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

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

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

The Ratings

Superior

Good

OK

Poor

A real dud !

 FIREBRANDS OF ARIZONA (1944 Republic)
A B-western classic! The funniest film Republic ever made. Determined to cure her hypochondriac, pill-guzzling, ranch hand, Smiley (Frog) Burnette, ranch owner Peggy Stewart sends Frog off to a distant medical specialist, accompanied by his pal Sunset Carson. Frog and Sunset are fired upon by a posse believing Frog to be wanted outlaw Beefsteak Discoe, whom he resembles to a T. Badmen (Bud Geary, Jack Kirk, Pierce Lyden, Frank McCarroll, Frank Ellis), also believing Frog to be their boss Beefsteak, rescue the pair who hightail it into town where the local populace, including horses and cigar store Indians, run from them in terror - again mistaking Frog for Beefsteak. Sheriff Earle Hodgins (who practically steals the picture with his mannerisms and ad-libs) captures Frog, pegging him as the notorious outlaw. Poor Frog is about to be hung (at this point every "hanging joke" ever conceived is trotted out) until the real outlaw pulls a stage robbery. Then it's a merry who's who mix-up comedy of errors of which there is none funnier. The surrealistic scenes between Frog and wagon driver Tom London are absolutely delightful. Nothing like FIREBRANDS OF ARIZONA has ever been seen in B-westerns before or since. Delightfully scripted by Randall Faye (1892-1948) who began as a story writer for silent films in 1926. In the '30s he also worked as a director and producer. Oddly, his other scripts are straight action westerns - BRANDED ('31) and McKENNA OF THE MOUNTED ('32) with Buck Jones, TEXAS CYCLONE ('32) with Tim McCoy, CHEYENNE WILDCAT ('44) and GREAT STAGECOACH ROBBERY ('45) with Bill Elliott. This was Smiley's last of four with Sunset Carson who was getting the build-up from Republic. Smiley left Republic to join Charles Starrett at Columbia and Carson went on to unparalleled B-western popularity, only to unfortunately self-destruct in less than three years.

 STARDUST ON THE SAGE (1942 Republic)
There are more top tunes than tough times in STARDUST ON THE SAGE, a partial remake of Gene Autry's own GIT ALONG LITTLE DOGIES. Cattleman Gene is deceived in business by the local agent of the packing company, Bill Henry, who uses funds derived from the sale of beef on the hoof to dabble in mining property. When Gene and pal Smiley Burnette learn their rancher friends are being hornswoggled into investing their hard earned funds in Henry's hydraulic mining venture, they seek radio station support from sisters Louise Currie and Edith Fellows, but are tricked by them as the gals alter what Gene actually says to an on-air recording promoting the sale of mining stock. Aligning himself against Henry and the girls, Gene eventually discovers mine manager Emmett Vogan is behind all the trouble. In true Autry fashion, he puts the mine on a paying basis, saves the rancher's money, protects Henry from embezzlement charges and wins the heart of Currie. Fay McKenzie, Gene's leading lady in five previous pictures, was set to appear in STARDUST... but was replaced by Currie when Republic cast Fay in REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR. At the end of STARDUST..., Smiley conducts a radio station orchestra, turning at one point to the movie audience and asking them to sing-a-long to "Deep in the Hearty of Texas". This gimmick was a popular short-subject feature in the '40s. Smiley also used audience participation ideas several times in the westerns he made with Sunset Carson.

 LAST OF THE BADMEN (1957 Allied Artists)
A gang breaks wanted outlaws out of jail then kills them to collect the reward. Sound familiar? See: FLAMING BULLETS, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE, STAR OF TEXAS, GUNFIGHT AT COMANCHE CREEK, they're all the same. Narrated in semi-documentary style, this version with George Montgomery is probably the best. In this version Willis Bouchey is the unsuspected gangleader sheriff, Keith Larsen is George's Ranger-friend and Douglas Kennedy, James Best, Robert Foulk and Michael Ansara round out the cast.

 HEART OF ARIZONA (1938 Paramount)
Belle Starr (Natalie Moorhead) puts the heart in HEART OF ARIZONA with Les Selander directing "one of his best and most personal films", according to Hoppy historian Francis Nevins in his FILMS OF HOPALONG CASSIDY. "Working from a strong screenplay by Norman Houston, Selander used two powerfully drawn women characters to reverse the sex-role conventions of the traditional western." According to Nevins, HEART OF ARIZONA ranks "among the best of all the Cassidys and among the finest movies of any sort in Selander's long career." Sheriff John Beach tries to restrain Belle from returning to her ranch to meet with her daughter, Dorothy Short, after the lady outlaw has spent five years in prison as the result of an unjust conviction. She was implicated in cattle rustling with her ruthless husband. Hopalong Cassidy and his saddle pals, Windy (George Hayes) and Lucky (Russell Hayden) gallantly come to Belle's rescue. Belle is deeply in love with Hoppy but, as an ex-con, is too ashamed to reveal her feelings and Cassidy is unable to communicate his fondness for Belle. Arriving at her old ranch, we learn Belle's foreman, insanely jealous Alden Chase, has his own designs on Belle - and her cattle. He's been rustling from Belle and other ranchers and selling them to crafty cattle speculator Lane Chandler. Aiding Chase is Bar 20 ranch hand Leo McMahon whom Hoppy fires when he suspects his dirty deeds. McMahon tries to ambush Hoppy, but Bar 20 owner Buck Peters' young nephew, Billy King, saves Hoppy's life. Hoppy devises a plan to capture the rustlers but, in a pitched battle, the brave Belle, two guns blazing, is mortally wounded. In her touching last moments, Belle confesses her love for Hoppy, entrusting her daughter to his protection.

 FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER (1954 Universal-International)
Different, unusual, with Rory Calhoun in a William S. Hart-like good-badman role. Four bandits, all with different motives hold up a bank: Revenge driven Rory Calhoun, old timer John McIntire, young buck George Nader and Yaqui Jay Silverheels. On the run, the outlaws meet up with Walter Brennan and his sensuous daughter, Colleen Miller, on their way to their homestead. When the couple are surrounded by hostile Indians, one by one all four outlaws decide to abandon their getaway to the border, even though they're hotly pursued by Sheriff Charles Drake, and go to help Brennan and Miller. All are killed in the fight except Calhoun who is wounded. Brennan and Miller take the wounded gunman to their ranch where Drake eventually catches up with them. Struggling to face Drake in a final showdown, Calhoun is at the last moment convinced by Miller, whom he's fallen in love with, to give up, serve his time and return to her. Directed by Richard Carlson with an eye for the "adult western", there are times you can cut the sexual tension with a knife. All in all, a satisfactory tale of friendship, love and redemption involving all the cast. Cowboy Cancer alert: Calhoun smokes. Stuntmen Bobby Hoy, Bobby Herron, Henry Wills and Reg Parton all do their stuff as well as enacting excellent cameo roles.

 BROKEN STAR (1956 United Artists)
Marshal Bill Williams has to contend with the unpleasant fact his old friend, Marshal Howard Duff, has crossed over to the crooked side of the law, stealing gold paid to powerful rancher Henry Calvin for water rights and murdering to get it. Calvin sends his henchies John Pickard and Joel Ashley to retrieve his gold. Bruising barroom brawl between Williams/Pickard/Ashley is a standout in an otherwise dreary Howard Koch produced/Les Selander directed western filmed at Old Tucson. Otherwise routine acting (poor in leading lady Lita Baron's case) is enlivened whenever the ominous presence of (usually comedic) Henry Calvin is on screen. Would that he'd have played more badmen roles. Calvin found fame as bungling Sgt. Garcia on Disney TV's ZORRO.

 WEST OF SONORA (1948 Columbia)
One of the more intelligent Durango Kid westerns, finely crafted by Barry Shipman. The result of an ongoing family feud, Black Murphy (Steve Darrell), the outlaw with the hook hand, stops the stage and removes his granddaughter (Anita Castle) before she arrives in town to see her other grandfather, Sheriff George Chesebro. Accidentally stumbling on the hideout of Murphy, where he is keeping Castle, is Charles Starrett who vows not to reveal where the hideout is. Learning Starrett knows the whereabouts of Murphy and his granddaughter, Sheriff Chesebro is enraged. Starrett offers to take Chesebro to Murphy's camp to settle their differences, but the sheriff's crooked brother, Hal Taliaferro - the leader of the gang terrorizing the vicinity and laying blame on Black Murphy, upsets Starrett's plans for peace. It takes the Durango Kid to make peace between the two grandfathers, make sure young Castle inherits the richest mine west of Sonora and bring Taliaferro and his gang to justice. Smiley Burnette? This time he's a showbiz impresario with the Sunshine Boys. When Smiley's female "star" fails to appear, Smiley dances in drag as Fifi Latour.

 BRAVE WARRIOR (1952 Columbia)
Government agent Jon Hall is assigned to discover who is instigating resistance by the Indians during the War of 1812. Hall aligns himself with Indian chieftain Tecumseh (Jay Silverheels) and they discover the father (Harry Cording) of Hall's girl (Christine Larson) is the traitor. Typical tedious Sam Katzman produced "historical" fare.

 ONE MAN LAW (1932 Columbia)
Lambert Hillyer's usual expert direction takes a formula-like B-western plot in which the hero is suspected of being in cahoots with the heavy, even to the girl believing him guilty, and turns it into a suspenseful above average Buck Jones western. At the outset, Buck surprisingly loses his beloved steed, Silver, to Ernie Adams in a horse race. Crafty businessman Robert Ellis, who employs lowlife Adams, returns Silver to Buck and appoints Buck sheriff, plotting to use Buck as a grateful front while he pulls an underhanded - but legal - trick to drive settlers off their ranches then sell the land to wealthy Easterners. Formerly a friend of the ranchers, Ellis' dealings and Buck's insistence Ellis is within the law, leave Buck a hated outcast, even by his girl, Shirley Grey. With the aid of Judge Edward Le Saint, Buck pulls a legal trick of his own to set things right.

 RENEGADES (1946 Columbia)
Offbeat plot centers on Evelyn Keyes who renounces marriage to upright doctor Willard Parker in favor of a life on the outlaw trail with Larry Parks, a reluctant member (at least at first) of an outlaw family that includes Psalm-spouting patriarch Edgar Buchanan and his other two sons, Forrest Tucker and Jim Bannon. But life outside the law proves too much for Keyes, so at the end she's back with Doc Parker, but it takes continual dodging of the law and the birth of a baby to prove to her excitement isn't a good substitutute for true love. In the end, Doc Parker has to perform a six-gun operation. Edgar Buchanan's selfish, nasty outlaw-blood-driven-father steals the picture from Parker, Parks and Keyes who, as leads, just don't stir emotion in the viewer, leaving the picture with an unmemorable feel. Parker was better utilized as a second lead in films such as RELENTLESS or on the small screen as co-star of TALES OF THE TEXAS RANGERS. Even under old-pro George Sherman's direction, and in color, it's a bit lengthy for the material at 88 minutes.

 RANCHO GRANDE (1940 Republic)
Eschewing action and emphasizing music, Gene Autry's friendly nature, Smiley Burnette's comedy and the sweet charms of June Storey and Mary Lee, RANCHO GRANDE, is an enjoyable film that could be widely appreciated by audiences not usually attracted to westerns. As foreman of the vast Rancho Grande, Gene is saddled with the late owner's three grandchildren - June Storey, Dick Hogan, both madcap college types, and their younger, more level-headed kid sister, Mary Lee. Gene tries to impress them with the importance of what they possess, the work ethic and what an unfinished irrigation project will mean to settlers in the Valley. However, June and Dick are more interested in having a good time. All the while, Gene is trying to save Rancho Grande from foreclosure by sneaky lawyer Ferris Taylor.

