Charles MortonFilmography

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Actors: John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien

Synopsis: Like Pontius Pilate, director John Ford asks "What is truth?" in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance--but unlike Pilate, Ford waits for an answer. The film opens in 1910, with distinguished and influential U.S. senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) returning to the Read More

Flashing Spikes

Westbound

Actors: Randolph Scott, Virginia Mayo, Karen Steele, Michael Dante, Andrew Duggan

Synopsis: A fast-paced western with a romantic twist, this was one of the last films pairing director Budd Boetticher and popular cowboy hero Randolph Scott before Scott's retirement. John Hayes (Scott) left the Civil War behind him when he took on the job of managing the Overland Stage Lines out of a small Read More

Shotgun

Actors: Yvonne De Carlo, Sterling Hayden, Zachary Scott, Guy Prescott

Synopsis: While John Ford and Howard Hawks received all the critical plaudits, Lesley Selander quietly went about his business directing some of the best westerns of the 1950s. In Selander's Shotgun, deputy sheriff Clay (Sterling Hayden) embarks upon a long, vengeful journey to track down Thompson (Guy Read More

At Gunpoint

Actors: Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone, Walter Brennan, Tommy Rettig, Skip Homeier

Synopsis: One of the best of the High Noon derivations, At Gunpoint is the story of reluctant hero Fred MacMurray. When a band of gunmen invade a small frontier town, storekeeper MacMurray fires off a lucky shot and kills the leader. Hailed as a hero, MacMurray realizes deep down that he's a coward. When Read More

Son of Paleface

Actors: Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers, Bill Williams, Lloyd Corrigan

Synopsis: A sequel to Bob Hope's 1948 box-office success The Paleface, 1952's Son of Paleface is a superior product in every way, thanks largely to the spirited, creative direction of Frank Tashlin. Hope is cast as Junior Potter, a Harvard-educated dude who heads West to claim the inheritance left him by Read More

Surrender

Actors: Vera Ralston, John Carroll, Walter Brennan, Francis Lederer, William Ching

Synopsis: Of the many attempts by Republic Pictures' CEO Herbert J. Yates to turn his lady friend Vera Ralston into a star, Surrender is one of the better efforts. Ralston plays a conscienceless "femme fatale" who works out a complex scheme to secure her financial comfort. The plan, enacted in a western Read More

River Lady

Actors: Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, Rod Cameron, Helena Carter, Lloyd Gough

Synopsis: Yvonne DeCarlo dons 19th century "adventuress" garb once more in River Lady. This time she's a 19th century gambling queen, in charge of a profitable Mississippi riverboat casino. DeCarlo falls in love with logger Rod Cameron; when he won't succumb to her charms, she tries to buy his affections Read More

Wyoming

Actors: Roy Barcroft, John Carroll, George Cheseboro, Dick Curtis

Synopsis: Promoted from Republic B westerns to "A" productions, William "Wild Bill" Elliot found himself in the sort of roles previously essayed by John Wayne, Richard Dix and Errol Flynn. In the Republic "special" Wyoming, Elliot plays Charles Alderson, a wealthy Wyoming Territory ranch owner who takes an Read More

The Plainsman and the Lady

Actors: Don "Red" Barry, Andy Clyde, William B. Davidson, Byron Foulger

Synopsis: The 87-minute running time of Plainsman and the Lady was evidence aplenty that this was no mere Republic B western. William Elliot (formerly and latterly "Wild Bill" Elliot) stars as cattleman Sam Cotten, who offers his services-and his six-guns-to the newly formed Pony Express. Erudite villain Read More

Along Came Jones

Actors: Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, William Demarest, Dan Duryea, Frank Sully

Synopsis: Gary Cooper added "producer" alongside "star" on his resume with this light-hearted Western about a mild-mannered cowboy (Cooper) who drifts into a small town with his sidekick (William Demarest). Naturally, he's mistaken for a notorious highway robber (Dan Duryea), although he can barely handle a Read More

Sudan

Actors: Maria Montez, Turhan Bey, Jon Hall, Andy Devine, George Zucco

Synopsis: In another of her series of romantic desert adventures, popular actress Maria Montez is this time Naila, the newly crowned queen of an ancient Egyptian land. Her father the king has just been assassinated and she intends to make those responsible pay for their crime. She sets out into the desert Read More

