute trail til Mahoney finds Franz, now a beloved Padre by the peons of the area. Made in Mexico and directed by George Sherman, the feel is that of a Euro-spaghetti western with the title promising far more than the dreary film delivers.

 POWDERSMOKE RANGE (1935 RKO Radio)
RKO certainly was not about to launch a series of Three Mesquiteers westerns, but they packed every western star they could lay their contracts on for this sagebrush oddity, and therein lies its charm, fame and reputation today because, in reality, it is a rather dull, talky, lethargic, Wallace Fox directed, Adele Buffington scripted western. And other than Tom Tyler's cold-eyed Sundown Saunders gunman, the performances are pretty routine. The film was wisely advertised for its all star cast, thereby receiving playdates in theatres not normally known to book standard B-westerns. Based on a novel by William Colt MacDonald, Harry Carey is Tucson Smith, Hoot Gibson is Stony Brooke and Big Boy Williams is Lullaby Joslin. A quite different casting approach than that taken by Republic a year later. Also in the star-studded cast are Bob Steele, the aforementioned Tom Tyler (both later to be Mesquiteers themselves at Republic), Wally Wales, Buzz Barton, Art Mix, Buddy Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill Jr., Franklyn Farnum, William Desmond, William Farnum - many in don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-'em cameos. Buffington's stale plot has Carey/Gibson/Williams opposing the corrupt town sheriff Adrian Morris and Mayor Sam Hardy. (Both miscast! Why not some of the top heavies of the day as well in these roles?) Main interest in the film comes as the Mesquiteers try to convert gunslinger Tom Tyler to the right side of the law. At first refusing, in the final showdown Tyler takes a fatal shot meant for Carey. Necessary to see as a B-western curio, nothing more.

 GUN BATTLE AT MONTEREY (1957 Allied Artists)
Sterling Hayden hated making these westerns, he did them to earn money to sail his boat in the South Seas. To his credit, he's such a consummate actor that his distaste never shows. Vile Ted De Corsia double-crosses partner Hayden after a bank robbery, shooting him in the back and leaving him for dead. With the stolen loot De Corsia opens a wide open saloon miles away, hiring Lee Van Cleef as his gunhand and Mary Beth Hughes as a dealer. Hayden is found by Pamela Duncan and nursed back to health with a promise to her he won't seek out and kill De Corsia. Hayden's dilemma is how to avenge himself and still not lose the love of Duncan. His unique version of vengeance brings an unusual and quite watchable conclusion with some unpredictable plot twists. Just don't wait up for the gun battle at Monterey - it's not there.

 COME ON, RANGERS (1938 Republic)
Roy Rogers' third B-western is based loosely on fact. Due to lack of funds after the Civil War the Texas Rangers are disbanded and their duties taken over by the U.S. Cavalry; here shown to be somewhat ineffectual as outlaw bands sweep over the territory. Former Ranger Roy Rogers joins the Cavalry as his sidekick, crusty old Raymond Hatton becomes a scout for the Army. Corrupt Senator Purnell Pratt and black-hearted desperado Harry Woods form the State Patrol only to illegally and brutally extract protection from the ranchers. When Roy's brother, ex-Ranger Lane Chandler, is murdered by Woods' gang, Roy deserts his Cavalry Sergeant stripes to track down the killers his way. Eventually, Roy roots out the crooked State Patrol and demonstrates the need for the reformation of the now legendary Texas Rangers. This was another clever Republic teaming of Roy Rogers and leading lady Mary Hart (aka Lynne Roberts) - Rogers and Hart - get it? They made seven westerns together. Hatton sidekicked with Roy for four before George "Gabby" Hayes came aboard with SOUTHWARD HO! in '39.

 YANKEE FAKIR (1947 Republic)
Medicine show salesman Douglas Fowley comes west and falls in love with the daughter (Joan Woodbury) of border patrolman Forrest Taylor who is murdered by smugglers. After much "who cares" serio-comic material, Fowley exposes banker Frank Reicher and henchman Marc Lawrence as the smugglers. Not worth your effort.

 FORLORN RIVER (1937 Paramount)
Larry "Buster" Crabbe sports a mustache to match 1926 stock footage of Jack Holt in this Zane Grey remake of the silent film. Outlaw Harvey Stephens impersonates a government man sent to buy horses for Fort Apache and plots with his gang (headed by Ray Bennett) to rustle off (former silent star) William Duncan's herd as they drive them to Ft. Apache. But his plans go awry when Crabbe and his always-hungry pal, Syd Saylor, arrive at Duncan's ranch to see Buster's old friend, John Patterson, Duncan's foreman. Crabbe immediately recognizes Stephens as an old adversary but plays a tight-to-the-vest game in order to get the goods on the gang. Filmed on location in Kernville, California, by director Charles Barton. Watch for Buffalo Bill Jr. (Jay Wilsey) and soon to be Lone Ranger Lee Powell in small roles.

 BOWERY BUCKAROOS (1947 Monogram)
The Bowery Boys (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Billy Benedict, David Gorcey) go west in a funny spoof on "horse operas". Sweetshop owner Louie (Bernard Gorcey) tells the boys that 20 years ago he'd left the west to escape a murder charge for which he wasn't guilty. The gang goes west and arrives in Hangman's Hollow to clear Louie, soon finding themselves up to their necks in crooked saloon owners (Norman Willis) and Indians (Iron Eyes Cody, Chief Yowlachie).

 PARK AVENUE LOGGER (1937 RKO)
Leaving independent producer Sol Lesser and his distribution set-up through Fox, George O'Brien signed with independent producer George Hirliman for four films to be released through RKO, DANIEL BOONE, PARK AVENUE LOGGER, WINDJAMMER and HOLLYWOOD COWBOY. Only the latter could be legitimately termed a western. PARK AVENUE LOGGER is a slight melodrama in which Eastern lumber magnate Lloyd Ingraham sends his son, O'Brien, to his Timberlake, Oregon, lumber field under an assumed name to check out field manager Willard Robertson whom Ingraham believes is conspiring with the field boss (Ward Bond) of a competing company to take over their logging business.

 FORT VENGEANCE (1953 Allied Artists)
It's the old good brother (James Craig) bad brother (Keith Larsen) plot, set this time with the Mounties in Canada, scripted by prolific Daniel Ullman. Forced to flee to Canada after trouble in the states over a poker game, Craig convinces Larsen to join the RCMP, hoping to straighten out his wayward brother. But Larsen steals furs from a trapper he's killed and fakes the evidence to make it look like the son (Paul Marion) of Indian Chief Morris Ankrum did the killing. Taking his Mountie oath seriously, to right the wrong Craig is forced to hunt down his own brother to save Marion from punishment. Cinecolor helps with the vivid red uniforms, but even under Les Selander's direction this is a minor effort. Corriganville stands in for the Canadian northwoods.

 ALIAS - THE BAD MAN (1931 Tiffany)
Ken Maynard comes to help his rustler-plagued father (Lafe McKee) only to find his father and another rancher (Robert Homans) murdered, and made to look like they gunned each other in an argument. With the help of his friend, stuttering Irving Bacon, Ken infiltrates his way into the rustler gang (Frank Mayo, Charlie King, Jack Rockwell) who murdered his Dad. But it looks like the jig is up when the gang discovers Ken is a Ranger. Pretty tame affair with none of the standard Maynard derring-do til the final six minutes.

 SILVER LODE (1954 RKO)
Another anti-McCarthyism western (if you choose to view it that way) in the wake of HIGH NOON. Allan Dwan's direction gives the fugitive-on-the-run plot a visual style that lifts the routine material to a higher level. The entire film takes place during a three hour period on the 4th of July with an apparent "Rashomon" homage evident in recurrent scenes of the same event as seen through the memories and prejudices of different involved cast members. Story has John Payne surprised by vicious "Marshal" Dan Duryea and his "posse" (Harry Carey Jr., Alan Hale Jr., Stuart Whitman) on the day of his wedding to Lizabeth Scott, charging Payne is wanted for murder in California and they're here to bring him back. Payne knows he is innocent but quickly discovers his so-called "friends" are a bunch of hypocrites who turn their back on him now that he's in trouble. Excellent support from Morris Ankrum (Scott's father), Dolores Moran (as Payne's old girlfriend), Paul Birch, Byron Foulger, Myron Healey, Emile Meyer, John Hudson, Frank Sully, Lane Chandler, Robert Warwick, Ralph Sanford, Gene Roth, William Haade, I. Stanford Jolley, Frank Ellis, Sheila Bromley, John Dierkes, Edgar Barrier and Wes Hudman. Technicolor.

 STAMPEDE (1936 Columbia)
Rancher Le Strange Millman, in an attempt to raise money to meet his note held by hotel owner James McGrath, tries to sell a herd of horses. But J. P. McGowan, a neighboring rancher, has been scaring off - or murdering - all potential horse buyers so Millman won't be able to meet the note which will allow McGowan to buy up the property for a song, using McGrath as a tool. An outside buyer, Charles Starrett, is headed for Millman and his daughter Finis Barton's ranch, also expecting to meet his brother there. McGowan and his men mistake Starrett's brother as the buyer and kill him, throwing the blame on Millman and setting Starrett off on a wrong vengeance trail. There's a huge boo-boo toward the end outside McGowan's ranch house. Starrett has on a black shirt, no jacket. But, as he appears at a window and climbs in, he has on a light grey jacket. Then, as McGowan escapes and Starrett chases him, the jacket again disappears. This feature was filmed in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, as part of the British Quota System. The different locales and basically Canadian cast give this Starrett a different and interesting look. Although filming began on February 5, 1936, production was suspended due to heavy rain and didn't resume again til March 31. Between February 5 and March 31 the cast and most of the crew worked on another Columbia/Central Films of Canada co-production, SECRET PATROL ('36).

 FACE OF A FUGITIVE (1959 Columbia)
Accused of killing a deputy, Fred MacMurray is nevertheless guilty of bank robbery. On the run, he settles in a new town under a new identity, falling in love with pacifist Sheriff/lawyer Lin McCarthy's sister, Dorothy Green. Because McCarthy reminds him of his brother (killed in the bank robbery), MacMurray defends him against town tough James Coburn (in a wonderfully nasty role). Of course, MacMurray's past catches up with him as taut suspense builds. Will he escape before the wanted dodgers arrive or will he stay to help the beleaguered McCarthy? Very well written by Daniel B. Ullman and David T. Chantler with nice direction from Paul Wendkos. In Color.

 BEYOND THE PURPLE HILLS (1950 Columbia)
In this remake of screenwriter Norman S. Hall's SHERIFF OF LAS VEGAS ('44 Republic) starring Bill Elliott, Gene Autry becomes sheriff of a tough western town after the previous peacekeeper is gunned down in a bank robbery. Then, when Judge Roy Gordon is murdered by saloon keeper James Millican, suspicion falls on the judge's wild son Hugh O'Brian due to an argument moments before the murder. Believing O'Brian innocent, Gene and his new deputy Pat Buttram foil a lynch mob with the aid of Jack's kid brother, Don Kay Reynolds. Hiding O'Brian and Reynolds, Gene tricks Millican and his secret confederate, banker Don Beddoe into betraying themselves, completely exonerating O'Brian leaving him free to romance his fiancée, Jo Dennison. Gene does break from the realistic Columbia Pictures formula for a moment or two by introducing Little Champ, having him, along with Champion, perform some tricks in the midst of the action-packed story. Both horses actually have important roles in the storyline, including some funny bits with Pat Buttram. Leading lady Jo Dennison was Miss America of 1942 and later married comedian Phil Silvers in 1945.

 GAL WHO TOOK THE WEST (1949 Universal-International)
Light spirited western romp with a certain "Rashomon" effect as the story is related from the three different perspectives of old timers Clem Bevans, Houseley Stevenson and Russell Simpson. A modern day journalist is gathering material for a story on a prominent family. He winds up learning from these three old geezers about feuding cousins Scott Brady and John Russell who were at odds with one another over the affections of imported-to-the-west opera house singer Yvonne De Carlo. Grandpa Charles Coburn's power and authority is the only thing preventing open warfare between the two. Eventually, it comes to an all-out, knock-down, drag-out screen fight between the cousins before De Carlo makes her choice. And, at the end, it is an aged De Carlo who relates the final truth of the tale to the reporter. That the film was played tongue-in-cheek is no doubt the work of director Frederick de Cordova who was basically a comedy director. Jock Mahoney is one of the stuntmen in the Brady/Russell fight. The picture, whose working title was simply THE WESTERN STORY, was originally scheduled to star Deanna Durbin. The supporting cast is peopled with dozens of B-western faces: Myrna Dell, James Millican, John Litel, Ross Elliott, Jack Ingram, Glenn Strange, William Tannen, Steve Darrell, Pierce Lyden, John James, Francis MacDonald, William Haade, Forrest Taylor, Paul Brinegar, House Peters Jr., Russ Whiteman, Forbes Murray, Henry Wills, Ethan Laidlaw, Jack Perrin, Carol Henry, Ray Jones, Howard Negley.

 MULE TRAIN (1950 Columbia)
U.S. Marshal Gene Autry rides into a situation where cement, something new in the west, is a motivating factor. Gene comes to the aid of old pal Pat Buttram when Pat's partner in the discovery of cement is killed. Robert Livingston, a contractor, is the culprit secretly attempting to obtain the land. Lady Sheriff Sheila Ryan (real life wife of Buttram) at first seems to be on Gene and Pat's side, but is eventually revealed to be Livingston's boss. It's a simple B-western plot, but the angle of the lady heavy gives it some novelty. As usual with Autry, production quality is high all around. Frankie Laine and Vaughn Monroe recorded "Mule Train", so did Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, and almost every recording artist of note, including Gene Autry. Over 30 different records were made. The most popular recording, besides Autry's, was Frankie Laine's whose sales zoomed past the 1,000,000 mark. Gene made a habit of using hit songs as the title of his films and springboard plot, and "Mule Train" was no exception.

 HOSTILE GUNS (1967 Paramount)
Trite and overly talkative, spotted with action. It's a great title and a good premise gone wrong in what should have been one of producer A. C. Lyles' best westerns, but it turns out midway to be a talkfest. U.S. Marshal George Montgomery is given charge of four criminals (mean Leo Gordon, sentenced to hang; pompous, corrupt railroad executive Robert Emhardt; Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales, a goat thief; and Yvonne De Carlo [never looking worse] who shot her two-timing lover) to escort across the Texas badlands in a prison wagon. Montgomery enlists the aid of hot-headed, naïve, young Tab Hunter as his deputy. During the trek, De Carlo attempts to seduce Hunter into letting her go, nearly succeeding, until Montgomery throws the foolish, gullible Hunter in the wagon with the crooks, leaving George all alone to fend off the attacks of Gordon's kin, John Russell and James Craig. As with all Lyles' productions, the supporting cast is populated with old pros: saloon owner Don Barry; sheriff Richard Arlen; Marshal Brian Donlevy; ranch hand Fuzzy Knight; Hunter's tough uncle Emile Meyer; outlaw Read Morgan; and prison wagon carpenter William Fawcett.

 SPRINGTIME IN THE SIERRAS (1947 Republic)
Roy Rogers is in for the fight of his life in one of his best post-WWII westerns when he battles illegal game poachers. Hal Landon, kid brother of Roy's girlfriend, Jane Frazee, falls in with the poachers headed up by the beautiful but ruthless Stephanie Bachelor and her tough under-boss, Roy Barcroft. Discovered illegally shooting deer out of season, Bachelor cold-bloodedly shoots and kills kindly game warden Harry Cheshire. When Landon has had enough and tries to quit the gang, Roy's suspicions are aroused. Roy and Landon are nearly frozen to death in a meat freezer but escape in plenty of time for director Bill Witney to stage a thrilling finale in which Roy battles Barcroft and Frazee takes on Bachelor. Just the right comedic support from "photographer" Andy Devine and some good tunes from Roy and The Sons of the Pioneers. This one truly shows how excellent B-westerns could still be made as late as 1947 when under the tutelage of an expert director like Bill Witney, the inventive scripting of Sloan Nibley and the crackerjack Trucolor photography of Jack Marta.

 YELLOW MOUNTAIN (1954 Universal-International)
Stiff Lex Barker was not suited to westerns, although he made several, but seems totally disinterested here resulting in a lifeless picture. Hard-bitten, rough-housing, uneasy partners Barker and Howard Duff invest in a mine with the girl they both desire, Mala Powers, and her gambler-holic father William Demarest and find a fight on their hands from unscrupulous big miner John McIntire and his gunman Leo Gordon. Most of the interest in watching this one comes from "Oh look, there's ... " William Fawcett, Holly Bane, John Crawford, Rusty Wescoatt, Henry Wills, Kermit Maynard, Frank Ellis, Denver Pyle, Jack Ingram, Eddie Parker. In color.

 MAN FROM BITTER RIDGE (1955 Universal-International)
Was U-I trying to establish ex-Tarzan Lex Barker as a western star with the previous - and dismal - YELLOW MOUNTAIN and this B-plus feature? If so, they gave up after this action-packed effort. By the '60s Barker was in Europe turning out boring Old Shatterhand "westerns" in Germany/Italy/Yugoslavia. Guns blaze and fists fly in Bitter Ridge as stagecoach investigator Barker goes after outlaws in this all-out-action-packed thriller. Trying to prove sheepman Stephen McNally innocent of the robberies (he's been framed by gang boss John Dehner), Barker and McNally vie for the affections of fiery Mara Corday. (She and Barker were an off-screen "item" even though Barker was married to Lana Turner.) As Barker and McNally track down Dehner's men (Myron Healey, Warren Stevens, Ray Teal, John Cliff), Dehner resorts to a terrific all-out attack on the sheepmen, expertly staged by director Jack Arnold. Healey was quite sick during much of the shoot, but gives it his all, turning in one of his most maniacal-smiling heavies, especially during a memorable back alley knife fight with Barker. Eastman Color.

 CORPUS CHRISTI BANDITS (1945 Republic)
Republic gave us something a bit different here. Captain Jim Christie (Allan Lane) returns to his Texas home after numerous flying missions over Germany. Because of a similarity between him and his ancestor, renowned desperado Corpus Christi Jim, his father relates the true story (told in flashback), confirming Corpus Christi Jim was actually not a real outlaw but was forced into banditry when the government failed to provide for returning impoverished Confederate soldiers. (As CORPUS CHRISTI BANDITS was released in April 1945, just as WWII was ending, Republic was obviously making a bit of a political statement with this picture.) In the flashback to 1865, Corpus Christi Jim (also Allan Lane) returns with his buddies (kindly Tom London, Bob Wilke and troublemaker Kenne Duncan) to find his home ruined and his parents dead. With ill-gotten gains from a stagecoach robbery, Jim changes his name and tries to go straight in Pecos Wells, a town in which crusading newspaper editor Jack Kirk and his daughter Helen Talbot are opposing the town's gambling boss Roy Barcroft and his gunnies (Cliff Parkinson, Frank McCarroll). Siding with Kirk and Talbot, Jim wins Barcroft's saloon away from him, but the weasely Kenne Duncan double-crosses Jim and throws in with Barcroft to expose Jim's outlaw past. Eventually, Jim and the good townspeople reform Pecos Wells and Jim marries Talbot. Among their grandchildren is Captain Jim Christie who, back in present 1945 time, is being decorated for his WWII heroics by the Texas Governor. A really nice change of pace for Republic from vet scripter Norman S. Hall.

 THE FIRST TEXAN (1956 Allied Artists)
Escaping his past, former Tennessee Governor Sam Houston (Joel McCrea) arrives in San Antonio just as Jim Bowie (an energetic Jeff Morrow) and others are vying for independence from Mexico. At first reluctant, after the fall of the Alamo, Houston, now a lawyer, valiantly leads the Texans in revolt against Mexico's tyranny. The story of Houston's strategy to defeat Santa Ana (David Silva) is honestly the more inspiring story of Texas' fight for independence and it's forcefully retold here. Chubby Johnson is Deaf Smith, Dayton Lummis is Stephen Austin, William Hopper is Travis, James Griffith is Davy Crockett with Carl Benton Reid as Andrew Jackson. Adventurized history is simple minded but solid entertainment.

 THE GOLDEN WEST (1932 Fox)
An elaborate remake of Zane Grey and Fox's silent THE LAST TRAIL ('27, Tom Mix) is an epic melodrama that begins in Kentucky in 1847. After a family feud breaks up a romance between George O'Brien and Janet Chandler, O'Brien heads west to Wyoming where he meets and marries Marion Burns after rescuing her from a buffalo stampede. They give birth to a son. Back in Kentucky, believing O'Brien dead, Chandler marries young engineer Onslow Stevens and has a daughter. Out West, Burns is killed in an Indian raid and George and his son are captured. Twenty years later, the Union Pacific railroad is beset by Indian raids led by a mysterious white chief, Motano (also played by O'Brien in a dual role). Coincidentally, Stevens is the new chief engineer for the railroad and is out West with his grown daughter Betty (played also by Janet Chandler). Through a set of circumstances only found in the movies, Motano and Betty find the true love their father and mother had missed due to the feud early in their lives. THE GOLDEN WEST covers a lot of territory in 70 minutes with O'Brien sporting an unbecoming mustache and sideburns in the first half and baring his barrel chest as Indian Chief Motano in the second. Plenty of stock footage from THE IRON HORSE and other silent epics is employed.