 DEVIL'S CANYON (1953 RKO)
1887 - in a changing west, ex-marshal Dale Robertson guns down two brothers bent on revenge (John Cliff, Fred Coby) and is then convicted of "gunfighting" and sent to Yuma Prison for 10 years. There he encounters the outlaw Dale sent to prison years earlier, Stephen McNally, as well as the brother of the two men he killed, who plan to kill Dale in prison. Besides some very stilted dialog and lots of bad acting, the ludicrous premise of throwing gorgeous outlaw queen Virginia Mayo (always decked out in the most revealing clothes) into an all-male Yuma Prison is just too much to take. All pro supporting cast can do nothing to save this totally improbable picture, originally lensed in 3-D. Dale's prison pals are Earl Holliman and William Phillips, the Warden is Robert Keith, Jay C. Flippen is the nasty top guard ... and we also get George J. Lewis, Arthur Hunnicutt, Morris Ankrum, Whit Bissell, Glenn Strange, Kelo Henderson, Mickey Simpson, Paul Fix and Larry Blake.

 STRANGER FROM SANTA FE (1945 Monogram)
Johnny Mack Brown displays a slightly tougher personality than usual in his 17th successive B-western for Monogram since 1943. Raymond Hatton makes his 25th appearance as pal Sandy Hopkins, a role he carried over from the aborted Rough Riders series. Johnny Mack vows to help pretty Beatrice Gray run her ranch after her father is killed. On the one hand, devious Jack Ingram befriends Gray, asking her to marry him, while at the same time has his gang (Eddie Parker, Tom Quinn, Bud Osborne, John Merton) out rustling her cattle. Further complicating matters, Ingram sets up a murder frame for Jimmie Martin, Gray's true love interest.

 LITTLE BIG HORN (1951 Lippert)
Lippert's first western, LITTLE BIG HORN, is based on a strange and little known historical incident. Sufficiently different from regular cavalry vs. Indians westerns, this was the directing bow of Charles Marquis Warren who also wrote the solemn screenplay, much of it dealing with the weight of command. Warren later developed RAWHIDE, GUNSLINGER and other projects for TV. Warren draws strong performances from the heavyweight cast, half of whom later starred in their own TV series. Lloyd Bridges, the Captain in charge of the doomed patrol (SEA HUNT, LONER); John Ireland, the Lieutenant having an affair with Bridges' wife Marie Windsor (RAWHIDE, last season); the loner, former Sgt. Major Reed Hadley (PUBLIC DEFENDER, RACKET SQUAD); scout Sheb Wooley (RAWHIDE); the complainer, Corporal Jim Davis (STORIES OF THE CENTURY, DALLAS); the comedian, Pvt. Wally Cassell; the card sharp, Pvt. Hugh O'Brian (WYATT EARP); Pvt. King Donovan waiting for his mail order bride (BOB CUMMINGS SHOW); veteran Sergeant John Pickard (BOOTS AND SADDLES, GUNSLINGER); Pvt. Robert Sherwood whose father is with Custer; Pvt. Richard Emory; the kid-bugler Larry Stewart; the deserters Gordon Wynne and Ted Avery; and the Indian scout, Corporal Rodd Redwing. Based on truth, the story is built around the efforts of Capt. Lloyd Bridges' small cavalry squad trying to reach General Custer in time to warn him of a Sioux ambush. For character clash, a romantic angle is built in. Bridges discovers his wife (Windsor) having an affair with Ireland so forces the Lieut. to accompany him on the foreboding mission on which Ireland may be killed. One of the best small budget B+ westerns made in the '50s.

 BOILING POINT (1932 Allied)
Uncle George Hayes puts nephew Hoot Gibson and his raucous temper on a 30 day probation at friend Lafe McKee's ranch, warning Hooter if he gets into a fight he won't inherit the family spread. It's an interesting idea, but slowly developed as Hoot finds it hard to restrain himself in the face of harassing bad guys (Wheeler Oakman, Tom London, Merrill McCormick) especially since the cutie he's fond of, Helen Foster, believes him a coward.

 HE RIDES TALL (1964 Universal)
Tough, suspenseful, violent B+ western, the type Audie Murphy was making for producer Gordon Kay who also produced this with Republic vet R. G. Springsteen directing. Marshal Tony Young is forced to gun down rancher R. G. Armstrong's drunken abusive son. Young must then inform Armstrong, the man who raised him as an orphan, of what happened, tearing apart a years-long relationship. Meanwhile, R. G.'s vile foreman, Dan Duryea, who is playing around with the rancher's young wife, Jo Morrow, plans to rob R. G. of all his money. In revenge for killing R. G.'s son, Duryea forces Dr. Joel Flueller to sever the tendons of Young's gun hand. Delivers solid western excitement on every level. Solid supporting cast includes Madlyn Rhue (Young's real-life wife), Mickey Simpson, Roy Barcroft, Myron Healey, Bill Henry, John Day, George Keymas.

 THE PLUNDERERS (1948 Republic)
One of Rod Cameron's best bigger budget B+ westerns has him murdering a sheriff in the opening sequences, thus making him a wanted man. It's some time before we actually learn it's only a setup for undercover Army officer Rod to get in with outlaw Forrest Tucker's renegades. Tucker's character doesn't follow the accepted western pattern, allowing a strong bond to develop between Cameron and Tucker. This gives the film more than a little to say about friendship. When Cameron finally does bring Tucker to justice, an Indian attack on the fort has Tuck helping out and dying in the process. Female interest is split between Adrian Booth, Tucker's girl, and Ilona Massey, Cameron's romantic partner. George Cleveland is a smart sheriff aiding Cameron, while Grant Withers is his dumb counterpart. Taylor Holmes is the respected townsman who's really backing Tucker's outlaws. Paul Fix is terrific, standing out as Tucker's righthand man. In Trucolor, director Joe Kane adds his always expert pacing to the action. Supporting cast is studded with B vets - House Peters Jr., Monte Montague, Hank Bell, Hank Patterson, Rex Lease, Forrest Taylor, Tex Terry, Bud Osborne, two Lone Rangers - Clayton Moore and John Hart, Steve Clark, Guy Wilkerson, Francis Ford, Roy Barcroft and Maude Eburne.

 UNDERCOVER MAN (1936 Supreme)
Slow going. A great action finish comes too late to overcome the snail-like plotting and inherent silliness that's preceded it. Harmonica playing, witty, devil-may-care Wells Fargo agent Johnny Mack Brown rescues Suzanne Kaaren, saves the gold in a stage hold-up then moseys along to trap the leader of a gang, saloon owner Ted Adams, and his cohorts: stupid sheriff Horace Murphy, dumber deputy Dick Moorhead and Ed Cassidy. Credit director Albert Ray for the loss.

 OMAHA TRAIL (1942 MGM)
MGM, with all their magnificent resources, just didn't understand the secret of making B-westerns. Fortunately, they apparently realized that and made scant few of them. In this one, evil Dean Jagger tries to sabotage the delivery by oxen train of a railroad engine to Omaha for fear it will put his freighter company out of business. Brave stranger James Craig volunteers to help get the locomotive to Omaha so he can be in on the ground floor of the lucrative westward expansion. Along the way they must contend with marauding Indians while Craig and pretty Pamela Blake develop a romance.

 BLAZING JUSTICE (1936 Spectrum)
There's certainly justice, but it's not blazing! At the start of the film, Bill Cody joins the ranks of singing cowboys as he and Frank Yaconelli perform a duet on "Comin' 'Round the Mountain". Yaconelli, Milt Moranti and some other cowboys also sing "Red River Valley". On a vacation, Cody gets blamed for the murder of rancher Budd Buster. Clearly a case of mistaken identity by Buster's daughter, Gertrude Messenger. Clearing himself, Cody helps Gertrude set a trap for the real bandit, Gordon Griffith. Moranti has way too many scenes that are supposed to pass for comedy sequences. Boo Boo: At one point, chasing Griffith on horseback, Cody's hat blows off. In the very next scene, it's back on. Low budget stuff from director Al Herman with his typical lapses in continuity.

 OUTLAWS OF TEXAS (1950 Monogram)
Better than usual, although conventional, Whip Wilson with Andy Clyde as his hungry sidekick. When Clyde left Whip's side after 12 films, the series definitely took a tumble. Using greenhorn outlaw Tommy Farrell as an introduction, undercover U.S. Marshals Wilson and Clyde infiltrate a gang of bank robbers (Terry Frost, Zon Murray, George De Normand) led by a girl - Phyllis Coates - trading on her famous outlaw father's reputation. Sorehead outlaw Murray gives the film most of its interest. Whip use - 3. Watch for former low budget star Rex Lease in a worthwhile role as a jailer. Dan Ullman script directed by Tommy Carr.

 THE MAN FROM TEXAS (1939 Monogram)
Lawman of sorts, Tex Ritter, and The Shooting Kid (Charles B. "Chuck" Wood) have a tenuous relationship. The Kid continually promises Tex he'll go straight and stay out of trouble, but he immediately hires his gun out to nasty rancher Vic Demourelle Jr. who is pulling a freeze-out on cattle rancher Kenne Duncan and his sister Ruth Rogers who need to pass over part of Demourelle's land to drive their cattle to market. Duncan will be ruined if he can't get his cattle to market, allowing Demourelle to grab off his land and sell it to the incoming railroad. Sheriff Hal Price asks Tex to help Duncan and his sis. Demourelle tells The Kid to gun Tex, but because Tex has tried to help him out of jams in the past, The Kid has a change of heart and sides with Tex in the final barbed wire showdown, losing his life for his efforts. The flashy-borderline-outlaw-who-turns-good-at-the-end idea was a staple of screenwriter (often director) Robert Emmett "Bob" Tansey. Think about it and you'll be amazed at how many times this plot-device shows up in a Tansey western. Another interesting aspect of this film is the casting of Demourelle and Wood, the first an acceptable heavy whose only other western in his brief career was a role in Gene Autry's "Mexicali Rose". As for Wood, he handles himself well, showing promise for future westerns but totally disappears after one more film (a non-western). Roy Barcroft is Demourelle's right hand man in his pre-Republic-contract salad days.

 TRAILING DOUBLE TROUBLE (1940 Monogram)
The addition of a baby to the plot gives an otherwise routine western a hint of novelty in this second outing for the Range Busters (Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King and Max "Alibi" Terhune). Attempts to gain control of a state contract for gravel held by the Bar H are tied up with the murder of its owner (Kenne Duncan) and the kidnapping of his sister (Lita Conway). The Range Busters have vowed to help Duncan when they nearly save him from being killed by gumen. When Duncan dies, they are left to care for a baby left in Duncan's wagon. The baddies are saloon owner Roy Barcroft, his partner John Rutherford and their gunnies Tom London, Carl Mathews, William Kellogg. There's a fine lullaby from John King to the baby, who is actually his real daughter, Nancy Louise King, and some music by Jimmy Wakely and The Rough Riders while Rex Felker does some rope spinning (he's the one seen twirling rope at the start of all Range Busters westerns). Max Terhune gets in some delightful moments changing the baby's diaper and plying his ventriloquist skills when he swaps dummy Elmer for the baby as London and his boys attempt to kidnap the baby.

 TULSA KID (1940 Republic)
TULSA KID and DAYS OF OLD CHEYENNE are a toss-up for the best B-westerns Don Barry made. Both rank as prime B-westerns among all of Republic's output. This one has Don Barry, an orphan of the range, was brought up by professional gunfighter Noah Beery Sr. Barry becomes alienated from his foster father when he witnesses a killing in which Beery is involved. Barry vows never to again carry a gun. Years later, Barry arrives in Wind River where town boss George Douglas and his highbinders (Ethan Laidlaw, Jack Kirk, John Beach, Charles Thomas) are attempting to steal the water rights from David Durand and his sister Luana Walters. Douglas tries to railroad Durand for the gunning of Douglas' partner in crime, Stanley Blystone. When Barry comes to the aid of Durand and Walters, Douglas engages the services of gunfighter Beery Sr., not realizing the mutual respect the two hold for one another. This places Barry on one side of the law and the man who raised him on the other in a duel to the death. It's purified action all the way, with a stop off for a tune by Jimmy Wakely and his Rough Riders. Screenplay by Oliver Drake/Anthony Coldeway, produced and directed by George Sherman.