Hidden Valley Outlaws

Synopsis: "Wild Bill" Elliott heads the all-star (by B-flick standards, at any rate) western Hidden Valley Outlaws. Elliott does battle with a cartel of ruthless landgrabbers, who are victimizing settlers throughout the Southwest. With such formidable villains as Roy Barcroft, Kenneth Duncan, Leroy Mason Read More

Trail to Gunsight

Synopsis: In this western, an innocent saddletramp is blamed for killing a man. Fortunately he finds the real culprit before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Lumberjack

Actors: William "Hopalong" Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jimmy Rogers, Herbert Rawlinson, Ellen Hall

Synopsis: Though it's not readily obvious from the title, Lumberjack is the 52nd entry in the long-running "Hopalong Cassidy" series. In this one, Hoppy (William Boyd) and his pals California (Andy Clyde) and Jimmy (Jimmy Rogers) come to the rescue of recently widowed Julie (Ellen Hall). It so happens that Read More

Outlaws of Santa Fe

Actors: Don "Red" Barry, Helen Talbot, Wally Vernon, Twinkle Watts, Charles Morton

Synopsis: Western star Don "Red" Barry essays a dual role in Republic's Outlaws of Santa Fe. Actually, the two "characters" are one: Barry plays a reformed bank robber named Bob Hackett, who starts life anew as Bob Conroy. This he does to track down the no-good, dirty skunk who murdered his father. Read More

Cheyenne Wildcat

Synopsis: Bill Elliot is back as Red Ryder in Cheyenne Wildcat. Also back are Ryder's perennial cohorts Little Beaver (Bobby Blake, later Robert Blake of Baretta fame) and the Duchess (Alice Fleming). When not pummeling the bad guys, Ryder is the reluctant apex of a love triangle. It's formula stuff all the Read More

Firebrands of Arizona

Synopsis: In this convoluted western, a sickly cowboy sidekick gets into a terrible fix when he is mistaken for a notorious bank robber and tossed in the clink. There is a huge bounty on the villain's head, and the sheriff happily anticipates the arrival of that bounty on the next stage, unaware that the Read More

Texas Legionnaires

Actors: Roy Rogers, Ruth Terry, Paul Kelly

Synopsis: Though it bears the same title as an earlier Gene Autry western, Roy Rogers' The Man from Music Mountain isn't a remake. Rogers is appropriately cast as a cowboy who's hit it big as a radio singing star. Returning to his hometown for a special remote broadcast, Roy finds himself in the middle of a Read More

Goldie Gets Along

Actors: Lili Damita, Charles Morton, Sam Hardy, Nat Pendleton, Lita Chevret

Synopsis: Goldie dreams of being a movie star. One day she decides to leave her New Jersey home and her boy friend to head for Hollywood. She eventually arrives, but not before having a close call with a crooked beauty contest promoter. Once in Tinseltown, the is surprised to discover that her old boyfriend Read More

Arms and the Man

Synopsis:
This first film version of George Bernard Shaw's witty comedy of questionable manners stars Barry Jones as soldier Captain Bluntschli. Having deserted from his regiment, Bluntschli takes refuge in the apartment of beautiful young Russian girl Raina Petkoff (Anne Grey). Raina is all for turning Read More

The Last Ride

Actors: Charles Morton, Dorothy Revier, Virginia Brown Faire, Frank Mayo, Tom Santschi

Synopsis: Former silent-screen star Frank Mayo plays a big-city bootlegger at odds with gangster chieftain Tom Santschi, the man who's been hijacking his shipments. The cops decide not to get involved but instead remain on the sidelines, hoping that Mayo and Santschi will knock each other off. But young Read More

Blonde Venus

Actors: Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Dickie Moore, Gene Morgan, Francis Sayles

Synopsis: Marlene Dietrich stars as Helen Faraday, a German cabaret singer in the States whose husband, Ned, falls ill and his only hope is to receive expensive medical treatment at a clinic in Europe. Struggling to afford his care and to support their son Johnny, she works at a nightclub and succumbs to Read More

The Dawn Trail

Actors: Erville Alderson, Miriam Seegar, Charles Morton, Edward J. Le Saint

Synopsis: A fine early sound Western, this Buck Jones series entry from his Columbia period told the well-known story of a feud between cattle barons and sheep men. When Mart Denton (Charles Morton), son of a wealthy cattle man, kills a homesteader during a quarrel, Sheriff Larry Williams (Jones) faces a Read More