 BADLANDS (1939 RKO)
Lew Landers directed this grim little western, a remake of RKO's 1934 hit THE LOST PATROL. Sheriff Robert Barrat leads a posse into the desert after renegade Apaches. The diverse band of men consist of Big Boy Williams and Noah Beery Jr. as regular cowboys, Paul Hurst is the old timer, Andy Clyde and Francis Ford are prospectors, Francis McDonald's wife was murdered by Apaches, Addison Richards is the staid westerner, Douglas Walton is the easterner and Robert Coote is an Englishman. Unfortunately, the script talks us to death before the Apaches pick off the posse members one by one, or they do each other in (all but Barrat).

 COWBOY STAR (1936 Columbia)
Fed up with five years making B-westerns, Charles Starrett declines his new contract and heads home to Arizona where he meets realtor Iris Meredith and her kid brother Wally Albright who recognizes Starrett as his screen hero, although Starrett tries his best to deny his fame. Three gangsters (Marc Lawrence, Ralph McCullough, Richard Terry) hiding in a ghost town (Brandeis Ranch) kidnap young Albright fearing he is spying on them but the screen hero becomes a real-life hero in rescuing Albright and capturing the crooks. With the publicity, Starrett wins a new, bigger Hollywood contract as Meredith convinces him his true place is in the movies - with her. Unusual concept, which was explored further in Richard Dix's IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD a year later. Includes some interesting shots of Columbia backlot.

 FORT WORTH (1951 Warner Bros.)
Gunfighter Randolph Scott tries his best to lay down his Colts and pick up a pen to fight injustice through the power of the press in rough and tumble Fort Worth, but you know in the end he reluctantly has to buckle on his gunbelt to fight it out with devious old friend David Brian when he attempts to buy up all of Fort Worth and turn it into his private cattle shipping center. There is one great scene in which Scott deputizes himself to go after a trio of killers who gunned down Scott's friend. We expect the usual confrontation, some tough talk with the badmen drawing on Scott and Randy beating them to the draw. But no, in the best scene of John Twist's script, Scott walks directly at the heavies and simply opens fire, casually gunning them down. Obviously, Warner Bros. had another empire building epic in mind ala VIRGINIA CITY, DODGE CITY, etc. Very watchable, but far from Scott's best. Excellent support from Phyllis Thaxter, Dick Jones, Ray Teal, Bob Steele, Zon Murray, Helena Carter, Walter Sande, Chubby Johnson, Paul Picerni, Gregg Barton, Ted Mapes, Bud Osborne, Stanley Blystone, Kermit Maynard, Don Harvey, Lee Roberts, Jack Mower. In color.

 NAVAJO TRAIL (1945 Monogram)
On his way to visit his old friend, Marshal Raymond Hatton, Johnny Mack Brown arrives just as a Ranger Sergeant is gunned down by outlaw Ray Bennett. Trailing Bennett, Brown wins the outlaw's confidence, tricking him into believing he is also on the run so Brown can round-up a whole gang of horse rustlers headed up by saloon owner (what else?) Ed Cobb (Earl Crawford, Charlie King, Johnny Carpenter, Bud Osborne). Meanwhile, Hatton also infiltrates the gang posing as an old horse trader with the Navajos. A friend of Hatton's, Jim Hood, sings a bit of a traditional western song early on in the picture. To my knowledge, Hood was never heard of on film again. Was he another of those "local" western singers Monogram was trying (not very well) to incorporate into some of their westerns to combat the onslaught of singing cowboys?

 A LUST TO KILL (1957 Production Associates)
Independently produced low-budget B directed by old pro Oliver Drake saw only sparse distribution when it was made. Too bad, it's equal to Davis' other B's of the period. Filmed entirely in and around Pioneertown, the clichéd story (by vets Tom Hubbard [who plays the deputy] and Samuel Roeca) has Sheriff Jim Davis capturing vicious outlaw Don Megowan, but not before Megowan's kid brother is killed. Megowan's girl, Allison Hayes, helps him to escape as he goes on a vengeance path against his outlaw buddies (led by Gerald Milton) who left him behind when he was captured by Davis.

 THRILL HUNTER (1933 Columbia)
Off the beaten track Buck Jones yarn kids his own image a bit but winds up rousing entertainment! Buck is a cowboy tall-tale-teller for no other reason than it's his curse. After rescuing movie star Dorothy Revier from a runaway horse, and believing his fantastic exploits, Buck is hailed as a hero and hired by the movie company as their new star. But Buck's whoppers get him into real trouble when he's forced to drive a racing car and fly an airplane. He ends up driving like a maniac, wrecking several cars and flying wild he cracks up the airplane. Exposed as a fraud, he loses his job and the respect of Revier but eventually wins it all back when he captures a pair of crooks (Robert Ellis, Harry Semels) who have kidnapped Revier. Great fun!

 FOUR FAST GUNS (1959 Universal)
Psychological "adult western" has gunman James Craig coming across a secluded town named Purgatory ruthlessly run by wheelchair bound Paul Richards who avoids being dealt with by the townsfolk because nobody wants to harass a cripple. When the people implore Craig to do the job for them, Richards imports four fast guns to get Craig before he gets Richards. The first three fail, but the last one happens to be Craig's brother, Brett Halsey. Sound exciting? It's not. Way too overburdened with psychological talk about what they're going to do and not enough doing it. The 72 minutes drags on forever!

 REVOLT AT FORT LARAMIE (1957 Bel Air/United Artists)
With the outbreak of the Civil War, a western cavalry fort finds allegiances among the troopers with divided loyalties. Major John Dehner as a Virginian commander leaves his post and joins those who side with the Confederacy. This leaves Capt. Gregg Palmer with a weakened command to cope with an ever growing band of hostile Indians. When Dehner's Southerners are attacked by Indians, Palmer joins him to fight them off. Unique idea from Robert Dennis, directed with several good action sequences by Les Selander. Produced by Howard W. Koch.

 RIDING TORNADO (1932 Columbia)
In a bet, gambler Wheeler Oakman loses his never-been-ridden horse Killer to rodeo rider Tim McCoy who rechristens the gentled horse Pal. Rancher Lafe McKee (and his pretty daughter Shirley Grey) hire Tim to ferret out the horse thieves plaguing the range. Exciting windup comes amidst a windstorm-caused horse stampede and a hail of gunsmoke. Some of the plot construction is a bit fragmented but overall this is one of Tim's most walloping Columbias.

 CALIFORNIA PASSAGE (1950 Republic)
Fast paced Republic produced and directed by Joe Kane with good conflict between uneasy saloon partners Forrest Tucker and Jim Davis. Tuck has killed rowdy gunman Bill Williams in a fair fight just before Williams' sister, Adele Mara, arrives from back east. As both Tucker and Davis romance Mara, the crooked Davis frames his partner for a series of bullion robberies he himself committed as well as distorting to Mara the truth about her brother's demise. Tucker must flee to the hills to clear himself, spoiling for the fight with Davis that surely must come. Former Roy Rogers leading lady Estelita seems included only to sing two songs. Charles Kemper stands out as an unlikely but likeable sheriff and there's B-vet support from Paul Fix, Rhys Williams, Teddy Infuhr, Roy Barcroft, John Pickard, Eddy Waller, Francis McDonald, Charles Stevens, Al Bridge, Iron Eyes Cody, Hal Taliaferro, Dabbs Greer, I. Stanford Jolley, Tex Terry, Norman Leavitt, Frank Richards and Rory Mallison. James Edward Grant's script never quite rises to the heights it should, but it's the Tucker/Davis conflict that sizzles.

 COLORADO SERENADE (1946 PRC)
Poor Eddie Dean. He waited years to get his own series, then when he finally landed a Cinecolor contract at PRC, he was upstaged, outgunned and rode roughshod over in popularity by an upstart from nowhere, Lash LaRue. Producer/director Bob Tansey gave LaRue his own series, leaving the way clear for Eddie, and now here comes David Sharpe (fresh back from WWII service) who, once again, steals COLORADO SERENADE from Eddie! Eddie Dean and Soapy (Roscoe Ates), bound for Rawhide, meet up with Judge Forrest Taylor, sky pilot Lee Bennett and gunslick Nevada (Davy Sharpe). Sharpe, actually an undercover man for Judge Taylor, instigates himself into the outlaw gang run by mine owner Warner Richmond, saloon owner Dennis Moore, hireling Bob McKenzie, and henchmen Bob Duncan, George De Normand, Johnny Carpenter and saloon gal Abigail Adams. (Incidentally, why is De Normand called Lefty when he wears his gun on the right side?) As Dean and the others trace missing government gold shipments, in a typical action packed Tansey finish, we learn the crooked Richmond revengefully stole Moore as a child to get even for Moore's real father, Judge Taylor, convicting Richmond of a crime. One of the song highlights comes as Eddie, Ates, ranch hand Charlie King and the cook Pancake sing "Ridin' Down to Rawhide". Question is, who provided the "voices" for Ates, King and the cook? Possibly members of the Sunshine Boys who were prominent in several Dean westerns.

 BIG SOMBRERO, THE (1949 Columbia)
Filmed shortly after Gene Autry's only other Cinecolor Columbia release, THE STRAWBERRY ROAN, in August/September 1947, THE BIG SOMBRERO was held up for release for 18 months, for undetermined reasons, until March 1949. When THE BIG SOMBRERO wrapped, Gene came face to face with economic realities and wrote "finis" to any more productions in Cinecolor due to the horrendous cost factor ... this one coming in at approximately $575,000. The music content of THE BIG SOMBRERO is as high as any of Gene's Columbia westerns and the color helps, but otherwise it's a rather lifeless 78 minute affair, due in part possibly to the continual production problems. The story concerns Gene's efforts to aid the Vaqueros of the vast Big Sombrero rancho in Mexico where confidence man, and old acquaintance of Gene's, Stephen Dunne, through charm, has wormed himself into the good graces of Elena Verdugo, the lovely but flighty owner of the enormous rancho. Dunne plans to gain control by marrying Verdugo, then sell the land for a tidy profit to businessman Gene Stutenroth. Dunne has simply, he believes, for show, appointed Gene as foreman, but fails to reckon with Gene's sense of fair play. Gene's first screen kiss in many years was actually filmed according to leading lady Elena Verdugo. Apparently learning it was to be filmed, press representatives galore were on hand, which landed several stories in the newspapers. "That was the trouble," Elena explained. "Gene's fans definitely did not want Gene kissing and wrote to the studio. I saw the letters. So we shot the scene again, minus the kiss."

 COWBOY CANTEEN (1944 Columbia)
Here's an all-star wartime fundraiser whose success prompted Columbia to make a series of musical westerns, most of them starring the Hoosier Hot Shots and Ken Curtis. Due to the shortage in wartime of men, a show troupe of (mostly) women - Jane Frazee, Vera Vague, The Tailor Maids, Max Terhune and his dummy Elmer - volunteer to work as ranch hands on Charles Starrett's ranch while he and his foreman, Big Boy Williams, are in the Army. But in hiring them by mail, Starrett doesn't realize they're all greenhorns. Starrett's friendly adversary, Tex Ritter, smitten by Frazee, volunteers to help out, as does Tex's pal Dub Taylor. Starrett and Ritter become rivals for Frazee's affections as the Army establishes a Cowboy Canteen at Starrett's ranch, allowing for plenty of music (some 12 songs) from Tex, Frazee, Jimmy Wakely and his Saddle Pals (with Foy Willing), Roy Acuff, the Mills Brothers, The Tailor Maids and Vera Vague. Note that Dub Taylor's mount here is the famous movie horse, Dice.

 MAN BEHIND THE GUN (1953 Warner Bros.)
Randolph Scott is an undercover Union Army officer who pretends to be a gun-shy schoolteacher in order to break up a plot to make Southern California a separate state in the days before the Civil War. Scott's work isn't an easy job as numerous suspects and red herrings are tossed in the way of his investigation. Eventually, in John Twist's espionage-involved, plot-heavy script, Scott exposes state senator Roy Roberts as the political leader who dreams of an empire. Femme lead is Errol Flynn's real life wife Patrice Wymore. Fiery Lina Romay is the "bad" girl who contributes two Latin-tinged tunes and engages Wymore in a catfight. Scott's sidekicks, providing a few chuckles and lotsa brawn are, respectively, Dick Wesson and Alan Hale Jr. Involved plot needs constant attention while you watch the B-western bit players go by - Douglas Fowley, Anthony Caruso, Rex Lease, House Peters Jr., Clancy Cooper, Morris Ankrum, James Brown, Reed Howes, Rory Mallinson, Lee Morgan, Terry Frost, Charlie Horvath and Albert Morin. Phil Carey is an Army Captain suspected of consorting with the plotters and Robert Cabal (later wrangler Hey-Soos on TV's RAWHIDE) is a dark comic version of Joaquin Murrieta.

 SONG OF THE CABELLERO (1930 Universal)
Romance rides the early talkie California range as Mexican bandido El Lobo (Ken Maynard) and his compadres interfere with a Spanish Don who ousted his sister because he didn't approve of her betrothed. Her son shows up to wreak vengeance and remove the stain from his mother's name. Best part has Maynard wiping out 10 sword-wielding Vaqueros.

 CODE OF THE RANGERS (1972 H/W Prod./Sunshadow Prod.)
It takes a monumental ego and a grandiose set of cajones to think that backyard 16mm home-movie making like this is releasable. There is nothing in Tex Hill's "westerns" that any half drunk group of beer drinking buddies with a camcorder, some cowboy clothes and cap pistols couldn't accomplish over the course of a few weekends. A description of how bad CODE OF THE RANGERS is would be a compliment. Hill apparently filmed several westerns on less than a shoestring - this one in Tombstone - in the early '70s thinking somehow he could sell this clutter to some idiot distributor. Obviously, he never found anyone that stupid, so he's now released two of them on DVD. I bought and paid for them and have had an absolute blast with friends: "You gotta see this. You absolutely won't believe how inept it is." You'll laugh yourself silly watching action scenes that resemble bad fight re-enactors in Tombstone or Dodge City. Attempting to be a singing cowboy, there's one scene that is so mismatched between what's on the screen and what's on the soundtrack that it's obviously not even the same song! In another "duet" with a dance hall girl, you can't help but notice her glancing at the lyrics on the bar. On and on it goes... Hill is even callous enough to use "The William Tell Overture" - the "Lone Ranger" theme - at the end as he and his two unintelligible sidekicks gallop - er - lope, lazily away, thankfully bringing to an end 30 minutes of filmic torture.

 LAW OF THE SIX GUN (197? H/W Prod./Sunshadow Prod.)
Look up the definition of dreadful in the dictionary and you'll find an ad for this "film." Ghastly vocalist Tex Hill apparently made several westerns in (probably) 16mm during the early '70s in an attempt to revive the B-westerns. To say he failed miserably is the understatement of the era. Instead of a revival, he drove the final nail in the B-westerns' coffin. LAW... is an unmeaningful collection of abysmal sounding, cobbled together scenes that simply fade in and fade out under the most static camera work imaginable. Most police car dashboard-cam videos are better photographed. Still, the camera work is not as static as the "actors" who take absolutely forever to get things done or a line said. Laugh-out-loud bad are the quite obvious riding shots of Lash LaRue and Fuzzy St. John that Hill clipped from PRC trying to match his own wardrobe as a gunslinger. In recent months Hill has rescued two of his never-released theatrically westerns from the trashpile and transferred them to DVD. The overall mood is one of totally unfocused clutter.

 YUMA (1971 Aaron Spelling Prod.)
Freightline operator Barry Sullivan is in league with the Army quartermaster (John Kerr) to swindle the Indians out of cattle shipments. New Marshal Clint Walker is framed by Sullivan for the backshooting of one of tough rancher Morgan Woodward's hot-headed brothers (Bing Russell) and the killing of another in a bar-fight (Bruce Glover). This was made by producer Aaron Spelling and director Ted Post in the days when TV movies still looked like they were shot for theatres. Walker, TV's CHEYENNE, was never tougher, getting good support from Kathryn Hays, Edgar Buchanan, Peter Mark Richman and Robert Phillips.

 EVERYMAN'S LAW (1936 Supreme)
What matter of western is this as Earle Snell's script finds Johnny Mack Brown saddled with a baby and two card playing, argumentative cronies (Frank Campeau, John Beck). Johnny does some of his fancy gun handling, but it's downright offensive when he gives leading lady Beth Marion's baby a loaded gun to play with! In this serio-comic Albert Ray loser, Brown finds himself caught between angry homesteaders and a bunch of sidewinders led by Roger Gray.

 RIDERS OF THE NORTHWEST MOUNTED (1943 Columbia)
Nasty trading post owner Dick Curtis and his cohorts (Richard Bailey, Jack Ingram) are cheating and stealing furs from honest trappers like Dub "Cannonball" Taylor. When headstrong Mountie Russell Hayden intervenes and exceeds his authority in trying to prove Curtis' guilt, he is drummed out of the Service for insubordination. Matters get even more complicated when Curtis' niece, Adele Mara, arrives to take over the trading post her father left her. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys are singing Mounties. Filmed at gorgeous Big Bear (Cedar Lake) locations.

 STAGECOACH TO FURY (1956 Regal/20th Century Fox)
Mexican bandits led by Rodolfo Hoyos hold up and waylay a stage full of passengers at a relay station. As the bandits await the arrival of a shipment of gold, slowly the varied passengers' emotions flare and the film turns into a character study as their pasts are revealed, much of it in flashback sequences, as they face certain death. Starring Forrest Tucker (the heroic stage driver), Mari Blanchard (the dance hall vixen), Wallace Ford (the cowardly lawman), Paul Fix (stage guard), Wright King (the conceited gunslinger) and Margia Dean with good support from Ian MacDonald, Rico Alaniz, Ellen Corby, Bill Phillips, Rayford Barnes, Norman Leavitt, Leslie Banning, Paul Bryar and Steven Geray. There's a terrific mountaintop gunbattle finale topped by a rifle duel on horseback. Produced in Cinemascope by Earle Lyon and Ian MacDonald.

 BRAND OF THE OUTLAWS (1936 Supreme)
Often confused with BRAND OF HATE, this is the memorable one in which Bob Steele is mistaken for one of Charlie King's rustlers and branded with a hot iron by deputy sheriff Jack Rockwell who's actually one of the gang. Literally adding insult to injury, Rockwell kills King in a squabble over King's daughter (Margaret Marquis) and lays the blame on Steele. Suspense and action aplenty as Steele fights all odds to prove his innocence. Note the cast lists "Howard" Cassidy as the sheriff when it's actually customary B-western sheriff Ed Cassidy.

 DAKOTA (1948 Republic)
DAKOTA was a troubled picture. John Wayne did not want to work with leading lady Vera Ralston, the wife of Republic president Herbert J. Yates. He finally relented, but the indignant star clashed continually with director Joe Kane over the situation, as well as the corny script which is nothing more than a landgrab B-plot dressed up with comedic touches and some extravagant action (the wheat field fire staged by stuntman/2nd unit director Yakima Canutt is a stunner). Wayne and Ralston, daughter of railroad magnate Hugo Haas, are a young married couple setting out to find their fortune in Dakota Territory. They become entangled with crooked land speculator Ward Bond and his thugs (Mike Mazurki, Grant Withers, Paul Fix) who know the railroad is coming through. Trying to be both lighthearted and straight adventure yarn, Republic tossed in Walter Brennan for "laughs" as a riverboat captain. Watch for Robert Livingston in a brief bit as a Cavalry officer and Adrian Booth as a dance hall girl.

 TEXAS TRAIL (1937 Paramount)
Francis "Mike" Nevins termed this Hopalong Cassidy adventure "a straightforward unemotional action flick with magnificent (Arizona) scenery and brisk pace." It was director David Selman's only Hoppy picture. With the outbreak of the Spanish American War, the U. S. Cavalry needs horses so Hopalong Cassidy turns bronc peeler as he, Lucky (Russell Hayden) and Windy (George Hayes) roundup 500 wild horses to drive to Fort Boone. All along the trail the men are plagued by horse rustlers (Alexander Cross and his sidewinders, Bob Kortman, Jack Rockwell, Ray Bennett).