 OUT CALIFORNIA WAY (1946 Republic)
After two lackluster attempts to establish Monte Hale as Republic's new singing cowboy (HOME ON THE RANGE, MAN FROM RAINBOW VALLEY), Republic president Herbert J. Yates upped the running time of this third entry to 67 minutes, brought in vet director Les Selander, gave Monte the backing of Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage and for insurance used the guest star gimmick with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (singing "Ridin' Down the Sunset Trail"), Allan Lane and Don Barry. The color process officially changed its name from Magnacolor to Trucolor though the color quality remained the same. With a movie studio setting and not very villainous villainy in egotistical "western star" John Dehner and his flunky Fred Graham, the basic story has Monte trying to break into films while helping young Bobby Blake's horse Pardner do the same. The picture plays more like a Gene Autry leftover from scripter Betty Burbridge. Republic execs quickly realized they needed to tailor Monte's films more to his personality and not try to squeeze him into a Gene Autry format as they seemed to be doing in Monte's first three westerns. Monte and his pictures soon hit their stride in a more action oriented format, down-playing Monte's singing.

 THE MAN FROM HELL (1934 Kent)
Reb Russell is paroled from prison after being convicted of a robbery he's now out to prove he didn't commit. Arriving in town, Reb finds Mayor Fred Kohler, crooked Marshal Jack Rockwell and their gun-waddies (Yakima Canutt and Bill Patton) holding an iron hand over the populace. Kohler holds a trump card over George Hayes who has embezzled funds from the bank and is planning to force Hayes' daughter, Ann Darcy, to marry him until Reb discovers Kohler is an escaped con who framed him. Bad actor Russell appears better than he is when he's surrounded by a talented cast which also includes Slim Whitaker, Charles French, Tommy Bupp, and Mary Gordon with Jack Kirk and friends singing "Ridin' Up the Rocky Trail From Town" behind the title credits, as well as "Old Chisholm Trail". Director Lew Collins included a poor man's THE SPOILERS barroom brawl between Russell and Kohler. Yakima Canutt, doubling Reb, performs his under the buckboard, up and over, stunt. If you need a representative Reb Russell B-western for your collection, this is as good as any, and better than most.

 THUNDER OVER TEXAS (1934 Beacon)
Probably the only profitable pictures produced by Max and Arthur Alexander's Beacon Pictures in its short existence in 1934-1935 were the five minimal budget westerns starring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. Actually, Beacon only turned out eight films total in their one year existence. Williams was a likeable cowboy, a mite on the oafish side, whose career stretched back to silent oaters. His baffled dumbness combined with his huge frame made him more natural for comedic sidekick roles which he began to play consistently after his Beacon series ended. He worked up until 1961, just before his death in '62. This first of Big's Beacon westerns produced by Max Alexander is also interesting because it was directed by a slumming Edgar G. Ulmer under the name of John Warner, based on a story by his wife, Sherle Castle. Once a top name at Universal, Ulmer angered the powers that be there (speculation runs rampant on exactly how) and wound up on poverty row. Actually, THUNDER OVER TEXAS is a weak western held together by Ulmer directing cameraman Harry Forbes (who never displayed any talent elsewhere) with some innovative photography. Noteworthy too is the little girl played by Helen Westcott who by the '50s was a leading lady in major films like THE GUNFIGHTER, CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER and GOD'S LITTLE ACRE. Perhaps the most amusing plot ploy of THUNDER... has Big's pals (Vic Potel, Ben Corbett, Tiny Skelton) as three dopey, radio program crazy ranch hands, constantly doing impersonations of Kate Smith, Joe Penner, Rudy Vallee, Amos 'n' Andy, Ted Lewis and Baron Munchausen. The phrase "must be seen to be believed" applies! Basic plot has Big Boy protecting the daughter of a man killed in a car wreck engineered by crooked banker Claude Payton and Sheriff Philo McCullough in attempting to obtain railroad right of way maps. Now, Payton wants Big Boy's ranch because it's valuable to the railroad. Siding with Big Boy is pretty schoolmarm Marion Shilling who has rejected Payton's romantic advances.

 BANDIT RANGER (1942 RKO)
Tim Holt has a new saddlepal with Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards in the first of six B-westerns Tim hurriedly made before entering the service for WWII. RKO released the films slowly through 1943. Ike's voice is pure and he had a definite flair for slapstick comedy. Ranger Dennis Moore is ambushed on the way to Trail City to investigate a wave of rustling. Rancher Tim Holt comes upon the dying Moore who implores him to give his money belt to Moore's sister, Joan Barclay. Sneaky town businessman Kenneth Harlan is responsible for Moore's murder and has replaced him with phony ranger LeRoy Mason. Harlan, realizing Barclay will know Mason is not her brother and upset his apple cart, has his men (Frank Ellis, Bob Kortman, Bud Geary) set out to kill the girl. Tim and Ike rescue her, but before they can thwart out Mason and Harlan, they turn the tables on Tim and have the town believing Tim is the head of the rustlers. Interesting to see Glenn Strange playing against type as an honest rancher. Never a dull moment under the guidance of Les Selander.

 BANDITS OF THE WEST (1953 Republic)
The Allan "Rocky" Lane series remained strong right to the end. This next to last Lane adventure over six years features a theme of western progress. Cathy Downs' company is about to bring natural gas to the community but are stymied when they attempt to put the pipeline across Trevor Bardette's property. Bardette has been in prison, framed by burly foreman Roy Barcroft, who is slowly stripping Bardette's rich land of all its assets, therefore he wants no pipeline interference. Released from prison, an embittered Bardette arrives in town seeking revenge on those he blames for causing him to spend time in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Barcroft and his men (Lane Bradford, Robert Bice) plot to use Bardette's attitude to once again frame him and get him out of the way so they can operate his ranch as they see fit. Investigating Marshal "Rocky" Lane works with Down's head engineer, Ray Montgomery, and friend, Eddy Waller, to convince Bardette of the need for natural gas and that Barcroft has framed him.

 SMOKE LIGHTNING (1933 Fox)
A thrilling finale aboard a train and a film noirish opening amidst an electrical storm highlight this excellent George O'Brien adaptation of Zane Grey's CANYON WALLS. Arriving in town, George O'Brien and English pal Frank Atkinson thwart crooked Sheriff Morgan Wallace and his card-sharp partner Clarence Wilson from cheating rancher E. A. Warren. Later, the conniving pair murder Warren and hire outlaw Douglas Dumbrille to impersonate Warren's long-lost brother - and the supposed uncle of Warren's young daughter, Betsy King Ross - in a plot to take over her ranch, Canyon Walls. The plotters also attempt to frame O'Brien for the murder of Betsy's father. In a last ditch attempt, Sheriff Wallace tries to kidnap young Betsy from schoolmarm Nell O'Day's house, planning to spirit her away by train. In the end, O'Brien is appointed Betsy's guardian and plans to marry O'Day.

 BAR 20 (1943 United Artists)
Hopalong Cassidy and young Robert Mitchum (surprisingly playing an honest, if stubborn, hot-headed rancher) each suspect one another of being in league with outlaws Francis McDonald and Doug Fowley who have robbed stagecoach passenger Dustine Farnum (real-life daughter of silent star Dustin Farnum) of a casket of family heirloom jewels given to her by Mitchum as a wedding present. Hoppy wants to help Farnum but Mitchum's having none of it, suspecting Cassidy's in league with the bandits, while actually Mitchum's "trusted" friend Victor Jory is the real brains behind the scheme. George Reeves fills in the young sidekick role here vacated after six films by Jay Kirby. Jimmy Rogers was waiting in the wings and joined Hoppy and Andy Clyde with the next outing, RIDERS OF THE DEADLINE.

 MELODY RANCH (1940 Republic)
Supposedly planned as a pivotal film in Gene Autry's career, Republic budgeted this turkey at $180,000, the most expensive Autry to date. Sporting a huge cast headed by veteran comedian Jimmy Durante (replacing Autry favorite Smiley Burnette), the vaudeville trouper's gnarled phraseology comic antics - especially an extended courtroom scene - proved unfunny and out of place in an Autry film. Durante was not appreciated by Autry fans who preferred Smiley's homespun humor. The overabundance of tap dancing (Ann Miller), barbershop harmony and zany comedy from Barbara Jo Allen (radio's Vera Vague) and Durante resulted in a disjointed, slow moving 84 minutes. Believing the publicity will overcome Gene Autry's sagging radio ratings - which actually have come about by the lackadaisical attitude on his program by debutante Ann Miller - Gene's agent, Durante, persuades Gene to return to his hometown as guest of honor at the town's Frontier Days celebration. Gene finds the town racket-ridden by his childhood enemies, three brothers - Barton MacLane, Joe Sawyer, Horace MacMahon. After being made honorary sheriff, Gene finds city life has made him soft when he's beaten in a fight by the troublesome trio. Humiliated, Gene works out and trains so that in their next encounter he emerges victorious. It's in this mix that the most charming moments of the film arrive - and they're not from Durante, Miller, Allen or any of the high priced "stars", but from Sawyer and MacMahon. After beating Gene in an on-air fight, the rambunctious brothers launch into a hilarious song parody of Gene's "Back In the Saddle". Later, when Gene has toughened up and beaten the boys at their own game, he forces them to sing "What are Cowboys Made Of". Gene eventually regains his reputation and captures the gangsters in a wild trolley car action finale. MELODY RANCH has its moments, but Ann Miller is too chic for an Autry heroine and the disarranged elements are foreign to Autry fans and overpower the picture's basic enjoy-ability. And to set the record straight, John Wayne does not appear in any way, shape or form in this picture.

 STAMPEDE (1949 Allied Artists)
Simply an all-out terrific western! One of Blake Edwards' earliest scripts (co-written and co-produced with John Champion from a novel by Edward Beverly Mann) is uncharacteristic of the lighthearted comedies which later became his bread and butter. Rod Cameron and Don Castle are cattle baron brothers who find their rangeland infringed upon when the government opens up the land to homesteaders. However, all the water is on the brothers' land, which leads shysters Donald Curtis, John Eldredge and banker John Miljan to come up with a plan to swindle the settlers and cause problems for Cameron and Castle unless they open up their Spirit Lake to provide water for the nesters - something Rod has no intention of doing. The tough film, directed perfectly by Les Selander, includes a brutal, graphic scene of cattle being stampeded over a cliff, a fistfight to rival the one in THE SPOILERS, and a cute spanking scene with nester gal Gale Storm on the receiving end of Don Castle's slaps. Cowboy cancer alert - Cameron lights up on horseback and in the bathtub. Repeated viewings simply do not diminish STAMPEDE, it's satisfying every time.

 VIGILANTE TERROR (1953 Allied Artists)
Pinetop is terrorized by both outlaws and vigilantes. Respected citizen Myron Healey has his outlaws pull the jobs while his vigilantes (Zon Murray, Richard Avonde) plant the evidence on someone else, thereby deflecting suspicion from the real outlaws (George Wallace, Denver Pyle, Frank Ellis, Bill Foster). Mayor Henry Rowland appoints (Wild) Bill Elliott sheriff after Bill's brother John James is hung by vigilantes and, in a tense situation, Bill is nearly hung himself. Coming to Bill's aid are deputy Fuzzy Knight and storekeeper I. Stanford Jolley's daughter, Mary Ellen Kay. Sid Theil's screenplay offers a few new twists along the way for director Lewis Collins to embellish.

