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 ©2000-2007 by Boyd Magers. All rights reserved.

The Ratings

Superior

Good

OK

Poor

A real dud !

 FUGITIVE FROM SONORA (1943 Republic)
Two Don Barrys are better than one. Most likely Barry's most unusual western in possibly the most unrecognized, under appreciated B-western series ever made. Barry's pictures were always so much better than they needed to be. Don's character here is much in the vein of William S. Hart's good/badman roles. Territorial Parole Commissioner Harry Cording concocts a scheme with cattle barons Jamesson Shade and Karl Hackett whereby Cording will parole certain hardened convicts on the condition they become part of henchman Ethan Laidlaw's gang or be killed. The outlaws then target the ranchers and homesteaders on land coveted by Shade and Hackett. Once the settlers are driven out, the gang claims the land as their own. One of the parolees, Keeno Phillips (Barry), is riding with Laidlaw's gang when a traveling preacher, Fighting Parson Dave Winters (also played by Barry), arrives to help leading lady Lynn Merrick and other ranchers. Keeno and Winters are twin brothers, Keeno having run away from home as a boy to become an outlaw. His preacher brother has searched the west for Keeno for years. At first denying his brother, Keeno and his brother eventually reconcile as Keeno vows to end Cording's evil reign of lawlessness in his own way.

 PHANTOM COWBOY (1935 Aywon)
Insufferably bad low budget "gem" ... one of those pictures that resembles a car wreck. You don't want to look, but you're oddly drawn toward it. Produced and directed with nonexistent talent by Robert J. Horner. Bad photography with actors firmly planted in front of a stationary camera, microphone shadows, sloppy continuity, poor editing, vicious overacting - especially from Ted Wells' lame comedy sidekick Jimmy Aubrey as Ptomaine Pete. No overacting by lead Wells though - he just plain can't act at all! Worst sequence of many involves Wells who, arriving at the Phantom Bandit's shack, finds the outlaw to be his double ... at least in close-ups. Otherwise, in medium shots, the "double" is obviously played by George Chesebro, even to speaking lines in his own unique voice! Five minutes later, Chesebro is playing the crooked saloon owner. Ridiculous, incoherent plotting isn't worth describing. Doris Brook is the no-talent leading lady and Sherry Tansey (weirdly credited as Cherry Tausie!) is her misguided mixed-up-with-the-wrong-crowd brother. Star Ted Wells experienced brief stardom in late silents at Universal in the late '20s, sometimes credited as Pawnee Bill Jr. With the coming of sound, he couldn't hack it and pretty much disappeared from view after two atrocious grade-Z westerns for Horner - this one and the lost DEFYING THE LAW ('35). However, Wells continued to work in Hollywood, doing bit roles, doubling and stunting, including much work in Hopalong Cassidy westerns from '41-'43. Born July 11, 1899, in Midland, TX, Wells died of heart attack June 7, 1948, in Wickenburg, AZ, at only 48. Cowboy Cancer Alert - Wells smokes.

 FLAME OF THE WEST (1945 Monogram)
Many critics rate this as one of Johnny Mack Brown's best B-westerns. Perhaps it is, but not because of Brown who plays the mild new medical doctor in town who's sworn off guns, but rather because of the plot - dissimilar to Brown's normal Monograms - and in particular, the excellent performance by that fine actor Douglas Dumbrille as a tough town tamer sent for by the Trail Forks Citizens' Committee. Dumbrille totally steals the picture from everyone! The film is also given extra length (it runs 70 minutes) to develop its distinct plot. Trail Forks is overrun by crooked gamblers and outlaws headed up by saloon owner Harry Woods, gambler Jack Ingram and gunmen Ray Bennett, Bob Duncan and Frank McCarroll. Woods' dance hall queen is Joan Woodbury who, as we soon see, has a "history" with Dumbrille. Naturally, when Dumbrille is gunned down by the gang, Brown must reluctantly strap on his six guns to avenge his new found friend's murder. But other than that, and until then, Dumbrille owns every scene he's in. The complacent, mild tempered Brown is simply no acting match for Dumbrille's talent. Brown regular Raymond Hatton is featured, but in a totally minor role this time. Woodbury sings one song; Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys do a couple (but have no speaking parts) and Johnny Mack is allowed to perform some quick gun tricks early on just to convince you he can be a man of action when need be.

 40 GUNS TO APACHE PASS (1967 Columbia)
Audie Murphy's last movie, save a minor role in A TIME FOR DYING ('72) is a tired effort comparatively - especially given the fact it's directed by action vet William Witney. Cavalry Captain Murphy escorts a shipment of 40 new repeating rifles through hostile Apache territory (Red Rock Canyon, CA) to a fort. Along the way he's beset by problems and betrayals among his own men (Kenneth Tobey in an especially vile and deceptive role) as well as threats from Apache chief Cochise (Michael Keep). Faced with a court martial when he loses the guns, Audie sets out to retrieve them alone. Unnecessary narration of events throughout the film only intrudes and interferes with the natural flow of events. You'd think Tobey was Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees by the amount of killing he takes at the end. Western Boo Boo: Audie has beaten the crap out of Tobey early in the film and Tobey shows it with a brilliant split lip and a loud shiner. However, later that day, as he volunteers for a mission, all signs of the beating have vanished.

 BILLY THE KID'S SMOKING GUNS (1942 PRC)
The last film in Sig and Sam Newfield's Bob Steele/Buster Crabbe series to use "Billy the Kid" in the actual title. Saving youngster Joel Newfield (most likely the son - or grandson - of either producer Sig or director Sam) after his father is killed by outlaws, Billy the Kid (Buster Crabbe) and his pals (Dave O'Brien, Fuzzy St. John) come to the rescue of Joel's pretty widowed Mom, Joan Barclay, who is put upon by slippery doctor Milton Kibbee, Ranchers Cooperative President John Merton, crooked Sheriff Ted Adams and their gunslingers Frank Ellis and Slim Whitaker. They've learned the government is about to buy up all the Valley at high prices to build a Cavalry post. A highlight of this otherwise mediocre entry is Fuzzy's "escape" with a tall ladder.

 HOT LEAD (1951 RKO)
"Arizona rocks to bandit gunfire as Tim Holt avenges a murder and wins a fresh start for a reformed convict", proclaimed the ads. By 1951 the Holts were becoming quite systematical - Chito and the girls, a joke or two about Chito's name or his mangling of the English language, a standard trio of badmen rather than a whole gang, more and more stock footage (here a whole cattle stampede segment from SADDLE LEGION only two films earlier is reused), tightening of the budget with less supporting players, less action and more dependence on plot. In HOT LEAD (a great title) crafty train robber John Dehner and his two henchmen (Bob Wilke, Paul Marion) have killed one of rancher Joan Dixon's men in a failed holdup. Dehner shrewdly has convict/telegrapher Ross Elliott released from prison, planning to set him up to work in the telegraph office in Trail Head, New Mexico, and glean info on future gold shipments for the gang to rob. As Dixon's foreman, Tim (and his pal Chito - Richard Martin) get involved and give Elliott, who is actually trying to go straight, a job as a cowhand. Together they are able to trap Dehner's gang. For more confirmation of budget encroachment at RKO, the town, business signs (Landry's) pertaining to the previous Holt film, GUN PLAY, are still in evidence in HOT LEAD.

 TRIGGER FINGERS (1939 Victory)
The next to the last of Tim McCoy's Lightnin' Bill Carson series for Sam Katzman's Victory Pictures. Its only innovation is adding attractive, bright Joyce Bryant to McCoy's team of FBI sleuths, which in the previous pics only included dim-bulb Ben Corbett as Magpie. When the marauding Lasson County gang (Boss Carleton Young, Ted Adams, Kenne Duncan, Ralph Peters, Forrest Taylor) run afoul of the government, our three intrepid operatives disguise themselves (quite badly), audaciously posing as traveling horse trading gypsies to help out befuddled young deputy Bud McTaggert, his girlfriend Jill Martin (formerly Harley Wood) and her rancher-father John Elliott. Plot is simple, there's very little action, save one Walker Cabin free-for-all, plus McCoy just plain annoys and is unwelcome, suited out as a silly mustachioed gypsy fortune-teller. Why producer Katzman and director Sam Newfield allowed Tim to run amok in this series as a Mexican, Chinese, a masked phantom, an outlaw double, or whatever, is unknown. Perhaps, with the loss of stalwart Tom Tyler, Katzman was happy to sign McCoy and give him free rein in order to keep his Victory banner flying. With the exit of McCoy (to PRC), Katzman folded Victory and moved his production operations to Monogram where he produced East Side Kids, Bela Lugosi and TeenAgers B's. For the record, Katzman's Victory churned out 30 pictures (including 8 Tylers and 8 McCoys) as well as two serials from July '35 to December '40.

 VALLEY OF HUNTED MEN (1942 Republic)
Made just before Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941), this 3 Mesquiteers (Tom Tyler, Bob Steele, Jimmie Dodd) adventure finds a murderous trio of Nazis, led by ringleader Roland Varno, breaking out of a Canadian POW camp and immediately crossing into Wyoming for safe refuge. Patriotic rancher Hal Price reckons Americanized Germans may be helping the Goose-steppers with suspicion falling on refugee scientist Dr. Edward Van Sloan and his daughter Anna Marie Stewart who are in reality trying to aid the Allied cause with their research. Two of the Sig-Heilers are killed but Varno hides out at Van Sloan's ranch by impersonating his nephew. Further complications set in when Gestapo agents go after Van Sloan's experimental formulas. Naturally, the Mesquiteers win the war in Wyoming.

 VANISHING RIDERS (1935 Spectrum)
For the 1935-'36 season, producer Ray Kirkwood promised eight westerns starring Bill Cody and his son Bill Cody Jr. for release by Spectrum. Cody made eight all right, but his son was only in three of them (the pair had made FRONTIER DAYS a year earlier in '34 for Spectrum release, but it was not a Kirkwood production). VANISHING RIDERS truthfully is Bill Cody Jr.'s movie all the way - the story revolves around him and he is involved in more action than his Dad, including the final lasso-capture of badman Wally Wales. Story has Sheriff Cody resigning his lawman badge after being forced to kill Bill Jr.'s outlaw father. Now he's caring for the boy as they happen upon the Cross M Ranch run by leading lady Ethel Jackson, her brother Donald Reed and ghost town store-keep Budd Buster in one of his best roles. The Cross M is being plagued by rustlers Wally Wales and his gang (Buck Morgan, Ace Cain, Milt [Milburn] Morante). Codys Sr. and Jr. rout the owlhoots by disguising themselves - and their horses - as skeletons. Laughable, to be sure, but it seems to scare these rustlers. There are some impressive, above average camera set-ups from cinematographer Williams Hyer who lensed a lot of B-westerns from '32-'40 with Bob Steele, Big Boy Williams, Tom Tyler, Herb Jeffries, Bob Custer, Jack Randall and Ken Maynard.

 TEXAS PANHANDLE (1945 Columbia)
It's a wild free-for-all roundup of action, thrills and music as the Durango Kid busts up a thieving gang of land grabbers (land swindler Forrest Taylor and his never-ending gang of gunnies - Edward Howard, Jack Kirk, George Chesebro, Ted Mapes, Hugh Hooker). If you've seen 10 or 12 Durango Kid B's, you'll not find much to separate this one from the pack, except early ones like this are perhaps a little better done. Tex Harding is along as usual in these early Durangos. Real name John Thye (born January 4, 1918), his singing voice was dubbed in these films by James T. 'Bud' Nelson (1914-1994). Columbia was apparently grooming Harding for a series of his own but when he failed to impress, the idea was abandoned. Spade Cooley and his band give out with a couple of tunes - especially noteworthy is their version of Bob Wills' "Take Me Back to Tulsa". Carolina Cotton once again sings "I Love To Yodel". God love her, but did her repertoire consist of only 3 songs? Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor is comic relief and the girl is quickly forgettable Nanette Parks. Most unusual here is the fact Taylor and his gang discover midway that Charles 'Steve' Starrett is The Durango Kid!