 TRAIL OF THE VIGILANTES (1940 Universal)
Franchot Tone starring in a western? Yes, and it's a good one too. Director Allan Dwan, frustrated with a weak, trite, serious script, decided to turn the picture into a comedy spoof of the western genre ... and it turned out marvelous! Tenderfoot eastern investigator Tone is sent to the rough and tumble frontier town of Peaceful Valley to locate the murderer of a newspaperman. Taking a job on Charles Trowbridge's ranch, Tone is befriended by boisterous, brawling cowpuncher Broderick Crawford and his comic "valet", squeaky-voiced Andy Devine. In between warding off the romantic advances of Trowbridge's under-age daughter, Peggy Moran, Tone discovers slick dude Warren Williams operating the old Cattlemen's Protective Association racket under the guise of the Vigilantes. B-vet Ray Taylor directed some terrific 2nd unit action sequences at Kernville and Iversons. Everyone concerned seems to be having fun (and so will you) as Dwan successfully blends the comedy with western adventure just as Les Selander and Howard Bretherton did in Republic's FIREBRANDS OF ARIZONA and RIDERS OF THE RIO GRANDE. They should have made more like this!

 LAW OF THE LAWLESS (1964 Paramount)
Dedicated to clear the West of the fast gun as law, Dale Robertson is a gunfighter turned judge trying to put an end to the law of the gun in a changing west. When mean-tempered John Agar is accused of a killing in a gunfight, Dale is the judge, but Agar's stern town-boss father, Barton MacLane, doesn't want the old ways to change and imports paid gunslinger Bruce Cabot who killed Dale's father. Suspense and tension build as Steve Fisher's script takes some surprising turns. Rory Calhoun was set to star in this first of 13 B-plus Lyles produced westerns, but when he came down with double pneumonia, Dale Robertson was quickly enlisted. With a little more care from director William Claxton and a great streetfight action sequence midway, this is probably the best A. C. gave us in the '60s. As always, a terrific old pro supporting cast: Yvonne DeCarlo as Agar's saloon girl; William Bendix as the sheriff; Richard Arlen wasted as a bartender; Kent Taylor as a Kansas City lawyer; Bill Williams as a crippled gambler; Rod Lauren as an inexperienced young deputy; George Chandler as the hotel owner; Lon Chaney Jr. as the hulking town tough; Don Barry as Chaney's pal; Jody McCrea as the young farmer killed by Agar; Alex Sharp as a gunman pursuing Robertson and Roy Jenson, Reg Parton and Jerry Summers as three outlaw brothers.

 UNDER WESTERN STARS (1938 Republic)
A new singing cowboy star, Roy Rogers, was born when Gene Autry went on strike in late 1937 and Republic went looking for a new singing cowboy. Leonard Slye, a member of the Sons of the Pioneers, who had appeared in a few pictures under the name Dick Weston, was chosen and the Autry script, UNDER WESTERN STARS (originally titled WASHINGTON COWBOY) was handed to him - complete with Autry producer Sol Siegel, director Joe Kane, sidekick Smiley Burnette and regular bit player Frankie Marvin. Even the song "Dust", written by Gene and Johnny Marvin remained. In what would have been a perfect Autry vehicle, slim and athletic young Roy Rogers fits right in, launching a career that would eventually surpass Gene's in later years. Set in modern times, in between songs and humor the serious subjects of dustbowls and water shortages are introduced. Rogers, the son of a congressman, takes up the fight against political and big business interests to bring water to drought-stricken ranchers. Roy wins election to Congress, campaigning valiantly for a water bill, eventually bringing disbelieving congressmen on a fact-finding mission out West in the middle of a sandstorm. Republic pulled out all the stops to promote their new star and the film was a rousing success. When Gene returned to the Republic fold, the studio soon took director Joe Kane off the Autry unit, giving him the task of guiding their new star in a series of straight-action frontier era westerns.

 CHALLENGE OF THE RANGE (1949 Columbia)
Typical Durango Kid. Farmer's association director Robert Filmer tries to hog the whole range for his own cattle by driving out the small ranchers like Henry Hall and daughter Paula Raymond and blaming his "ghost raids" by his gunmen (John Cason, Frank McCarroll, Cactus Mack, Frank Matts) on big rancher Steve Darrell and his son Billy Halop (late of the Dead End Kids). Filmer has found a clause allowing the association to take over abandoned lands. Charles Starrett - The Durango Kid - intervenes. Long stock footage segment midway as Kermit Maynard, Ed Cobb and Ray Bennett chase Smiley Burnette. The Sunshine Boys harmonize nicely on Smiley's "My Home Town".

 GENE AUTRY AND THE MOUNTIES (1951 Columbia)
U.S. Marshal Gene Autry and his deputy Pat Buttram cross into Canada while pursuing bank robber Carleton Young. In Canada they help young Mountie Richard Emory fight off the bandits and take the wounded Mountie to a cabin where they meet Duval's niece, Elena Verdugo and her kid brother Jim Frasher who hates all peace officers and regards Young as a hero. Gene finally convinces Frasher that Young, who is trying to establish an outlaw nation, is nothing but a crook when Young forcibly carries away Frasher's sister, intending to marry her against her will. Young's partner, Trevor Bardette, also outraged by Young's actions against his niece, has a change of heart and helps Gene and the Mounties defeat Young in a blazing climax. By this time, you may notice two trends in Gene's more action-oriented Columbias. Gene plays more "lawmen" rather than cattle ranchers or ranch foremen as he did at Republic and, not always, but there is a tendency for Gene to not actually be involved in the romantic subplots, but to assume the role of matchmaker as he does here with Elena Verdugo and Richard Emory. Notice that the town burning at the end of the film is stock footage from the finale of Columbia's MAN FROM COLORADO ('48). Bruce Carruthers, portraying Northwest Mountie Sergeant McKenzie who is killed early in the film, was actually an ex-Mountie who was hired as the picture's technical director as well.

 RIDERS IN THE SKY (1949 Columbia)
Gene Autry realized the advantage of the sensational hit song "Ghost Riders In the Sky" as a title and plot springboard for a movie. He opens the picture with the song as he and his ranch hands herd cattle. When Gene's cowboys question the origin of the song, Gene relates the legend of how rancher Steve Darrell was accused of the shooting of a gambler in the border town of Desert Wells. Old Tom London and other witnesses are threatened when they attempt to testify Darrell shot in self defense. When Darrell is convicted, Gene, as an investigator for the county attorney, and his pal Pat Buttram try to help Darrell's daughter, Gloria Henry, clear her father's name. Desert Wells is ruled with an iron hand by gambler Robert Livingston who fatally wounds London, but not before London can give Gene all the evidence he needs to clear Darrell. London dies as he sees the eerie Ghost Riders in the Sky coming for him. The hit ballad literally comes alive at the end as the ghostly riders, led by London, echo across the song-filled sky. On a 1987 "Melody Ranch Theater" TV program, Gene said, "I've been around these pictures so long I seldom ever get enthused about a picture, but I think the last scene in the picture with Tom London riding in the sky with those clouds was one of the most beautiful endings I ever worked in. It actually brought a few tears to my eyes." Both Gene and partner Pat Buttram agreed London "stole the whole picture." Songwriter Stan Jones was a National Park Service ranger in Death Valley who passed the time by singing songs he had composed, He was heard by a Hollywood press agent who persuaded Jones to come to Hollywood and try to sell his songs. The ranger was ready to give up and return to Death Valley when one day he ran into the famous composer of "Nature Boy". Stan asked him desperately if he would listen to only four bars of a song he had written and give him an honest opinion. When the composer heard the song, "Ghost Riders In the Sky", he rushed Jones to a music company headed by Burl Ives and Jones was offered a contract. The song was recorded by 13 different artists with a total sale of over four million records. Vaughn Monroe's version sold the most but Gene Autry beat out several movie companies to grab the movie rights when he and Jones met in a Sunset Boulevard radio station and Gene wrote out a check.

 KING OF THE COWBOYS (1943 Republic)
A dangerous mission for the newly crowned 'King of the Cowboys' as Roy Rogers answers the challenge of unnamed-but-obviously-Nazi saboteurs. With Gene Autry in the service, Republic crowned Roy with this wartime drama that finds saboteurs Lloyd Corrigan, Gerald Mohr and Norman Willis operating out of a traveling tent show run by James Bush and his sister Peggy Moran. The governor enlists rodeo star Roy Rogers' aid as a secret operative. Roy and pal Smiley Burnette (fairly subdued here) go to work for the carnival only to find Bush working with the gang. Mohr then kills Bush and lays blame on Roy who is unable to prove he is working for the governor because he's been injured in a car wreck. Watch for the cute blonde in the audience, she's June Pressier, soon to be "Dodie" in the Teenagers series at Monogram.

 BLACK ACES (1937 Universal)
A mysterious blackmailing gang, "The Black Aces", strikes terror in a peaceful valley by intimidating, threatening and killing ranchers and leaving black ace cards on their bodies or in their mail. Buck Jones is a shy, trusting and naïve cattle rancher in love with Kay Linaker, slow to anger, but look out when he's riled. Yet another Frances Guihan somewhat muddled narrative comes alive with some decent action toward the end at Kernville as Buck rounds up some of the community's leading citizens masquerading as the Black Aces (banker Robert Frazer and accomplices W. E. Lawrence, Fred MacKaye, Bob Kortman). Directed by Jones with an unbilled assist from Les Selander.

 FORT TI (1953 Columbia)
Strictly a Sam Katzman produced B-movie approach to history, but being one of the earliest 3-D movies with flaming arrows, cannonballs and all sorts of gimmicky shots from director William Castle exploding from the screen to a ducking audience, FORT TI cleaned up at the box office. It's 1759, during the pre-Revolutionary French and Indian Wars, in which British troops were aided in wilderness skirmishes against their foes by a group of loyalist Americans, Rogers' Rangers, led by Major Rogers (Howard Petrie). French spy Louis Merrill blackmails scout George Montgomery's brother-in-law (James Seay) into feeding him information by kidnapping Seay's wife (Cicely Browne). Montgomery and pal Irving Bacon turn the tables and feed the French false information. On their trek, they effect the rescue from Indians of English lass Joan Vohs. At first she's suspected of being a French spy, but she's acquitted when she and George become romantically entangled. The expected big final battle at Fort Ticonderoga is a disappointment.

 LAW WEST OF TOMBSTONE (1938 RKO)
In this comic western, tall-tale telling old-time confidence man Harry Carey finds his schemes won't work in the big city of New York and returns to El Paso where, after a run-in with the law and three outlaw brothers (Paul Guilfoyle, Bob Kortman, Monte Montague), he is coerced into heading further west to capture the Tonto Kid (Tim Holt), a renown good-badman train robber. Things happen fast over the convoluted 72 minute running time as Carey locates his long-lost daughter (Jean Rouverol) and has himself appointed Mayor of a new railroad community. Holt falls in love with Carey's daughter and ends up killing her outlaw fiancé, and Holt's partner, Allan Lane. Carey winds up reforming Holt and playing matchmaker to Holt and Rouverol while he and Holt bring to justice the troublemaking Guilfoyle/Kortman/Montague trio.

 MONTANA KID (1931 Monogram) While waiting for his son (Andy Shuford) to arrive by stage, a drunken John Elliott gambles with saloon owner W. L. Thorne, loses, and is tricked into signing away his ranch. Realizing the deception, he tries to get it back but is gunned down by Thorne. Elliott's friend Bill Cody takes charge of Andy. Doris Hill, the Marshal's daughter, helps out and she and Bill fall in love. When Thorne lays claim to the ranch he cheated Elliott out of, Cody figures out Thorne's trickery and begins to rob the stagecoaches carrying Thorne's money by way of his henchman, Paul Panzer, so that he can buy back Elliott's ranch. Thorne gets wise and when gunplay erupts, Andy is shot and seriously wounded. As Doris cares for Andy, Cody exacts revenge on the evil Thorne. Good story by Harry Fraser (misspelled Frazer), who also directed, but he develops the tale way too slowly. Shuford, the homely freckle-faced kid in eight Cody westerns, as well as one apiece with Tom Tyler and Bob Custer, was born December 16, 1917, in Helena, AR. After riding lessons at a young age, Shuford's first film was a bit in Raoul Walsh's THE BIG TRAIL ('30) with John Wayne. From '31-'32 Shuford was in eight of Cody's lowbudget Monograms. After a bit in '33's MAYOR OF HELL his brief career was over. At 18 he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp and became a career officer achieving the rank of colonel. He flew B-17s during WWII including 35 missions over England and earned the DFC, the Air Medal with five clusters, a Purple Heart and a superior rating as a pilot. At 77, Shuford died May 19, 1995, in a Monteagle, TN, nursing home.

 TRAIL OF KIT CARSON (1945 Republic)
When Allan Lane's old friend is killed and it's made to look like an accident, he must prove his partner was swindled out of his gold mine and murdered by Doctor Roy Barcroft, gunsmith Kenne Duncan and gunman Bud Geary. Aided by elderly miner Tom London and his daughter Helen Talbot, Lane uses ballistics to bring the gang to justice. Bit different story angle from scripter Jack Natteford. Yes, Twinkle Watts is in this one, but not overused I'm glad to report.

 LIFE IN THE RAW (1933 Fox)
George O'Brien made westerns for Fox from '30 to '34, usually stories adapted from novels by Zane Grey and Max Brand designed to appeal not only to youngsters but an older audience as well. Compared to the average B-western of the time their quality is exceedingly high, in some cases such as LONE STAR RANGER, RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, and MYSTERY RANCH. While LIFE IN THE RAW doesn't rank with those titles, it is based on a Zane Grey short story, "From Missouri" and moves quickly under director Louis King with some nice camera work from Robert Planck (whose later work includes JANE EYRE, OUR DAILY BREAD, LAST OF THE MOHICANS, MAN IN THE IRON MASK, CASS TIMBERLANE, THREE MUSKETEERS and others. Eastern based Claire Trevor arrives in Arizona to visit her brother Gaylord (later Steve) Pendleton who owes gambling debts to notorious Alan Edwards. To pay his debts, Pendleton agrees to help sleazy Warner Richmond rob the express office. Even though Trevor at one point accuses O'Brien of complicity in the robbery, he helps her and her brother out of their predicament.

 HEROES OF THE HILLS (1938 Republic)
Social commentary from the 3 Mesquiteers. Weak 3 Mesquiteers entry is plot driven and basically actionless til the end. In Bob Livingston's last in his first group of Mesquiteers adventures, he, Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune capture escaped convicts LeRoy Mason and James Eagles, becoming involved in prison reform when they learn of the poor, over-crowded conditions. A construction company president, Roy Barcroft, covets the $3 million contract to build a new prison, but the Mesquiteers suggest unburdening the taxpayers by establishing prison work farms instead. Barcroft and his underlings (Carleton Young, John Beach and actress Priscilla Lawson) set out to undermine the Mesquiteers' efforts. When John Wayne came aboard a few months later with PALS OF THE SADDLE it brought new life to the slightly sagging series. Interestingly, Livingston biographer Merrill McCord points out that a new "Main Title" theme is employed in this last Livingston entry, which carried over to the Wayne pictures. Also noteworthy is the fact this was heavy Roy Barcroft's first B-western for Republic. He was one of the gang in Johnny Mack Brown's FLAMING FRONTIERS serial at Universal the same year, but this western is really where he began his long, illustrious career as the B-western screen's top badman. As McCord points out, "The jump from small roles to main heavy was a big one ... but Barcroft handled the part as if he already had done it numerous times." Priscilla Lawson is best remembered as Aura in Universal's FLASH GORDON ('36) serial. Only a few bit roles followed HEROES... for Lawson ... one in BILLY THE KID ('41). She was briefly married to actor Alan Curtis and apparently lost a leg in a WWII accident, after which she managed a stationary shop in L.A. She died in 1958 at 44 in a VA hospital due to gastrointestinal bleeding from a duodenal ulcer.

 YOUNG FURY (1965 Paramount)
Bit different plot for this A. C. Lyles produced western from Steve Fisher, but it's mostly ruined by poor acting, especially from Virginia Mayo and newcomer Preston Pierce. Years after abandoning his dance-hall wife (Mayo) and infant son, gunfighter Rory Calhoun returns to town to make a stand against his ex-gang members led by John Agar. The baby has how grown into a rebellious teenage hell-raiser leading a wild gang of youths. Pierce believes his mother dead, not recognizing her as the years-weathered Mayo, and is seeking revenge on the father who deserted him as a child. Humiliated by his father who is only trying to steer the rebellious youth away from the outlaw path he himself rode, Pierce plans to watch with pleasure when Agar's gang arrives to kill Calhoun. Eventually, Pierce learns some truths about his parents' past and sides with his Dad to wipe out the gang. Producer Lyles' usual band of over-the-hill regulars have smaller cameos than usual and are here for whatever marquee value they can offer. William Bendix is a blacksmith, Richard Arlen is the ineffectual sheriff, Lon Chaney Jr. is a bartender, Merry Anders is a dancehall girl, Rex Bell Jr. is a farmer, Reg Parton (Rory's stunt double) is a deputy and Jody McCrea is a rancher. Good idea to mix younger and older generation actors, but unfortunately, the "kids" don't look or act their western roles very well, and the picture comes off more as REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE out west.

 THE SAVAGE HORDE (1950 Republic)
One of those good-badman Williams S. Hart-ish roles Bill Elliott so loved. After accidentally wounding his brother, Cavalry officer Jim Davis, gunhawk Elliott hangs up his guns, changes his name and moves to another territory. Even so, he quickly becomes embroiled in a range war, siding with small rancher Noah Beery Jr. against local bigtime operator Grant Withers (and his hired gunmen Bob Steele, Roy Barcroft and Marshall Reed) who wants to eliminate the small operators. Typically fine Republic supporting cast - Adrian Booth, Barbra Fuller, Douglas Dumbrille, Earle Hodgins, Hal Taliaferro, Reed Howes, George Chesebro, Kermit Maynard, Charles Stevens and Stuart Hamblen who sings "Ridin' Old Paint" and two others. Nicely directed by Joe Kane.

 RIDER OF DEATH VALLEY (1932 Universal)
By the end of the silent era Tom Mix, nearing 50, figured his movie career was over. He accepted an offer to tour as the star of the Sells-Floto Wild West Show at $10,000 a week. This went on til 1932 when Universal lured the star back to Hollywood for a series of nine westerns that would pay him a similar salary, each to be budgeted around $100,000. Many critics feel RIDER OF DEATH VALLEY is the best of these. I do not. I find it not much more than a long, hot trek across the desert with minimal action. Actually, it's eventually Tom's horse Tony who saves the day. Basic plot has youngster Edith Fellows' father shot after he discovers gold in Death Valley. On his death bed, Edith's trusting father hands over a map to the mine to Doctor Forrest Stanley and his sleazy roughneck friend Fred Kohler, telling them it should go to his sister, Lois Wilson, who is coming west and will care for Edith. Befriending Edith, and distrusting Stanley and Kohler for the scalawags they are, Tom tears the map into three pieces, one for himself and the other two to them until Edith's Aunt arrives, at which time Tom agrees to guide the party through Death Valley to locate the mine. On the treacherous, arduous trek, friction among the group grows until the desire for water and life outweighs the desire for gold. Granted, there is some splendid desert photography from Daniel B. Clark who had worked on Tom's best silent Fox westerns, but it's not enough to save this overlong adventure.

 SQUARE DANCE KATY (1950 Monogram)
Square dance music takes New York City by storm. Silly premise but the music's good with Phil Brito and Governor Jimmie Davis even if the comedy lines handed Vera Vague are downright insulting.

 MOONLIGHT AND CACTUS (1944 Universal)
Silly musical-comedy set on a dude ranch with the Andrews Sisters, Elyse Knox and Tom Seidel. Leo Carrillo comes in midway to do his stock Mexican. Boring.

 SPRINGTIME IN TEXAS (1945 Monogram)
Saddle pals Jimmy Wakely, Dennis Moore and Lee "Lasses" White run afoul of saloon keeper Rex Lease, crooked sheriff I. Stanford Jolley and gunslicks Hal Taliaferro and Robert Barron when the boys aid newspaper lady Marie Harmon and the townspeople to oppose a crooked mayoral election. Seems producer/director Oliver Drake was fond of election stories as he used it for a plot-basis quite often. Plenty of music in this second Wakely Monogram ... three by Jimmy, three from the Callahan Brothers, two by Lasses and one specialty item by Johnny Bond and Frankie Marvin. Did Gene Autry know his pal Frankie was moonlighting in his competition's westerns?

 WESTBOUND (1959 Warner Bros.)
Randolph Scott's last contract film for Warner Bros. is the often maligned WESTBOUND. Perhaps the westerns Scott and director Budd Boetticher were making at Columbia were superior, but WESTBOUND is no slouch in the saddle. Boetticher even agreed to come onboard to direct, no doubt elevating the picture above what some other WB hired-hand director would have afforded it. Scott is an undercover Union officer assigned to take over a failing stage line in Julesburg to insure the Union can transport goods back east in the waning days of the Civil War. Town boss Andrew Duggan, an old rival of Scott's for the affections of his now wife Virginia Mayo, does all he can (with the excellent malevolence of hired gun Michael Pate) to disrupt the line and send the gold and goods to the Confederate forces. Boetticher brings alive the characters (even lesser ones like badman John Day and jovial Wally Brown), especially one-armed Civil War vet Michael Dante and his wife Karen Steele (at the time Boetticher's real life mate) and infuses the action with real intensity.