 SONG OF THE DRIFTER (1948 Monogram)
When Jimmy Wakely's pal Dub "Cannonball" Taylor plans to get married to blacksmith Patsy Moran, Jimmy goes along to keep him out of trouble. They find the widowed Moran being plagued by polluted water in her ranch reservoir by schoolteacher William Ruhl and crooked land developer Frank LaRue who are trying to force Moran off her property by contaminating her reservoir. When that fails, the swindlers hire a phony engineer (Marshall Reed) to give Moran a false report on her water. Jimmy and his friends (Dick Reinhart, Arthur Smith, Cliffie Stone) sing four tunes, including Ernest Tubb's "It's Been Too Long, Darlin'".

 BILLY THE KID'S GUN JUSTICE (1940 PRC)
When owlhoots Charlie King, Rex Lease and Kenne Duncan attempt to drive homesteaders Forrest Taylor and his daughter Louise Currie off their ranch, Billy the Kid (Bob Steele) and his pals, Fuzzy St. John and Carleton Young, come to their rescue. However, Young is surprised to see them living on his own Uncle's ranch, the very place the three saddle pals were bound for. It's soon discovered crooked realtor Al Ferguson killed Young's uncle, then "sold" the ranch to Taylor and Currie, now plotting to drive them off and "sell" it again. The weakest of Bob's six Billy the Kid entries is plot driven and talkative with a weak resolution.

 RIDE LONESOME (1959 Columbia)
Another intelligent Burt Kennedy scripted, Budd Boetticher directed Randolph Scott western in Eastmancolor and Cinemascope, and one of their best. Scott is a bounty hunter who captures and is apparently taking sniveling James Best in for murder. Initially, it seems Scott merely wants the bounty money, but it's eventually revealed Scott hopes Best will lead him to his brother, vicious Lee Van Cleef, who murdered Scott's wife years ago. Pursued by Van Cleef's gang - as well as Mescalero Apaches - at a stage stop Scott is joined by two outlaw bounty hunters, Pernell Roberts and James Coburn, who want to bring Best in themselves as total amnesty is being offered for whoever brings in Best. Also at the stage stop is the station man's young widow, Karen Steele, whom the bounty hunters covet. In the end, Scott revenges Van Cleef's deed and rides off with Steele, allowing Roberts and Coburn to turn in Best, thus collecting their pardons. Kennedy's tight 72 minute script and Boetticher's expert handling of characterization is full of intelligent dialog (Kennedy used his "Some things a man just can't ride around" line once again with Pernell Roberts) and offbeat humor in Best's giggling killer. The rugged Alabama Hills of Lone Pine are as much a character in the picture as the men and women involved.

 MAN FROM CHEYENNE (1942 Republic)
Gabby Hayes' old pal, Roy Rogers, returns to Cheyenne to find his two childhood playmates full grown young ladies - Gabby's niece Gale Storm, and Lynne Carver, heiress to a neighboring ranch. Roy soon discovers Carver and her foreman, William Haade, are heading up a gang of rustlers. Carver hates the west, wants to amass a quick fortune and go East to live. Gabby's niece Gale and Gabby's daughter, Sally Payne, both detest the way Carver flirts with unsuspecting ranchers in order to obtain information from them which she passes on to her rustler gang. It all leads to a blazing climax, including a short catfight between Storm and Carver. The Sons of the Pioneers are on hand for songs, including the joyful "Happy Rovin' Cowboy". The lady rustler angle gives this one some interest, but otherwise it's pretty basic.

 ALIAS BILLY THE KID (1946 Republic)
West of the Pecos there is no law. Into the region rides undercover Texas Ranger Sunset Carson, assigned to track down and bring to justice a female Robin Hood, Peggy Stewart, and her gang (Tom London, Tex Terry, Russ Whiteman). Turns out they are innocent victims of Roy Barcroft's gang (Pierce Lyden and bankers Tom Chatterton and Stanley Price) who are cheating and robbing ranchers with starvation cattle prices. When Peggy's father was killed by Barcroft she vowed to fight back the only way she knew how. Earle Snell and Betty Burbridge scripted, but it's another variation on Bennett Cohen's COME ON, DANGER Tom Keene/George O'Brien/Tim Holt story. Cohen produced this version. Incidentally, this is the film in which Sunset constantly refers to Peg as Baby Sister. Where the title came from is anybody's guess - there's no mention of Billy the Kid.

 BELLS OF CAPISTRANO (1942 Republic)
This is the last film Gene Autry made before entering the U.S. Air Force for WWII. He didn't return to the screen til 1946. An unusually good cast, thrilling action highlighted by an exciting fire sequence, and a rousing patriotic production number finale with Gene singing the WWI tune, "Don't Bite the Hand That's Feeding You", make this Autry a winner. The plot deals with a clash between two traveling rodeo shows, one owned by pretty Virginia Grey, and the other by ruthless Morgan Conway (best known as Dick Tracy in a couple of RKO detective films). By fair means or foul, Conway means to absorb Grey's show into his. Gene is hired by Grey's show as a singing cowboy attraction, naturally gaining the Wild West Show fantastic new popularity. Conway now stoops to violence to quash his competition. Fire, accidents, misunderstandings, dire injuries to friends - the singing cowboy triumphs over all.

 CALLING WILD BILL ELLIOTT (1943 Republic)
This new Wild Bill Elliott series plugged the gap in Republic's schedule left vacant when Gene Autry entered WWII. Smiley Burnette moved over from Gene's films to support the now bigger-budgeted Roy Rogers pictures before moving on to Eddie Dew/Sunset Carson/Bob Livingston, and Republic decided Gabby Hayes would be of more value getting the fledging Elliott series off the ground than he was continuing with Roy Rogers. To instigate the series, this is the first and one of the few times in B-western history that the star's name was incorporated into the film's title. The crooked Governor of the territory, Herbert Heyes, rules with an iron hand, commanding his own private militia (Roy Barcroft, Bud Geary, Charlie King, Frank Hagney, Yakima Canutt, Al Taylor). When the grandfather of Gabby's young friend, Buzz Henry, is killed, Heyes lays the blame on Wild Bill, sending the murdered man's son, Fred Kohler Jr., on a vengeance trail. Bill convinces federal judge Forbes Murray and his daughter Anne Jeffreys (who sings a song) of Gov. Heyes malfeasance in office, but the judge is then shot with Elliott also accused of his murder. Eventually, Wild Bill brings the sagebrush dictator to his knees and clears his own name.

 BEYOND THE LAST FRONTIER (1943 Republic)
Republic had lost Gene Autry to WWII service, but they still had sidekick Smiley Burnette who was not without fans of his own. After partnering ol' Frog with Roy Rogers for a few films, Republic prexy Herbert J. Yates apparently figured Smiley would be of more value bolstering up their new John Paul Revere series with Eddie Dew. Republic had always maintained a policy of offering exhibitors four different western series each season. They now had Roy Rogers, Don Barry and, newly signed, Bill Elliott. The decision had been made to drop the faltering Three Mesquiteers films, so was created John Paul Revere. Hired to play the part was Eddie Dew who'd been playing badmen and character roles mostly in Tim Holt RKO's. BEYOND THE LAST FRONTIER was the initial outing, but after only one more (RAIDERS OF SUNSET PASS) Dew was replaced by Bob Livingston while Eddie quickly rode over to Universal. Unfortunately, the reasons, whether it be salary, audience reception to the first Dew film, fan mail, egos or whatever, are long lost to time. Perhaps it was simply because good/badman Robert Mitchum walked away with the honors in this film. It's a real star-turn for the sleepy-eyed actor who was also now making a mark in Hopalong Cassidy films. Republic should have snapped him up, but RKO beat them to the punch, starring Mitchum in Zane Grey westerns in 1944. Here, Texas Ranger John Paul Revere (Dew) poses as an outlaw to spy on Harry Woods' gang of ore raiders. Realizing there must be a spy among them, Woods retaliates by likewise planting a spy among the Rangers, reckless young adventurer Robert Mitchum. Later, Mitchum finds Woods' brutal treatment of Ranger Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) too much for his taste, and saves Frog from dying in a burning barn. The good/badman eventually sides with Dew and turns the tables on Woods' gang. It may be Dew's debut as a cowboy star, but it's Mitchum's movie all the way!

 THE ARIZONA COWBOY (1950 Republic)
Singing cowboy Rex Allen came along last in B-westerns, but just early enough to catch on with fans, earning him the title, 'The Last of the Silver Screen Cowboys'. His first film, directed by Republic vet R. G. Springsteen, THE ARIZONA COWBOY, is how Rex came to be known. A former rodeo rider, he actually hailed from Arizona (Willcox to be exact), sang beautifully, was a veteran of Chicago's National Barn Dance, learned quickly to ease likeably through westerns, and generally left a believable impression. Rodeo star Rex Allen and his father are accused of robbing the Dusty Acres Irrigation Company. Rex escapes and, disguising his identity, takes a job with new-found pal Gordon Jones as a ditch rider with the irrigation company to learn who is sabotaging the irrigation project and why. Oil on the property at an old ghost town is revealed to be the reason, with chief engineer for the irrigation project, James Cardwell, and his uncle, Stanley Andrews, president of the bank, behind the sabotage carried out by thugs Roy Barcroft and Lane Bradford. Solid story from Bradford Ropes, with four songs from Rex, including "Red River Valley" and two of Rex's own compositions, "The Arizona Waltz" and "I Was Born In Arizona", get Allen's series off to a good start.

 MARSHAL OF CRIPPLE CREEK (1947 Republic)
"One of the best B-westerns Republic ever turned out," wrote the late Alan Barbour in THE THRILL OF IT ALL. We agree, the cast is strong and the action intense - especially when Allan Lane as Red Ryder vows to break chief heavy Gene Roth in half, then proceeds to do so in a brutal fight finale that wrecks the saloon. The discovery of gold in Cripple Creek brings in a lawless element bent on robbing ore wagons. Red Ryder reluctantly agrees to become Sheriff to clean up the town. Saloon owner Gene Roth and businessman Tom London, with their chief henchman Roy Barcroft, are secretly behind the wave of outlawry. The crooked threesome employ down and out gambling-loser Trevor Bardette as their fall guy whom Red captures and sends to prison just as Bardette's wife and son arrive in Cripple Creek. Lying to the imprisoned Bardette about how Red, Little Beaver (Bobby Blake) and The Duchess (Martha Wentworth) are treating his family, Roth and Barcroft turn Bardette into a vengeful killer who, when he escapes prison, goes gunning for Red who has his hands full convincing Bardette the shifty threesome have lied and double-crossed him all along. This was the last of the Republic produced Red Ryders with Lane starting his Allan "Rocky" Lane series two months later.

 MYSTERY RANCH (1932 Fox)
The George O'Brien Fox westerns were obviously aimed more at adult trade than the average Saturday afternoon B-western. Many were based on Zane Grey stories, all were crafted with the utmost technical care. Casts were far superior to that of even Jones and Maynard. Full musical scores were written, used most effectively for suspense and climatic action sequences. Loaded with moody, atmospheric camerawork by Joseph August and George Schneiderman, the David Howard directed film nourish picture is told in Gothic quasi-horror movie fashion. Erudite, piano-playing, but brutal, sadistic Charles Middleton rules his private Arizona valley with a tyrannical iron hand. Holding his dead partner's daughter, Cecilia Parker, hostage, the ruthless Middleton schemes to compel her to marry him to legally control her land. Holding grisly sway over his valley, the tyrant has imposing deaf mute Noble Johnson and sneering half-breed Charles Stevens strangle or hang anyone (including the Sheriff) who interferes with his plans. Ranger George O'Brien is warned by his friend in town, former silent star Roy Stewart in one of his better sound roles, to avoid the impending danger of Middleton's valley, but O'Brien finds he must rescue the trapped girl. Director Howard hones the suspense, finally busting loose in a large-scale action sequence played out atop mountain crags.