 RIDIN' DOWN THE CANYON (1942 Republic)
There's a lot to like in RIDIN' DOWN THE CANYON, Roy Rogers' last before Republic began the third phase of his career, expanding the budgets, spending more in lavish settings, more songs, choirs, etc. Starting with the title tune (the biggest hit Smiley Burnette ever wrote), RIDIN' ... has a sound story, cheerful music, above average cast and plenty of hard riding and gunplay. The comedy between Gabby Hayes (a "professional rustler catcher") and Pat Brady is well done also - a running conflict on "deefness" with Roy and Bob Nolan mischievously egging the two on. Storywise, pert Linda Hayes and her kid brother Buzz Henry capture and sell wild horses to the government for their experiment on the reclamation of wild horses, breeding their cunning and toughness with the proud, gentler thoroughbreds. But they are being plagued by rustlers Hal Taliaferro, Tom London and Roy Barcroft who are taking their orders from Lariat Lodge dude ranch owners Addison Richards and Lorna Gray (later Adrian Booth) as well as Linda's supposed "friend", James Seay. Buzzy, a fan of radio entertainers Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers, enlists their aid in tracking down the horse-thieves who are taking coded orders on where to strike over the radio from Lorna Gray broadcasting from the dude ranch (a plot device used earlier in Gene Autry's COLORADO SUNSET '39). A very pleasant Rogers picture with some outstanding songs including "Blue Prairie" (sung by Roy and the Pioneers), "Sagebrush Symphony" (sung by the Pioneers) and "My Little Buckaroo" (sung by Roy to Buzz Henry), a song written by Jack Scholl and M. K. Jerome which originated in CHEROKEE STRIP ('37 WB) as Dick Foran sang to young Tommy Bupp. An oddity here is that Buzz Henry's screen name is Bobbi Blake - same moniker as Bobby Blake who'd reach stardom at Republic riding with Red Ryder in '44. Linda Hayes makes a nice enough heroine but female acting honors (and screen time) go to "bad girl" Lorna Gray. Sadly, the last Rogers picture from his "happy" period when Roy, Gabby and the Pioneers worked so well together without the intrusion of added and unwanted other musical elements.

 THUNDERBOLT (1935 Regal)
Certain to initiate drowsiness. Lobo the Marvel Dog (another grade Z Rin Tin Tin rip off) is the title character in this crude study in violence and retribution. Robber and unscrupulous storekeeper Barney Furey, along with crooked deputy Frank Hagney, kill young Bobby Nelson's dog Pride while Furey is after a gun in Nelson's home which has Furey's incriminating fingerprints on it. Nelson's Dad is Sheriff Bob McKenzie. Then the blackguards try to pin the crime on miner Kane Richmond whose dog Thunderbolt just happens to be a dead ringer for Pride. Notable as the first film for Fay McKenzie, character actor Bob McKenzie's daughter. Story and screenplay by Jack Gevne (aka Jack Jevne/Jack West/Jack Levine - see GHOST RIDER). For more on Regal, see WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES.

 FIGHTING RANGER (1934 Columbia)
An almost scene-for-scene remake of Buck Jones' BORDER LAW ('31) as Buck and pal Frank Rice ride the vengeance trail south of the border to avenge the bank robbery murder of Buck's Texas Ranger kid brother (Paddy O'Flynn) at the hands of the Cougar (Bradley Page) and his gang, headed up by tough Ward Bond. Great barroom battle between Jones and Bond, and you'll love the way Buck exacts final retribution on Page, pumping more lead than really necessary into the border bandido. Meanwhile, Buck romances singing cantina entertainer Dorothy Revier, the weak spot in this otherwise fast-riding Jones. Cowboy cancer alert - Buck smokes.

 RANGE WAR (1939 Paramount)
From Hopalong Cassidy's "dull" period. Instead of hard riding action, this one just sort of moseys along. There's a lack of solid villainy from Willard Robertson whose role amounts to a bit part until the final 15 minutes when the listless film finally kicks into high gear with a shootout at Padre Pedro de Cordoba's mission. Matt Moore is trying to build a railroad spur line for the ranchers so they won't have to pay toll to Robertson to cross his land. Robertson's thugs (Francis McDonald, Eddie Dean, Ray Bennett, Stanley Price) do all they can to sabotage their progress. Lucky (Russell Hayden) has a fleeting romance with diminutive Betty Moran, Moore's daughter. Also hurting the dynamics of the film is the series' loss of George Hayes who moved over to Republic after completing RENEGADE TRAIL. He's replaced by harmonica-blower Britt Wood as Speedy in four '39-'40 Hoppys. The series didn't fully recover until the producer Harry 'Pop' Sherman brought Andy Clyde on board with THREE MEN FROM TEXAS in November of '40.

 NIGHT RIDERS OF MONTANA (1951 Republic)
When headstrong rancher Myron Healey is framed for the murder of fellow horse rancher Marshall Bradford, "The range roars with action", Republic's ads blazed, as state ranger Allan 'Rocky' Lane comes to the aid of Sheriff Chubby Johnson and Myron's sister, cute Claudia Barrett. Meanwhile, the respected town gunsmith, Arthur Space, actually the secret leader of the night-riding rustlers, deceives Healey into believing he is out to help the accused rancher and tricks Bradford's trigger-happy son, Mort Thompson, into revealing where the ranchers are bunching their herds. It takes Rocky's fists, guns and wits to bring the cunning Space and his rustlers (Roy Barcroft, Don Harvey, Ted Adams) to justice. M. Coates Webster's script includes a funny line ... Space to Barcroft: "I pay you to act not think, and right now you're being overpaid."

 CHEROKEE STRIP (1940 Paramount)
There's the usual trademark slow build-up to an action packed finale common to many of producer Harry 'Pop' Sherman's westerns, and when it comes, it is certainly one of his best staged wind-ups. An unsettled Texas feud is brought to Oklahoma Territory when the Barretts (crooked banker Victor Jory, his wimpish killer-brother Douglas Fowley and the rest of the clan - Morris Ankrum, Addison Richards, William Haade, Bob Kortman, Hal Taliaferro) set up a crooked empire in (and near) the as-yet unopened Cherokee Strip. Down in Texas, Fowley killed the brother of Richard Dix, who is now U.S. Marshal based in the town run by Jory. It's a tense situation but when young and gun-foolish census taker Bill Henry, the brother of Dix's girl Florence Rice, is murdered by Fowley, everything flares into dynamite action with Dix's brothers (Tom Tyler, Ray Teal) joining in the fight. Hopalong Cassidy regular Andy Clyde is along for a few laughs as Dix's partner.

 SHOWDOWN (1950 Republic)
Bill Elliott's last for Republic after seven years with the studio is an excellent example of western film noir, wonderfully scripted and directed by Dorrell and Stuart McGowan with cinematography from Reggie Lanning, a longtime staple at Republic whose career seemed to end with the cessation of Republic itself in the mid-'50s. The McGowan brothers were scriptwriters who began at Republic in '36 with Gene Autry's COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN. They went on to write dozens more for Autry, the Weaver Brothers and Elviry, Roy Rogers, Roy Acuff and others. They'd scripted and produced Elliott's excellent HELLFIRE a year earlier and many of the religious overtones seen there are present in SHOWDOWN. However, this is the first time the McGowans ever directed a film - and they come through with a distinctive western about vengeance, retribution and redemption. Ex-Texas State Policeman Bill Elliott is stern and driven in his ruthless determination to find and kill the man who shot his kid brother in the back and stole the money with which the pair were to buy a ranch. Elliott is convinced one of Walter Brennan's trail drovers is the killer, and after Elliott kills trail boss Leif Erickson over another matter, Brennan offers Elliott the job of getting his herd to Montana. Still convinced one of the men (Jim Davis, Yakima Canutt, Harry Morgan, Nacho Galindo, William Ching, Rhys Williams) is the man he's looking for, the bitter Elliott takes the job hoping to identify the killer. Before they leave, saloon owner Marie Windsor, also a suspect, buys out Brennan's herd and also joins the drive. Along the way, Brennan preaches to Elliott to forget revenge and let God's law of retribution take care of the man. Not dissuaded, the determined Elliott's relentless driving and suspicion of the drovers in his hunt for the killer makes him bitterly hated. However, once he eventually does find his brother's murderer, the higher law of retribution and redemption takes over. An overlooked minor classic, far superior to some of Elliott's better known B-plus westerns. Cowboy cancer alert - Bill smokes his pipe.

 KID RANGER (1936 Supreme)
A great showcase for William Farnum as a dedicated Sheriff forced to kill his old friend Frank Ball after Ball and accomplice Earl Dwire pull a robbery in order to make a decent life for Ball's three year old daughter Mary (Reetsy Adams). Remorseful at what he's done, Farnum resigns, vows never to carry a gun again, and adopts Mary. Years later, in a new town, Mary (Geraine Greaer aka Joan Barclay) has grown into a gorgeous woman engaged to Ranger Bob Steele who knows nothing of these past events. Re-enter ruthless Earl Dwire, now known as border outlaw El Lobo, and his gang headed up by Charlie King. Dwire threatens to expose Farnum's secret to Joan if Farnum doesn't help his gang rob the stage. The situation is truly a test of character for Farnum. Exciting finish as Steele rounds up the gang in a cave hideout. Watch for Steele's real life father, director/screenwriter Robert North Bradbury, early in the film as the head of the citizen's committee to whom Farnum resigns his badge. Only drawback to another well-plotted Steele Supreme is the dead-spot midway with Spanish dance team Paul and Paulina. The film quickly revives itself though with one of those great Steele/King slugfests.

 MASSACRE CANYON (1954 Columbia)
Alcoholic West Pointer Phil Carey doesn't relish being "sent west" but manages to help Sgt. Douglas Kennedy (embittered because he thought he would be awarded Lieutenant's bars instead of Carey) and Pvt. 'Peaceful' (Big Boy Williams) take a load of Henry repeaters through hostile Indian country ruled by Black Eagle (Steven Ritch) and Running Horse (Chris Alcaide). Along for the ride are discredited Pvt. (former Major) Ross Elliott and two mail order brides, Audrey Totter and Jeff Donnell. Donnell plays her role strictly for broad laughs (just the way she did when paired with Big Boy in those Hoosier Hot Shots/Ken Curtis musical westerns) when the part here calls for a bit more finesse. All the dramatic subplots only come up for air in-between director Fred Sears' action scenes. Screenwriter David Lang needed a lot more than 66 minutes to explore the bitterness, romance, alcoholism, cowardice and hostility he tried to build into this script.

 TRAIL OF THE SILVER SPURS (1941 Monogram)
The 4th film in the Range Busters series is one of their most remembered, but in actuality, not one of their best. With hidden gold in a desert ghost town, a spooky old hotel, a mystery gunman, secret passageways behind a grandfather clock and a wild-eyed villain named The Jingler because of his jingling silver spurs, this should have been a top-notch western thriller. All the elements are there, but writers Elmer Clifton and Earle Snell fail to make it all come together. The Range Busters (Ray 'Crash' Corrigan, John 'Dusty' King and Max 'Alibi' Terhune) are dispatched by the government to track down The Jingler (I. Stanford Jolley), who killed two men and is hiding in the ghost town of Bottle Neck amongst gold bars stolen from the Denver Mint. Old timer Milburn Morante and his daughter Dorothy Short are the only inhabitants of Bottle Neck, believing a rich ore vein still exists in a nearby abandoned mine. The Jingler attempts to scare them off through "ghost messages" while another outlaw, George Chesebro, is after Morante's mine while trying to kill The Jingler. When Alibi salts Morante's mine in an attempt to revive the ghost town, he unleashes a flood of phony looking gold-rush stock footage that feels and looks totally out of place. John King sings two songs, with Eddie Dean (as a miner) helping out on "Goodbye Old Paint". An entertaining enough entry, but so much more could have been down with the story elements.