 HOP-A-LONG CASSIDY (ENTERS) (1935 Paramount)
Even though William Boyd, actor, was physically inept, hated horses and was a terrible rider, producer Harry "Pop" Sherman enlisted the 40 year old actor to play Hopalong Cassidy in this first of what became one of the longest running and best received western series in the history of film, encompassing 66 movies (from '35-'48) and 40 TV episodes from '52-'54. It literally changed William Boyd's life, career and, eventually, economic status. Plot has rancher Buck Peters (Charles Middleton) hiring Bill Cassidy as his foreman when Peters has range boundary-line trouble with rancher Robert Warwick and daughter Paula Stone. Rustlers James Mason and Ted Adams, headquartered on impregnable Thunder Mesa, are in cahoots with Kenneth Thompson, a crooked employee of Warwick's, to play both ends against the middle, getting Warwick and Buck Peters to scrap over water rights while the rustlers drive off their cattle. Arriving at Peters' ranch, Hoppy meets old pal Uncle Ben (George Hayes) and hotheaded Jimmy Ellison. Injured in the leg during a skirmish, and limping, Cassidy refers to himself as "Ol' Hop-a-long". The name sticks, and Uncle Ben starts calling him Hoppy. (The limp was gone and never referred to again in subsequent pictures.) The scene in which Uncle Ben dies in Hoppy's arms as Hoppy vows revenge is quite touching and effective. So much so that producer Sherman had to "revive" Hayes for a similar role (Windy) in future films. Jimmy Ellison and cowhand Frank McGlynn Jr. (as Red Connors) warble "Followin' A Star", a tune which became the series theme song for a period. There is a tendency to award HOP-A-LONG CASSIDY (retitled HOPALONG CASSIDY ENTERS in reissue versions) higher marks than it deserves, while in reality it is not that exciting. Its main allure today is the introduction of the character we came to know and respect, and its primary claim to fame is in setting the standard for what was yet to come.

 CATTLE DRIVE (1951 Universal-International)
Joel McCrea tried to vary his western roles and do something different with each picture. In the charming but forgettable CATTLE DRIVE there are no villains, no women, no Indian raids, no fights, no rustlers, just an easy to take leisurely tale of cattleman McCrea turning spoiled rich kid (Dean Stockwell) into a regular fellow during the course of the drive. For horse lovers, there is a side-plot about McCrea's attempts to capture a wild black stallion. Interestingly, at one point McCrea shows Stockwell a photo of the girl who's waiting for him at the end of the drive - his real-life wife Frances Dee. Cowboy Cancer alert - Joel rolls his own. Also with Chill Wills, Bob Steele, Henry Brandon, Chuck Roberson, Leon Ames and a barely noticeable Harry Carey Jr. as a train passenger.

 THE OLD WEST (1952 Columbia)
A religious element dressed up THE OLD WEST to make it slightly more than a routine Gene Autry Columbia, although the economy measures are firmly in place beginning with this outing. Running time is only 61 minutes (later features dropped under an hour); plenty of stock footage from RIM OF THE CANYON is employed (a stagecoach race and a fight with Jock Mahoney being lifted from that film); there are editing or continuity lapses near the end; and - a new director is employed in the person of George Archainbaud who was also now helming many of Gene's TV episodes. There's also an entertaining, but extended, sequence in which Gene puts Champion and Little Champ through a series of hoop tricks. It's welcomed by Autry devotees, but to be fair, it was film-padding and a definite economy measure. The story, told in flashback, features Gene with a contract to tame wild mustangs to serve as horses for the stagecoach line managed by Gail Davis. The man who runs the town, Lyle Talbot, has his eyes on that contract for himself. Control of the stageline comes down to a race between Gene and his horses and Talbot's horses, dangerously driven by stagecoach driver Louis Jean Heydt who is in denial about his failing eyesight. The film features a sizable religious element, as silent star House Peters Sr. makes a comeback as a traveling preacher who instills theology in Gene during his convalescence from a gunshot wound. It's a pretty thin story and Gerald Geraghty's screenplay gets a bit off track and involved with a number of characters outside the main theme, such as a pair of town toughs (Dick Jones and Don Harvey - blatantly mimicking Lon Chaney Jr.'s Lenny from OF MICE AND MEN), Heydt's daughter Kathy Johnson and her "boyfriend", stable boy Dee Pollock, and Gail Davis who gets high billing but barely appears in a totally undeveloped role. This is the only film in which father and son, House Peters Sr. and Jr., worked together. Peters Sr. had been a matinee idol in the silent era, often working with legendary director Cecil B. De Mille.

 RETURN OF DANIEL BOONE (1941 Columbia)
Town boss and saloon owner Ray Bennett (sporting one of those colorful Columbia badmen names - Leach Kilgrain), the under-Bennett's-thumb mayor (Walter Soderling) and tax collector Lee Powell are raising taxes on all the area ranches, forcing the ranchers to forfeit their property which Bennett buys up cheap at foreclosure auctions. Determined to resist the crooked racket, Betty Miles (in her first western), accidentally shoots Powell in a squabble over taxes. About this time the grandson of Daniel Boone (Bill Elliott) rides into town and accepts the vacated post of tax collector. Quickly realizing how crooked Bennett is, Bill and his bumbling assistant, Dub "Cannonball" Taylor, set out to bring the connivers to justice. If you're not a fan of Dub Taylor, this one may be a bit too much Cannonball for you as he gets in a marital mix-up with twin sisters (the singing radio/vaudeville artists Verna and Verde Rodik). BooBoo: Two different horses are ridden by Bill (partly stock footage?) when he chases Ray Bennett at the finale.

 THE WYOMING BANDIT (1949 Republic)
Old outlaw Wyoming Dan (Trevor Bardette) returns home after many years to help his sons (Myron Healey, Rand Brooks) who have been raised by Eddy Waller only to find Healey has been killed by outlaw raiders. Bardette vows to find the killers and ends up working with Marshal Allan "Rocky" Lane who has been dispatched to capture Bardette. The outlaws (William Haade, Lane Bradford, Bob Wilkie) secretly bossed by saddlemaker Victor Killian, trick Brooks into believing Bardette killed Brooks' brother. When Brooks sets out to exact vengeance he nearly upsets Rocky's plans to capture the gang.

 SHOTGUN (1955 Allied Artists)
Rory Calhoun wrote the screenplay for SHOTGUN (with John Champion and Clark E. Reynolds), planning to star in it himself. However, when Allied Artists picked up the property it ended up top-lining Sterling Hayden. Hayden is a deputy with a shotgun on the vengeance trail of killer Guy Prescott who blew Hayden's marshal friend Lane Chandler in half with his shotgun. Hayden is joined on the trail by bounty hunter Zachary Scott, also after the outlaws, and Yvonne De Carlo, a dance hall girl he saves from Prescott's partner, Bob Wilkie. They're all being chased by a band of marauding Apaches. The film ends with an exciting shotgun duel between Hayden and Prescott. Also with Paul Marion, Al Wyatt, John Pickard. Directed by B-west vet Les Selander.

 KNIGHTS OF THE RANGE (1940 Paramount)
When eastern girl Jean Parker's father is killed by rustlers, she comes west, breaking off her engagement to cowardly Victor Jory who then strikes a crooked bargain with the rustlers, Morris Ankrum and Ray Bennett. One of Ankrum's men is Russell Hayden who wants to right his unlawful ways and finds the chance to do so when he's offered a job by Parker. But Hayden must win the confidence of the men loyal to Parker - Rad Robinson, Eddie Dean and the King's Men, and Britt Wood - before he can trap Ankrum's rustlers in a blazing mountain gun battle. Excellent adaptation of Zane Grey's novel, directed by Les Selander.

 ROUGH ROMANCE (1930 Fox)
In this badly dated early talkie, Northwest lumberjack George O'Brien vies for the affections of Helen Chandler against the villainous Antonio Moreno. Exciting ending amidst a wintry logjam but not much else, other than a brief bit by John Wayne you'll catch if you don't blink. Low-spot is the "singing" and vaudeville-like act by O'Brien and Eddie Borden.

 THE LONE RIDER CROSSES THE RIO (1941 PRC)
Pursued by a crooked lawman (Alden Chase), The Lone Rider (George Houston) and Fuzzy St. John wind up in Mexico crossing paths with the notorious bandit El Puma (Charlie King) who tries to frame George as El Puma by kidnapping the Alcalde's son (Howard Masters). Sure it's filled with gaping plotholes, but a couple of beers and some fresh popped popcorn make any PRC epic an hour's worth of no-brainer fun.

 TEXAS RANGERS RIDE AGAIN (1940 Paramount)
Titled to cash in on the title and success of Paramount's own big-budget A-western of 1936, THE TEXAS RANGERS, this modest B has no relation to that film. Texas Rangers John Howard and Broderick Crawford pose as cowpokes to catch the modern day beef bootleggers rustling blustery rancher May Robson's cattle. The trail leads to foreman Anthony Quinn and his henchman Edward Pawley in the employ of syndicate packing house boss John Miljan. Naturally, a range romance develops between Howard and Robson's niece, Ellen Drew. Excitingly done by director Jams Hogan with "Hoppy Paramount" music score.

 STRAWBERRY ROAN (1948 Columbia)
After leaving Republic, Gene Autry's personal ambition upon forming his own production company was to have his westerns produced in color and to feature hit songs. This, as Gene was to discover, meant much higher budgets at a time when B-westerns were beginning to taper off at the box office due to the encroachment of television. Demands on the new Technicolor Corporation put them behind schedule forcing Gene to produce his first Columbia release, THE LAST ROUND-UP, in black and white. However, in June 1947, as filming began on STRAWBERRY ROAN, Columbia announced this and future Autry films would be lensed in Cinecolor. The color features were to be sold individually and not as a series with an ambitious schedule of three color features released per year. However, Gene and his Flying A production company soon learned producing B-westerns in color was cost prohibitive. STRAWBERRY ROAN and BIG SOMBRERO, which began lensing about 20 days later, were the most expensive of Columbia's over 275 produced B-westerns. THE STRAWBERRY ROAN ranks with the greatest of filmed horse stories, full of sentiment that tugs at the heartstrings. Ranch owner Jack Holt's cowboys, including Gene Autry, capture the noble wild roan (Champion) stallion and attempt to gentle him. Against his father's wishes, Dick Jones tries to ride the roan but is thrown and badly injured. Racing away from Dick's enraged father, the horse plunges over a steep cliff and is believed dead. But Gene finds the animal and secretly nurses his wounds, hoping to bring him back to the crippled boy whose spirit is now broken. Soon, Holt learns what Gene has done, accuses him of rustling and posts a reward for the capture of both the roan and his former foreman. Gene, with the help of Gloria Henry, Holt's daughter, holds out against reward hungry ranchers until Dick is able to overcome his disability and ride the roan. His father then acknowledges his mistakes. Gene's longtime friend and radio sidekick Pat Buttram makes his film debut in THE STRAWBERRY ROAN. At the time Pat was well known to radio audiences from the weekly "Gene Autry Melody Ranch Radio Show" as well as the Phil Harris-Alice Faye program. Pat eventually would feature in 17 of Gene's pictures and 83 of Gene's 91 TV episodes. However, Pat's role here is minor, with most of the comedy sequences falling to radio comedian (and former member of Republic's Three Mesquiteers series) Rufe Davis and his funny animal impersonations. Songs are still plentiful at this early stage of Gene's Columbia career, including a long version of the famous title song. With a couple of minor exceptions, it would be the last time Gene would take on a script that required of him more than his affable charm and much improved action ability. Without a doubt, one of Gene's most enduring westerns and one of his most popular, primarily due to the heart warming human interest qualities.

 PALS OF THE GOLDEN WEST (1951 Republic)
Roy Rogers' last B-western is not his worst feature, but neither is it a terrific windup to 14 years at Republic. Director William Witney stages plenty of good desert action but it's all spoiled by the totally out-of-place unfunny juvenile humor served up by Pinky Lee. Roy is a U.S. Border Patrol officer working hand in hand with the Mexican Border Patrol to stop a gang of cattle rustlers (Anthony Caruso, Roy Barcroft, Ken Terrell) who are smuggling hoof-and-mouth diseased cattle across the border into the U.S. Dale Evans as a big city news reporter, Estelita Rodriguez as the local newspaper operator and bumbling Pinky Lee as her assistant are totally superficial to the rustling plot and only serve to pad out the 67 minute running time. Songs are unmemorable.

 RIDERS OF THE RIO GRANDE (1943 Republic)
One of the smartest, brightest, funniest, most exciting Three Mesquiteers is their last one. Not a dull second, it pulls out all the stops in western adventure. The plot differs in more than one respect, not the least of which is when benign elderly town leader, banker Edward Van Sloan, decides to make the supreme sacrifice in arranging to have himself bumped off in order to make up for the mistakes of his wastrel son (Rick Vallin). Through a humorous switch in circumstances, Sloan believes The Three Mesquiteers (Tom Tyler, Bob Steele, Jimmie Dodd) are the notorious Cherokee Boys that he hired, whereas it's really Roy Barcroft, Charlie King and Jack O'Shea who were retained to do the dirty deed. Unbelievable, sure, but the identity mix-up provides director Howard Bretherton with a complicated but delightful plot (by Albert Demond) full of action, thrills and laughs. A wonderful exit to a terrific series of B-westerns.

 BORDER CAFÉ (1937 RKO)
A variation on Gene Autry plot #102. After a disagreement with his father (George Irving), Boston playboy John Beal comes west, spending his time drinking in a bar and romancing dancer Armida. Meanwhile, eastern gangsters J. Carroll Naish, Paul Fix and Walter Miller "organize" Richard Cramer's rustlers, selling the beef to an eastern syndicate. Good-natured rancher Harry Carey helps to reform Beal by letting the man pretend Carey's ranch is his when Beal's estranged parents decide to come west to see the ranch he's written them about. It's up to Carey to patch up a parents-son relationship and capture the murderous rustlers. Marjorie Lord made her screen debut as Beal's eastern fiancée. Reckon RKO exec producer Samuel Briskin figured if this East-West/romantic mix-up formula was working for Gene Autry, then it oughta work for them. However, although the old Harry Carey charm is at play, the formula only seemed to work for Autry.

 LAST OF THE REDMEN (1947 Columbia)
"In 1757 the French and Indian War was at its height. General Montcalm, the French commander, with a large force of troops and Indian allies, was moving down from Canada to attack British held territory near Lake George. As a matter of defense it was important that the British learn at once whether Montcalm would strike Ft. William Henry or bypass it and strike Ft. Edward." This promising prologue degenerates into the worst adaptation of James Fennimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans yet filmed. Looking ridiculously out of place, resembling a squat pixie in a coonskin cap, Michael O'Shea is laughably miscast as Hawkeye with an Irish brogue. Natty Bumpo would not have approved of this ludicrous mishandling! A stern Buster Crabbe makes a worthwhile traitorous Iroquois Magua and Rick Vallin is solemn as Uncas. Jon Hall's Major Heyward simply follows along as they all chase through gorgeous Cinecolor woods trying to lead General Munro's "three" children to safety (Evelyn Ankers - who dies at the end in Hawkeye's arms; Julie Bishop and Buzz Henry). Director George Sherman gives it his best under Sam Katzman's miniscule budget, trying desperately to be serious but some passages are utterly hilarious. What a waste of 78 minutes.

 BULLETS FOR RUSTLERS (1940 Columbia)
Cattleman's association detective Charles Starrett is brought in by Sheriff Jack Rockwell to pose as a rustler and bring to justice real rustlers - saloon owner Kenneth MacDonald and his gun-henchies Dick Curtis and Francis Walker. From there the plot turns into a series of intricate double-up-crosses between Starrett, ranch-lady Adrian Booth, the sheriff and MacDonald's rustlers. Don't dare come in on the middle of this one!

 SALOME, WHERE SHE DANCED (1945 Universal)
Unlikely title for this Technicolor western-themed showcase for Yvonne De Carlo in her first major role. Episodic story has American Civil War correspondent Rod Cameron meeting up with Viennese dancer Salome (De Carlo). They foil one of Bismark's top officers (Albert Dekker) during the Franco-Prussian War and are forced to flee west in America where they wind up in a small Arizona town. The locals - and local outlaw (drab, one-note actor David Bruce) - are so entranced by her dancing they rename their town after her. From there it's on to San Francisco where Salome becomes the toast of the Gold Coast and eventually finds true love in the arms of Bruce. Defying criticism, without a doubt this is a poorly scripted, badly acted, rambling film with an unbelievable script, but it fits in the "so bad it's good" category. So awful it must be seen to be believed. Universal actually spent $1.2 million to make this fiasco. De Carlo and Cameron re-teamed for much better films.

 RENEGADE GIRL (1946 Screen Guild)
There's a complicated epic plot in this 65 minute B. During the latter days of the Civil War, a filled-with-hatred Chief Thunder Cloud vows to wipe out Southern sympathizers Ann Savage and her brother, so he informs Union Major Jack Holt where they are hiding. Ann and her brother escape the Cavalry, but Thunder Cloud kills her brother. Ann manages to capture Union Captain Alan Curtis and nearly turns him over to southern raider Quantrell (Ray Corrigan) - but, tired of the killing and now having fallen in love with Curtis, Ann releases him. Ann and Curtis arrive at her home just as the vicious Thunder Cloud raids the place, killing her parents and wounding Ann. Curtis leaves Ann in the care of a sympathetic family to recover. Months later, Quantrell dead and the Civil War over, Ann organizes what's left of Quantrell's renegades (led by Russell Wade) to track down Thunder Cloud. Eventually, the outlaws have a falling-out and kill off one another, all except Wade who is captured by Curtis. Wade tells Curtis Ann has gone alone to seek revenge on Thunder Cloud. Curtis locates her just as she kills Thunder Cloud and the Indian has found his revenge on the renegade girl. Pure schmaltz all the way but a terrific B-vet cast carries it along quickly under William Berke's direction. Also featured are John King, Forrest Taylor, Dick Curtis, Frank Hagney, Ed Cobb, Ernie Adams and Edward Brophy.

 SCORCHING FURY (1952 Fraser Prod.)
Dreadfully-made-on-a-shoestring tale of a band of stagecoach passengers robbed and stranded on the desert and some sort of psychological back-story about a killer whom they finally confront. Sounds and appears to have been shot silent with sound dubbed in later. Amazing something this amateurishly inept could be made and released as late as 1952. PS. Richard Devon asks everyone to never acknowledge he starred in this "epic".

 WAR DRUMS (1957 United Artists)
Indian chief Lex Barker declares war on white miners who rob Indian land of gold and beat him ruthlessly. Eventually Cavalry officer Ben Johnson brokers a truce. Noble but dull.

 UNKNOWN VALLEY (1933 Columbia)
Searching for his father lost in the desert, Buck Jones is captured and imprisoned by a band of religious zealots thought lost in a wagon train massacre years ago. Now they survive by isolating themselves from the outside world in this unknown valley, flogging all who have disrespect for the elders and imprisoning all outsiders so their worldliness will not influence their flock. Needless to say, Buck manages to rescue his father along with the girl he's fallen for, Cecilia Parker, and her kid brother Brett Black. Strange and unusual Jones western is unlike anything he'd ever done, more a melodrama in a western setting than a standard B-actioner.

 LAWLESS LAND (1936 Supreme)
When the sheriff and doctor of a cattle town are murdered by an unknown gunman, Ranger Johnny Mack Brown shows up to investigate. Actually more a murder mystery in a western setting, it's eventually revealed to be an elaborate scheme by new sheriff Ted Adams and comic badman Julian Rivero to obtain pretty Louise Stanley's ranch by getting her hand in marriage. Directed by Albert Ray, this is probably the weakest of the Brown Supremes.