 KING OF THE ARENA (1933 Universal)
Ungraciously fired by Universal when sound came in because they had no faith in the future of westerns, Ken Maynard triumphantly returned to the studio in '33 buoyed by increased budgets and his own production unit. Ken's sound westerns at Tiffany and World Wide had been hit and miss affairs, limited by budgetary influences. Now, Ken was making a concentrated effort to return to the glory of his First National silents. Of Ken's sound films, the '33-'34 Universals, of which KING OF THE ARENA was the first, are often on the bizarre side of the genre with action sequences that often tax credibility. In KING..., Ken brings down an airplane with a slingshot! Also involved are Russians with strange death-inducing chemicals, machine guns and secret-hideaway periscopes. Since Ken had a circus background, he elected to use that for his first Universal. The stranger-than-strange plot has Ranger Ken, a former circus star, returning to the midway to unravel the mystery of the Black Death robberies. Seems the trail of crime follows the circus. Aided by old friends little trick rider Bobby Nelson, comic Frank Rice and love interest Lucille Browne, Ken uncovers skulking Russians Bob Kortman and his suave boss Michael Visaroff behind the Black Death murders, armed with never-quite-explained exploding chemical pellets. Off-beat, outlandish, yes - but never boring or uninteresting. The finale in a secret shack laboratory ranks as one of Ken's best! When you watch KING OF THE ARENA, remember it was made in the pre-Civil Rights era of 1933 and forgive Ken for the politically incorrect as you can get naming of black actor Blue Washington in the film as "Sambo". The "Yassuh, Boss" lines are frequent! Behind a cap and makeup, former silent star Jack Mower plays a Mexican police officer, while Wally Wales has a bit in the circus audience.

 KANGAROO KID (1950 Eagle Lion)
American cowboy detective Jock Mahoney is sent down under to Australia to find and extradite a wanted man. Undercover, Jock becomes a stage driver for a gold mine, but when he's held up, he's blamed for the robbery. This Australian western is a novelty, nothing more. Even under old pro Les Selander's direction this is a tepid affair, wasting Jocko's athletic abilities on only one bar fight.

 RAIDERS OF THE SOUTH (1947 Monogram)
"1865 brought to a close the Civil War, but the wounds of battle were still unhealed. Carpetbaggers and renegades roamed the land, leaving in their wake hatred and distrust. The situation became so critical that the Secret Service was called in to prevent martial law in many of the states." An auspicious prologue, a different setting, Civil War clothing, but - the same old Johnny Mack Brown stuff with very little action. Secret Serviceman Brown is sent to stop Evelyn Brent's guerilla raiders (Marshall Reed, Eddie Parker, lawyer John Merton) from fighting the war now that's it's over or martial law will be declared. Lawyer Merton suspicions Brown and plots to take over Brent's gang by himself. Reno Blair (later Reno Browne) is Brent's young daughter. Curt Barrett and the Trailsmen sing three tunes.

 GUNS OF THE PECOS (1937 Warner Bros.)
Belting out "The Prairie is My Home" Dick Foran is hell-bent for thrills riding with the Texas Rangers to bring law and order to a gang of horse rustlers led by Judge Robert Middlemass and his outlaws (Bud Osborne, Monte Montague, Henry Otho, Milton Kibbee) who have killed Major Gordon Hart. Ranger Foran and his pal Eddie Acuff discover the Judge is after the Major's property, planning to cheat his pretty daughter, Anne Nagel, out of her inheritance. Certainly no new ground is broken in this formulaic plot, but it's well handled by director Noel Smith with a big battle finish. Rocky Camron has a nice role as Nagel's foreman while Bill Elliott (still a year away from stardom at Columbia) cameos as a loud talking dude.

 BAR 20 JUSTICE (1938 Paramount)
Devil may care mine owner Pat O'Brien (not the Warner Bros. star) and foreman of the nearby Freeze Out mine, Paul Sutton (noted as radio's Sgt. Preston of the Yukon), kill Freeze Out mine owner John Beach, making it appear to be an accident. Although the mine is labeled a jinx, Beach's widow, Gwen Gaze, suspects her husband's death was murder and that O'Brien is trying to gain control of her mine in addition to his own. Gaze seeks help from old friend Hopalong Cassidy who learns O'Brien has dug a secret tunnel (guarded by malevolent Walter Long) connecting O'Brien's played-out Devil May Care with the still prosperous Freeze Out. Directed by Les Selander, the film's unmemorable heavies and slow development stresses suspense over action, although it winds up with one of the most exciting desert chase finales in any Hoppy adventure. There are some truly humorous moments when Gabby Hayes pretends to be stone deaf, nearly senile and in need of work as a night watchman at the mine. Hoppy's horse Topper makes his debut in this film after Bill Boyd bought him in '37. Bill's wife, Grace, named the steed after the Topper novels written by Thorne Smith.

 BUFFALO BILL IN TOMAHAWK TERRITORY (1952 United Artists)
While Clayton Moore was out on strike for more money in his role as TV's The Lone Ranger, he donned a mustache and goatee for low budget producers Jack Schwarz, Ed Finney and director B. B. Ray who dug up every scrap of marauding Indian stock footage they could locate, clear back to 1926's WAR PAINT with Tim McCoy. I must admit to a guilty pleasure of watching this one-off '50s B-western that is nostalgically like watching an old Finney-produced Tex Ritter, same Frank Sanucci canned music, same production values - even Slim Andrews is along as Buffalo Bill's sidekick (wearing one of Ritter's old shirts no less!) Story revolves around Moore as Buffalo Bill attempting to bring a herd of cattle to the Indians, the U.S. government's contribution to peace talks. However, outlaws are masquerading as warring Indians so the Cavalry will drive the real Indians off their land allowing the no-goods (Eddie Phillips, Tom Hubbard, Bill Coontz and renegade Indian Rodd Redwing) to claim the gold on the Indian land. Buffalo Bill discovers the plot, unmasks the heavies and establishes peace with Chief Yowlachie and Chief Thunder Cloud. Some music from low-rent musicians, The Broome Brothers (Joe, Ray and Lee).

 GUN RUNNER (1949 Monogram)
A little better plot than usual from J. Benton Cheney raises this Jimmy Wakely to above average. General mercantile owner Mae Clark and her boys (Kenne Duncan in one of his best roles, Marshall Reed, Carol Henry) secretly smuggle guns to Indians. Half-breed Ted Adams complains to the gun-runners of faulty guns and is given new rifles by Mae. Leaving town, Adams is discovered by Sheriff Steve Clark. In the excitement, Sheriff Clark is wounded. While recovering, the sheriff asks Jimmy Wakely to look after his "daughter", Noel Neill, revealing she is actually gun-runner Duncan's daughter. Due to past circumstances, neither Duncan nor Neill are aware of this fact. Sheriff Clark also asks Jimmy and pal Cannonball Taylor to bring in the gun-runners. In a showdown, with Neill's life in danger, Duncan learns of their relationship and sides with Jimmy against the crooked Mae Clark's gang. Mortally wounded, Duncan makes Jimmy promise Neill will never learn the truth about her outlaw father.

 SADDLE LEATHER LAW (1944 Columbia)
Charles Starrett unravels a double-murder - of the same man. When rancher William Gould is pressured to sell his ranch to businessman Lloyd Bridges' Empire of the West Corporation, he sends for mineralogist Charles Starrett to find out why the Empire wants his land so badly. When Gould is both poisoned and stabbed to death, the overused B-western plot ploy of blaming Starrett is trotted out while dude Bridges uses his eastern "charms" to try and convince Gould's ward, Vi Athens, to now sell the ranch to him. This is from Starrett and Columbia's non-stop fistfight-action period, so there's a continual battle between Starrett and pratfall sidekick Cannonball Taylor and Bridges' rowdies, Reed Howes, Bob Kortman, Ted French. At this point Starrett's white horse is named Yucca (and he calls him by name once) but Columbia thought kids (eastern ones especially) wouldn't quite understand what "Yucca" was and later changed the name of Starrett's mount. Lotsa music from Jimmy Wakely and his Saddle Pals, along with a good opportunity to see and hear country jug, guitar and "talking" harmonica player Floyd "Salty" Holmes (1909-1970) who used to play in Patsy Montana's Prairie Ramblers group and was later on the Grand Ole Opry. (His only other western is Tex Ritter's ARIZONA DAYS).

 UNCONQUERED BANDIT (1935 Reliable)
After his dad (John Elliott) is killed by San Diego politician William Gould's rustlers (George Chesebro, Lew Meehan, Ben Corbett), Tom Tyler vows to become the feared Nighthawk bandit to break Gould's pocketbook and his heart by marrying Gould's beloved niece Lillian Gilmore, then reveal he is the Nighthawk. Tom makes a deal with the real Nighthawk (Slim Whitaker) who double-crosses him in his checkerboard plan of revenge. Prolific but limited in talent, director Harry S. Webb should be thankful he had cameraman J. Henry Kruse on board to give Tyler's Reliables some semblance of movement. Our Tom deserved better and eventually got it at Republic with the 3 Mesquiteers.

 SILENT MEN (1933 Columbia)
Everyone in this Tim McCoy duller is anything but silent, droning on and on with constant talk, talk, talk. Tim McCoy escapes prison after being framed and convicted for a crime he didn't commit. Quickly becoming a brand inspector for rancher Joe Girard, he finds brothers J. Carroll Naish and Wheeler Oakman, along with henchie Matthew Betz, are rustlers. Complicating matters, Tim falls in love with the rustler-brothers' sister, Florence Britton. If you stay awake long enough, watch for a young Walter Brennan in a small role.

 LITTLE JOE, THE WRANGLER (1942 Universal)
When a reign of terror sweeps over the mining community of Lamplight with dozens of ore robberies, and Sheriff Tex Ritter is unable to stop the outlawry, the townspeople call for Ritter's resignation. When mining executive Johnny Mack Brown arrives to investigate, he's immediately framed for murder by the outlaws (Hal Taliaferro, Ethan Laidlaw, Slim Whitaker, Carl Sepulveda and their boss, respected citizen and smelter manager James Craven). Eventually, convincing Sheriff Ritter of his innocence, Brown, Ritter and the Little Joe of the title, Fuzzy Knight, band together to round up the gang. The Jimmy Wakely Trio offers up two tunes. Way too much screen time is given over to "inventor" Fuzzy's contraptions and we also noted even Mildred the Mule brayed incessantly at Knight's "singing" of the title tune. Ritter also gets to sing the song - at the very end of the picture.

 OREGON PASSAGE (1958 Allied Artists)
Routine '50s Cavalry vs. Indians picture except for one surprise plot deviance towards the end. Cavalry Lieut. John Ericson is out to establish peace with the Indians but finds he must battle more with his new by-the-book commander Edward Platt who knows Ericson had an affair years ago with his new wife Lola Albright. This affects Platt's decision making, causing renegade Black Eagle (H. M. Wynant) to take up the warpath. Terrific scenery, filmed on location in Oregon.

 SILVER SPURS (1943 Republic)
An example of how good the Roy Rogers films were until they went overboard with modern trappings. SILVER SPURS features one of the most thrilling climatic chase sequences ever filmed, with all due credit to director Joe Kane. Story has rich but irresponsible playboy-ranch owner Jerome Cowan caught in the clutches of lodge owner John Carradine. Phyllis Brooks is an eastern newspaper reporter who comes west looking for a story. She gets more than she and girlfriend Joyce Compton bargained for when she gets entangled in Carradine's plot to marry her off to Cowan, kill Cowan, then have his new "wife" sell out cheap to Carradine. When Cowan is murdered, Roy is blamed. Fortunately, Roy has pals like Smiley Burnette, Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers around to help him out of the jam in that slam-bang, helter-skelter finish. Unfortunately, current prints are edited, leaving out about 10 minutes which includes some of the Pioneers' best music.