 GHOST RIDER (1935 Superior)
Franklyn Farnum's ranch is stolen by Lloyd Ingraham and his men (Blackie Whiteford, Bill Patton, Jack Ward) and Farnum sent to prison for a deed he didn't do. Escaping prison years later, he's returned to seek revenge, leaving an ace on each dead man's chest. New deputy sheriff Rex Lease works with Farnum's daughter (Ann Carroll - looking like a left-over Jean Harlow) and son (Bobby Nelson) to clear Farnum's name. Farnum practically steals the show from top-billed Lease who doesn't appear til the halfway mark. Lots of unexpected nuances from writer "John West" and director "Jack Jevne", make this a worthwhile lowbudgeter. Jevne/West was really a pseudonym for Jack Levine who later wrote several excellent Laurel and Hardy scripts for producer Hal Roach. Former silent star Bill Desmond has a bit as a prison guard. Jack Kirk appears on bookends of the film to sing.

 ADVENTURES OF THE TEXAS KID: BORDER AMBUSH (1954 Franklin Prod.)
Before watching, locate a good trowel, because you'll be scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one. Our "stars" are stuntman Hugh Hooker and sidekick John Laurenz (basically reprising his 'Chito' role from James Warren's CODE OF THE WEST and SUNSET PASS). As produced by John Jay Franklin (who?), written and directed by Bob Tansey (on his worst day), the film is choked with bad acting, poor staging, sloppy direction, muffed lines and disjointed plotlines, giving one reason to suspect this might have been intended as a pilot or pilots for a TV series that (gratefully) never sold. Although shot in color (Tansey must have spent his wad on color film stock), probably circa 1950-'51 just before Tansey died in '51, much of it is filmed silent with narration and sound effects dubbed-in during post production. Release, such as it was, was held up til '54. The "plot" has (yawn) lawyer Frank Scannell and hired gunmen (Terry Frost, Frank Marlowe, Kid Chissell, Johnny Carpenter) out to grab rancher James Kirkwood and his daughter Pamela Blake's oil rich land. Old pro Monte Blue makes a brief appearance as the Sheriff.

 WHISTLIN' DAN (1932 Tiffany)
Ken Maynard and his pals Don Terry and oldtimer Harlan Knight have just been paid $5,000 for their cattle and deposited it in the bank, paying off their debts. Wanted outlaw Georges Renavent and his outlaw band kidnap Don and threaten to kill him unless Ken pays them $5,000. When the bank refuses Ken the loan, he robs the bank and rushes to ransom Don. Unfortunately, Ken is too late, the renegade has already executed his friend. Even though he returns the $5,000, the banker presses charges and Ken and Harlan are jailed. In jail they meet outlaw Frank Ellis who happens to be one of Renavent's men. When the renegade breaks Ellis out of jail that night, Ken and Harlan "join" the outlaw band hoping to get the goods on the bandido. Complications arise when the outlaws hide out at the cantina of Terry's Mexican girlfriend Joyzelle who recognizes Ken from a picture Terry showed her. Exciting finale but a bit talky leading up to it. Remade in 1941 by RKO as Tim Holt's ALONG THE RIO GRANDE. Director Phil Rosen (1888-1951) had a career that stretched back to work with Edison in 1912 as a cinematographer. Born in Russia, Rosen came to the U.S. with his parents and was educated in Machias, Maine. After starting with Edison, he moved to Fox to photograph many silent films, becoming a director in 1920 on such acclaimed features as ABRAHAM LINCOLN ('24) and BRIDGE OF SIGHS ('25). Unfortunately, his style of theatrical composition from the silent days carried over in his work with talkies, relegating him to (usually) independent studios. Most of his scenes are done in wide shots and masters, inter-cutting only when really necessary. Most of his western work is early on at Tiffany, Allied and Monogram with Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele. Most of his later work was B-mysteries especially Charlie Chan and Shadow films at Monogram, although he did helm two Duncan Renaldo Cisco Kid entries in '45.

 ALONG THE RIO GRANDE (1941 RKO)
The third of Tim Holt's pre-war B-westerns has he and his pals Whopper (Emmett Lynn) and Smoky (Ray Whitley) out to avenge the murder of their friend and boss (Harry Humphrey) by joining the outlaw gang of rustler Robert Fiske (cold-heartedly excellent) and his gun-hands (Monte Montague, Slim Whitaker) that committed the murder. They get help (and hindrance) from Betty Jane Rhodes who, for want of a job, sings in Fiske's outlaw cantina. Watch for former stars Hal (Wally Wales) Taliaferro as the Sheriff, Bob Baker as his deputy and Buzz Barton, barely noticeable as a posse member. This is a remake of Ken Maynard's WHISTLIN' DAN ('32) written by Stuart Anthony, scripted here by Arthur Jones and Morton Grant. Grant penned several more for Holt as well as some for George O'Brien, Hoppy, 3 Mesquiteers, Eddie Dew - and Disney's SONG OF THE SOUTH. Jones wrote other westerns for Holt, George O'Brien, Johnny Mack Brown, Don Barry and Russell Hayden. Watch for perennial Gene Autry guitarist Frankie Marvin backing up Whitley during a musical number.

 BORDER PHANTOM (1937 Republic)
A mysterious figure murdered Harley Wood's professor uncle (Frank Ball). Bob Steele and bumbling pal Don Barclay (see OUTLAW EXPRESS) must solve the mystery from an eclectic group of suspects: a German entomologist (Hans Joby), a weird Chinaman (Miki Morita), a loco hog farmer (Karl Hackett) and a lecherous ranch hand (Perry Murdock). Certainly one of Steele's - or anyone's - more unconventional westerns. Cute and talented leading lady Harley (Harlene) Wood only hung around long enough in 1936-'39 to appear in thirteen films, seven of them westerns. She was also in three 3 Stooges shorts, one with Buster Keaton and one with Big Boy Williams, but perhaps her most notorious role is the lead in the road show exploitation film MARIHUANA ('36). Changing her name to Jill Martin in '38, Republic used her in DICK TRACY RETURNS and as the lead in HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS, both '38 serials. She then disappeared. The Jill Martin that surfaced in the '50s is doubtless another actress.

 DAWN RIDER (1935 Lone Star)
John Wayne returns to town after a long absence to see his father and winds up crossways between two men. One of them, Dennis Moore (still using the moniker Denny Meadows), kills Wayne's Dad in a daring express company holdup and turns out to be the brother of a girl Wayne has fallen for (Marion Burns). The other, Reed Howes, is John's best friend who also has eyes for Burns. Strong story, good characterizations, hard action and some thrilling stunts by Yakima Canutt make this one of Wayne's best Lone Stars. Robert N. Bradbury had a hand in script and direction of both. Wayne's younger brother, Bob Morrison (1911-1970) has a bit role in DAWN RIDER. Throughout the years, as Wayne became a top star, he always placed his seemingly unambitious brother in various production positions at Wayne-Fellows and Batjac. Morrison is listed as producer on SEVEN MEN FROM NOW ('56), GUN THE MAN DOWN ('57) and ESCORT WEST ('59).

 GOD'S COUNTRY AND THE MAN (1931 Syndicate)
Best remembered as the B-western in which loveable rapscallion George (later Gabby) Hayes dies in Tom Tyler's arms. Hayes' tragic death scene here predates by four years his death scene at Hoppy's side in HOPALONG CASSIDY ENTERS ('35). Government agent Tyler and "outlaw" Hayes go into Mexico to apprehend gunrunner Al Bridge wanted for murder. As he often did, Julian Rivero chews up the scenery with his Mexican general role. He was much more accomplished by the time of GIANT ('56). Co-scripter Bridge created a memorable villain for himself - vain and paranoid, delighting intimidating all around him with his inept violin playing.

 HIDDEN VALLEY (1932 Monogram)
Known as the Bob Steele with the Goodyear blimp. Otherwise, a fairly routine Steele with a touch of Indiana Jones in the search for a hidden valley of gold and turquoise protected by an ancient Indian civilization. Steele is convicted for the murder of an archeologist, breaks loose and goes after the real killer, Francis McDonald and his cohorts, George Hayes, Dick Dickinson, Joe de la Cruz and the brother (Ray Hallar) of Bob's girl, Gertrude (Gertie) Messinger. Goodyear Rubber Co. loaned the blimp to Monogram and it was flown by Captain Vern L. Smith over Lone Pine, California. Outstanding camera work from director Robert N. Bradbury's oft-used cameraman Archie Stout, whose low budget work here compares favorably with his later cinematography on A-films like BEAU GESTE ('38) and FORT APACHE ('48).

 LONE RIDER FIGHTS BACK (1941 PRC)
This one opens up with a dandy of a bar room brawl, then badmen Frank Hagney, Charlie King, Frank Ellis and Dennis Moore go after leading lady Dorothy Short's gold rich ranch (the Jauregui location ranch). However, George Houston (the Lone Rider) and perennial PRC sidekick Fuzzy St. John intervene. Leading lady Dorothy Short was once married to Dave O'Brien who was in dozens of B-westerns both as a star and a badman. Before the Lone Rider series ('41-'42), prolific natural comic Fuzzy St. John had previously ridden the trail with Fred Scott, Bob Steele and Don Barry. When Houston left to return to NY, Fuzzy saddled up with Robert Livingston, Buster Crabbe and Lash LaRue. The Houston/Lone Rider series has taken a lot of knocks by western critics but, in retrospect they're all full of fun, action and good B-western casts. The personable Houston acquits himself far better than some other B-stars we could mention. His main drawback was his operatic singing voice ... good, but not suited for westerns. Screenwirter Joseph O'Donnell must have seen Kermit Maynard's GALLOPING DYNAMITE ('36) because he uses some of the same plot ploys setting one outlaw against another in eeking out justice.

 LONE STAR MOONLIGHT (1946 Columbia)
Modern western horseplay as returning GI Ken Curtis and his pals, the Hoosier Hot Shots, make plans to convert their old radio station into a TV station. There's a love angle with old girlfriend Joan Barton and her jealous suitor Robert Stevens. No mind, these plots are just something to fill in between some 12 songs by Merle Travis, Judy Clark (a junior Betty Hutton), the Hot Shots and Curtis, who does a plaintive version of "Home On the Range". This one's a bit weaker than some others in the series. Barton (1925-1976) was a popular radio singer who made several westerns (ROMANCE OF THE WEST ['46], ANGEL AND THE BADMAN ['47] and STRANGE GAMBLE ['48], then became a well respected song voice-dubber for various actresses (BODY AND SOUL, KID FROM BROOKLYN, etc.)

 OUTLAW TAMER (1935 Empire)
The second in a series of six projected "Phantom Rider" westerns starring Lane Chandler; LONE BANDIT was the first but no others were made. Chandler helps prospector George Hayes recover his poke when he's cheated out of it by saloon owner Slim Whitaker. Acting honors go to Hayes, polishing up his Gabby act, who has been grubstaked by leading lady Janet Morgan (formerly Blanche Mehaffey). Mehaffey (1907-1968) was a Wampus Baby Star in 1924 who spent a year with the Ziegfeld Follies and started off well in films with Charley Chase, Glenn Tryon and Hoot Gibson but in the early sound era was never in the right company to break away from low budget Gower Gulch affairs at Syndicate, World Wide, Superior, Reliable etc. She's always better than the material given her in these poverty row escapades. Five more films and she quit to devote time to her husband, Ralph Like (sound man and owner of Mayfair Pictures, '31-'34) whom she married in '32. The 6 ft. plus rawboned Chandler was just too awkward and lumbersome for hero leads and fared far better as a second lead or character player for years - on into TV westerns (WAGON TRAIN, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, etc.) in the mid '60s. Working for director J. P. McGowan in OUTLAW TAMER and LONE BANDIT didn't help Chandler's status any either. Australian born McGowan (1880-1952) was an adventurous workaholic. Writer/actor/producer/director/editor - he often tried to do too much. In the '30s, after his glory days in silents from 1911-1929, his workaholic disposition led him to poverty row outfits like Empire where there simply was no budget for his ambitious attitude, so, much of his directorial work with Tom Tyler, Bob Custer, Bob Steele and Buzz Barton is hurried and crudely fashioned. For OUTLAW TAMER, obviously made on the cheap by a company who only stayed in business 18 months and turned out just nine films, much of the outdoor sequences seem to have been shot silent with sound poorly dubbed in later. McGowan also plays the Sheriff in this one.