 DARK COMMAND (1940 Republic)
Just before the Civil War the plains of Kansas are a battleground with Yankees and Rebels alike trying to lure Kansas territory onto their side. Defeated for Marshal of Lawrence, Kansas, by honest cowboy John Wayne, William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon), a schoolteacher with a burning ambition to become a leader of men, goes astray and begins to build an outlaw empire by running guns and slaves to neighboring states. Both men are in love with the banker's feisty daughter, Claire Trevor. When Trevor's wild kid brother (Roy Rogers) accidentally kills a man who's saying insulting things about their father, Wayne is forced to arrest him. Roy, who had previously hero-worshipped Wayne, turns against him. Cantrell, seeing an opportunity to win Trevor's love, defends Roy at his trial during the day while secretly terrorizing the jury members at night into voting for an acquittal. As the Civil War erupts, Cantrell's men, in the disguise of Confederate soldiers, begin a campaign of looting and pillaging. As the war continues, sympathizers for the North and South become more divided in Lawrence. After Trevor's banker father is killed by a mob during a run on the bank, she turns to Cantrell, eventually marrying him. Soon, everyone but Trevor learns of Cantrell's Raiders' crimes and begin to take out their hatred on her. Wayne comes to her aid when the townsfolk plan to run her out of town. At first Trevor is still loyal to Cantrell, refusing to believe her husband could be a bandit leader. Eventually, she learns he and his "soldiers" are nothing but looters. Cantrell's men capture Wayne and sentence him to death. When Trevor and Rogers, who earlier idealistically joined Cantrell's men, learn what Cantrell is planning, they help Wayne escape. Hearing Lawrence is the next stop on Cantrell's dark command, they ride to town to warn everyone. As Lawrence is consumed by flames, Wayne kills Cantrell. Excitingly directed by Raoul Walsh. Loosely based on the actual William Clarke Quantrill, a former teacher who organized a band of irregulars and eventually did receive a Confederate commission as a Captain. His real death was in Kentucky months after the raid on Lawrence.

 BLAZING BULLETS (1951 Monogram)
Average-for-the-time Johnny Mack Brown. After an argument with her father (Forrest Taylor) over her desire to marry young House Peters Jr., Lois Hall's father is slugged and kidnapped. Crooked Sheriff Ed Cobb and his rannihans (Dennis Moore, Stanley Price) are turning stolen gold into jewelry, making it easier to fence. Against his will, they're holding former jeweler Taylor to help them in their scheme. Johnny Mack routs the bandits and seals a marriage.

 ROARING TIMBER (1937 Columbia)
When lumber company owner J. Farrell MacDonald is killed in an accident, his crooked general manager Charles Wilson conspires with a competitor to finagle MacDonald's daughter, Grace Bradley, out of the company. Wilson tires to turn Grace and logging boss Jack Holt against one another. There's sabotage, train wrecks, broken dams, fire ... but nevertheless, as in all logging movies, despite all delays, they finish the job on time and get the timber delivered.

 RIM OF THE CANYON (1949 Columbia)
A refreshing novel idea for a Gene Autry western, a ghost story with Gene playing a dual role as himself and his father. When his stagecoach is disabled in a race, Gene is left stranded and limps to a nearby ghost town where he finds lonely schoolmarm Nan Leslie who says she's there to talk to the ghost of Thurston Hall who died 20 years ago. Back in town, Gene's horse, Champion, is stolen by three escaped convicts (Walter Sande, Jock O'Mahoney, Francis McDonald). Seems Sande and McDonald had been captured by Gene's Marshal father (Gene with a handlebar mustache) 20 years earlier after the theft of $30,000 from Hall. The crooks stashed the loot in the ghost town and are now back to find the money. This is the first of Gene's Columbias to clearly de-emphasize the music (only two songs) and place more concentration on the action content.

 CAROLINA MOON (1940 Republic)
Producer William Berke deviated from the stereotype western formula in CAROLINA MOON, taking Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette into the Deep South, ringing in some Negro spirituals, a fox hunt and pleasure riding by the Southern gentry. Rodeo cowboys Gene and Smiley are caught in a situation involving possible losses by old time plantation owners of their property to a schemer (Hardie Albright) pretending to be their friend when he's actually after the lumber on their property. June Storey is a high-strung, proud Southern gal bent on saving the family fortune and pop's plantation. Mary Lee is Storey's vivacious kid sister. Smiley has a few comic moments with blustery Southerner Frank Dae always on the lookout for an old fashioned duel.

 DAUGHTER OF THE WEST (1949 Film Classics)
As a loose sequel to RAMONA ('36 20th Century Fox), this talky, barebones B was produced by screenwriter/producer Martin Mooney (best known for the film noir masterpiece DETOUR) at a time when Indians were being treated with more respect in many westerns. Too bad we can't say the same about this waste of a film! Reservation teacher Martha Vickers is befriended by educated Indian Phillip Reed (terribly miscast) who foils a plot by Indian agent Donald Woods and henchman James Griffith to steal some reservation land for the rich copper deposits. Originally released in Cinecolor. Watch for actress Marion Carney who achieved more fame off screen as the wife of Terry Frost and later Lash LaRue.

 THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS (1930 Paramount)
The third version of the popular Zane Grey novel was well received with the dawn of talkies, but is very dated, stagey and set-bound today. Eastern girl Mary Brian comes west to claim her late brother's ranch. First person she encounters is drunken cowboy Richard Arlen, who just happens to be the best friend of her murdered brother. Arlen has to perform a quick sobering-up to win back her good graces and catch-up with the killer, Fred Kohler. Produced by Harry "Pop" Sherman, this was the first sound adaptation of a Grey novel. Popular at the time, likely due to the advent of anything with sound, it is today overdone with respect to the ethnic humor which detracts from the main plot. If only because not many westerns had one, it should be noted there is a Christmas theme to this film, which incidentally was reissued as WINNING THE WEST. The first version of the Grey novel was made in 1918 with Dustin Farnum; the second at Paramount in 1925 with Jack Holt. Sherman produced a fourth version in 1940 with Victor Jory.

 HERITAGE OF THE DESERT (1939 Paramount)
With their Zane Grey series on the wane in 1937, Paramount hired producer Harry "Pop" Sherman, already doing a terrific job for them on the Hopalong Cassidy series, to take over the Zane Grey productions. Sherman revitalized the series with four excellent films (MYSTERIOUS RIDER, '38; HERITAGE OF THE DESERT, '39; KNIGHTS OF THE RANGE, '40 and THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS, '40) before Paramount called it quits shortly after Grey's death in '39. Sherman employed all the western flourishes and formula that were working for him in the Hoppy pictures: open big, develop the plot and characters and stage an exciting finish. HERITAGE... in particular features striking and unusual character development for heavies C. Henry Gordon, Paul Fix, Willard Robertson and Paul Guilfoyle. Additionally, senior rancher Robert Barrat is given a particularly strong portrayal from screenwriter Norman Houston and director Les Selander. Story has Eastern tenderfoot Donald Woods, well cast as originally conceived by Zane Grey, venturing west to check on his mine and land holdings (his "heritage") which are being mismanaged by mine manager C. Henry Gordon who has been cheating Woods over the years. Gordon sends gunman Paul Fix to kill Woods before he arrives and can discover the discrepancies. Fix believes he has killed Woods and left him to die in the desert, but the young lawyer is found and nursed back to health by tough-as-rawhide rancher Robert Barrat, his daughter Evelyn Venable, and son, Russell Hayden. Recuperating, Woods and Venable fall in love, even though her father has promised her hand in marriage to (unbeknownst to Barrat) corrupt ranch hand Paul Guilfoyle, secretly in the employ of Gordon. Old timer Sidney Toler befriends Woods, teaching him the ways of the west - including a fast draw - before Woods sets out to bring to justice Gordon and his cohorts and expose Guilfoyle's treachery to Barrat so he may win the hand of Venable. Expertly directed by Les Selander if not exactly faithful to Grey. HERITAGE... was filmed twice before by Paramount, a silent with Ernest Torrence in '24 and the '32 Randolph Scott version.

 NORTH TO THE KLONDIKE (1942 Universal)
Routine plot of Alaska gold miners being driven off their claims by bully Lon Chaney Jr. The attraction here is the climatic fist-fight between Chaney and Broderick Crawford, one of the best screen fights of all time! Also with Andy Devine in an all too typical role of the hero's pal (God, he must have been able to do these parts in his sleep), gorgeous Evelyn Ankers as Crawford's love interest, Lloyd Corrigan as an inebriated doctor (another all too familiar role for him), Paul Dubov as Chaney's right-hand man and townspeople/miners Stanley Andrews, Monte Blue, Jeff Corey, Dorothy Granger, Nancy Kulp, Riley Hill (Ankers' kid brother). Watch for fiddlin' Spade Cooley in one musical scene.

 SAN FERNANDO VALLEY (1944 Republic)
By now the Herbert J. Yates inspired Roy Rogers musical-comedy extravaganzas, with little western action, were in full swing. This one has a dream sequence, '40s cabaret dancing, irresponsible singing teenagers, trail herding cowgirls and a huge singing/dancing fully-staged finale. Amazingly, SAN FERNANDO VALLEY was one of Roy's most popular films, winning honors as #1 box office western for 1944. Roy's regular director on previous films, action oriented Joe Kane, was now gone with the more lighthearted John English replacing him for this fanciful tale of cowgirls (headed up by tough-as-nails Dot Farley) coming to help rancher Andrew Tombes and daughters Dale Evans and Jean Porter when their cattle are rustled by disgruntled ex-cowhands LeRoy Mason and Pierce Lyden. Naturally, San Fernando Valley ranch owner Roy Rogers solves all the problems, but not before we're treated to another of Republic's "taming of the shrew" plotlines. Roy's sidekick, Gabby Hayes, had left the series several films back to saddle up with Bill Elliott. Republic had tried pairing Roy with Smiley Burnette, Big Boy Williams, Pat Brady, William Haade and, here, Edward Gargan, as a comic foil for Roy - all no substitute for ol' Gabby, so after a two year hiatus, the bewhiskered gentleman was back with Roy for the next one, LIGHTS OF OLD SANTA FE. According to a May 1944 HOLLYWOOD REPORTER news item, producer Eddy White originally intended to use all the Republic western stars in SAN FERNANDO VALLEY to come to the aid of Roy at the end of the picture. The stars mentioned were Bob Livingston, Don Barry, Smiley Burnette, Sunset Carson, Allan Lane and Wild Bill Elliott. Of course, the gimmick was used three films later in BELLS OF ROSARITA. Production notes also indicate Ann Gillis was originally cast as Dale's kid sister but was replaced by Jean Porter. Gillis had previously appeared with Roy in MAN FROM MUSIC MOUNTAIN ('43).

 GO WEST YOUNG LADY (1941 Columbia)
Comic spoof of B-westerns. The town of Headstone eagerly awaits the arrival of their new sheriff, hoping he will put an end to the notorious outlaw, Killer Pete. Saloon owner Charlie Ruggles hopes his soon to arrive nephew "Bill" will be their new sheriff. However, "Bill" turns out to be a she, Belinda (Penny Singleton) and the new sheriff is Glenn Ford. Plenty of comic shenanigans, romance and music (from Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Ann Miller, Allen Jenkins and Singleton) follow before respected citizen Onslow Stevens is unmasked as Killer Pete, and naturally it's "Blondie" who saves the day rather than the sheriff. It's plenty of fun with one of the best cat-fights in westerns between Singleton and Miller.

 THE AVENGER (1931 Columbia)
Very loosely based on the exploits of legendary Mexican bandit Joaquin Murieta. Buck Jones is Murieta who is whipped as he witnesses the murders of his brother by landgrabbers Edward Peil Sr., Otto Hoffman and Walter Percival. Later, as the Black Shadow he ekes out his own brand of justice and revenge. With a Mexican dialect that comes and goes, mustache and sideburns, this is a practically unrecognizable Buck Jones, and not one we care for in this grim, film-noirish story.

 RETURN TO WARBOW (1958 Columbia)
Routine story has Phil Carey, Bob Wilke and William Leslie escaping from a prison chain gang to claim $30,000 Carey and his brother (James Griffith, who was not caught as Carey was) stole 11 years earlier. Unfortunately, the cash was left all this time in the hands of Griffith who has gambled it all away. Subplot has Carey learning his ex-girlfriend, Catherine McLeod, has married rancher Andrew Duggan, but "their" son (Chris Olsen) is actually Carey's boy. Everything comes to a head in a rickety old mine shaft (Bronson Cave and the Columbia cave set). Slim story would make a good one hour TV western but there's not enough here from producer Wallace MacDonald and director Ray Nazarro to sustain a 67 minute movie. In color; based on a novel by Les Savage Jr., who also wrote the screenplay.

 MAN FROM RAINBOW VALLEY (1946 Republic)
Monte Hale is the writer/artist of a popular comic strip based on Outlaw, King of the Wild Stallions, a real wild horse Monte and his kid sister Jo Ann Marlowe allow to run free on his Rainbow Ranch. Desperate for something new for his dude ranch, Ferris Taylor has his niece Adrian Booth, and two unscrupulous cowhands (Kenne Duncan and Bud Geary), try to capture Outlaw. When Monte befriends Booth, unaware of her plans, Booth's attitude begins to change. Meanwhile, Duncan and Geary capture Outlaw, paint a white blaze on his forehead and enter him in rodeos as Thunderbolt. When Monte learns of the theft and deception with the help of old timer Emmett Lynn, Monte coerces rodeo owner Taylor to put "Thunderbolt" up against $2,000 on a bet he can ride the stallion. Although Duncan and Geary conspire to prevent Monte from riding in the event, Monte's kid sister and Booth come to his aid. Monte, of course, successfully rides Outlaw, wins the horse, and with Booth and Marlowe return to Rainbow Valley. Originally in Magnacolor, only b/w prints survive. Betty Burbridge's script seems better suited to Gene Autry - possibly one Gene didn't made before he left Republic for Columbia.

 KONGA, THE WILD STALLION (1939 Columbia)
Human interest horse story has character player Fred Stone as a rancher whose love for horses is threatened by invading civilization and the change of grassland for horses into wheat farmland. A feud develops between Stone and his farmer neighbor, Robert Warwick, when horses knock down fences and trample wheat fields. Warwick shoots several horses, including Stone's favorite stallion, Konga, which forces Stone to fight back by shooting Warwick. Sentenced to prison for murder, after four years he's released only to find Warwick's daughter, Rochelle Hudson, is responsible for obtaining his pardon - as well as nursing Konga back to health after he was shot. Produced by Wallace MacDonald. For horse lovers only.

 LAWLESS VALLEY (1938 RKO)
One of the best westerns of George O'Brien's three year, 17 film reign as RKO's western star, is LAWLESS VALLEY, due in great part to the villainy of unruly real life father and son, Fred Kohler Sr. and Jr. Paroled from prison for a robbery he didn't commit, O'Brien returns home hoping to prove his innocence and that his father was murdered and did not commit suicide as claimed by no-good sheriff Earle Hodgins, under the thumb and in the employ of Kohler Sr. and Jr. who framed O'Brien a year ago. George wants to see his old sweetheart, Kay Sutton, who is Kohler Sr.'s ward and whom he plans to have marry his son so he can legally obtain Sutton's ranch. Tracing a tampered-with six gun belonging to his father, George proves his innocence and thwarts all of Kohler's evil plans. Ray Whitley had been - and would be - providing the musical element to O'Brien's westerns, but this time, due to the more serious tone of the story, his group is supplanted only by a group of five blacks who harmonize during a freight train opening to the picture.

 FRONTIER GAL (1945 Universal)
Originally slated to star Jon Hall and Maria Montez, the troublesome Montez didn't like the script and refused to do the picture. Universal reteamed Rod Cameron and Yvonne De Carlo from SALOME, WHERE SHE DANCED, elevating both to stardom in this delightful western. De Carlo quickly became Universal's new queen of Technicolor. Story had good-badman Cameron, on the run unjustly accused for killing his partner, flirting with saloon owner De Carlo. She believes he's serious about her and is embarrassed when she learns Rod really wants to marry schoolteacher Jan Wiley. At the point of a six shooter, De Carlo forces Rod to marry her. After a tempestuous wedding night, Sheldon Leonard, a gunman also in love with De Carlo, turns Rod into the law. After serving six years in prison, Rod returns to demand a divorce only to find he's the father of a daughter, Beverly Simmons. Also, in prison, Rod has learned Leonard is the man who killed his partner, the man he's been searching for. It's a highly entertaining western-comedy/drama with plenty of action thrills.

 THE GUN HAWK (1963 Allied Artists)
Aging gunfighter Rory Calhoun meets up with a wild kid, Rod Lauren, who reminds Calhoun of his younger days. Protecting his drunken sot of a father (John Litel), Calhoun guns down the rotten Sully brothers (Lane Bradford, Glenn Stensel) which sets his respectful old friend, sheriff Rod Cameron, and ambitious deputy, Morgan Woodward, on his trail. In pursuit, Cameron wounds Calhoun who is helped back to his outlaw fortress of Sanctuary by Lauren. Calhoun, slowly dying from the gunshot wound's infection, tries to persuade the kid that there wouldn't be any future in following his footsteps. Calhoun's girl, Ruta Lee, does all she can, but Calhoun's blood poisoning has gone too far. Unwilling to die in bed, Calhoun bullies Lauren into a gun duel so he may die with his own kind of dignity, and at the same time save Lauren from a wasted life like his own. In some ways surreal and surprisingly moving thanks to the excellent performances under the direction of Edward Ludwig. Also with Bob Wilke, Gregg Barton, Rodolfo Hoyos.

 GUN BROTHERS (1956 United Artists)
Ex-cavalryman Buster Crabbe travels to Wyoming to join his brother, Neville Brand, on a cattle ranch only to discover Brand is head of a gang called The Nighthawks. Crabbe leaves his crooked sibling to marry a girl he met, Ann Robinson, and settle down at a fur trading post operated by his friend, Walter Sande. After a raid on their hideout by Sheriff Roy Barcroft, conniving henchman Michael Ansara tells Brand his brother ratted them out. Brand seeks revenge, but Crabbe and Robinson convince Brand Ansara is lying. The brothers are reunited in the final showdown as Ansara and a gang of fur thieves, led by William Tannen, attack the trading post. Co-written by Gerald Drayson Adams and Richard Schayer who rewrote this picture nearly word for word as GUN FIGHT in '61. Directed by Sidney Salkow with a supporting cast of B-vets: Harry Lauter, Lane Bradford, William Fawcett, James Seay, Slim Pickens, Dan White, George Lynn, Frank Hagney. Independently produced by Grand Productions and released by U.A.

 CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA (1954 RKO)
Shot in Glacier National Park of Montana this overrated western with a large reputation (it's the one critics and political pundits always refer to when labeling Pres. Ronald Reagan as a "B-western star") has red-headed Barbara Stanwyck and her father (Morris Ankrum) bringing their cattle herd up from Texas to settle new territory in the green grass of Wyoming. Indians (led by Anthony Caruso) raid the herd and kill Ankrum. Stanwyck and her foreman, Chubby Johnson, are saved and befriended by Lance Fuller, the eastern educated son of the old Blackfoot Chief (Glenn Strange, practically unrecognizable). Stanwyck soon learns the Indians are working for contemptible cattleman Gene Evans (and his henchman Jack Elam) who is building his own cattle empire. Ronald Reagan arrives and, at first, appears to be slinging a gun for Evans but is secretly a U.S. Army agent sent to find out who is behind the agitated Indian activity. End result is an overlong B plot (92 minutes) with uninspired direction by Allan Dwan. Stanwyck did all of her own stunts and riding, becoming so admired by the local Blackfeet Indians (hired by the hundreds as extras) that they gave her the Indian name Princess Many Victories, making her a blood sister in the tribe.

 COWBOY AND THE INDIANS (1949 Columbia)
This thought provoking, intelligent Gene Autry western portrays the Indian as something other than a blood-curdling savage as Gene fights to prevent the Indian's suffering from malnutrition along with the theft of their valuable artifacts. When Gene enlists the aid of Doctor Sheila Ryan to help an elderly, starving Navajo lady, he runs afoul of burly trading post owner Frank Richards who's been cheating the Indians for years. Richards and curio dealer Alex Frazer are scheming to obtain a priceless blanket from Indian girl Claudia Drake and a symbolic turquoise necklace from Chief Yowlachie. This leaves Gene to defend the Indians against not only malnutrition but outright theft as the crooks lay the blame on young brave Jay Silverheels.

 THE VANISHING FRONTIER (1932 Paramount)
California in 1850 is in the grip of a military government whose Governor (George Irving) and his Captain (Wallace MacDonald) execute laws by force against the Spanish people. They are opposed by debonair Joaquin Murrieta-like bandit chief Johnny Mack Brown affecting one of the worst Mexican accents on film. Totally exaggerated as Brown romances Irving's daughter, Evalyn Knapp - a sometimes decent actress who is totally ludicrous here. Besides all this, there are way too many non-humorous shenanigans between Brown's pals Raymond Hatton and J. Farrell MacDonald and Knapp's friend Zasu Pitts. Responsible for this fiasco is producer Larry Darmour who fared far better later on with Ken Maynard, Bob Allen and Bill Elliott.

 WHIRLWIND (1933 Columbia)
An odd western that mixes rodeo footage with a five minute wrestling match as Tim McCoy and his pals, Indian (J. Carroll Naish) and Pat O'Malley settle old scores with devious Sheriff Matthew Betz and banker Lloyd Whitlock, all the while saving the ranch of Tim's dad (Joe Girard) and romancing Tim's girl (Alice Dahl). Mite too talky.