 BOOTS AND SADDLES (1937 Republic)
Sporting the hit songs "Take Me Back to my Boots and Saddle" and "The One Rose" along with superb direction from Joe Kane, BOOTS AND SADDLES emerges as a real turning point in Gene Autry's film career. Gene is in fine voice with his confident presence on screen more evident than ever before. Orphaned British Earl of Grandby, 12 year old Ra Hould, has to depend on his ranch foreman, Gene Autry, to save his ranch from nasty mortgage holder Bill Elliott (sporting a sleazy black mustache). It's more fun and foolishness than a serious power struggle as Gene decides to win a contract to break and sell horses to the Army in order to save the ranch. With identical bids submitted by both Gene and Elliott, a cross country race (a Republic plot-staple) is planned to decide the winner. All the while, Gene manages another "taming of the shrew" romance with the daughter, Judith Allen, of the Army post's colonel, Guy Usher. A year from now, Elliott would become a major B-western star at Columbia.

 COMANCHE TERRITORY (1950 Universal-International)
Big budget B takes Jim Bowie (Macdonald Carey) to Texas to broker peace with the Comanche whose lands are about to be invaded by a greedy saloon man (Charles Drake) and his sister (Maureen O'Hara) who have stolen from oldtimer Will Geer the treaty/deed which he was delivering from Washington to Comanche Chief Pedro De Cordoba. After falling in love with Bowie, O'Hara defects to help him stop the evil plans of her brother and his henchman Ian MacDonald. Gorgeously filmed around Sedona, Arizona, but Lewis Meltzer's script that he handed director George Sherman is uneven, which at times allows Will Geer broad humor and Maureen O'Hara to unexpectedly burst into an Irish folk song for no good reason. Then Meltzer's script reverts to deadly serious action with the highlight being a knife fight between Bowie and Comanche buck Rick Vallin. Then, after Bowie and O'Hara are triumphant and in love, there's a downbeat ending in which Bowie promises to return to O'Hara after he returns from helping out at the Alamo, from which history, of course, tells us he will not return. B-vet director Sherman populates the lesser roles in his cast with a host of B-western friends - Ed Cobb, Johnny Carpenter, Terry Frost, John Cason, Harry Harvey, Stanley Blystone, I. Stanford Jolley, Glenn Strange, Guy Wilkerson, James Best and Iron Eyes Cody.

 CALIFORNIA TRAIL (1933 Columbia)
California 1838. It's the peons' land Mayor George Humbert and his brother, Commandante Luis Alberni, want - and starvation is the price. The Laurel and Hardyish pair horde all the food supplies and even charge scout Buck Jones with smuggling when he brings supplies to the people. Outlawed, and known as the Robin Hoodish Yankee Bandit, Buck strikes back at the conniving officials. Talk supplants action in this dreadfully dull Lambert Hillyer directed and scripted sleep inducing Jones.

 PLAINSMAN AND THE LADY (1946 Republic)
Overlong (87 minutes) Pony Express yarn with an emphasis on romance was earmarked for John Wayne but the Duke, having just made DAKOTA with Vera Ralston, didn't care for her thespic abilities and begged off this one. He was replaced by William Elliott for Wild Bill's second bigger budgeted western. It did little to enhance Bill's "A" status. In St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1859, noticing tough saloon owner Bill Elliott's affection for his daughter, powerful businessman Rheinhold Schunzel hires Elliott to protect his pony line from hostile Indians and the attacks of the gang led by Joseph Schildkraut, owner of a rival stagecoach line. Bill's position is made difficult because Schunzel's wife, Gail Patrick, is in love with Schildkraut. The in-poor-health owner of the pony line is literally shocked to death by his wife's confession of hate and treachery. Patrick joins Schildkraut as he and his raiders (led by black clad Don Barry) try to destroy the Pony Express stations. After a few false starts like this, Bill finally found his William S. Hart-like niche in B-plus westerns such as THE LAST BANDIT, SAVAGE HORDE, SHOWDOWN and, especially, HELLFIRE.

 ROARING RANCH (1930 Universal)
Cutesy Hoot Gibson oater finds him caring for an infant baby for half the film and the local schoolmarm (Sally Eilers) for the other half. Meanwhile, sneaky Wheeler Oakman plots to snatch off Hooter's oil-soaked ranch. Early talkie is just that. Gibson and Eilers were later married and divorced.

 SIERRA PASSAGE (1951 Monogram)
Off beat premise with fewer than usual clichés is compelling despite its production disappointments. When he's a youngster, Wayne Morris' father (Jim Bannon) is robbed and killed by three outlaws - lustily laughing Alan Hale Jr., Paul McGuire and Richard Karlan. Orphaned, Morris (played as a kid by Billy Gray) is raised by a Wild West Minstrel showman (Lloyd Corrigan) and his trick-shot artist (Roland Winters). Morris grows up to use the spectacular gun skills he's learned from them to tour the west, always searching for the trio of killers with nothing but revenge on his mind. Lola Albright affords the romance angle for Morris and provides a few songs.

 KING OF THE SIERRAS (1938 Grand National)
Production of this wild mustangs horse story was shut down in early July 1937 and not re-started until June 1938, at which time "the cast" was hired - Uncle Hobart Bosworth, his nephew Harry Harvey Jr. and his real life father Harry Harvey Sr. as the foreman. M. H. Hoffman was the original producer, but his name does not appear on the film, only that of George A. Hirliman who took over in '38 and fashioned a moribund wrap-around storyline with Bosworth, Harvey and Harvey discussing and "looking at" previously filmed horse footage (the exciting parts which you've seen many times over). For the record, Shiek is the good white horse and Rex is El Diablo. Suffer at your own risk.

 THUNDER TOWN (1946 PRC)
Mustachioed Bob Steele, released from prison on parole, returns to his hometown and attempts through ballistics to prove himself innocent of bank robbery and that his former partner didn't commit suicide. The real bad guys are Charlie King and his brother Edward Howard who now plan to force, through intimidation, pretty Ellen Hall, Bob's old girlfriend, to marry Howard in order to gain control of her ranch and stymie Steele. Saloon owner Bud Geary and businessman Bud Osborne are in cahoots with King and Howard. Warned to stay out of trouble while on parole, Bob takes a lot of abuse from the gang until he busts loose! Boo Boo: Bob's hat is filthy when talking to Sheriff Steve Clark, but not as he exits Clark's office.

 SAGEBRUSH LAW (1943 RKO)
Looks like Tim Holt's bank president father has committed suicide over "loans" he made to himself, but Tim knows it's murder and enforces the law of the west - in hot lead. With the help of his saddlepal Cliff Edwards, hotel owner John Elliott and his daughter Joan Barclay (whom Tim naturally falls for - who wouldn't?), Tim ferrets out his Dad's partner Roy Barcroft as the real embezzler. Barcroft's gang includes phony bank examiner Karl Hackett and ruffians John Merton and Bud McTaggart. My vote for the singing cowboy with the best voice (if sidekicks count) would be Cliff Edwards. Just listen to the pure, sweet clarity of his voice, like the chime of a gentle, perfect bell. Treat yourself to Edwards' version of Ray Whitley's "Crazy Old Trails" (originated in FARGO KID ['40]). In SAGEBRUSH LAW scripter Bennett Cohen gives us a slight variation on the "saloon confession" ending he first used so effectively in SOUTH OF ARIZONA ('38), then reprised in EL PASO KID ('46) and RIDIN' DOWN THE TRAIL ('47).

 THE ROUND UP (1941 Paramount)
Overlong cattle empire epic has Richard Dix as a rancher whose new bride's (Patricia Morison) old beau (Preston Foster) shows up to complicate matters. Eternal triangle soap operaish melodrama with the last 15 minutes its only saving grace after Dix is accused of the killing of gambler Jerome Cowan - a crime he didn't commit. Morison beseeches Foster to help her save Dix after Foster admits it was really he who murdered Cowan. Cowan's gang, led by Dick Curtis, have captured Dix but he's saved by Foster who is mortally wounded in the fight, but not before he confesses and clears Dix. The King's Men sign a few songs and the supporting cast of western vets (Lane Chandler, William Haade, Douglass Dumbrille, Morris Ankrum, Weldon Heyburn, Lasses White) helps, but it's far from Dix's best.

 GUN SMOKE (1931 Paramount)
Notorious Boston gangster William (Stage) Boyd goes into hiding with his thugs at Mary Brian's ranch in a small town in Idaho who welcome him as an investor. Slowly but surely the town comes under Boyd's rule, even to the murder of the Sheriff. Eventually, Mary's suitor, Richard Arlen, and his wranglers sneak up on the city-bred gangsters in a canyon, stampede a herd of wild mustangs over them, and polish off the rest of the hoodlums in a hail of gunfire. Nothing new, but it's handled well.

 BLACK DAKOTAS (1954 Columbia)
"During the Civil War, Southern sympathizers made desperate efforts to aid the Confederacy by inciting Indian uprisings against defenseless towns along the western frontier. The objective was to force large withdrawals of northern troops from the main battlefronts leaving them more vulnerable to Southern attack." Southern spy Gary Merrill (the bad guy - but he receives top billing and the lion's share of screen time and dialogue over hero John Bromfield) and his gang (Noah Beery Jr., Richard Webb, Clayton Moore, Chris Alcaide) plan to swipe a mess of gold promised the Sioux by President Lincoln. Wanda Hendrix is the daughter of a hanged Southern spy (Faye Roope) who is misled by Merrill while stageline owner Bromfield saves the day and the gold. Screenwriter Ray Buffum, producer Wallace MacDonald and director Ray Nazarro put the primary focus on the heavy, making this an interesting variation.

 VACATION DAYS (1947 Monogram) The Teen Agers (Freddie Stewart, June Pressier, Warren Mills, Noel Neill, Frankie Darro) go out west for summer vacation to their teacher's dude ranch at Gulch's Gulch where Freddie is mistaken for the notorious badman Angel Face by sneaky lawyer Hugh Prosser and his local outlaws (Terry Frost, Frank Ellis and ranch foreman John Hart). Obviously a spoof on westerns from producer Sam Katzman, but actually no less a "western" than some of the lighthearted modern day B's of Ken Curtis, Hoosier Hot Shots and even George O'Brien on occasion. Spade Cooley and his orchestra are featured.

 LAW MEN (1944 Monogram)
Unexciting plot-driven Johnny Mack Brown. Just when you expect a fight or shootout, it slips away under Lambert Hillyer's off-day lazy direction. Crooked banker (was there hardly any other kind?) Robert Frazer and saloon owner Ed Cobb have their hooligans (Marshall Reed, Steve Clark, Bud Osborne, Art Fowler, Ted Mapes) stage a series of bank robberies. The "solid citizens" plan to defraud the ranchers and mine owners by pretending an Eastern bank is calling in the bank's line of credit because of the robberies, then foreclose on the area mortgages. Lawmen Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton (who "sings" in this one - "Dirty Little Coward Who Shot Mr. Howard") are helped in thwarting the scoundrels by bank teller Kirby Grant (who would star in his own series at Universal within the year).

 HIDDEN GUNS (1956 Republic)
Father and son lawmen, Richard Arlen and (country singer) Faron Young set out to reform the town run by gambler Bruce Bennett who hires backshooter John Carradine to gun a witness, then "snipe" Sheriff Arlen from ambush. When Bennett tries the same trick on Faron, he loses. Carradine is far better than the Al Gannaway written/produced/directed material. Also with a young Angie Dickinson in a nothing role, Big Boy Williams, Lee Morgan, Irving Bacon, Lloyd Corrigan, Tom Hubbard (Bennett's right hand man), Ben Welden, Damian O'Flynn and Ed Cobb. A choral group ties various sections of the film together, commenting on the story. Interesting, but slow. Bill Ward (one time owner of the Lone Ranger's Silver) contributes some nice stuntwork. Made independently by Gannaway. Distributed by Republic during their final days.