 SON OF ROARING DAN (1940 Universal)
Johnny Mack Brown wreaks vengeance on the back-shooting murderer of his Marshal father. To do so, Brown masquerades as tenderfoot Horace McPhail, long absent son of blustery Roaring Dan McPhail (Robert Homans) who assigns silly Fuzzy Knight and his sister Nell O'Day the task of teaching (believed) tenderfoot Brown how to take care of himself on the rough frontier. Brown soon discovers John Eldredge is his father's slayer. Sleazy saloon owner Eldredge heads a gang of rustlers (Ethan Laidlaw, Jack Shannon, John Beach, and silent serial star Eddie Polo). When visiting New York debutante Jeanne Kelly witnesses a killing, Eldredge has the girl kidnapped, but Brown and Knight rescue the girl and turn the tables on Eldredge's bunch. The Texas Rangers sing two songs but, we're in luck, Fuzzy does not. Clarence Upson Young's screenplay is a bit heavy on the comical aspects of the idea. This was the second of a trio of Brown Universals Ford Beebe (1888-1978) directed from '39-'41. The first of the trio was OKLAHOMA FRONTIER ('39) which Beebe also wrote. Historian Mike Nevins notes, for this film, he received no script credit but did much of the writing anyway. "I spent the night before production rewriting about 20% of it. During shooting I had a desk in the prop truck and would frequently write the next scene on the spot and have copies given to the actors for rehearsals. I was fighting a bad case of flu and would have liked nothing better than to have crawled under a bush and gone to sleep. But we finished only five hours behind schedule - and I got properly bawled out for the overtime."

 TEXAS TERRORS (1940 Republic)
The parents of young Don Barry (played as a youth by Sammy McKim) are gunned down before his eyes by claim jumping outlaws Arthur Loft, Eddy Waller and William Ruhl. Young Don had promised his father (Hal Taliaferro) never to take up the way of the gun, but to depend on the law to right injustices, so Don becomes a lawyer. Under an assumed name he returns to bring justice to his parents' killers. Loft is now a pillar of society, although actually still the crook he always was, and has positioned Waller as his personal Judge. As a land official, Loft is cheating and swindling the local miners. Making matters difficult for Barry, the girl he learns to care for is crooked judge Waller's daughter, Julie Duncan. When Don's legal tactics fail, he's forced to break his promise to his dad and resort to six gun justice. Midway there's a song and dance by Ann Pennington backed up by an embarrassed looking Jimmy Wakely and his Rough Riders. Even old man Pappy Yates must have quickly realized this girl had less talent than a two-by-four and she was thankfully never heard from again. Screenwriters Doris Schroeder and Anthony Coldeway must have dug into a pile of old Republic scripts because the premise for TEXAS TERRORS is lifted straight from John Wayne's KING OF THE PECOS ('36).

 WHISTLING BULLETS (1937 Ambassador)
Texas Ranger Kermit Maynard takes a tough assignment as he goes to prison so he can break out hardcase Maston Williams, a lone wolf bandit who got away with a quarter million in stolen bonds before they nabbed him. Williams is in league on the outside with Karl Hackett. There's a coupla minutes at the start of the film displaying Kermit and his horse Rocky's best riding stunts. Cute, blond Harlene (Harley) Wood (aka Jill Martin) only hung around Hollywood for three years, but managed seven westerns - two with Kermit, two with Steele, one with Rex Bell, one with Tom Tyler and one with Tim McCoy as well as the leading lady role in Republic's HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS serial ('38).

 CHIP OF THE FLYING U (1939 Universal)
It's war on the range as 5th Columnists hide munitions on Forrest Taylor's Flying U Ranch until time to ship them by boat from the nearby cove. Johnny Mack Brown is Taylor's foreman in love with Taylor's sister, Doris Weston. Neighboring rancher Anthony Warde wants the Flying U because of its proximity to the cove, making it easier for him to supply stolen munitions to the Nazis. Knowing the loss of money might prevent Taylor from getting a loan and persuade him to sell, Warde's men (Karl Hackett and Chuck Morrison) rob the bank, killing banker Henry Hall and trying to lay blame on Brown. In his 3rd of six outings with Brown, Bob Baker is relegated to the role of back-up cowboy. He sings two songs including "Mr. Moon" (which was also sung by Frances Langford in Universal's COWBOY IN MANHATTAN ['43]) and that's about all he does. The Texas Rangers also chime-in with two and sidekick Fuzzy Knight cackles one. Based on B. M. Bower's novel, CHIP OF THE FLYING U had three previous outings ... the first with Tom Mix in '14, the second, renamed GALLOPING DUDE in '20 with Bud Osborne, and the third with Hoot Gibson in '26. For his 3rd Universal western, Brown traded in his white horse for Rebel, a palomino he'd ride for the rest of his Universal and Monogram westerns.

 COLORADO AMBUSH (1951 Monogram)
Who's ambushing the Wells Fargo payroll riders and where are the ambushers getting their information as to which rider has the payroll? That's the mystery confronting Johnny Mack Brown in this Myron Healey scripted B with a nod to Shakespeare. It's femme fatale saloon mistress Christine McIntyre and her boy-toy Myron Healey who are leading young Tommy Farrell astray, causing him to betray his father, Marshall Bradford. Gorgeous Lois Hall as Farrell's sister never looked prettier. Lyle Talbot has a good role as the Sheriff while John Hart goes unbilled as a gambler.

 DESTRY (1955 Universal International)
Director George Marshall's remake of his own 1939 hit, DESTRY RIDES AGAIN with James Stewart, presented the culmination of all the qualities Audie Murphy had been gradually developing, the quiet sincerity, gentle humor and taut control of action sequences. In DESTRY, Audie and the Destry character were fused in total harmony. Audie's Destry is a bit less forced and a shade more human than Stewart's Destry, the actor is less in evidence, therefore it can be strongly argued, the remake is better than the original, except for Mari Blanchard who is no Marlene Dietrich. You know the plot, Tom Destry, son of a famous lawman, is made deputy sheriff of the tough town of Restful, ruled with a strong-arm by saloon owner Lyle Bettger (never better). His appointment is something of a joke to Bettger and the town as they see Destry as a complete tenderfoot - which certainly is not to be, as his quiet sleuthing, amateur psychology and, when it comes right down to it, quick action proves. Also in on the fun are Thomas Mitchell as the town drunk appointed Sheriff who must find his inner courage, Edgar Buchanan as the corrupt Mayor, Lori Nelson, wasted as Audie's girl, Wallace Ford and Mary Wickes as bickering Mr. and Mrs. 'Doc' Curtis and George Wallace as Bettger's gunman. Careful eyes will also spot western regulars Lee Aaker, Jimmy Hawkins, Alan Hale Jr., Walter Baldwin, Richard Reeves, John Doucette, Trevor Bardette, Henry Wills, Ralph Peters, Rex Lease and Jack Mower. Director Marshall skillfully blends semi-satire and hard action into a really first class western.

 TRAILING NORTH (1933 Monogram)
Boredom sets in quick with all the snow and ice cold dialogue. Bob Steele's on the frozen, snowbound, dogsled trail of the man who killed his Ranger surrogate father (Fred Burns). Vowing to bring the killer and a girl singer (Doris Hill) back to justice, Bob is faced with the dilemma of having fallen in love with Hill whom he believes to be an accomplice of the killer. Once again, way before Gene Autry, Bob Steele becomes a "singing cowboy", warbling "I'm Headin' Home".

 OUTLAWS OF THE ROCKIES (1945 Columbia)
"Hard-riding action! Pulse-tingling rhythms" as the Durango Kid must clear his friend Tex Harding of a false bank robbery charge as well as restoring the good name of his own alter ego, Sheriff Charles Starrett. The real bandits are the Lanning gang - I. Stanford Jolley, George Chesebro and tip-off man Phil Van Zandt on his peddler's wagon. By this time the Durangos were working a formula of plot/music/action with the music end of things here in good hands with Spade Cooley's Western Swing Band (featuring Tex Williams, Deuce Spriggins and Smokey Rogers), Carolina Cotton and Tex Harding. Actor Harding (real name John Thye) didn't really vocalize; turns out he just lip-synched the words while James T. 'Bud' Nelson (1914-1994) did the real singing. At any rate, Columbia kept Harding around for the initial eight Durangos trying to build a fan base for him hoping they could launch a "singing cowboy" series starring him. For whatever reason (perhaps Harding's own ego got in the way, I understand it was inflated), it never came to pass and Columbia replaced Harding (and Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor) with Smiley Burnette after 8 films. Note one piece of stock footage of Starrett comes from a pre-Durango western. This entry is unusual in that outlaws and good guys alike all learn who Durango really is. In later entries, only Smiley was privy to such secret information. Leading lady is the gorgeous Carole Mathews.

 FRONTIER PONY EXPRESS (1939 Republic)
In a fast 58 minutes director Joe Kane slams across a story of the Civil War, the pony express, spies and outlaw raids with a mixture of hard riding, blazing guns, romance between Roy Rogers and Mary Hart, character comedy from Raymond Hatton, a dance sequence and two songs (including "My Old Kentucky Home"). Even Trigger has a terrific scene on his own! A perfect example of the formula that made Roy's films of the early era so popular and the type of picture that put him on top. Roy rides for the pony express and falls in love with Mary Hart whose brother, Donald Dillaway, is an agent of the Confederate Secret Service posing as a newspaper reporter. Dillaway is secretly in league with Senator Edward Keane, another Reb, who's double crossing even the Confederacy with his own plans to set up the Republic of the Pacific. Keane hires staring, mean-eyed outlaw Noble Johnson (very menacing - would that he'd done more western heavies) to waylay pony riders and grab Union dispatches. When Dillaway learns of Keane's trickery to his beloved Confederacy, he challenges Keane but is murdered, setting up an action-packed finish. Watch for newcomers George Letz (Montgomery) and House Peters Jr. in small roles as Union Cavalry. This was supposed to be George Hayes' first role with Roy as Gabby, but Raymond Hatton was called upon once more as Hayes was still involved with the filming of Richard Dix's MAN OF CONQUEST, a Republic A.

 SECRETS OF THE WASTELANDS (1941 Paramount)
In this exciting, offbeat entry, Hopalong Cassidy, Andy Clyde and Brad King agree to take a group of archaeologists on an expedition to a lost city hidden in the rimrock. The party consists of archaeologist Dr. Gordon Hart, his prim and pretty niece Barbara Britton, Professor Hal Price and Keith Richards of the U.S. Mint. The local Chinese element wants the expedition to stay away from the rimrock area near the city of Pueblo Grande which leads to a mesa and a secret city in Peaceful Valley; a virtual western Shangri-La. Crooked lawyer Douglas Fowley suspects a gold mine in the lost city so he and his men (Ian MacDonald, Earl Gunn) follow Hoppy's expedition.

 SONG OF THE RANGE (1944 Monogram)
Prolific screenwriter Betty Burbridge dusted off her old 3 Mesquiteers PALS OF THE SADDLE story for Jimmy Wakely's first starring western, subbing Wakely, Dennis Moore and Lee 'Lasses' White for John Wayne, Crash Corrigan and Max Terhune. The main difference is, this one has nine songs to, of course, none in the Mesquiteers adventure. Jimmy gets the most songs with five, Lasses hands out two, Coleen Sumners (later Mary Ford of Les Paul and ...) with the Sunshine Girls does one and Cay Forester contributes one. Johnny Bond and the Red River Valley Boys (Wesley Tuttle, Jimmie Dean - Eddie's brother, Paul Sells) accompany. Our saddle pals find a wallet belonging to Forester. Denny takes it to her at a nearby inn arriving just in time to see her lure Hugh Prosser to her room where she and George Eldredge relieve him of his credentials. In a scuffle, Prosser shoots Eldredge but Eldredge kills Prosser and escapes. Denny is accused of murder but is rescued by Jimmy and Lasses who then find Eldredge dying in a deserted shack. Eldredge gives them his marshal's badge and tells them Forester is a government agent on the trail of bullion smugglers Ed Cobb and Pierre Watkin. An excellent mixture of song and action in Wakely's first, although Moore really seems to take the lead. Apparently, Moore felt usurped by "singing cowboy" Wakely after he had worked for years to get his own series. Moore and Wakely only made one more before the "saddle pals" had a row one dark night and Moore was replaced by John James. Wakely went on to make 28 starrers for Monogram through 1949.