 IN OLD SACRAMENTO (1946 Republic)
Bill Elliott (now billed William Elliott) is badly miscast in his first big budget Republic western, having graduated to "A" western status from the Red Ryder series. A remake of Roy Rogers' CARSON CITY KID ('40), IN OLD SACRAMENTO is overlong at 88 minutes, basically actionless, drudgingly dull and more of a romantic costume drama than a western. In 1850's Gold Rush California, gambler Elliott secretly poses as notorious bandit, Spanish Jack. Elliott falls in love with showboat singing star, Constance Moore, and vows to give up his outlaw ways - after one final fling. Meanwhile, young gold-miner Hank Daniels arrives in Sacramento and also falls for Moore. Elliott, realizing Daniels will make a better husband for Moore than he ever could, leads Sheriff Eugene Pallette and deputy Lionel Stander on, letting them catch and kill him during his last fling as Spanish Jack. I suppose Elliott saw some of the good-badman type role he so loved in William S. Hart in Frances Hyland's original script, but the final product is, in a word, boring - with an unpleasant ending.

 KING OF THE PECOS (1936 Republic)
John Wayne is a law student who returns home to avenge the murder before his eyes of his parents by local cattle baron Cy Kendall who claims a vast empire by right of discovery - and violence. When law books fail, Wayne turns to gun law to bring Kendall, his gunmen (Jack Clifford, Yakima Canutt) and crooked lawyer Frank Glendon to justice. Scripted here by Bernard McConville, Dorrell and Stuart McGowan, it was rewritten for Don Barry's TEXAS TERRORS ('40) by Doris Schroeder and Anthony Coldeway. Notice the "real" horse wreck 27 minutes into KING OF THE PECOS.

 BULLWHIP (1958 Allied Artists)
Action title suggests something entirely different than the "taming" of the shrew romantic-comedy western that this Guy Madison-Rhonda Fleming starrer actually is. Guy is a cowboy about to hang on a trumped up murder charge. At the last moment, he is offered a reprieve under the condition he marry Fleming, then disappear. The fiery red-head needs to be married in order to claim her late father's vast ranchlands, but the hot-tempered, ambitious bride has no place for a man in her life. She enforces her position with a bullwhip but curiosity gets the better of Madison who doesn't give up easily. Despite a mutual distrust, Madison helps her face some common obstacles and eventually melts Fleming's icy veneer. As usual in '50s westerns, there's a title tune, and as usual it's pretty bad (sung by Frankie Laine). Fleming is fine and gorgeous as usual but Madison should stick to WILD BILL HICKOK, he just has no flair for light comedy. Cinemascope and Color.

THE GUY MADISON SPAGHETTI WESTERNS
After Guy Madison's TV and screen career dried up in the U.S. in the late '50s, he moved to Europe where he starred for another decade in some 13 pictures, most of them westerns, but also several sword and sandal and adventure films.

 OLD SHATTERHAND (aka APACHE'S LAST BATTLE) (1964) was the third in the German produced Winnetou films starring Lex Barker. Madison is a glory-grabbing Cavalry officer trying to stir up trouble between the Apaches and Comanches.

 GUNMEN OF THE RIO GRANDE (1965) stars Guy Madison as a very fictional Wyatt Earp in Mexico trying to bring law and order to a mining town. The French/Italian/Spanish co-production features some good desert locations and the action is okay when it comes.

 FIVE GIANTS FROM TEXAS (1966) is a fairly standard revenge tale with Guy Madison leading four men and a woman (their murdered friend's wife) across Mexico searching for the killers. Pretty threadbare Italian/Spanish co-production.

 PAYMENT IN BLOOD (aka RENEGADE RIDERS; WINCHESTER FOR HIRE) (1967) Italian production released in the U.S. by Columbia. Guy Madison is a Confederate Colonel who won't let the Civil War end, continuing to raid and pillage, all the while searching for a General's lost treasure. FBI agent Edd Byrnes is assigned to stop Madison. Not particularly well filmed and Byrnes seems self-absorbed in looking pretty for the camera, not wearing a hat so as not to muss his "Kookie" hair.

 SON OF DJANGO (aka VENGEANCE IS A COLT) (1967) Gabriele Tinti is the now-grown son of famous gunman Django seeking revenge for the murder of his father. Guy Madison doesn't enter til the 35 minute mark and then he's a preacher-character, at least until he straps on a six-gun to help Tinti.

 THIS MAN CAN'T DIE (1968) Government agent Guy Madison after Rik Batlaglia's gun runners, who also happen to be the gang who slaughtered most of his family and raped his sister. Far better production values, photography, scenery and direction than many Euro-oater quickies, giving it a better look and feel. Plenty of well-staged action. This one's worth your while.

 BANG BANG KID (1968) Spanish/Italian serio-comic western with Guy Madison as a power-hungry town boss who lives in a castle (?!?) Tom Bosley (!) co-stars.

 REVEREND COLT (1970) Badly dubbed Italian/Spanish co-production with bounty hunter turned priest Guy Madison forced to track down bank robbers in order to build a church. Too much yak and not enough spaghetti-action for its 84 minute running time.

 BULLETS DON'T ARGUE (1964 Walter Manley Enterprises)
A Bible reading killer and his outlaw-worshipping kid brother rob a bank on the day of town sheriff Rod Cameron's wedding. Cameron, pursues the pair to Mexico, captures them, then, to bring them back, has to fight the blazing desert as well as bandidos who want the stolen bank money. It's a long Euro-western trek with a few well staged action sequences; not as bad as some but you've seen this plot done better before in U.S. made westerns and TVers. For Cameron completists only.

 BULLET AND THE FLESH (1965 Walter Manley Enterprises) Love and hatred drive this early Romeo and Juliet-ish Euro western that plays out like Greek tragedy. The white daughter of bullish rancher Rod Cameron and Indian brave Chato are secretly in love. Cameron is furious when he learns his daughter plans to wed "a redskin." Forced to supply lumber to fulfill a contract, Cameron moves unlawfully onto Indian land and tries to lay blame on Chato. There's an atrocious title song and the usual Italian western voice dubbing (at least Cameron's own voice is used). A few good action sequences but not much else to recommend this windy, overlong (90 minute) Euro-oater. For Cameron completists only.

 OUTLAW OF RED RIVER (1966 Harold Goldman Enterprises)
George Montgomery had made his last westerns in '58-'59 ... KING OF THE WILD STALLIONS ('59 Allied Artists) and his 26 episode '58-'59 TV series, CIMARRON CITY. His career slipping, Montgomery made several low budget adventure films in the Philippines between '59 and '64, serving as producer/director as well as star. By '66, with the success of the Eastwood/Leone spaghetti westerns, most American western stars were turning to the Continent for work. Montgomery's sole contribution to the genre is this Maury Dexter directed slow, dull, talky effort filmed in Spain. Resembling a Hispanic soap opera, Montgomery is a falsely accused Texan hiding out in Mexico and working as the foreman on the Rancho of the General who is in love with devious Elisa Montez who has a brother trying to bed the General's snotty daughter. Subplot has George flushing out a bandido murderer causing trouble between the two feuding Rancheros. Stodgy, stagnant acting and action sequences that remind me of a poor Johnny Carpenter staged shootout. Montgomery made only one more western, the A. C. Lyles produced HOSTILE GUNS.

 SILVER TRAILS (1948 Monogram)
Monogram introduced Whip Wilson to B-western audiences in this average Jimmy Wakely adventure. SILVER TRAILS started filming June 25, '48 and was released on August 22, '48. Whip signed his Monogram contract three days earlier on August 18 with the intent of using the screen name Dan Tyler. According to Whip chronicler David Godwin, Tyler is the name listed on the CRASHING THRU call sheet. Fortunately, clearer heads at Monogram prevailed and went with Whip (incidentally, the only name used in SILVER TRAILS) and the alliterative last name of Wilson. Thank goodness also, they afforded Whip a different hat (apart from the Buck Jones style worn here) and a white horse by the time of CRASHING THRU. In SILVER TRAILS, yet another Monogram variation on the tried-and-true land grab plot, county surveyor George Meeker and his henchies (Pierce Lyden, Fred Edwards) stir up trouble between a Spanish Don (Robert Strange) and his nephew (George J. Lewis) and rancher William Norton Bailey and his daughter Christine Larson (with whom Lewis is in love). Jimmy and saddlepal Dub "Cannonball" Taylor run smak-dab into the plot when they come to work for old friend Bailey, even to finding another pal, Whip Wilson, working as Strange's foreman. Jimmy sings two songs and there's some good action but a lackluster ending relegates this to just an average Wakely - with the real interest being Wilson's Monogram debut. This was director Christy Cabanne's last film after a distinguished career that began in 1910 as an actor with D. W. Griffith. William Christy Cabanne (1888-1950) (pronounced Cab-an-Ay) began directing in 1914, eventually helming major silents with Doug Fairbanks, Lillian Gish and Francis X. Bushman. He also served as 2nd unit director on the classic BEN HUR ('26). With the coming of sound he made films of all genres, but only a few westerns (LAST OUTLAW '36; OUTCASTS OF POKER FLATS '37) until tying up with Monogram late in his career ('47) to direct two Gilbert Roland Cisco Kid entries, one Johnny Mack Brown (BACK TRAIL) and, finally, SILVER TRAILS, ending a 38 year career in pictures.

 IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (aka ONCE A HERO) (1937 Columbia)
An honest and delightful movie about the making of western pictures with Richard Dix and Fay Wray perfect in their roles. It's 1929 and sound spells the end of the silent western in which Dix and Wray were a winning team. Trying to make the transition to sound, Wray is successful, Dix is not. Without a job, refusing to take anything but the lead in a western and feeling he would be betraying his youthful public, Dix soon goes broke. He's then forced to take the part of a gangster in a crime film but quits in disgust over a bank holdup scene in which he's required to shoot a police officer. Meanwhile, Dix has met an orphaned, crippled child, Billy Burrud, who idolizes the cowboy star. To put up a front for Burrud, Dix throws a Hollywood party he cannot afford, replete with lookalike stars - some 20 of them - from Gable, Powell and Cagney to Fields, Chaplin and Crosby. Burrud is seriously injured when he falls off Dix's horse and desperately needs medical attention, which Dix cannot afford. Down and out, Dix decides to hold up a bank, but just as he is about to do so, real gangsters appear and shoot a police officer. Enraged, the film hero becomes a real hero and guns down the fleeing bandits. Hailed in newspapers for his bravery, his former movie producers latch onto Dix's newfound fame and make plans to reunite Dix and Wray in a big budget western. This, of course, pays Burrud's medical bills - and Dix adopts the orphan. Sure it's pure schmaltz, but Dix brings life to his character of "Tim Bart", elevating IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD to the "Belongs in every B-western collection" status.

 WHIRLWIND (1951 Columbia)
While Gene's regular movie sidekick at this time, Pat Buttram, was recuperating from a terrible accident while filming an Autry TV episode, Gene's former Republic sidekick, Smiley Burnette, took time off from the Charles Starrett/Durango Kid westerns to reunite with Gene for WHIRLWIND. Buttram was then back for eight more before Smiley eventually co-starred with Gene in his final six movies. With Smiley aboard, there's a nostalgic charm to WHIRLWIND missing in many other Columbia Autrys. Gene seems positively enlightened by the return of his old friend, displaying all of his smiling charisma, most noticeable when the pair, in a simple scene, are riding together on a wagon dueting on "Tweedle-O-Twill". Adding to the nostalgia, Gene sings "As Long As I Have My Horse", first heard in IN OLD SANTA FE. Story has undercover postal inspectors Gene and Smiley investigating a string of mail robberies masterminded by Thurston Hall. Gene worms his way into Hall's confidence by romancing his niece, Gail Davis, and by pretending to be interested in land purchases. Gene and Smiley eventually force a confession from Hall's attorney-henchman Harry Lauter that Hall killed his own brother to rob Gail of her estate, and is also guilty of the mail robberies. The reuniting of Gene and Smiley, a great supporting cast, fast action from director John English, plus the element of a masked rider, all serve to make WHIRLWIND one of Gene's most enjoyable Columbias.

 ROLL ON TEXAS MOON (1946 Republic)
Murder, mystery and action are the order of the day in the start of a new era for Roy Rogers' westerns with Bill Witney now in the director's chair. Right from the outset the tone is more somber as Gabby Hayes discovers a dead body and is charged with the crime. Humor and music are there but, for a change, stem not from the Rogers/Dale Evans' relationship (which is quite serious here) but from Gabby's hatred of sheep, especially the lamb that attaches itself to him. Dale inherits a sheep ranch with her tough-old-bird aunt, Elisabeth Risdon, as manager and Francis McDonald as her foreman. Seems McDonald is working in cahoots with double-dealing estate lawyer Dennis Hoey in an attempt to take over Dale's spread by playing the old cattlemen (Gabby) vs. sheepmen game. Cattle syndicate investigator Roy Rogers is sent to prevent a range war. The Sons of the Pioneers have screen time early on, but fade from the scene as the story develops. Roy is more serious and Dale is a steadier female than her usual blonde hothead with their romance nicely touched upon in the well remembered song, "Wontcha Be a Friend of Mine?" Under Witney's tutelage, the windup is an action packed gun battle rather than a song-infested dance spectacular. Over the next few films, Witney would put his stamp on the series, changing the complexion of Roy's westerns to include more mayhem, hard-riding action, brutal fist fights and fewer songs. Plus the addition of Trucolor.

 BORDER SADDLEMATES (1952 Republic)
As a U.S. Government veterinarian, Rex Allen, replacing the regular vet in a Montana town on the Canadian border, encounters a gang of smugglers led by Roy Barcroft and Zon Murray who are using a silver fox farm run by Mary Ellen Kay's uncle, Forrest Taylor, as a coverup for their illicit traffic in counterfeit money between Canada and the U.S. Barcroft's plans are stymied when Smoky, the pet fox of Mary Ellen's kid brother (Jimmie Moss), takes sick forcing Rex to place a quarantine on the fox farm. Bit different idea and setting from scripter Albert De Mond gives this Allen a lift, spiced with plenty of action from director Bill Witney. The song "Roll on Border Moon" was reworked from Roy Rogers' "Roll on Texas Moon".

 GALLANT DEFENDER (1935 Columbia)
A new western star was born in November 1935 with GALLANT DEFENDER - Charles Starrett. And Columbia, by continually refreshing Starrett's pictures over the next 17 years (varying sidekicks, the Sons of the Pioneers, adding Russell Hayden, turning Starrett into a Mountie and a Medico and finally as The Durango Kid), kept Starrett in the saddle right to the near end of the B-western cycle in 1952. Starrett's screen charisma, likeability and strength are evident right from the start in this slightly-plot-heavy-light-on-action story, but Starrett makes a strong impression - and that's enough. Roving cowboy Starrett rides right into the middle of a range war as he tries to help homesteaders like Joan Perry and her kid brother George Billings. The Cattlemen's Association (led by Edward J. Le Saint) opposes the hardball tactics of Harry Woods and his gun-throwers (Tom London, George Chesebro, Jack Rockwell, Lew Meehan, Al Bridge) to drive out homesteaders but refuses to take a stand against them. The Sons of the Pioneers (Bob Nolan, Roy Rogers, Tim Spencer, Hugh and Karl Farr) sing two songs but are not integral to the story in this first Starrett outing.

 ROBIN HOOD OF MONTEREY (1947 Monogram)
Looking for action, adventure, romance from the Cisco Kid? You sure won't find it here. What you will find is broad near-slapstick comedy and Gilbert Roland's bag of stylish schtick as he drinks tequila, smokes cigarettes, asks for matches, reminisces about past loves, plays cards, talks quietly to himself, bewilders Pancho (Chris Pin Martin), makes an ass out of a buffoonish Alcalde (Nestor Paiva) and eventually tricks a murderer (Evelyn Brent) into a confession in one of the laziest B-western endings ever filmed. The fault here probably lies in the new production set-up Monogram put in place for their final two Roland Ciscos. Gone were producer Scotty Dunlap and director William Nigh who had guided the first four Roland adventures. New producer was British born Jeffrey Bernerd who had basically spent his time in the film biz in sales and as producer of exploitation pics like ARE THESE OUR PARENTS and BLACK MARKET BABIES. He'd never produced a western. Nor did he after this and the final Roland Cisco, KING OF THE BANDITS. Selected as director was Christy Cabanne who had reached his peak in 1915-1916 during the silent era and now, at 60, was lazily serving out his final days at Monogram. His forte was melodrama and light comedy, not westerns as he'd helmed maybe three in his whole career. And it certainly shows here - unfortunately. The one good move Bernerd/Cabanne made was to replace Nacho Galindo/Frank Yaconelli as Cisco's sidekick "Baby" with Chris-Pin Martin as Pancho. (He'd been Pancho-like Gordito in the Cesar Romero Ciscos at 20th Century Fox.)

 CODE OF THE MOUNTED (1935 Ambassador)
Although it starts off well with Kermit Maynard performing a lengthy exhibition of his trick riding abilities, the rest of the picture (directed by Sam Newfield) just lopes along til it's finally over. Somehow even the action sequences have no verve. Mounties Maynard and Syd Saylor are after a gang of fur thieves (Wheeler Oakman, Dick Curtis, Frank McCarroll, Roger Williams) bossed by their lady-leader, Lillian Miles. Miles falls for Maynard and eventually saves his life causing the Mountie to let her escape at the end to find redemption and a place to settle down. Athlete Jim Thorpe is billed third - but is shot and killed in a scene lasting less than two minutes allowing him to utter one line!

 SONG OF THE PRAIRIE (1945 Columbia)
Columbia had been trying to get the right combination of performers for their light-hearted, modern-day western series beginning with SWING IN THE SADDLE ('44). Tom Tyler didn't quite fit as a "lead" with the Hoosier Hot Shots in SING ME A SONG OF TEXAS ('45) nor did the 3 Stooges and Jay Kirby with ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES ('45). Producer Colbert Clark put it all together by adding Ken Curtis to the mix in RHYTHM ROUNDUP ('45) (unfortunately, a "lost" film). SONG OF THE PRAIRIE is the second with Curtis and the Hot Shots and is more of a musical revue wrapped around a slim story about Ken and the Hoosiers trying to open their own Barn Dance. When they face monetary problems, society girl singer June Storey secretly buys the place in order to advance her career, over the stern objections of her blustery father, Thurston Hall. The usual carefree mix-up merriment follows. The rest of the gang's all here - Big Boy Williams, Jeff Donnell, Andy Clyde, Carolina Cotton, Deuce Spriggins and his band. More than others in the series, the plot jumps around too quickly as if scenes were missing and the music is totally forgettable except for the cheerful "Song of Idaho" (reused for the title tune of a later Hot Shots picture in '48).

 DANIEL BOONE (1936 RKO Radio)
In 1775, 30 settlers prepare to follow frontiersman Daniel Boone (George O'Brien) from their home settlement in North Carolina across the mountains to Kain-tu-kee, called by the Indians, "The dark and bloody ground." They are put upon by Simon Girty (John Carradine), a vicious white renegade and leader of a small band of outlaw Indians who are ravaging the frontier settlers with fire and massacre. Additionally, Daniel has trouble with "dandy" Ralph Forbes, who is in love with aristocratic settler Heather Angel, as is Dan'l. Unknown to the settlers, Forbes and his wealthy Richmond, VA, cohorts are plotting to seize the land settled by Boone on a legal technicality. Consequently, as soon as Boonesborough is developed, Daniel is forced to ride to Richmond to try and save it from the conniving politicians. Forbes' group refuses and, dejected, on the way home Boone is captured by Girty. Escaping, with aid from his Indian friend George Regas, Daniel now finds Boonesborough under siege from Girty's Indians. A nine day battle ensues in which Girty kills Daniel's young friend Dick Jones. Daniel ekes out revenge on Girty, then leads the surviving settlers on to pioneer new territory. In truth, Boonesborough was incorporated by Virginia as a county, and it was besieged by Indians - but not led by Simon Girty who didn't arrive as a renegade in the area til 1778. This was O'Brien's first for independent producer George A. Hirliman for pictures to be released through RKO. Hirliman poured a lot of production into this 75 minute film, but, although O'Brien makes a respectable Boone, ultimately this remains a rather stodgy, minor historical epic that doesn't ever seem to come alive.

 PINTO BANDIT (1944 PRC)
Not great movie making, but sure a lot of fun, with an excitingly staged three-man-relay mail contract horse race at the windup, skillfully directed all over Corriganville by Elmer Clifton. Searching for a lone bandit on a pinto horse, The Texas Rangers (Dave O'Brien, Jim Newill, Guy Wilkerson) help out mail-line owner Mady Lawrence whose riders are being shot and robbed by The Pinto Bandit. We won't spoil it and reveal who the bandit leader is, because it is better concealed than in most B-westerns. Also with Charlie King, Budd Buster, Bob Kortman, Ed Cassidy, Jack Ingram and the pitiful Jimmie (James) Martin as Mady's brother.