 SHOOTING HIGH (1940 20TH Century Fox)
Gene's first, and only, feature away from Republic while under contract finds him in unfamiliar surroundings, therefore not at his best. Cast as Will Carson (the only picture where he did not play "himself"), grandson of the local town hero, Gene appears uneasy and when called upon to show emotion in a few dramatic scenes, manages only a bewildered, befuddled expression. An old feud that originated with the grandparents of the Pritchards and the Carsons, who live in Carson's Corners, flares up again when town banker Frank M. Thomas tries to put a highway through where the local monument to frontiersman Will Carson stands. When blustery producer Jack Carson's movie company comes to town to film the life-story of old Will Carson, Gene at first doubles for, then takes the place of, egotistical cowboy star Robert Lowery. Gene captures LeRoy Mason's gangsters who rob the local bank, settles the feud and wins the hand of Marjorie Weaver, the older sister of match-making Jane Withers. Incidentally, youngster Withers was an off-screen matchmaker as well, totally arranging the deal between Republic and Fox so she and Gene could make a picture together. Note that in the film within a film, Gene's leading lady is Kay Aldridge who would soon gain fame at Republic in their PERILS OF NYOKA serial.

 IROQUOIS TRAIL (1950 United Artists)
Starts with a history lesson: "In 1755 a new war in Europe between England and France had re-lighted the fuse under the uneasy peace in America. Everyone knew a final struggle between the rival colonies of Canada and New England was inevitable. Once again that ancient Indian warpath known as the Iroquois Trail, the only natural passage between the St. Lawrence and Hudson River Valley, would provide the main battleground. At the northern end stood Montreal, while to the South, the little city of Albany was the main British base of operations." Colonial cowboy George Montgomery as James Fenimore Cooper's legendary Hawkeye with Monte Blue as his friend, the Sagamore, find Hawkeye's kid brother ambushed and murdered by treacherous scout and French spy John Doucette and Huron chief Sheldon Leonard (very believable in his Indian role). They've stolen vital British war dispatches. Montgomery and Blue aid the British in a French attack on Fort Williams, rescue the commandant of the fort's daughter (Brenda Marshall) and uncover a traitor, Reginald Denny. Superficial script with some good action toward the end. Producer Edward Small seemed to favor historical or period "westerns" (LAST OF THE MOHICANS '36, KIT CARSON '40, DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT '50) as well as historical costume dramas (COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO '34, MAN IN THE IRON MASK '39, SON OF MONTE CRISTO '40, CORSICAN BROTHERS '41, VALENTINO '51, KHYBER PATROL '51, etc.).

 DON RICARDO RETURNS (1946 PRC)
... And he shouldn't have. Slow, derivative and ineffective with scant little activity. Duncan Renaldo, under the alias Renault Duncan, wrote the script (with the help of Jack De Witt) and produced (with J. S. Burkett) this zestless excuse to star stuntman/actor Fred Coby, a smallish non-actor who looks even more tiny next to his "friend" Paul Newlan. In Monterey, California, duplicitous Spaniard Anthony Warde is determined to have the returning Don Ricardo (Coby) dead so he can inherit Ricardo's ranch and marry his fiancée, Isabelita. Warde's lackeys are stereotypical comic, inefficient Mexicans ala a poor episode of TV's ZORRO. Director T. O. Morse failed to infuse the film with any energy. Coby (1916-1970) came to films in 1943. Most of his roles were small parts, although he managed a few good heavies on early western TV series such as ROY ROGERS, LONE RANGER and STORIES OF THE CENTURY and he was one of the two heavies (with Dick Curtis) constantly battling Walter Reed in the Republic serial GOVERNMENT AGENTS VS. PHANTOM LEGION ('51).

 ROCKY RHODES (1934 Universal)
Buck Jones had the ability to appeal to adults as well as children. A large adult audience was not uncommon for Jones' films. Crossing audience "boundaries" gave Buck an edge over many other western heroes which may explain why Universal signed him after dispensing with the demanding Ken Maynard. Universal gave Buck much the same deal as they had Ken - producer/star. ROCKY RHODES is Buck's first at Universal and it's a winner as he and pal, Chicago gangster-type Stanley Fields, come west after a stay back East to find Buck's old friend Paul Fix accused of murdering Buck's father. When Fix is also killed, Buck pledges to get the man responsible, who turns out to be land-grabbing investment company owner Walter Miller who, with his gang (Lee Shumway, Harry Semels, crooked lawyer Carl Stockdale, Monte Montague, Bud Osborne) are trying to dispossess lovely Sheila Terry and her father Alf P. James. Slam-bang finish.

 WYOMING KID (1947 Warner Bros.)
A grand, stirring big budget Warners western. Warner Bros. had a style all their own with roots firmly planted in the B's. Plotline here has an undercover man infiltrate a bandit gang. Sound familiar? The only thing added to this standard B plot is romance. Wells Fargo agent Barton MacLane coerces and makes a deal with gambler Dennis Morgan to bring in the phantom outlaw known only as The Poet. Problems arise when Morgan falls in love with Jane Wyman who turns out to be the Poet's wife. The Poet (banker Bruce Bennett) operates secretly and lets his henchmen (Arthur Kennedy, Tom Tyler, Bob Steele, John Ridgely, John Alvin, John Compton) do all the riding and robbing. Original title was CHEYENNE which was changed for TV release because of the Warners TV series with Clint Walker. 100 minutes of fast, furious fun maintained under Raoul Walsh's direction. Besides Steele and Tyler, another one-time B-star, Jack Perrin, can be briefly glimpsed.

 DRUMS OF DESTINY (1937 Crescent)
"In 1815, Florida was Spanish territory, sparsely populated and totally ungarrisoned. West Florida was a hideout for smugglers, renegade whites and savage tribes of marauding Creeks and Seminoles. Armed with contraband rifles, these Indians raided American settlements across the border, then retreated to their West Florida refuge. Unable to pursue them into foreign land, General Andrew Jackson established a border patrol of Mississippi volunteer militiamen to protect the pioneers." With that premise, you'd expect an action-packed Tom Keene historical adventure. Wrong. Following an Indian raid in which a young boy is killed, Capt. Tom Keene, his scout Budd Buster, and the militiamen cross the border into Florida without orders to track down gunrunners Robert Fiske, Ray Bennett and John Merton. Meanwhile, the gunrunners capture Keene's brother, Lt. Dave Sharpe, and bring him before the Spanish governor, Carlos de Valdez, who orders him executed. From there it's a tepid talkfest as Keene, and deValdez's daughter, try to convince the Governor to release Sharpe.

 A TIME FOR DYING (1969 Fipco)
Audie Murphy is the only decent actor in this aimless, pointless, badly acted, overwritten hodgepodge. Unfortunately, his cameo as Jesse James only lasts 5 minutes. Director Budd Boetticher had helmed a series of excellent Randolph Scott westerns in the mid to late '50s. He then left Hollywood for Mexico to work on a personal bullfighting project. He did not return for 8 years, and when he did, his film making career was at a virtual standstill. This paltry-budgeted, painfully crude film made primarily to help Audie pay his debts (to the IRS and possibly the mob for gambling markers) did nothing to revive either Boetticher's or Audie's careers. It wasn't released until 1971 in France, after Audie's death, and later in the U.S. on homevideo.

 DOWN DAKOTA WAY (1949 Republic)
A more subdued and weaker entry among Roy Rogers' latter-day Trucolor pictures. Sort of a juvenile delinquent theme with bad-boy Byron Barr (the stepson of ex-schoolteacher Elisabeth Risdon) joining up with unscrupulous cattle rancher Roy Barcroft to murder local vet Emmett Vogan in order to obtain a report that shows Barcroft's cattle are infected with hoof and mouth disease. Crafty Barcroft wants to get his herd to market before a quarantine order is issued. In his efforts to unravel the murder of Vogan, Roy is aided by schoolmarm Dale Evans (who sings the only memorable tune, "Candy Kisses", a hit country tune of the time), Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage, wannabe detective Pat Brady and Sheriff Montie Montana. The menace of perennial Republic badman Barcroft is very secondary to that of Barr and Barcroft's henchie James Cardwell. Although director William Witney stages some inventive fights, it's not enough to raise this John Butler/Sloan Nibley scripted Rogers above average.

 ROAD TO DENVER (1955 Republic)
When B+ or A- western stars of the '50s are mentioned - Audie Murphy, George Montgomery, Jim Davis, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Rory Calhoun, Rod Cameron, Guy Madison, Dale Robertson - it seems John Payne is often overlooked. He shouldn't be. Payne starred in ten westerns in the '50s (and a successful TV series RESTLESS GUN ['57-'59]), of which ROAD TO DENVER is one of the best, helped immensely by veteran Joe Kane's expert knowledge of how to direct an exciting Trucolor western. A feud between two brothers is at the center of the action with level-headed Payne constantly getting younger brother Skip Homeier out of trouble. Tired of bailing Homeier out of jams, Payne heads for Colorado where he eventually becomes partners with stageline owner Ray Middleton and falls in love with his daughter Mona Freeman. Coincidentally, Homeier winds up in the same town, using an assumed name, and winds up a gunhand for town boss Lee J. Cobb (and his gun-rannies Glenn Strange, Lee Van Cleef, Buzz Henry, Red Morgan, Dan White) who is trying to close down Middleton and Payne's stageline. Based on a novel by Bill Gulick. Although set in Colorado, ROAD TO DENVER was filmed in Utah. Terrific supporting cast: Andy Clyde, Tex Terry, William Haade, Fred Graham, John Dierkes, Dick Alexander, Tom Monroe, Bill Hale, Francis J. McDonald, Charles Meredith, John Cason, Hank Worden.

 TWO GUN MAN FROM HARLEM (1938 Merit/Sack)
The best of the Herb Jeffries black westerns. At the ranch where he works, Herb discovers his boss has been murdered by an unknown man with whom his boss' wife (Mae Turner) was having an affair. The manipulative Mae throws suspicion on Herb who flees east to Harlem where he meets a gangster known as The Deacon. As the Deacon resembles Herb, the on-the-run cowboy decides to return west disguised as The Deacon to clear himself. Time passes and a year later, the real murderer, Clarence Brooks, hires local tough Spencer Williams Jr. to kill Mae to protect his identity. Back out west, Herb, as The Deacon, allies himself with Williams, convincing him not to kill Mae but to blackmail Brooks. Eventually, Herb clears his name and rounds up both Brooks and Williams. Besides Williams, who won fame as Andy Brown on TV's AMOS AND ANDY, the all-black western features Stymie Beard of OUR GANG and comic genius Mantan Moreland as Herb's sidekick. Herb sings his hit "Happy Cowboy".

 CODE OF THE WEST (1947 RKO)
The third and final James Warren RKO western based on a Zane Grey novel is Warren's best, solidly directed by William Berke from a Norman Houston screenplay. Grey's story was made in 1923 as CODE OF THE WEST at Paramount starring Owen Moore and remade in 1934 by Paramount as HOME ON THE RANGE w/Randolph Scott. Warren and sidekick Chito (John Laurenz) come to the aid of banker Harry Harvey who is able to lend homesteaders refinance money thereby spoiling the sneaky plans of saloon owner Raymond Burr and his hatchet-men (Steve Brodie, Phil Warren, Marshal Harry Woods) to take over their land and sell it to the railroad. Warren must also contend with Harvey's wayward son, Robert Clarke, and his sister, Debra Alden, with whom he falls in love. Burr bar-girl confidant Carol Forman sings in the saloon as does Chito at a campfire. Silent star William Desmond has a one-line bit as a rancher. Noted stuntman Tom Steele doubles Warren in two well-choreographed fights.