 WRANGLER'S ROOST (1941 Monogram)
On the trail of a notorious stagecoach bandit, the Range Busters learn he is extremely courteous, always carries an unloaded gun and has a habit of playing the number 3 in all gambling enterprises. Entering wide-open Apache Butte they find the Deacon (Forrest Taylor) trying to bring order via religion to the town while George Chesebro and Frank Ellis run a crooked gambling den. The Deacon is attempting to build a church called Wrangler's Roost. Several clues lead the Busters to believe the Deacon is really Black Bart. However, the real stage bandits are Chesebro and Ellis laying blame on Black Bart's reputation. Gwen Gage is the girl Crash Corrigan and John King "wrangle" over. It's an offbeat story, an excellent role for Forrest Taylor, but with minimal action as written by Earle Snell, John Vlahos and Robert Finkel, directed as usual by S. Roy Luby.

 KING OF THE STALLIONS (1942 Monogram)
Indian Rick Vallin is befriended by loner and wise old forest dweller Chief Thundercloud and white man Dave O'Brien against rustler Ted Adams. Just another lame excuse for producer/director Ed Finney to recycle his wild-horse-fight stock footage.

 HOEDOWN (1950 Columbia)
Funny, bright, witty, thoroughly enjoyable. The funniest spoof of westerns you'll ever see as broken-down, naïve ex-cowboy star Jocko Mahoney (as Stoney Rhodes) tries to raise the money to pay his mother's mortgage. Jocko is an absolute delight as he hooks up with world-wise reporter Jeff Donnell. They discover the latest residents of Eddy Arnold's singing dude ranch are really bank robbers (Doug Fowley, Don Harvey, Charles Sullivan). Inspired by love, Jocko saves the day. Country singer Eddy Arnold is top billed, but it's Mahoney's show all the way. Arnold's billing is just an excuse for him to sing his hits like "Big Bouquet of Roses" and "Just a Little Lovin'". His agent at the time was Colonel Tom Parker who later managed Elvis Presley. Jocko "sings" in his movie within a movie, "Bang 'Em Up Buckaroo", but it's really Gene Autry's voice. When Jocko really sings, "Froggy Went a Courtin'", you'll howl. There's also a cute scene when Jocko talks to a Gene Autry STRAWBERRY ROAN poster. Yodelin' Carolina Cotton is along for the merriment as is Big Boy Williams as Arnold's friend.

 UTAH KID (1930 Tiffany)
Wholesome schoolmarm Dorothy Sebastian stumbles into the mountaintop robber's roost hideout of a ruthless gang run by former silent star Tom Santschi. Rex Lease, a good-badman in the tradition of William S. Hart, marries Dorothy so Santschi's outlaws, including Boris Karloff (soon to win immortality as FRANKENSTEIN), will leave her alone. Meanwhile, Sheriff Walter Miller, Dorothy's "intended" is determined to smash the gang. That done, Miller realizes Dorothy now truly loves Lease and lets the outlaw go to straighten himself out and someday return to Dorothy. For 1930, extremely good production values (sound, photography, direction by Richard Thorpe). Entering the movie business in 1921, Thorpe directed some 50 silent features, then moved assuredly into talkies with this and a few other good low budget B's - DUDE WRANGLER ('30) with Tom Keene, UNDER MONTANA SKIES ('30) with Kenneth Harlan and WILD HORSE ('31) with Hoot Gibson - before moving up to A's with TARZAN ESCAPES ('36) (which he also helped write), THIN MAN GOES HOME ('44), A DATE WITH JUDY ('48), BLACK HAND ('50), CARBINE WILLIAMS ('52), IVANHOE ('52), JAILHOUSE ROCK ('57) and others. He also helmed four early Mascot serials from '29-'31 but spent most of his career at MGM. Take note of Dorothy's Aunt, that's director Tommy Carr's mother, Mary Carr. Tiffany was active under several varying titles from 1922-1932. By whatever name (Tiffany-Stahl, California Tiffany or just Tiffany), it was perhaps the MGM of independents, turning out, usually, high grade independent product. By no means were all their films westerns, they released dramas, romantic comedies and action films more than westerns, especially prior to '31 when they turned more to Bob Steele and Ken Maynard to keep them going. Like its contemporaries, Tiffany just could not withstand the onslaught of the Great Depression and was history by mid-'32.

 CODE OF THE LAWLESS (1945 Universal)
Hugh Prosser, the manager of Stanley Andrews' Hilton Corporation, a holding company combine, and his enforcer, Edward Howard, are pulling the wool over Andrews' eyes, raising and levying unwarranted taxes upon ranchers while keeping a double set of books. They're helped by Andrews' nurse, Barbara Sears, who is secretly working for Prosser. Kirby Grant smashes their racket by posing as Andrews' son, eventually revealing himself to be an agent of the U.S. government. Lots of double-dealing, twists and turns winding up with a weak ending. Sidekick Fuzzy Knight sings "Jackass", one of the worst he's ever sung. Leading lady Jane (Poni) Adams is here for window dressing only. Barbara Sears, born Jievute Paulekiute in 1917 in Pennsylvania, was later married for six years ('48-'54) to millionaire Winthrop Rockefeller, later governor of Arkansas. During this time she was best known as Bobo Rockefeller.

 HANGMAN'S KNOT (1952 Columbia)
One of Randolph Scott's biggest commercial and critical successes. Captain Scott commands an irregular band of Confederate raiders (Lee Marvin, Frank Faylen, Claude Jarman Jr., John Call) at the end of the Civil War. After robbing a Yankee gold shipment in Nevada and killing 12 Union soldiers, to their horror they are told by a dying soldier the Civil War has been over for a month. Now facing criminal prosecution for acts committed while they thought the war was still being fought, they commandeer a stagecoach with two passengers (cowardly Richard Denning and Union nurse Donna Reed) then take shelter in a stagecoach way station run by old timer Clem Bevans and daughter Jeannette Nolan. While the men plot their next move, they are besieged by bloodthirsty bandits (Ray Teal, Big Boy Williams, Monte Blue, Reed Howes, Frank Hagney) who have every intention of taking the gold and hanging the Rebs. Tense and exciting with terrific second unit action work from Yakima Canutt. Written and directed by Roy Huggins who later created TV's MAVERICK.

 STAGECOACH KID (1949 RKO)
The chemistry between Tim Holt and pert Jeff Donnell is absolutely delightful. Both seem to be having wonderful fun with their roles. Tim was never more charming. Crooked ranch foreman Joe Sawyer is swindling his absentee boss (Thurston Hall) out of cattle and money. When he learns Hall is coming west via stage, Sawyer dispatches two gunmen (Robert Bray, Robert B. Williams) to drive back the millionaire landowner. Tim and Chito (Richard Martin), owners of the stageline, drive off the gunmen, causing Sawyer to become even more vicious in his plans. Jeff Donnell is Hall's daughter, accompanying him on the stage, but making it quite clear she doesn't want to live out west. She flees her father disguised as a "boy", planning to take the next stage back East, but gets mixed up with Tim and the killers. The "Hoppy Cabin" in Lone Pine is used as Tim's ranch house.

 NOOSE FOR A GUNMAN (1960 Premium/U.A.)
Remake of story writer Steve Fisher's TOP GUN ('55) with Sterling Hayden, which was made one more time in '64 with Audie Murphy as QUICK GUN. Banished from his hometown, gunslinger Jim Davis returns only to meet the stage with his fiancée Lyn Thomas. In so doing, he encounters evil cattle baron Barton MacLane (and his gunmen Leo Gordon, John Hart) who has murdered Davis' brother. MacLane twists things, accusing Davis of killing his sons. MacLane is also in league with outlaw raider Ted DeCorsia and his gang (William Challee, William Tannen) who plan to riad the town. The town council consists of Sheriff Walter Sande, Lane Chandler, Wells Fargo agent Harry Carey Jr. and Jan Arvan. Note that Ted DeCorsia played the same outlaw gang leader in the '64 Audie Murphy version, and that actor William Tannen is in all three versions. This was one-time star Kermit Maynard's last big screen western, appearing here as townsman Carter. Make an evening of it and watch all 3 versions back to back. What's interesting is to see how Hayden, Davis and Murphy, three very different actors, approach the same role.

 WILD STALLION (1952 Monogram)
Anything that features Ben Johnson on horseback has some merit, but otherwise this is a mild little wild horse western, enhanced a bit by Cinecolor and an adequate supporting cast - Edgar Buchanan, Martha Hyer, Hugh Beaumont, Don Haggerty, Hayden Rorke - none of whom seem very inspired by Lewis Collins' leisurely direction. Collins (1897-1954) started with low budget westerns at Kent and Majestic, graduating to Monogram in the '30s, then was a workhorse at Columbia from '37-'46 on their westerns and B crime films before finishing out his days once again at Monogram/Allied Artists from '50-'54 on Whip Wilson, Bill Elliott and Johnny Mack Browns.

 GUN BELT (1953 U.A.)
Better than average George Montgomery western (in color) directed by Ray Nazarro with performances all around that reach beyond the material - except maybe Tab Hunter, who was a current teen favorite but is out of his element here. Solid pro John Dehner, as Tab's outlaw Dad and Montgomery's brother, dominates the initial part of the film but is killed early on. Set in Tombstone with historical characters like Johnny Ringo renamed Billy Ringo and Ike Clanton renamed Ike Clinton for some reason while others, Wyatt and Virgil Earp (James Millican, Bruce Cowling) retain their real names. Makes no matter, there's not a whit of historical accuracy to this story in which Dehner (Matt Ringo) tries to lure his brother-gone-straight, Montgomery as Billy Ringo, back into a "big job" planned by supposedly legit businessman Hugh Sanders. Montgomery has been raising Dehner's son (Hunter) on the right side of the law while his father rode the outlaw trial. When Montgomery kills Dehner in a fight, Hunter rebels, joining the other outlaws - Douglas Kennedy, William Bishop, Jack Elam (wasted in a nothing part), Joe Haworth, William (Bill) Phillips - and vowing to gun Uncle George. There's plenty of suspense, action and double-up-crosses, all nicely done, before the gun=blazing finale. Keep your eyes peeled for a lot of old-pros in bit parts: Rex Lease, Lane Chandler, Syd Saylor, Emil Sitka, Bud Osborne, Ed Cobb, Robert Bice, Byron Foulger. Remade as FIVE GUNS TO TOMBSTONE in '61.

 CHEYENNE ROUNDUP (1943 Universal)
Sheriff Tex Ritter runs outlaws Gils Brandon (Johnny Mack Brown), Harry Woods, Roy Barcroft and Robert Barron out of the country. The men ride to the ghost town of El Dorado where they bamboozle Fuzzy Knight into selling them 51% of the town where Fuz's pal Budd Buster has just discovered gold. The gold rush is on, the gang takes over and runs El Dorado to their satisfaction. Vigilantes, seeking to curb the lawlessness, hire Tex Ritter as town marshal. On the day Gils' fiancée, Jennifer Holt, is due to arrive, Ritter shoots it out with the badman who escapes wounding only to die in the arms of his twin brother Buck (Johnny Mack Brown in a dual role) who has been searching the west for his twin. Dying, Gils regrets his outlawry and asks brother Buck to clean up the town. Working together, he and Ritter bring the badmen to justice. The film is a loose remake of BAD MAN FROM RED BUTTE ('40) also with Brown in a dual role. The Jimmy Wakely Trio sings two songs, Tex Ritter sings "Rose of the Hills" and Fuzzy Knight reprises "Ain't Got Nothin' and Nothin' Worries Me" from BOSS OF HANGTOWN MESA ('42). Producer Oliver Drake "borrowed" the script and remade it as LONESOME TRAIL with Jimmy Wakely in 1945 at Monogram. Director Ray Taylor's credits are extensive and he specialized in serials, some 47 or them from '28-'46 at, chiefly, Universal, but a few at Republic, Principal and Columbia. Some of the best are GORDON OF GHOST CITY ('33), VIGILANTES ARE COMING ('36) DICK TRACY ('37), SPIDER'S WEB ('38), GREEN HORNET ('39), RIDERS OF DEATH VALLEY ('41), MASTER KEY ('45) and SCARLET HORSEMAN ('46). Born in 1888, Taylor started as a stage manager, then became an assistant director for John Ford during the silent era. His first directorial job was on Ted Wells' BORDER WILDCAT ('29 Universal). Over the years he helmed westerns with Buck Jones, 3 Mesquiteers, Tex Ritter, Johnny Mack Brown, Lash LaRue, Eddie Dean and Whip Wilson. He died in 1952.