 UNDER TEXAS SKIES (1940 Republic)
Gone after seven entries were the 3 Mesquiteers trio of Bob Livingston, Duncan Renaldo and Raymond Hatton. Livingston stayed on to be joined by Bob Steele as Tucson Smith and Rufe Davis as Lullaby Joslin as Republic tried its darndest to revert back to the idea of the original trio they'd gotten away from with the Livingston-Renaldo-Hatton team up. UNDER TEXAS SKIES is a sort-of origin or coming-together of these 3 Mesquiteers as Stony (Livingston) returns home after an absence of several years to find his father (Sheriff Wade Boteler) has been murdered and his old pal Tucson (Steele) convicted of the crime. Actually responsible for the killing is deputy sheriff Henry Brandon, the secret leader of an outlaw band, who has now taken over as Sheriff. After exposing Brandon and clearing Tucson's name, the now united 3 Mesquiteers head out for new adventures. This trio made seven B's before Livingston left for good, to be replaced by Tom Tyler.

 THE LLANO KID (1939 Paramount)
Another imitation Cisco Kid, this time at least based on an O. Henry story, "A Double-Dyed Deceiver". THE LLANO KID is a remake of Paramount's THE TEXAN ('30) which starred Gary Cooper. Harry "Pop" Sherman, busy with Hopalong Cassidy pictures, managed to produce this version starring Mexican heart-throb Tito Guizar - who would have been an excellent choice for Cisco at 20th Century Fox. But then we wouldn't have been treated to Cesar Romero's charm. Singing bandit Guizar (as the Llano - pronounced Yano - Kid) schemes up with Gale Sondergaard and her husband Alan Mowbray to pass Tito off as the long-lost son of Senora Emma Dunn so the crooked pair may bilk her out of her gold. Guizar's conscience gets to him when he falls in love with Dunn's adopted daughter Jane (Jan) Clayton and turns on the swindlers. Minor Watson has a thoughtful role as the Sheriff pursuing The Llano Kid. Watch for later-to-be star Eddie Dean in the early-on barroom scenes. Too bad Guizar didn't star in any further westerns; he's very likeable as we later found out when Republic co-starred him with Roy Rogers in THE GAY RANCHERO and ON THE OLD SPANISH TRAIL.

 COWBOY AND THE KID (1936 Universal)
A different Buck Jones, dressed in work clothes, as an out-of-work, down-on-his-luck drifter who takes charge of a young boy (Billy Burrud) after the kid's parents are gunned down by crooked water department manager Harry Worth's men who are illegally trying to run a water line across the property. Frances Guihan's mostly human interest story also has Buck saving the honor of schoolmarm Dorothy Revier who unwittingly lent Worth money from the school board fund, not realizing Worth was an embezzler who planned to skip town leaving her holding the bag and answering to an angry school board. In 1936 VARIETY tradepaper called the film a "crazy-quilt production ... Jones at his worst. It has him doing things that have no appeal to his audience. The absence of action is appalling ... and inexcusable. The western star apparently was obsessed with the idea the oats drama lovers wanted something entirely different. This is."

 REBEL CITY (1953 Allied Artists)
"In 1864, though Kansas was loyal to the Union, it was over-run with Confederate sympathizers. Because both governments tolerated a certain amount of essential non-military trade, Belfry, a gateway city between the North and South, became a thriving center for commerce. It also became headquarters for a secret organization of Northerners, Copperheads, who were dedicated to the defeat of the Union. The South, they believed, was going to win the war, and they were determined to be on the winning side." This prologue set the stage as Bill Elliott returned to Belfry when his freight operator father has been stabbed to death after receiving counterfeit payment for the sale of his wagons. Getting no help from Union Provost Marshal Ray Walker, Elliott goes to work for Marjorie Lord's freighting business, hoping to solve the murder himself. He uncovers a nest of Copperheads responsible, whose leader is a complete surprise. REBEL CITY plays like a murder mystery on the range, with more investigation and less action then most of Elliott's Allied Artists B's. Bill gets lots of support from a solid cast: John Crawford, Keith Richards, Robert Kent, Pierce Lyden, Denver Pyle, Henry Rowland, Otto Waldis, I. Stanford Jolley, Gregg Barton, Richard Avonde, Bill Foster and Stanley Price. Cowboy Cancer Alert: Elliott lights up.

 DANGER VALLEY (1937 Monogram)
Singing cowboy Jack Randall and pal Hal Price help out a group of desert prospectors (Earl Dwire, Jimmy Aubrey, Chick Hannon, Frank La Rue, Ernie Adams) led by feisty, strong-willed Lois Wilde. Randall happens across two of their group, victims of Charlie King's claim jumping gang (Merrill McCormick, Tex Palmer). Randall also rescues a baby left for dead by the renegades and brings it to Wilde who, as it turns out, is the youngster's aunt. Unusual for a B-western, Randall and Wilde trade toe to toe barbs and insults before the final clinch. Wilde's screen career came to a halt several months after DANGER VALLEY when she suffered a broken neck in a car accident. She later managed a few bit roles. DANGER VALLEY is an odd little film, a bit disjointed and loaded with stock footage of a gold strike, but Bob Tansey's unusual script full of lively he/she banter, Wilde's wonderful performance and the big desert finish from director Robert North Bradbury serve to make it one of Randall's most interesting B-westerns.

 RIDE, TENDERFOOT, RIDE (1940 Republic)
There's not much rough, tough western action, with music and amusement uppermost in this screenplay which involves yet another twist on the "taming of the shrew" plotline for Gene Autry. Gene inherits a large meat packing company but finds its business life threatened by the scheming of a rival concern headed up by June Storey and her general manager Warren Hull (best known for his portrayals of the Spider, the Green Hornet and Mandrake the Magician in four Columbia cliffhangers). When Gene refuses to sell out so her company can take over his rich distribution contracts, Storey plies her womanly wiles to convince Gene to sell. Storey's kid sis, Mary Lee, learns Gene is being duped and warns him. Crooked manager Hull then tries dirty work, only to end up in jail with Gene and June merging their companies through romance.

 APACHE TERRITORY (1958 Columbia)
A trite premise - a diverse group of people holed up in a desert canyon surrounded by fierce Apaches - is saved by a good script from Charles R. Marion and George W. George (based on a Louis L'Amour novel) full of personal conflicts and well placed action. Director Ray Nazarro brings a lot of claustrophobic tension to this Rory Calhoun/Vic Orsatti produced western. The opening action sequences (staged by stuntmen Reg Parton, Fred Krone and Bob Woodward) in Red Rock Canyon are stunning. The discordant group that Indian-wise drifter Rory Calhoun tries his best to save consists of: young kid Tom Pittman; young girl rescued from Indians Carolyn Craig; the girl Rory knew before, Barbara Bates; Bates' cowardly fiancée John Dehner; trustworthy Pima Indian Frank De Kova; Cavalry desk sergeant Francis De Sales; agitating troublemaker Cavalryman Leo Gordon, and worried family-man Trooper Myron Healey. All enact their somewhat predictable roles with sincerity, elevating APACHE TERRITORY above the norm.

 SUNSET IN WYOMING (1941 Republic)
Gene Autry is his usual engaging self as he hands out a lesson on overlogging and reforestation. Speaking for the valley ranchers whose lands are being ruined by the stripping of the nearby mountain area, Gene and Smiley Burnette appeal directly to George Cleveland, the owner of the company, but find him dominated by his willful, impertinent granddaughter, Maris Wrixon, who, unfortunately, is in love with the ruthless general manager of the company, Robert Kent. The elderly owner doesn't approve of Kent's logging tactics and secretly helps Gene concoct an elaborate plot to have nearby Mt. Warner declared a state park and wildlife refuge. At this point, the story veers off onto a very silly tangent, even for a fantasy-world Autry picture, nearly sinking to 3 Stooges quality. Somehow, Autry's easy-going boyish charm holds it all together. Nobody but Autry could get away with such unconventional ideas in westerns.

 BILLY THE KID WANTED (1941 PRC)
After filming six outings as Billy the Kid at PRC, Bob Steele jumped at the chance to be part of the revamped 3 Mesquiteers trio at Republic with Bob Livingston and Rufe Davis. So, due to PRC's releasing schedule, movie goers from the Fall of '40 on through the summer of '41 could catch Steele as both Billy the Kid and Tucson Smith. Since his last Zane Grey western in '37, FORLORN RIVER, Buster Crabbe had been quite busy making Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Red Barry serials, as well as several gangster melodramas. His only western in four years had been as a heavy in Gene Autry's COLORADO SUNSET in '39. Producer Sig Neufeld and director Sam Newfield (under his Sherman Scott alias) saddled up Buster as Billy the Kid, still partnered with Al "Fuzzy" St. John and a rotating cast as Jeff (Dave O'Brien, Carleton Young, Bud McTaggart) before dropping the trio idea after the first six. In Crabbe's first as Billy, Fuzzy tries to settle down in Paradise Valley but runs afoul of town boss Glenn Strange's ruthless rule over local farmers. Billy and Jeff arrive to help out and frame a fight between the power hungry boss and his main henchman, Charlie King. The kid in the pic, Joel Newfield, we must assume is either Sig or Sam's offspring. The nepotistic Neufeld brothers used Joel again in BILLY THE KID'S SMOKING GUNS.

 SILENT CODE (1935 Stage & Screen)
Mountie Kane Richmond is blamed for the murder and robbery of mine owner Eddie Coxen, the father of Blanche Mehaffey who works for greedy trading post operator Barney Furey, an embezzler who really murdered Coxen to recoup his thieving. Pretty snowbound.

 TAKE ME BACK TO OKLAHOMA (1940 Monogram)
Possibly not any better produced (by Ed Finney), written (by Bob Tansey) or directed (by Al Herman) than any of the other Tex Ritter Monograms, but the infectious sense of fun, the abundance of great Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys music and the constant movement make this, without a doubt, the highlight of Tex's B-western career. Also you'll hear the best screen version ever of Jimmy Davis' "You Are My Sunshine", sung by Ritter. Bandits Gene Alsace (aka Rocky Camron) and Donald Curtis, led by Karl Hackett, are raiding leading lady Terry Walker's stagecoaches, trying to put her out of business in order to gain the franchise for himself. Her foreman, Carleton Young, sends for help in the form of Tex Ritter and pal Slim Andrews, who also send for pals Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys. Hackett hires outlaw Olin Francis to gun Tex, but Tex has done Francis a favor in the past, so he and Tex turn the tables on Hackett's gang. But, of course, not before the big stagecoach race. Loaded with music, more than any Ritter B, Bob Wills and Tex do four songs, Tex and Slim one, and Wills and His Playboys perform four. Pure B-western enjoyment! Said it was!

 GUN THAT WON THE WEST (1955 Columbia)
Wanna see a really plodding, stupid, illogical '50s Cavalry vs. Indians western? This is it. To construct a chain of forts along the Bozeman Trail in Wyoming and drive the "red devils" from their land, the Cavalry recalls from civilian life intrepid scout Dennis Morgan (as Jim Bridger) and his drunken pal, Buffalo Bill-like showman Richard Denning. Denning's wife, dressed to the 9's, Paula Raymond, goes along for the adventure. Springfield rifles, from which the title is derived, are brought in at the last minute to save the day in the final Indian battle, which by the way, contains more stock than I have in Toyota! Characters are stereotyped and given no life whatsoever under William Castle's nothing direction. Robert Bice as Indian chief Red Cloud looks embarrassed that he ever took this role. Chris O'Brien, making like the most God-awful Irish Sergeant ever in westerns, has no idea what he's doing in an early-on scene in which he's supposedly driving a wagon - holding the reins high and gingerly as if they were made of glass. Perhaps worst of all is the blatant racism, "the only good Indian is a dead Indian" being the fervent rule in this Sam Katzman produced loser.

 TOPEKA (1953 Allied Artists)
Decidedly in the good-badman William S. Hart mold that Bill Elliott so admired. After a series of bank robberies, Bill Elliott and his outlaw gang (John James, Denver Pyle, Rick Vallin, Dick Crockett) decide to hole up in Deer Creek. Just so happens casino owner Harry Lauter runs a protection racket there, forcing all the merchants to pay off to keep operating. Learning of the scheme from eatery owner Phyllis Coates and Fuzzy Knight, Elliott and his boys move in, planning to take over for themselves. Beating Lauter's men (Dale Van Sickel, Ted Mapes) at every turn, Elliott wins the respect of the law-abiding townsfolk who appoint him Sheriff. At first he seizes the opportunity, knowing it will help him take over, but then he and his closest friend (Vallin) see an opportunity to shed their outlaw ways and go straight. The rest of Elliott's gang joins forces with Lauter, planning to loot the town. In the dwindling B-western market of 1953, only Elliott, Gene Autry, Rocky Lane, Kirby Grant, Wayne Morris, Johnny Carpenter and Rex Allen were left making pure Saturday matinee fare. Others like Audie Murphy, George Montgomery, Phil Carey and Rory Calhoun were turning out color westerns with slightly longer running times that landed somewhere between B and A western fare. Elliott was now making the most interesting B-westerns on the market. TOPEKA was remade on TV as an episode of CHEYENNE with Clint Walker - "Decision at Gunsight".

 A HOLY TERROR (1931 Fox)
A HOLY TERROR, directed by onetime silent star Irving Cummings, is taken from Max Brand's 1920 novel, Trailin', which was made into a more exciting western in 1921 starring Tom Mix. This early talkie George O'Brien version retains the same complex father/son plot but relies too heavily on conversation instead of action which is held until the conclusion, and then is quite mild. Supporting cast is capable, Sally Eilers as the girl, Robert Warwick, James Kirkwood and a snarling young pre-Warner Bros. Humphrey Bogart which gives the film a curio effect. Director Cummings was a leading man in silents from 1909-1922. When his fame faded, he starred in a series of Northwest Mountie two-reelers in the '20s, then became a well respected director at 20th Century Fox, helming primarily musicals.

 UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS (1948 Republic)
Roy Rogers' 10th anniversary special opens with some terrific shots of the Republic backlot. Add some superb music by Roy and The Sons of the Pioneers ("Rootin' Tootin' Rogers, King of the Cowboys" and a reprise of "Dust" from Roy's first film UNDER WESTERN STARS), some nice comic touches, a solid story from Sloan Nibley and Paul Gangelin that has fun with Roy being a Hollywood cowboy, and solid action direction from Bill Witney and you have a great western to celebrate Roy's 10th anniversary. In the business of capturing wild range horses, unscrupulous George Lloyd and brutal henchmen House Peters Jr. and Wade Crosby decide there's more money to be made by kidnapping Trigger and demanding a $100,000 ransom. Badman Peters received a ton of hate mail after this picture in which he hits a horse in the head with a rifle, threatens crippled young Michael Chapin, gun whips Chapin's dog Tramp and kidnaps Trigger! Andy Devine and Jane Frazee complement this 10th anniversary Trucolor triumph as comic sidekick and leading lady.

 DARING DANGER (1932 Columbia)
Slam! Starts with a bruising fistfight between Tim McCoy and hulking Dick Alexander. Sore loser Alexander later guns Tim in an unfair gunfight. Recovering from his wounds, Tim sets out after Alexander only to encounter homely Alberta Vaughn and her father Murdock McQuarrie being terrorized by rustlers Robert Ellis and Ed Cobb who are trying to freeze out the settlers. Wonder of wonders - his enemy and the man he's searching for, Alexander, is now working for Ellis. Director D. Ross Lederman seemed to team well with McCoy, making eight good Columbias from '31-'33. D'ja know comedic character actor Vernon Dent could sing? He can! Wait'll you hear him as a singing bartender. Better yet, he and Tim harmonize on a tear-jerker about "Susie". Cowboy cancer alert: Tim rolls his own.

 GUN SMUGGLERS (1948 RKO)
Tim Holt and Chito (Richard Martin) reunite with old friend and Army Sgt. Paul Hurst who is about to retire and start a ranch with his pals. Unfortunately, just as he's about to retire, young Gary Gray, helping his gun-runner older brother, Douglas Fowley, re-routes a wagonload of Cavalry gatling guns Hurst is guarding, allowing Fowley's gang to hijack the weapons. Hurst is commandeered out of the Cavalry with no retirement pay, smashing all his dreams. The outlaws are momentarily captured and Tim and Chito take it on themselves to straighten out the wayward youth, learn where the gatling guns are cached and save Hurst's reputation. Frank McDonald, in his only film with Tim for whatever reason, directs. Reckon he was too busy with Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. This is the first film in which Tim plays Tim Holt - and cowboy cancer alert - smokes a pipe (as he did in real life). Boo Boo: As Tim and Chito ride to rescue Sgt. Hurst in the Alabama Hills of Lone Pine, Tim has on his blue jean jacket. Cut to stock footage of them riding - no jacket.

 HEROES OF THE RANGE (1936 Columbia)
Posing as border outlaw Lightnin' Smith, Ken Maynard helps cutie June Gale when outlaws led by Harry Woods grab June's brother (Harry Ernest) who works in the express office, hoping to persuade him to tell them when a big gold shipment is due. All goes well till the real Lightnin' Smith (Frank Hagney) shows up stirring up a rousing, fightin' finish. As often was the case, music was an integral part of Ken's pictures, and this is no exception. Ken fiddles and sings (badly), and an unknown group sings "Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle". Watch for former low budget stars Wally Wales and Buffalo Bill Jr. in small roles.

 FRONTIER GUN (1958 20th Century Fox)
Underrated, seldom seen, '50s John Agar B deserves more exposure. There's nothing really new in the story, but Agar delivers one of his best performances as the son of a respected town-taming marshal (Barton MacLane) who is trying to prove his own worth as a town marshal even though his gun-hand wrist has been injured years ago by an exploding gun, ultimately slowing down his draw. Under Paul Landres' adept direction, Agar is tough when he needs to stand up to town bully Robert Strauss and his underlings (Holly Bane, Steve Raines and wimpy gambler James Griffith) yet brings forth the proper emotions of respect, apprehension and devotion when needed in scenes with his father, town councilman Morris Ankrum and his feisty daughter Joyce Meadows, and saloon girl Lyn Thomas. Scripter Stephen Kandel, in one of his earliest assignments, brings many new twists and elements to a routine story, including a turnabout on the HIGH NOON theme, making FRONTIER GUN a surprisingly interesting '50s B. Shame that Kandel didn't do more westerns, but he turned his attention to TV, becoming quite respected as a prolific scripter for SEA HUNT, WILD WILD WEST, IRON HORSE, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, MANNIX, DAN AUGUST, BANACEK, BARNABY JONES, STAR TREK, CHiPS, HART TO HART and many others.

 THE RED ROPE (1937 Supreme)
Offbeat George Plympton script finds Bob Steele's wedding day plans with Lois January foiled by feared badman Lew Meehan and his cutthroats, Richard Cramer, Charlie King and Sherry Tansey. Question is ... why is the outlaw preventing everyone from attending the wedding - including Forrest Taylor in a stellar role as an unconventional sturdy preacher. And why has Meehan sent the threatening Red Rope warning to Bob? Suffice it to say, Bob's not taking all of this without fighting back to find out who and what's behind the sinister threats and warnings. Young Bobby Nelson turns in a gratifying juvenile sidekick role. For something different, THE RED ROPE fills the bill.

 SANTA FE MARSHAL (1940 Paramount)
Several things stand out about this Hopalong Cassidy adventure. Snake-oil huckster Earle Hodgins has more screen-time than in any other western, letting out with his all-time best and belly-laugh funniest medicine show spiels. Early on, as medicine show man Hodgins invites Hoppy to join their troupe, suggesting Hoppy might play guitar with the show as "all cowboys nowadays play guitar", Boyd retorts, "Well this is one cowboy that never played a gee-tar and never will". A terrific inside joke when you realize Boyd hated singing cowboys intruding into his films. Working undercover with Hodgins' show, Marshal Hopalong routs out gold stealing ruthless old woman Ma Burton (played with verve by Marjorie Rambeau) and her cohorts, Kenneth Harlan, George Anderson, William Pagan. Hoppy's plans to capture the gang are nearly spoiled by Hodgins' daughter, Bernadene Hayes, and Hoppy's big-mouthed pal, Russell Hayden. Nothing special in the plot, but director Lesley Selander instills the proceedings with pure fun, plus a complex and respectful relationship between Hoppy and his adversary, Ma Burton.