 FLAMING FRONTIER (1958 Regal/20th Century Fox)
B-western director Sam Newfield's last fling has Cavalry Captain Bruce Bennett sent by Washington to bring about a peaceful solution to the uprising in Minnesota by Bennett's half-brother, Sioux chief Little Crow (Larry Solway). Real culprits turn out to be Indian hating fort commander Jim Davis, his civilian brother Cecil Linder and Indian agent Ben Lennick who are cheating the Indians out of their food supplies. The action, when there is any, is boringly staged. Bennett and Davis are the only two American actors in this made in Canada production from Newfield who made the equally poor WOLF DOG with Davis in Canada at the same time under the same production set-up.

 GUNS OF A STRANGER (1973 Universal)
Expectations ran high in 1973 for a new singing cowboy western starring Marty Robbins. All hopes and expectations were quickly dashed after about five minutes of this dumbfoundingly vapid excuse for a western. Producer/director Bob Hinkle obviously is trying to emulate the programmers of the '30s and '40s but fails miserably. The only excuse to put this in your VCR is to scan through the meandering, poorly scripted, dull 90 minute plot, stopping only long enough to listen to Robbins sing six of his gunfighter ballads, plus the title tune, "The Drifter" (also used on his unsold TV series of the same name). Drifter Robbins hires on at the ranch of Chill Wills (looking bloated and probably inebriated) and his daughter, Dovie Beams - a serious candidate for the worst actress ever to make a western, or any other picture - to fight off the landgrabbers (Tom Hartman and plug-ugly Bill Foster (aka Bill Coontz). Other than Robbins, Chill and Foster, plus cameos from old pros Shug Fisher and Fred Graham, the rest of the cast is made up of rank amateur talent rounded-up in Arizona where the film was shot, at Old Tucson. Regrettably, this ultra-lame attempt only served to further bury the singing cowboy western.

 KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (1936 Principal/20th Century Fox)
Virtually actionless Sol Lesser produced Northwest Mountie yarn with Robert Kent far too small in stature and not dynamic enough to play Zane Grey's famous comic strip Mountie sergeant. Several last minute casting changes also damaged the film. George O'Brien was originally scheduled to star, but he was replaced by Richard Arlen and, finally, Robert Kent. Jean Parker, scheduled to play the femme lead, was sidelined by an eye infection so Rosalind Keith was borrowed from Paramount. Drawn-out plot has lawyer Alan Dinehart and his cohort, Arthur Loft, plotting to swindle Keith's share of a gold mine from her. Literally no action till the last few minutes. Watch for Jack Luden in a small role as a Mountie. An unbilled Ray Whitley, in his first screen appearance, seems a bit nervous as he sings two songs at a party.

 TRAPPED IN TIA JUANA (1932 Mayfair)
Watch this and you too will feel trapped! Purportedly a western action-drama-romance, it contains none of these ingredients. Stale and stiff, 61 minutes drag hopelessly by as Duncan Renaldo stars in a dual role. It's the old wheeze of two twin brothers separated by bandits as youngsters. (Rex Lease came up with the story idea.) One twin grows up with his Colonel father (Joseph Girard) as an American Army officer, while his kidnapped twin becomes a Mexican bandit. This dullery reunited Renaldo with his TRADER HORN ('30 MGM) co-star Edwina Booth. This cheapie was obviously made to capitalize on their fame from that picture. Hard to believe, but almost an entire reel is wasted as the Mexican Renaldo and his captive (Booth) prepare coffee and tortillas. This was Booth's last film. No wondering why. Fortunately, Renaldo's career survived this ineptness.

 MAN FROM MONTANA (1941 Universal)
Despite his deep feelings for Jeanne Kelly, Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown warns her father, fiery cattle baron William Gould, and James Blaine, secret head of a band of rustlers, not to resist the lawful invasion of homesteaders into their valley. Blaine and his range rats (Frank Ellis, Dick Alexander, Kermit Maynard, Karl Hackett, Blackjack Ward) plan to stir up strife between cattlemen and homesteaders (led by old Murdock McQuarrie and his granddaughter Nell O'Day) in order to win control of the valley for himself. Except for the intrusion of two little kids Universal was promoting, Billy Lenhart and Kenneth Brown, who sing "Little Joe the Wrangler", the action is non-stop. Well, almost, we do need to suffer Fuzzy Knight as always, this time claiming "Bananas Make Me Tough". The King's Men sing "Follow the Western Trail". One question: Why is Montana in the title when the jail reads Laramie?

 FARGO KID (1940 RKO)
One of Tim Holt's most ingratiating happy-go-lucky roles that shows how good an actor he really was. The light comic touches in the screwball comedy-vein incorporated by director Richard Killy make this a most appealing Holt, and one of the most enjoyable B-westerns ever made. The scenes where Tim's pals Ray Whitley and Emmett Lynn try to sing their way out of jail are laugh-out-loud funny. The story, credited to pulp writer W. C. Tuttle, is a remake of RKO's CHEYENNE KID ('33) with Tom Keene. Crooked assayer Cy Kendall and fidgety henchie Ernie Adams send for gunman Paul Fix to kill miner Paul Scardon so they can buy his goldmine claim cheap from his widow-to-be Mary MacLaren and their daughter Jane Drummond. In the desert, Fix runs across the Fargo Kid (Holt) who is on his way to join his pals, Whitley and Lynn. Through a set of circumstances, Tim winds up with Fix's horse, leading the crooks to believe Tim is the killer-for-hire they sent for. That is, until the real killer, with havoc in his holster, arrives. Ernie Adams, as a comic-badman, was never better, and even gets to do his patented "squealer" bit. Whitley sings "Crazy Old Trails" (a song Cliff Edwards reprised in Holt's SAGEBRUSH LAW ['43]). With original story credit to W. C. Tuttle, the '33 Keene screenplay was by Jack Curtis and Keene Thompson. The revised screenplay for Holt is by Morton Grant and Arthur V. Jones, who, separately and together, scripted many of RKO's best B's for George O'Brien and Tim Holt. Director Killy, who gets the absolute most of the comic situations, came up through the ranks as an assistant director on major films like LITTLE WOMEN ('33), GUNGA DIN ('39) and HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME ('39). FARGO KID was one of many he helmed with O'Brien, then Holt, before returning in the late '40s to assistant director and production director work on more major titles such as SINBAD THE SAILOR ('47), BLOOD ON THE MOON ('48) and THE SET-UP ('49). Much of the outdoor action was filmed on location in Kanab, Utah.

 SECRET VALLEY (1937 20TH Century Fox)
Socialite Virginia Grey seeks a quickie divorce in Reno, NV, after she marries Norman Willis, realizing too late he is a notorious New York gangster. While Willis and his thugs search for his runaway bride, Virginia hides out on Richard Arlen's ranch where romance between them naturally follows. There's a musical campfire interlude with Syd Saylor's "singing voice" quite obviously dubbed. All the action that exists in this Sol Lesser production based on a Harold Bell Wright story comes in the final five minutes.

 LAW COMMANDS (1937 Crescent)
"In 1862, the imminent passing of the Homestead Act, giving all Americans the right to acquire 160 acres of government land, started the tide of empire westward. The rich lands of Iowa beckoned, but no sooner had settlers planted their crops when ruthless land sharks made their appearance. Their terror was especially felt in Johnson County where cowardly night riders descended on the farmers and drove them from their lands," reads the prologue to another Crescent Tom Keene historical drama. Just a fancy way of leading into a standard B-western land-grab plot. Law and order by way of a citizen's claim association fails when prominent farmer Carl Stockdale is gunned down by hoodlums John Merton and Matthew Betz, working secretly for respected pillar of the community Robert Fiske. Dr. Tom Keene takes matters into his own hands, seeking assistance from the Governor. Meanwhile, Fiske and Merton install Stockdale's naïve son, Dave Sharpe, as head of a phony protective association in order to trick landowners into deeding over their property to them. Keene's love interest is Stockdale's daughter, Lorraine Hayes, the real-life younger sister of actress Bernadene Hayes. More watchable than most of the Keene Crescents.

 WESTWARD, HO! (1942 Republic)
Lady banker Evelyn Brent is the suave secret leader of a gang of bandits (Donald Curtis, Kenne Duncan, Budd Buster, Monte Montague, Bud Osborne) who are terrorizing Spring Valley. Fed up, the banker's association, of which Brent is president, offers a $5,000 reward for any member of the gang - dead or alive. With pressure on the outlaws, Brent orders Curtis to frame a passing stranger as a bandit, kill him and collect the reward money to divert attention from their own activities. Returning from the East, unwary Tom Seidel is their victim. When Tom is killed, his brother, John James, vows vengeance. The gang's next target is the unsuspecting Lullaby Joslin (Rufe Davis) as he and his Three Mesquiteers pals (Tom Tyler, Bob Steele) arrive in town. When Lullaby is captured in a phony bank holdup (instead of being killed as the outlaws planned), Tyler and Steele rescue him from hanging. A neat series of crosses and double crosses ensues as the Mesquiteers get in with the gang and eventually aid James, and his sister Lois Collier, and Sheriff Emmett Lynn in exposing Brent and her boys. Action packed with a very original plot from Morton Grant and Doris Schroeder. Directed with zip by John English. Due to the John Wayne film of the same title in 1935, Republic released this western to TV as RIDERS FOR JUSTICE.

 FORBIDDEN VALLEY (1938 Universal)
Riding with her father (Stanley Andrews) in search of wild mustangs, Frances Robinson becomes separated from the group, falls from her horse and is nearly trampled in a stampede. She is saved by Noah Beery Jr. who lives in hiding in the mountains with his father, Samuel S. Hinds, who was falsely accused of murder years ago. Before Beery can return Robinson to town, his father is killed by a runaway horse. Beery leaves the mountains with Robinson, determined to clear his father's name. Beery is just a little too "gosh, ah willikers" for the lead and was better served in character roles over many years to come. Remade in 1950 as SIERRA with Audie Murphy and again in 1965 as HIDEOUT, an episode of THE VIRGINIAN with Roberta Shore.

 MAN FROM TEXAS (1948 Eagle Lion)
A thinly cloaked retelling of the Jesse James story - except for an ending that lets Jesse, known here as the El Paso Kid (James Craig), off with a light jail sentence after he foils a train robbery by his old gang. Hardly worth the 70 minute effort.

 IN OLD MONTEREY (1939 Republic)
With the longest running time (73 minutes) and biggest budget ($98,723) yet afforded a Gene Autry western, Republic was clearly moving their number one star into a higher category of picture. Republic was steering Gene's films away from the traditional B-western programmer. With higher budgets and better casts, they were obviously aiming at A-theatre playdates. The story here deals with real-life war clouds gathering in Europe. Patriotism was clearly on Republic's mind with IN OLD MONTEREY. With war looming, the Army Air Corps needs to purchase ranch land for a bombing range, but ranchers led by Gabby Hayes are unwilling to sell the land they have cultivated. Undercover, Sgt. Gene Autry tries to persuade the ranchers to sell and move without a fight. Unscrupulous Jonathan Hale, president of a Borax company, is informed the government feels the asking price for his mine is too high and will not pay it. In defiance, Hale has his burly foreman (William Hall) keep public sentiment stirred up to force the government to pay a higher price. In an all-out patriotic pitch (obviously aimed squarely at what was really going on in the world) Gene argues if the Army doesn't develop better weapons, the U.S. could be victimized. Stirred by patriotism, Gabby apologizes to his country for thinking only of himself and leads the ranchers in singing "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean". But Gene's victory is short-lived when Hale's men dynamite Gabby's ranch, killing young Billy Lee and blaming the tragedy on the Army's bombing runs. Gene must now prove Hale's sabotage and win back the support of the ranchers. The primary drawback to one of Gene's best pictures is the preponderance of comedy material from Smiley Burnette and WSM Radio's Sarie and Sallie, as well as the Hoosier Hot Shots. Gene sings "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and the apropos "My Buddy".

 SONS OF THE PIONEERS (1942 Republic)
Named after Roy Rogers' famous group, the film is basically served up tongue in cheek by director Joe Kane from a script by Mauri Grashin, Robert T. Shannon and M. Coates Webster, only the latt