 JUSTICE OF THE RANGE (1935 Columbia)
Cattle buyer Guy Usher convinces range detective Tim McCoy to look into a range war raging between rancher Edward Le Saint and his daughter Billie Seward and brothers Ward Bond and Jack Rutherford. Truth be known, Usher is the clandestine leader of rustlers (Allan Sears, Jack Rockwell) stirring up the range war and rustling from both sides. Tim's friend George Hayes is killed by the rustlers and Tim is blamed. It's a true western detective yarn from Ford Beebe as McCoy must prove his innocence and bring the rustlers to the justice of the range.

 NEVADA BUCKAROO (1931 Tiffany)
Captured after a stagecoach holdup, Bob Steele is imprisoned. After his old gang tricks the Governor into pardoning him, Bob decides to go straight and is forced to go after his former partners (George Hayes, Ed Brady, Merrill McCormick). Dorothy Dix is the girl whose faith in Steele is severely put to the test. Artie Ortego has one of his biggest roles as Dix's rejected suitor. Solid story by Wellyn Totman but light in the action department. And Bob really does ride off into the sunset! Kindly John Elliott is Dix's father, a role he became so accustomed to playing he could have done it in his sleep.

 CIMARRON KID (1951 Universal International)
Audie Murphy is real-life western badman Bill Doolin, a member of the Dalton gang who took over its leadership when the Daltons were killed in the dual-bank raid in Coffeyville, Kansas. With gallons of whitewash slung over Audie's Doolin, he emerges as a misunderstood youth hounded by a vindictive railroad detective (David Wolfe) after his release from prison, forced to take on a life of crime and eventually captured after all his gang have been killed in an abortive train robbery set up by double-crosser John Hubbard. Well directed by Budd Boetticher, the Doolin gang is populated by members of Universal's talent school: James Best (who really has the best role in his romance with Yvette Dugay), Hugh O'Brian (impressive in a fiery beard as outlaw Red Buck who challenges Audie's leadership), John Hudson (as Dynamite Dick), William Reynolds (later to star on TV's THE F.B.I.) as Will Dalton, Palmer Lee (later Gregg Palmer) as Grat Dalton, Richard Garland as Big Jim Moore, John Bromfield (soon to star as TV's U. S. MARSHAL aka SHERIFF OF COCHISE) as Tulsa Jack. Also on hand were western vets Leif Erickson as a marshal pursuing the gang, Roy Roberts as a rancher who befriends Doolin because his daughter Beverly Tyler loves him, Noah Beery Jr. as Bob Dalton, Rand Brooks as Emmett Dalton and Eddie Dew as a railroad detective. Factually, the film was more accurate than the earlier Randolph Scott version, THE DOOLINS OF OKLAHOMA, in which Scott died a self-sacrificial hero's death at the end. Murphy's Doolin surrendered quietly to lawman Erickson and trotted off to jail, as had the real-life badman, although the real Doolin later escaped and was gunned down. The original script called for Audie to be shot in the back by Wolfe but director Boetticher felt Audie's fans would reject this ending, so he rewrote the script to have Audie captured. CIMARRON KID, like most Hollywood westerns, mixes fact and fiction. Bill Doolin was indeed a member of the Dalton gang as of late 1891, however, he did not participate in the infamous Coffeyville bank hold-ups of October 5, 1892, as the movie depicts. He was busy robbing a bank in Spearville, Kansas, with Bitter Creek Newcomb (who is shown in the film to participate in the Coffeyville raid and escape.) Grat and Bob Dalton were killed in Coffeyville and Emmett was wounded whereas the film shows all three being gunned down. John Moore (referred to as Jim Moore in the movie) was also killed as he is on film. Bill Dalton (referred to as Will in the picture) was not in the real raid, he joined Doolin's gang later in 1892 as did Tulsa Jack, "Dynamite" Dick Clifton and "Red Buck" Waightman. Bill Dalton was killed June 8, 1894, by a deputy. Bitter Creek and others were slain on May 1, 1895. Red Buck was killed by marshals on March 4, 1896. "Dynamite" Dick (who was never a traitor to the gang as the film depicts) was arrested in June 1896. Bill Doolin, actually married as of March 14, 1893, was arrested by Marshal Bill Tilghman on January 15, 1896. He, "Dynamite" Dick and twelve others escaped a Guthrie, Oklahoma, jail on July 5, 1896. Doolin was ambushed and killed by deputies on August 24, 1896, and "Dynamite" Dick was killed by deputies on November 7, 1897.

 WACO (1952 Monogram)
Wild Bill Elliott emulates the good-badman roles of his idol William S. Hart in WACO, Elliott's second Monogram outing. Forced to flee, with a price on his head despite acting in self defense after killing town boss and crooked gambler Ray Bennett, Elliott joins up with I. Stanford Jolley's wild bunch (Paul Fierro, Rand Brooks, Richard Avonde). Later, after being shot and captured during a bank holdup, Elliott is returned to Waco by two of its leading citizens (Terry Frost, Pierce Lyden) who want him to be their Sheriff and clean up the town. They have faith in Elliott's true innocence and in his ability to drive out gambler Bennett's left-over lawless element still terrorizing Waco. Elliott encounters tangled trails when he's faced with arresting the old outlaw, Jolley, who once befriended him, and in dealing with Bennett's daughter, Pamela Blake, who is bent on revenge. Cowboy cancer alert: Elliott smokes (and drinks). Originally released in Sepia-Tone. Remade as BADLANDS OF MONTANA with Rex Reason in 1957.

 IN OLD MEXICO (1938 Paramount)
The Fox, Hopalong Cassidy's excellent border rustler adversary in 1937's BORDERLAND, returns seeking revenge on Hoppy, the man who sent him to prison. Problem here is, Stephen Morris (aka Morris Ankrum) apparently wasn't available to recreate his role as one of the nastiest, meanest Hoppy heavies ever to cross trails with our hero. The dull, lifeless Paul Sutton was substituted as The Fox, and he simply isn't up to the task. In Harrison Jacob's story, The Fox uses his sister (Betty Amann) to lure Hoppy to his lair in the desert after The Fox has baited Hoppy by murdering Cassidy's friend, Colonel Gonzales (Trevor Bardette repeating his role from BORDERLAND), who is the son of Don Carlos (Allen Garcia) on whose ranch Hoppy and his friends (Gabby Hayes, Russell Hayden) are visiting. There's a slow 50 minute buildup while Jan(e) Clayton, Don Carlos' daughter, makes eyes at Hoppy while Hayden frets and Gabby scratches his beard. Hoppy suspects Amann of being in league with The Fox, so he plays up to her advances. Finally, there's a gun-blazing 17 minute finale among the desert Joshua trees between The Fox and his men (headed up by Glenn Strange) and Hoppy and his compadres. Partially filmed at the Boca del Toro Ranch in Baja, California. Jan(e) Clayton (who sings "Muchachita") and Russell Hayden were married for several years.

 UTAH (1945 Republic)
42nd St. meets Gower Gulch in UTAH. This could have been one of Roy Rogers' best pictures of the period had it not been for the intrusion of the "Oklahoma" Broadway musical-like finale. Directed by John English, comedy and romance are prominent with Gabby Hayes' eternal complaints about "them darn persnickety wimmen" given free rein as he combats Vivien Oakland and a host of Chicago showgirls, leading light of which is Dale Evans inheriting a ranch where Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers work. Dale wants to sell the Utah spread to invest in a faltering Chicago production but Roy and Gabby try to convince her not to do so. There's a lot of screwball comedy mix-up over which ranch is which as crooked, conniving cattlemen Grant Withers and Hal Taliaferro (Wally Wales) try to swindle Dale out of her valuable ranchland which she believes nearly worthless. The lengthy 78 minute running time leaves plenty of room for romantic shenanigans, (Bob Nolan even gets his own romantic subplot with Peggy Stewart) and songs from Roy and the Pioneers. The final showdown between Withers and Taliaferro and Roy and Trigger in the Chicago stockyards is well done with fine stunt work.

 BOSS RIDER OF GUN CREEK (1936 Universal)
You'll need a Rand McNally road map to follow the plot of this dual role Buck Jones convoluted, overwritten Frances Guihan script that sacrifices action and adventure for way too much plot. Muriel Evans is the girl. Harvey Clark is Buck's "Pop". Banker Ernest Hilliard and Sheriff Edward Keane with their rustler henchies Mahlon Hamilton and Allan Sears are the bad guys.

 SAVAGE FRONTIER (1953 Republic)
Marshal Allan 'Rocky' Lane has his hands full trying to keep reformed outlaw Bob Steele from being drawn back into a life of crime by blackmailing gang boss Roy Barcroft, the "respectable" town hotel/café owner, who has secretly sent for three notorious outlaws, Lane Bradford, John Cason and the extremely brutal killer Richard Avonde. Trouble escalates when Steele's kid brother Bill Phipps believes Rocky has shot his brother and is now bent on gunning the Marshal. Eddy Waller has his usual role as Nugget Clark, this time doing double duty as sheriff and town dentist. He's admired for his "tall-tales" by young Jimmy Hawkins who gained fame on TV a year later as Gail Davis' kid brother, Tagg, on ANNIE OAKLEY ('54-'57). Leading lady is Dorothy Patrick as Steele and Phipps' sister. Although the Lanes were nearing the end of their six year run, only two more were released, the quality of the films never lessened one iota.

 GUNS AND GUITARS (1936 Republic)
Gene Autry and his friends, touring with delightful Earle Hodgins medicine show (Smiley Burnette, dancing Eugene Jackson), get mixed up in local battles for sheriff and control of the valley's cattle herds with J. P. McGowan, president of the Cattlemen's Association and phony vet Harrison Greene, masterminding a plot to get their Texas Fever diseased cattle through to market over Dorothy Dix's ranch. When McGowan lets his boys (Tom London, Charlie King and Pascale Perry) violate quarantine laws, they all quickly find out Gene and Hodgins know a bit about veterinary medicine as well. Gene takes the place of a murdered sheriff (Jack Rockwell) who turns out not to be dead but in hiding until Gene gets proof against his attempted killers. Gene sings "Dreamy Valley" and the title tune while Smiley has fun with his "Fine Relations". That's Art Davis on fiddle in Gene's group. A favorite among Autry's early westerns and it's easy to see why.

 PRAIRIE BADMEN (1946 PRC)
Fuzzy St. John joins the medicine show of Ed Cassidy, his daughter Patricia Knox and her brother John L. Buster (actor Budd Buster's real life son who "sings" - terribly). Simple plot has Cassidy in possession of a map to buried gold that owlhoots Charlie King, John Cason and Kermit Maynard will do anything to obtain. It takes Fuz's old pal Buster Crabbe as Billy Carson to set things right. The song "Cactus Pete" by Johnny Lange and Lew Porter had been sung by Fred Scott in CODE OF THE FEARLESS in '39. Boo Boo: At the end, Fuzzy calls Buster "Bus" rather than his screen name of "Billy".