 OKLAHOMA RENEGADES (1940 Republic)
An inferior remake of the original THE THREE MESQUITEERS ('36). After helming several Hoppy features from '36-'37, director Nate Watt returned to the comfortable niche of assistant director on Lewis Milestone's prestigious features, a position Watt held in the '20s. He did venture out to direct this slow-paced Mesquiteers entry (and finish up FRONTIER VENGEANCE ['40], a Don Barry started by George Sherman but taken over by Watt when Sherman came down with appendicitis). Somehow, Watt's work didn't fit with Republic prexy Herbert J. Yates' doctrine of fast paced action westerns. Following the Spanish-American War, a group of ex-soldiers (James Seay, Eddie Dean, Lasses White, Al Herman, Jack Lescoulie) head for Oklahoma homesteads where they encounter crooked lawyer William Ruhl and his brother Harold Daniels letting rancher Florine McKinney front for them while they secretly plot to grab off the prime rangeland for themselves. All is made right by the intervention of The Three Mesquiteers (Bob Livingston, Duncan Renaldo, Raymond Hatton). Further slowing down the pace is a blackface minstrel show midway through the picture.

 CHEYENNE KID (1933 RKO Radio)
A serio-comic misadventure with Tom Keene that writer Don Miller opined "Would have been perfect for Hoot Gibson. Keene's overbearing affability was more in keeping, and the confidence of the hero, combined with a lack of any dangerous opposition to him, gave the film a nice, easy gait and made it pleasant to take." Based on the W. C. Tuttle short story, "Sir Piegan Passes", Keene is mistaken for a notorious killer (Al Bridge) hired by crooked assayer Alan Roscoe to help him take over the rich mine owned by Mary Mason and her father Otto Hoffman. There's a hell of a fight in the barn at the end. Good story dragged down by Roscoe Ates' silly gold-making processes. For the record, Jack Kirk and his friends sing a song. Remade as FARGO KID ('40 RKO) with Tim Holt. Incidentally, Tom Keene doesn't kiss his horse (what cowboy star did?), but Roscoe Ates does.

 SILVER CANYON (1951 Columbia)
Gene Autry's an Army scout detailed to bring in Confederate guerrilla raider Jim Davis who is interfering with Federal supply lines. With Pat Buttram's assistance, Gene tracks the raiders to a Union Army post commanded (a bit naively) by Edgar Dearing whose son, Bob Steele, secretly supports Davis' actions but finally sees the Rebel's treachery when his sister (Gail Davis) and Gene are captured by Davis. Many of the primary plot points are oddly reminiscent of GENE AUTRYAND THE MOUNTIES. SILVER CANYON is pure western, causing many critics to hail Gene's Columbias as the best B-western series of the '50s. On the other hand, older Autry purists longed for Gene to burst into song more often.

 GHOST GUNS (1944 Monogram)
It's not the routine land grab plot that distinguishes this Johnny Mack Brown entry above others of the period, it's the hard riding and gun blazing finale followed by a film coda containing several minutes of leading lady Evelyn Finley's marvelous stunt riding and the best demonstration on film of Johnny Mack's expert gunhandling. Alone, these are worth the admission price! Story has saloon owner John Merton taking over the basin, running nesters off their land through the dirty deeds of his phony circuit judge (Frank LaRue) and their gun-rannies - Marshall Reed, Tom Quinn, Jack Ingram, John Cason. U. S. Marshals Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton come to the aid of rancher Riley Hill, neighboring rancher Evelyn Finley and her Aunt Sarah Padden, eventually triumphing by scaring a confession out of Ingram by staging a ghostly apparition of Riley Hill, whom the gunmen believe they killed. Attempting at this time period to get in the "singing cowboy groove", Monogram injected some unknown cowboy singers into the picture to warble "Red River Valley".

 PECOS KID (1936 Commodore)
This was the second of six planned B-westerns to star Fred Kohler Jr., the son of the noted screen badman. William Steiner's Commodore folded in less than a year after releasing only 8 pictures. The other four announced Kohler titles were CALL OF THE TRAIL, HAND OF THE LAW, TWO GUN JUSTICE and TRAIL BLAZER. In addition, Commodore had promised Donald Reed and Bobby Nelson in 8 B-westerns. Commodore did manage to release two Harry Carey "Cheyenne Harry" starrers - ACES WILD and GHOST TOWN. In PECOS KID, as a youngster, Kohler's father and uncle are massacred and their land stolen. Grown up, the Pecos Kid (Kohler) seeks retribution on Roger Williams, his son Wally Wales and their gunslicks Francis Walker and Budd Buster. The leading lady is homely non-actress Ruth Findlay whose career came and went in four pictures all directed by Harry Fraser, who directed PECOS KID with his typical ineptness.

 PACK TRAIN (1953 Columbia)
By 1953 there wasn't much new to offer in B-westerns but Gene Autry was still in there trying in his second to last film. The plot bears some semblance to director Anthony Mann's A-western BEND OF THE RIVER ('52). When Sunshine Valley settlers face starvation and sickness because of a food and medicine shortage caused by the greed of storekeeper Sheila Ryan and her partner Kenne Duncan, Gene, Tom London (father of Gene's girlfriend Gail Davis) and Smiley Burnette battle off all the odds to get the supplies through to the settlers - like James Stewart in BEND OF THE RIVER. Stock footage ending from Gene's BLAZING SUN is reused giving viewers a bit of a gypped feeling. The economic realities of making B-westerns in a dwindling market for them was taking its toll.

 A MISSOURI OUTLAW (1941 Republic)
After four years Don Barry returns to his hometown of Sundown where his father, Noah Beery Sr., is sheriff. Don is wanted in a nearby town on a trumped up murder charge. Beery is determined Don must face trial to clear himself but Don believes he won't receive a fair trial from the crooked sheriff who is in allegiance with racketeer Paul Fix in Sundown. The pair are operating a dairymen's protective association, using strong-arm techniques carried out by henchies Carleton Young, Kenne Duncan and John Merton. When Don's father is murdered by the gang, Don is mistakenly blamed. On the vengeance trail, one by one, Don tracks down the men responsible. Al St. John is as subdued as you've ever seen him, playing it quiet and humble.

 FURY AT GUNSIGHT PASS (1956 Columbia)
Overlooked little gem from Durango Kid director Fred Sears, probably his best work with some outstanding action sequences and an exciting climax amidst a swirling desert dust storm. Outlaw David Brian tries to put one over on his boss Neville Brand. He holds up a bank before the designated time for the rest of the gang to arrive, but in a shootout the cash is stolen by town undertaker Percy Helton whose wife (Katharine Warren) then steals the loot when Helton is accidentally killed. Now Brian, Neville and the rest of the gang (Wally Vernon, George Keymas and James Anderson) are holding the town hostage until the money is found, threatening to kill one citizen an hour. The son (Richard Long) of the town banker (Addison Richards) turns out to be the hero. Neat twists and turns and nicely built suspense in David Lang's screenplay. Lang wrote several very good B-plus westerns in the '50s - AMBUSH AT TOMAHAWK GAP, THE NEBRASKAN, MASSACRE CANYON, APACHE AMBUSH, WYOMING RENEGADES, HIRED GUN, PHANTOM STAGECOACH, among others. Lang also wrote for TV - RANGE RIDER, LAW OF THE PLAINSMAN, ANNIE OAKLEY, BUFFALO BILL JR., GENE AUTRY, RIFLEMAN, RAWHIDE. He turned producer for Jane Fonda's KLUTE in '71.

 FORT COURAGEOUS (1965 20th Century Fox)
Prepare for a long trek across the desert with hackneyed, trite dialog. Coming at the tail end of the '50s-'60s Cavalry cycle and directed by old pro Les Selander, FORT COURAGEOUS was filmed in Kanab, Utah, back to back with CONVICT STAGE with basically the same cast. Cavalry Sgt. Fred Beir, falsely accused of rape, becomes the leader of a small troop when their Captain is badly wounded. Eventually trudging their way to Fort Courageous with an Indian chief's son as captive, they find Major Don Barry a lone survivor after a vicious Indian raid - with more still to come. Often brutal and sadistic with an unsatisfying ending.

 FORT MASSACRE (1958 United Artists)
Joel McCrea plays against type as a bitter Indian hating cavalry troop sergeant who tries to guide the remnants of his detachment back to the fort, finding hostile Apaches at every turn. It's another derivation on LOST PATROL with the troopers getting picked off one by one, but the writing (Martin M. Goldsmith), with several surprising twists, characterizations and acting are first rate. McCrea's character is unusually complicated and interesting to watch develop. Top notch cast includes Forrest Tucker, Susan Cabot, John Russell, Francis J. McDonald, Denver Pyle, Anthony Caruso, Rayford Barnes, George W. Neise, Bob Osterloh and Guy Prescott. Directed by Joseph M. Newman.

 SUN VALLEY CYCLONE (1946 Republic)
A neat idea centering around how Red Ryder (Bill Elliott) acquired his horse Thunder is spoiled in several ways, primarily by the use of a flashback format which slows down the film. The action content is less than usual and the ending certainly needed to be punched up. The use of oft-seen stock footage of a horse fight, purportedly between Thunder and a paint, is ludicrous as the markings on the paint in the stock nowhere near match the markings of the horse in the new footage. Plot has Red obtaining Thunder from Teddy Roosevelt (Ed Cassidy) who asks Red to stop the Wyoming horse thieves who are playing the Duchess (Alice Fleming) off against rancher Eddy Waller to keep the focus off the real rustlers led by Waller's foreman, Roy Barcroft. Barcroft makes a fatal mistake when he steals and whips Thunder, inciting the fury of Red Ryder. Watch for Monte Hale in a brief bit as one of the Duchess' wranglers.

 LAND OF THE OUTLAWS (1944 Monogram)
Formulaic Johnny Mack Brown as he and Raymond Hatton bust up a scheme by saloon owner Hugh Prosser who has his gun-throwers (Charlie King, Tom Quinn, Art Fowler, John Cason) switching high-grade ore wagons for low-grade. When the miners quit due to lack of high-grade ore, Prosser picks up the mines for a song. Good buildup but a very weak ending.

 RIDE 'EM COWGIRL (1939 Grand National)
The second of three singing cowgirl westerns starring Dorothy Page who had worked her way up from small roles in features such as MANHATTAN MOON and MAMA RUNS WILD in the middle '30s. Page was pretty, sang a tune beautifully and sat astride a horse believably, but Grand National put far too little production dollars behind the series. Besides that, when it came to the action, directors had to bring in a male, in this case Milton Frome, badly miscast as a leading man. He found much greater fame later on as a comedic actor. Plot has silver smuggler Harrington Reynolds operating on Dorothy's ranch, setting her up on a false robbery charge to get her out of the way. Telephone lineman Milton Frome and comic Vince Barnett come to her aid and turn out to be government men. Lynn Mayberry is Dorothy's female gal sidekick. A noble experiment from producer Arthur Driefuss. It has its moments but that's about all.

 APACHE TRAIL (1942 MGM)
Mostly set-bound, full of stilted, talky dialogue with only a couple of action-filled sequences. The Ernest Haycox story features little of his touch. Reformed badman William Lundigan (stiff and unconvincing) assumes control of a stageline outpost putting him in conflict with his outlaw brother Lloyd Nolan who is after a strongbox at the waystation which is besieged by Apaches seeking Nolan's scalp for wrongs he committed against them. Nolan's urban accent works against him as a convincing westerner as it did Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney in OKLAHOMA KID. Supporting cast gives this one its only interest - Fuzzy Knight, Grant Withers, Donna Reed, Ray Teal, Chill Wills, Trevor Bardette. Remade with slight changes as APACHE WAR SMOKE ('52) with Robert Horton, Gilbert Roland.

 TALL MAN RIDING (1955 Warner Bros.)
After five years, hate brings Randolph Scott back to a town bent on revenge against Robert Barrat, the cattle baron landowner who wouldn't let Scott marry his daughter (Dorothy Malone) and viciously and publicly whipped Scott and burned down his ranch, driving him out of town. Also wanting Barrat out of the way is perfumed gambler John Baragrey who employs sullen, black-clad gunman Paul Richards and strong-arm deputy Mickey Simpson to do his dirty work. Peggie Castle is Baragrey's saloon girl who befriends Scott to undo her boss and Lane Chandler is Barrat's loyal but sympathetic foreman. Scott has hired lawyer John Dehner to bring down Barrat in a legal way if necessary, but Dehner eventually double-crosses Scott to side with Baragrey. Characters are well drawn and developed by director Les Selander with a few truly different plot twists and turns from scripter Joseph Hoffman based on a Norman Fox novel. Midway, Scott engages in a truly brutal, realistic fist fight with Mickey Simpson. During the screen fight, the pair roll under a wagon in the street, which caused the nervous horses to bolt, nearly severing Scott's head from the wagon wheels which did crush Scott's hat, one he'd reportedly worn in over 25 westerns. Cowboy cancer alert: Scott lights up.

 HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER (1944 Republic)
The first Roy Rogers film to go way overboard in the big production numbers begins well enough, but collapses at the end finishing with a 13 minute (!) musical revue of dancing, singing, production numbers and specialty acts including the clownish Wiere Brothers for whatever reason! Out of place Hoagy Carmichael songs are even included - nice numbers but certainly not western. By 1944 the Rogers "westerns" had come a long way down the trail toward sophistication. Although they were popular at the time, pulling in huge audiences, many in this period were pallid, dull affairs. HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER has little real action, saved primarily by a well directed Army contract speed and endurance horse race (a Republic favorite). But prior to that we have to slog through too much dialogue, endless fiesta scenes, lackluster villainy from Onslow Stevens, too little Sons of the Pioneers material and no slam-bang finish. Basic plot has Roy and pal "Teddy Bear" (Big Boy Williams) inveigling themselves onto Ruth Terry's horse ranch after her father (Joseph Crehan) is killed trying to ride Trigger - a wild horse to start with in this film. Naturally, Roy saves Trigger from destruction by Stevens and proves to Ruth the palomino is worth saving. At the same time he wins the big race, the Army contract and the affection of Ruthie. 70 minutes, filmed at Lone Pine, CA.

 RUSTLER'S ROUNDUP (1933 Universal)
The last of Tom Mix's nine sound westerns. Variety reported director Henry MacRae was ordered by Universal to "turn out a western of the old fashioned type (with) nothing but time-tried range stuff, minus any of the non-sagebrush frills which have crept into (Tom's) recent horse operas." RUSTLER'S ROUNDUP was the result with Frank Howard Clark who wrote several of Tom's early successes brought in to write the script in which Tom plays a masked Black Bandit mistaken for an outlaw who is really trying to save Diane Sinclair and her brother Noah Beery Jr.'s ranch from the clutches of Sinclair's evil rustler foreman, Douglas Dumbrille, and his partner, one-time silent star Roy Stewart. Other old-timers are present also - Pee Wee Holmes as Tom's comic friend and William Desmond as the sheriff, along with star-to-be Walter Brennan as a stagecoach passenger/later barkeep. Interesting to learn leading lady Diane Sinclair was a mulatto who managed to pass for white. She also co-starred with Buck Jones in THE FIGHTING CODE and was featured in half a dozen '30s films before her career-ending Bryan Foy exploitation roadshow film, TOMORROW'S CHILDREN, about sterilization in '34.

 THE COMMAND (1954 Warner Bros.)
After scoring a success with the first 3-D western, CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER, Warner Bros. cast Guy Madison again in the first CinemaScope western, THE COMMAND. Given a big production under director David Butler (who helmed Errol Flynn's SAN ANTONIO), THE COMMAND sports hundreds of extras in the big battle scenes, of which the final eleven minute sequence spreads across the wide screen virtually making participants of the audience. Unfortunately, it loses much of its sweep when shown on TV. Story concerns cavalry medical officer Madison forced to assume command of a troop when Capt. Gregg Barton is killed by Indians. Pressed into escorting a wagon train through hostile Indian territory, Madison learns the ways of war from tough sergeant James Whitmore in a terrific part ("With the Captain's permission ..."). Perhaps the finest cavalry picture made about the weight of command. Excellent supporting cast includes Carl Benton Reid, Harvey Lembeck, Ray Teal, Tom Monroe, Iron Eyes Cody, K. L. Smith, Ray Jones, Boyd "Red" Morgan, Jim Bannon, Denver Pyle, Chubby Johnson, Reed Howes and H. M. Wynant.

 FIGHTING FRONTIERSMAN (1945 Columbia)
When old prospector Emmett Lynn accidentally discovers Mexican General Santa Ana's gold hidden in a cave for years, nasty saloon owner Robert Filmer and his gun-hands (Zon Murray, George Chesebro, Jim Diehl, Jock Mahoney) capture and hold Lynn in their hideout shack trying to make him tell them where the treasure is located. Lynn's old friends Charles Starrett and Smiley Burnette get wind of Lynn's plight and ride to the rescue, bringing forth the usual Durango Kid chases and fights and silly songs from Smiley (accompanied by Hank Newman and his Georgia Crackers). Main interest here is trying to figure out whose side saloon girl Helen Mowery is on. And there's a terrific rooftop chase with stuntman Jock Mahoney doubling Durango.

 SAGA OF HEMP BROWN (1958 Universal-International)
Originally designed as a TV series, producer Gordon Kay eventually turned the story into an above average Rory Calhoun starrer. As Lt. Hemp Brown, Calhoun is robbed of the Army payroll wagon he is guarding and framed for the job by old friend, ex-cavalry sergeant John Larch. Accused of cowardice by the Army and given a dishonorable discharge, Calhoun vows to track down Larch, whom the cavalry believes dead, and clear his name. Along the way he encounters sexy Yvette Vickers, saloon keeper Morris Ankrum, medicine show owner Fortunio Bonanova with showgirl Beverly Garland, old farmer Tom London, sheriff Allan Lane and Larch-gang double-crosser Russell Johnson. Calhoun also finds he must continually keep outlaw Larch out of hot water and alive in order to prove his own innocence. Solid western, often brutal and violent, would have made an exciting western-style FUGITIVE TV series. Onetime B-western star Jack Perrin can be glimpsed as an extra townsman.

 MOON OVER MONTANA (1946 Monogram)
Writer/producer/director Oliver Drake mimics Gene Autry westerns as best he can here: Jimmy Wakely wears a copycat Gene Autry shirt; the "taming of the shrew" plot is very typical of Autry; Jimmy's sidekick Lee "Lasses" White sings a comic song, as Smiley Burnette would; the save-the-small-ranchers-from-the-big-rancher story is Autry plot #101; plenty of songs from Jimmy (5) and a back-up group, Woody Woodell and his Riding Rangers with fiddlin' Arthur Smith. Drake delivers everything but Gene and Smiley. Complex plot has railroad office manager Jack Ingram and his son Brad Slaven conniving with wealthy rancher Stanley Blystone and his boys (Terry Frost, Eddie Majors, Bob Duncan) to freeze out Jimmy and the small ranchers from shipping their stock to market. Ingram and Blystone plot to buy the railroad from nearly broke majority stockholder Jennifer Holt. Watch for George Turner (star of Republic's SON OF ZORRO serial) as the sheriff. Whatever happened to him?

 MEN OF THE NORTH (1930 MGM)
Early talkie duller. Canadian trapper Gilbert Roland, in love with Barbara Leonard, is suspected of gold robberies and pursued by Mountie Robert Elliott. Roland proves his innocence after he rescues Leonard and her father from a snowstorm and avalanche. Directed by Hal Roach.

 PAWNEE (1957 Republic)
Moronic, clichéd, cheaply-produced and abysmally directed by George WaGGner, PAWNEE represents the nadir of George Montgomery's westerns. Even being in Trucolor hinders more than helps when mismatched Eastmancolor stock footage battle scenes lifted from SITTING BULL are incorporated all throughout the picture. Other than these stock battle-scenes, there's precious little action, just a lifeless wagon train sludging across sparse soundstage green-sets. The shots of homesteaders supposedly driving covered wagons are the poorest blue-screen shots I've ever witnessed. Ludicrous story has Montgomery as a white man adopted and reared by Pawnees. Growing up with confused feelings, he is betrothed to Indian maid Charlotte Austin. Leaving the Pawnees to discover his white heritage, George becomes a scout for a wagon train of settlers and falls in love with Lola Albright. A really drab, unlikable endeavor.

 GOLD MINE IN THE SKY (1938 Republic)
With his initial post-strike feature (See: OLD BARN DANCE), the full Gene Autry mythical West emerges. All the blended elements of old and modern West are interwoven with music, comedy and action. Directed by Joe Kane, GOLD MINE IN THE SKY is an Autry favorite with its classic title tune and yet another taming of the shrew plotline. Young Eastern girl Carol Hughes has been left a western ranch by her late father who, knowing his headstrong daughter, has appointed ranch foreman Autry as administrator of his will. Hughes wants to marry Chicago playboy Craig Reynolds and sell the ranch, but needs Gene's approval to do so - which he's not about to grant. Gene sees through the phony Reynolds who, discovering the value of the property, plots to get rid of Gene by sending to Chicago for racketeers led by LeRoy Mason. With Smiley Burnette's help, Gene exposes Reynolds and brings Hughes to her senses.