Caught Short

Actors: Marie Dressler, Polly Moran, Anita Page, Charles Morton

Synopsis: Sparring landladies provide the focus of this comedy. The two women are constantly competing to take in the most boarders at their respective homes. Though outwardly jealous rivals, the women are actually best friends. The competition gets more intense when one woman's daughter falls for the Read More

Check and Double Check

Actors: Freeman Gosden, Charles J. Correll, Sue Carol, Charles Morton, Ralf Harolde

Synopsis: Check and Double Check brought radio's highest-rated program to the big screen. Amos 'N' Andy were two black characters played by two white men, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. Donning blackface, Gosden and Correll are seen as well as heard as A&A, partners in the Harlem-based Fresh Air Read More

Cameo Kirby

Actors: Norma Terris, Douglas Gilmore, Robert Edeson, Charles Morton

Synopsis: This early talkie is the third version of the popular Booth Tarkington play. It is set in the mid 19th-century and centers upon a good-hearted riverboat gambler who takes on a group of criminals in New Orleans during Mardis Gras when he rushes in to save a young woman from ruination. But she is a Read More

Four Devils

Actors: John Farrell MacDonald, Anders Randolf, Claire McDowell, Jack Parker, Philippe DeLacy

Synopsis: The circus provides the backdrop for this melodrama that chronicles the lives of four children raised within the big top. Two of them have grown to be lovers. Though they appear inseparable, trouble ensues when a usurper takes the girl away. The picture is considered a lost work -- no copies are Read More

The Far Call

Synopsis: In this romance, a greedy poacher travels to a small island in the Bering sea to rob a seal rookery. There he falls for the governor's daughter who learns that the poacher is the estranged son of a prominent, but dead, citizen. She reveals his true identity to him, and he decides not to kill the Read More

Christina

Actors: Janet Gaynor, Charles Morton, Rudolph Schildkraut, Harry Cording, Lucy Dorraine

Synopsis: This part-talkie (17 minutes of dialogue in its 83-minute running time) stars Janet Gaynor as Christina, the daughter of Dutch toymaker Niklaas (Rudolph Schildkraut). Much to her dad's dismay, Christina falls in love with sideshow huckster Jan (Charles Morton). Likewise disapproving of the romance Read More

New Year's Eve

Actors: Mary Astor, Charles Morton, Earl Foxe

Synopsis: In this drama, an unemployed young woman who must support her younger brother pays a visit to a gambler who wants her body. However, he is murdered during her visit, and she is charged with the crime. But, the real killer is unmasked and dies in an accident, and her old flame shows up to romance Read More

None But the Brave

Actors: Charles Morton, Sally Phipps, Tyler Brooke

Synopsis: Failing miserably in the business world, a college hero becomes a lifeguard and falls for a pretty concessionaire in this breezy comedy which greatly benefitted by incorporating a beauty pageant filmed in Technicolor. Two of Fox studios' newest contract players, Charles Morton and Sally Phipps Read More

Four Sons

Actors: Margaret Mann, James Hall, Earl Foxe, June Collyer, Charles Morton, George Meeker

Synopsis: Long though lost, Four Sons reemerged in the 1960s, proving anew that the silent films of director John Ford were every bit as accomplished as his talkies. More "Germanic" in tone and texture than later Ford films, Four Sons is the story of the Bernle family of Bavaria. Mother Bernle (Margaret Mann Read More

Rich But Honest

Actors: Nancy Nash, Charles Morton, John Farrell MacDonald, Tyler Brooke

Synopsis: This flimsy but entertaining comedy-drama was based on a story by Arthur Somers Roche. It's a typical yarn of the era, about two girls who are first seen working behind the counter at a department store but who manage to become chorus girls with the help of Diamond Jim (J. Farrell MacDonald). Read More

Colleen

Synopsis: A long lost silent comedy-drama, Colleen was a great success for Madge Bellamy, whose popularity reached its zenith in the mid-1920s. According to the Motion Picture News, Bellamy played a debutante who falls in love with the son (Charles Morton) of an impoverished nobleman. "Their love making Read More

Wolf Fangs

Actors: Thunder, Caryl Lincoln, Charles Morton, Frank Rice, James Gordon

Synopsis: Thunder the Dog, Fox Studios' answer to Warner Bros.' Rin Tin Tin, stars in Wolf Fangs. The star plays a sheepherder's pup who turns "outlaw" when he's falsely accused of killing sheep. Adapting to the wild with ease, Thunder soon becomes head of a wolf pack, though his supremacy is challenged by Read More