 RIP ROARIN' BUCKAROO (1936 Victory)
Highly entertaining, one of the best of Tom Tyler's low-budget Bs. After he's doped and framed, causing him to lose a prizefight, Tyler, soured on the dirty fight racket, hangs up his gloves and heads west with his dog, landing a job on John Elliott's ranch. Tom masters Elliott's wild horse which Elliott hopes to run in the Cattlemen Convention horse race, and Elliott gives the horse, Bluebonnet, to him. Tom also strikes up a relationship with (never prettier) Beth Marion, Elliott's daughter. All goes wrong when Forrest Taylor, the crooked promoter who framed him back East, arrives to convince Elliott Tyler is a crook who "laid down" in the prizefight. Elliott dismisses Tyler and his horse - jeopardizing the possibility Elliott will win the big horse race and lose everything he has in a bet with Taylor. At one point Tom (unnecessarily, in our view) becomes a "singing cowboy", warbling "Home on the Range". There's a minor sub plot with nasty ranch foreman Charlie King which allows Tom and Charlie to mix it up. Tom's pal on Elliott's ranch is Jewish comic Sammy Cohen (??-1979) (also in Tyler's PHANTOM OF THE RANGE) whom director Bob Hill allots screen time for one of Cohen's vaudeville routines. Later, Cohen does a bit in drag. Filmed at Lone Pine, California.

 CROSSROAD AVENGER (1953 Tucson Kid Productions)
Tom Keene as two-gun insurance investigator The Tucson Kid brings swift justice to the West. Saloon owner Lyle Talbot (with his gunnies, Don Nagel, Kenne Duncan, Bud Osborne) tries to frame Keene for the murder of Talbot's partner. Deputy Tom Tyler (looking pretty haggard) helps Keene. Written and directed by the infamous Ed Wood Jr. (who has a bit scene as a pony express rider). Wood regular Harvey Dunn plays a "comical" prospector who wears his gun where his jock-strap should be. That's supposed to be humorous. Wood filmed a sequel (CROSSROADS AVENGER RETURNS) to this 25 minute color film. The two were combined in a 50 minute film called ADVENTURES OF THE TUCSON KID. According to Wood, The Tucson Kid was passed up as a TV series in favor of WILD BILL HICKOK with Guy Madison. Wise move.

 BORDER ROMANCE (1930 Tiffany)
What was poverty row Tiffany attempting to do here? Striving to be a poor man's MGM, they saddle us with a low-rent South of the border Nelson Eddy/Jeanette MacDonald fiesta in Don Terry and petite, squeaky-voiced, overly cute Armida. After killing a man in self defense during a bar brawl, horse trader Terry (along with his idiot pal Victor Potel and young Wesley Barry) head into Mexico after J. Frank Glendon who rustled his horses. Chased by a band of operatic Federales, Terry seeks refuge in Senorita Armida's hacienda where they develop a whirlwind romance. Stock footage of a famous horse fight is thrown in mid way for no reason other than to alleviate the tedium. Is this a musical? A western? A comedy (way to much idiocy from Potel)? Not much of anything. Terry, a cross between Dick Foran and Richard Arlen, found fame in the '40s as serial star DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY and DON WINSLOW OF THE COAST GUARD.

 LUCKY COWBOY (1944 Paramount)
Sandwiched in between his abbreviated Republic series and his co-starring roles with Rod Cameron, Eddie Dew made this 20 minute curiosity at Paramount. It's an odd mixture of musical western (Dew sings solo and duets with Julie Gibson), comedy and out and out vaudeville (Frank and Jean Hubert's inebriated act). New Marshal Dew stops stagecoach bandit/saloon owner Bernard Nedell and his henchies (Syd Saylor, LeRoy Mason) without breaking a sweat.

 TREASURE OF RUBY HILLS (1955 Allied Artists)
Overlooked, taut, well-scripted (based on a Louis L'Amour story) little gem directed competently by Frank McDonald. Zachary Scott, trying to outrun his fast-gun reputation, returns to Ruby Hills to set himself up with a homestead. Although he's helped by hotel owner Raymond Hatton and his daughter Lola Albright, he must contend with two groups of ranchers set against one another for the prize of Ruby Hills' water rights. On one side is former WB B-western star Dick Foran and his hirelings (Gordon Jones, Lee Van Cleef, Rick Vallin), on the other is Barton MacLane. Carole Mathews is excellent as Vallin's sister who falls in love with Scott, becoming caught in the middle of the range war. Steve Darrell turns in a small but fine role as an outlaw who has outlived his era. He often claimed it was one of his favorite roles.

 WHISTLING HILLS (1951 Monogram)
Wham-bam and we're off! A stage holdup by gun rannies Marshall Reed and Lee Roberts led by a black caped, whistling ghost rider on the bluff, followed by a doozy of a barroom brawl between Pierce Lyden and Johnny Mack Brown. Stageline owner I. Stanford Jolley and Sheriff Jimmy Ellison are plagued by holdups until Johnny Mack lends a hand to discover the meaning of Spanish Vengeance and a silver whistle. Two girls, Jolley's niece Noel Neill, and beanery operator Pamela Duncan, girlfriend of Sheriff Ellison. Absolute best of the later Brown Monograms with terrific action, a mystery villain and a twist ending. Scripted by Fred Myton from a Jack Lewis story and directed by Derwin Abrahams.

 COWBOY COUNSELLOR (1932 Allied)
Fred Gilman, Shelia Mannors' brother, is framed for a stage holdup by rotten Jack Rutherford who is sweet on Mannors but is rejected by her. When traveling law book salesman Hoot Gibson is mistaken by Mannors' kid brother, Bobby Nelson, as a real lawyer, he brings Hooter to his sister in order to defend big brother Gilman. Although Hoot is not a real counselor, he agrees to help but almost finds himself blamed for another stage robbery when he speaks his favorite phrase, "But a gent never passes up the chance to say 'thank you.'" Clever, witty Gibson, lots of fun with Sheriff Al Bridge and deputy Skeeter Bill Robbins (Hoot's real life ranch manager whom he found work for in several of his westerns.) Hoot also cast good friend and former minor-silent-star Fred Gilman in most of his talkies.

 MEXICALI KID (1938 Monogram) Jack Randall is tracking down, one by one, the Collins gang who murdered his kid brother in a bank robbery. He's down to two - Bud Osborne and George Chesebro - when he saves a young outlaw, the Mexicali Kid (freckle-faced minor late silent days star Wesley Barry), from heat exhaustion in the desert. The Kid has been sent for by pretty Eleanor Stewart's ranch manager, William Von Brincken, who (with the two outlaws Randall is tracking) is seeking to "acquire", by crookedness, Stewart's ranch. Both the Kid and Jack join the gang with Jack pretending to be the long lost heir to the ranch. Although Whip Wilson milked the vengeance theme much better when this story was remade as HAUNTED TRAILS ('49), and the action content is only moderate, this is still one of Randall's better films, owing greatly to the camaraderie of Barry and Randall. Unfortunately, Barry's voice doomed him for sound films. This is also the first Randall to feature Rusty as his steed - and the horse practically steals the picture performing unlimited tricks, including lifting a pistol from an outlaw's holster! Von Brincken, a former German military officer, also acted under the names William Vaughn and Roger Beckwith.

 TUMBLEWEED (1953 Universal-International)
One of Audie Murphy's best westerns, crisply directed by Nathan Juran. Audie is a young wagon train boss accused of betraying the people he was guiding (including leading lady Lori Nelson) to the Indians. In actuality, Audie was knocked unconscious by the Indians after trying to prevent their murderous raid. Arrested and jailed when he returns to town, he is broken out by Eugene Iglesias, a young Indian he had earlier befriended and saved from death on the desert. Managing to stay one jump ahead of Sheriff Chill Wills' posse with the help of the title character, a seemingly mangy dapple grey horse who makes up in stamina and desert smarts what he lacks in appearance, Audie sets out to prove his innocence. Also with Lee Van Cleef, Russell Johnson, Roy Roberts.

 RAINBOW OVER THE ROCKIES (1947 Monogram)
Old man Jack Baxley and his son Dennis Moore have proved up on the former free range and the stubborn old man won't let anyone's cattle go through any longer, not even old friend Jimmy Wakely, his hotheaded uncle Budd Buster and saddle pal Lee 'Lasses' White. Chicanery from Bob Duncan, who works for Baxley, and Zon Murray, who works for Wakely, as they plot to start up a range war (using the hard feelings on both sides) and rustle from both ranchers. Baxley's daughter is Pat Starling, providing love interest for Jimmy. Wesley Tuttle and his All Stars provide some music. Mid-range Wakely western.

 TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN (1958 UA)
A somber, mesmerizing, offbeat western which casts Sterling Hayden as a Swede who returns home after many years at sea to find his farmer father (Ted Stanhope) has been brutally gunned down by black-clad, left-handed gunman Ned Young upon orders from overstuffed, chortling, landgrabber Sebastian Cabot who knows there's oil on the land. The only witness to the crime is Mexican rancher Eugene Martin who is afraid to talk, but who, assuredly, eventually does, bringing about his own death at the hands of Young who by now has had enough of Cabot's taunting and guns him also, planning to take over the oil-rich ranches himself. In the final showdown, Hayden dispatches Young with a harpoon! Young's henchmen, who wisely leave town before Hayden harpoons them as well, are Sheb Wooley (who would soon find fame as scout Pete Nolan on RAWHIDE), Fred Kohler Jr. (son of famous screen badman Fred Kohler Sr. and star of a couple of '30s independent B's of his own) and Steve Mitchell. Beautifully and articulately directed by Joseph H. Lewis.

 YUKON GOLD (1952 Monogram)
Mountie Kirby Grant helps a murdered man's niece (Martha Hyer) and the man's gold field gambling-hall girlfriend (Frances Charles) smoke out his killers. Seems he was murdered over a worthless gold mine he bought from assayer Mauritz Hugo and storekeeper Phil Van Zandt. Weaker entry in Grant's Northwest Mountie series with less action than usual.

 GUN GRIT (1936 Atlantic)
Jack Perrin's last starring B-western. While not a name to rank with Williams S. Hart and Tom Mix, he filled his second-echelon cowboy boots quite well from 1917 on through the '20s, making the transition to sound, although never managing to escape the poverty row producers. He'd hit his stride in Universal two reelers in the early '20s. From '23 to mid '27 Jack, and his beautiful white steed Starlight (who became nearly as famous as Tarzan, Silver and Tony), made dozens of independent westerns (and serials) for Arrow, Aywon, and Rayart. Jack rejoined Universal in '27 for a series of NW Mounted Police two reelers and a few western features. With a good voice, sound came easy to Jack, but he was unable to land a series with one of the major studios. But his charming personality held him in good stead with fans even though the budgets were minimal at Big 4, Syndicate, Cosmos, Reliable and Atlantic. By the time of this final series of four for Atlantic, Jack had already begun to accept character and heavy roles opposite Bob Steele, Ken Maynard, Rex Lease, Tom Tyler and others - which he continued to do on through 1961's FLOWER DRUM SONG. Retiring in '62, he lived on a modest income until his death in 1967 at 71. GUN GRIT applies the Rex Bell approach with Perrin an eastern FBI agent sent to help western ranchers (Ed Cassidy and his brother Earl Dwire) who are besieged by big city racketeers (Roger Williams, Oscar Gahan, Ralph Peters, Phil Dunham) operating their protection racket on cattlemen. Striving to be different, producer William Berke (directing under his Lester Williams alias) creates one of the most bizarre scenes in B-western history as one of the gangsters calmly plays classical music on his violin while another (Peters) violently and gleefully guns down steer after steer with his rifle. Retribution soon follows as Jack's horse Starlight brutally tramples Peters to death. Dave Sharpe has a role as Cassidy's son and Ethel Beck is the daughter Perrin falls for. Williams/Berke's direction and Robert Cline's photography is exceptional at times while bordering on amateurish home-movie-style work at others.

 DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS (1942 Universal)
"With the close of the Civil War, Texas, having supported the Confederacy, was refused permission to rejoin the Union until the holders of large land grants relinquished their titles and vowed new oath of allegiance. Many unscrupulous land owners refused to accept this decision and, banding together, organized the Republic of the Rio Grande, an independent territory whose boundary lines spread like wildfire across the state." Johnny Mack Brown returns from the Civil War to his home in Texas to find his father, William Farnum (in an excellent role that he makes the absolute most of), has set himself up as the ruler of the Republic of Texas and is leading a bunch of land grabbers (enforcer Harry Woods - hamming it up too much with comedy relief Fuzzy Knight - Kenneth Harlan, Ed Cobb, Earle Hodgins). They rule the Republic by force of arms. When Brown learns of this from newspaper editor Pat O'Malley and his daughter Jennifer Holt, he opposes his father to put Texas back in the Union. Tex Ritter, in his first of 7 excellent features with Brown, is the representative from the Governor's office, also opposing Farnum's illegal Republic. Tex sings "Streets of Laredo", the Jimmy Wakely Trio sings one while Fuzzy gets to sing two, including the title tune. One of Universal's more ambitious and best B-westerns.

 TUCSON RAIDERS (1944 Republic)
Republic proclaimed: "Red Ryder ... Number one comic strip hero of fans coast to coast! Dashing, fearless, exciting ... riding to his most amazing action adventure on the trail of desperate killers who terrorize the west." Red Ryder on the B-western screen, whether it be Don Barry, Bill Elliott, Allan Lane or Jim Bannon, was completely different than Fred Harman's popular newspaper comic strip. No matter. The Republic series can stand on its own merits as one of the best B-western series of all time. And it all began here, as millions thrilled to watch Red Ryder (Bill Elliott) and Little Beaver (Bobby Blake) step out of the pages of that illustrated book for the first time. In this first entry, Painted Valley is run with an iron hand by crooked governor Stanley Andrews along with president of the territorial bank LeRoy Mason, Sheriff Ed Cassidy and their gunhands Bud Geary and Edward Howard. The Duchess (Alice Fleming) and Gabby Hayes oppose their rule but are helpless, so the Duchess sends for her nephew, Red Ryder and Little Beaver. Arriving, Red is quickly blamed and jailed for a murder he didn't commit. The Duchess' supposed friend, Ruth Lee, is actually in the employ of Mason and engineers a trick for Red to break out of jail, then be killed. It boomerangs; Red shoots his way out and sets a six gun trail to cleaning out the outlaws. Peggy Stewart makes the first of her several Red Ryder films, this time playing the Duchess' niece who is in love with the Duchess' foreman, John Whitney. Note: Listen for the voices of Roy Barcroft, Kenne Duncan and Jack Kirk ... heard but "not seen".

 WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM (1938 Monogram)
Starts off as government buffalo scout Tex Ritter is assigned to head off the outlaw buffalo skinners slaughtering the buffalo so as to keep peace with the Indians. As soon as producer Ed Finney used up his stock-footage of buffalo herds, he and writer Bob Tansey dropped that plotline altogether - it's never mentioned again - and Tex (along with his pals Horace Murphy and Snub Pollard) goes to Santa Fe to avenge the murder of his mother by John Merton. Merton's gang includes - Richard Alexander (who disappears midway and is not caught in the finale), Charles King (billed here as Charles King Jr. - but it's the same ol' Blackie), and Ernie Adams (who curiously plays a dual role as an outlaw and a stage passenger under heavy makeup so as not to be recognizable). Dave O'Brien and Dorothy Short play brother and sister. In reality, they were husband and wife. Louise and Curt Massey and the Westerners contribute a few songs. All in all, Tex's second B at Monogram is a pretty sloppy mess.

 SON OF BILLY THE KID (1949 Western Adventure)
Billy the Kid (William Perrot) is killed by Pat Garrett in 1881. But was he? It's now 1896 in Baldwin City where the undead Billy has assumed the identity of banker Thorne (George Baxter). Marshals Lash LaRue (as Jack Garrett, son of Pat) and his pal Fuzzy St. John arrive to investigate crooked land speculator Terry Frost and his jaspers (I. Stanford Jolley, John James). Marion Colby, banker Thorne's niece, is secretly working for Frost. An old member of Billy's gang, Bob Duncan, comes to join Frost and recognizes Billy, forcing him to help rob the bank or expose Billy and - his son, John James, working in Frost's gang. Turns out James is working with his Dad to capture Frost's gang. Whip use - two. Bit different for LaRue, his only starring picture where he wasn't either Cheyenne Davis or Lash LaRue.

 TEXAS MANHUNT (1942 PRC)
First and most coherent in the Frontier Marshals series starring Lee Powell, Art Davis and Bill 'Cowboy Rambler' Boyd. A stock footage wave of cattle sabotage (designed to halt the Allied food supply) instigated by Nazi spy Arno Frey brings U.S. Marshal Lee Powell to Pebble Creek, Texas. With war victims in Europe starving, Powell must stop the saboteurs (banker Karl Hackett, rancher Frank Hagney, ruffians Frank Ellis, Kenne Duncan) who are being paid by Frey. Powell's first clues come from cute beanery owner Julie Duncan and radio entertainers and "cowboy commentators" Art Davis and Bill Boyd (who perform 3 songs in a row ... 7 in all ... written by Johnny Lange and Lew Porter). Even though this is the best of the series, it's still slapdash B-western filmmaking from Sig and Sam Neufeld (aka Peter Stewart).

 THE DRIFTER (1932 Kent)
William Farnum philosophically chews up all the northwoods scenery he can find and affects a French accent you could slice with a Bowie knife as he tries to prevent trouble between two lumber company operators, Noah Beery Sr. and Bruce Warren. Wordy subplots of unrequited love, vengeance, lost relatives, impersonation, self-sacrifice and murder abound in Oliver Drake's tedious, drawn out pretense-to-art script.

 THE SINGING HILL (1941 Republic)
Gene Autry saves yet another ranch for still another wacky, madcap big city girl (Virginia Dale) from one more conniving cattle broker (George Meeker). If you're looking for a song laden (9 tunes) western screwball comedy, this is it. Gene also deals with Dale's haughty butler (Gerald Oliver Smith), a kindly old judge who'd rather fish than judicate (Spencer Charters), pert Mary Lee and, of course, Smiley Burnette. If you're looking for action, skip this one - it all comes in the last few minutes of the over-long 75 min. Cactus Mack has one of the bigger roles of his long screen career. Watch for Art Davis accompanying Gene on fiddle. This was Mary Lee's last with Gene.

 LAW OF THE PANHANDLE (1950 Monogram)
When Texas bandits loot, rob and terrorize, Marshal Johnny Mack Brown rides hard to enforce the LAW OF THE PANHANDLE. Sheriff Riley Hill can't handle the lawlessness and sends for Marshal Brown. They discover the railroad is coming through and someone is buying up all the ranches in Green Valley to make a nice profit. But who? Is it big land owner Ted Adams? Stage line owner Myron Healey? Telegrapher Milburn Morante? Johnny Mack fights hard to stop the panhandle raiders (Marshall Reed, Lee Roberts, Carol Henry). Jane Adams is Adams' daughter, in love with Sheriff Hill. One of Brown's better latter-day B's, filled with gunplay, fights and action. Directed by Lewis Collins. Tris Coffin offers some off-screen narration.

 DEADWOOD PASS (1933 Monarch/Freuler)
Cheapo J. P. McGowan directed B finds postal inspector Tom Tyler masquerading as the Hawk, a notorious outlaw who buried $200,000 in stolen mail securities in Deadwood Pass before he was imprisoned. Tyler gets in with the gang that controls Deadwood Pass (Slim Whitaker, Ed Cobb, Blackie Whiteford, Merrill McCormick, Bill Nestell) so he can find the buried loot. All goes well until the real Hawk (Bud Osborne) shows up. Director McGowan sloppily inserts himself into the proceedings midway as "The Chief" for no apparent reason. At one point, Tyler has switched Whitaker's hat and coat for his own while the outlaw slept. Later, Whitaker ridiculously seems to take no note of it as he wears Tom's hat. Also, about that time, as Whitaker is about to gun down McCormick, he has on Tom's hat in the medium shot, then no hat in an over the shoulder close-up, then back on in another medium shot. It all amounts to cheapjack continuity from McGowan.

 STRANGER WORE A GUN (1953 Columbia)
Following the bloody Civil War, ex-Quantrill spy Randolph Scott settles in wild and wooly Prescott, AZ, hoping to lose the black mark on his reputation. At first he hooks up with another ex-Quantrill man, George Macready (and his toughs Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine), plotting against leading lady Joan Weldon and her father (Pierre Watkin) who ship gold via the stagecoach line. Scott goes straight, instigating a feud between Macready and slimy Mexican bandit Alfonso Bedoya. When the smoke clears, it's down to Scott vs. Macready in a top notch action sequence set in a blazing saloon. A co-production from Harry Joe Brown and Scott who worked together many times in the '50s. Directed by Andre De Toth for 3-D release, hence guns, fists, chairs are thrown at the screen, but that's easy enough to disregard. By the time of the film's release, the 3-D craze had ended as fast as it arrived, and most releases of STRANGER ... were in regular 2-D version. For the record, James Millican plays Confederate raider Quantrill. From a novel by John Cunningham who wrote THE TIN STAR, the source novel for HIGH NOON.

 SANTA FE STAMPEDE (1938 Republic)
Director George Sherman never lets up on the action pace as William Farnum and his daughter June Martel strike gold and send for their friends The Three Mesquiteers (John Wayne, Crash Corrigan, Max Terhune) to help out. Crooked mayor Le Roy Mason and his cohorts (crooked Sheriff Dick Rush, lawyer Walter Wills, Judge Ferris Taylor and gunmen Charles King, Bud Osborne and Dick Alexander) attempt to get the mine, eventually ambushing and killing Farnum and his younger daughter Genee Hall in a vicious wagon wreck. The crooks accuse Wayne of the murder, but with Corrigan and Terhune he fights to clear his name. Note the Oro Grande Hotel sign left over from the previous Mesquiteers, OVERLAND STAGE RAIDERS.

 TARGET (1952 RKO)
With only one more Tim Holt western to go, the budget tightening by RKO is quite noticeable in this next to last film. Tim is even riding a non-descript black horse rather than his palomino, Lightning. Slick Walter Reed is buying up land for the railroad as cheap as he can while using the strongarm tactics of his henchies (Lane Bradford, Riley Hill, Holly Bane) to move rancher John Hamilton off his land. Newspaperman Harry Harvey, Tim and Chito send for fighting Marshal Terry Moran to stop the lawlessness, but his daughter - also named Terry Moran - arrives instead. A very neat plot twist, but screenwriter Norman Houston didn't develop this facet at all like he should have, spoiling the eventual outcome.

 THE KID RIDES AGAIN (1943 PRC)
Billy the Kid (Buster Crabbe) goes after the skunks who framed him for an express robbery (PRC's best, I. Stanford Jolley, Glenn Strange, Charlie King). Buster and pal Fuzzy St. John find the gang in a town protected by a crooked sheriff. Consequently, the local banker Edward Peil Sr. and his daughter Iris Meredith and the area ranchers have been suffering from cattle rustling without any protection. The crooks buy up mortgages on ranches that have been rustled poor. Average, nothing special other than the appearance of Meredith at the end of her Columbia contract slumming at PRC. She does pretty up the Corriganville scenery.

 OUTLAWS' PARADISE (1939 Victory)
Outlaws Ted Adams, Dave O'Brien, Carl Mathews, Bob Terry and Forrest Taylor stage a post office robbery and steal $30,000 in negotiable government bonds. This is done while their boss, Trigger Mallory, is in prison. What a coincidence - FBI man Tim McCoy, a dead ringer for Mallory, infiltrates the gang posing as their boss to get the goods on them. So clever is Tim's pose that even Trigger's girl, Joan Barclay, is deceived - at least at first. Ben Corbett is Tim's FBI pal. Odd to see actor Forrest Taylor as simply "one of the gang" with no lines, his roles were usually much more substantial. An unknown girl saloon singer warbles "A Rainbow Is Riding the Range", a Johnny Lange/Lew Porter tune. Speaking of saloons, a lot of these Sam Katzman produced Victory saloons look more like nightclubs tha