John MertonFilmography

The Ten Commandments

Actors: James Coburn, Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo

Synopsis: Based on the Holy Scriptures, with additional dialogue by several other hands, The Ten Commandments was the last film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The story relates the life of Moses, from the time he was discovered in the bullrushes as an infant by the pharoah's daughter, to his long, hard Read More

Son of Sinbad

Actors: Kim Novak, Dale Robertson, Sally Forrest, Vincent Price, Mari Blanchard

Synopsis: Dale Robertson stars as the Son of Sinbad in this tongue-in-cheek Arabian Nights romp. Hoping to rescue Bagdad from the forces of the dreaded Tamerlaine, Sinbad Jr. enlists the aid of the Khalif (Leon Askin) by promising to deliver the secret of "Greek Fire". To expedite this, he enlists the aid Read More

Up in Daisy's Penthouse

Synopsis: This Shemp Howard-era Three Stooges comedy was a remake of the boys' 1937 film Three Dumb Clucks, made when Curly Howard was part of the lineup. The only real difference (other than the lineup change) is that this time around the Stooges aren't in jail, they're living with their mother. She wakes Read More

The Adventures of Superman: The Man in the Lead Mask

Synopsis: The Metropolis underworld is informed of a remarkable plastic surgeon (John Crawford) who is able to transform the faces of criminals and change their fingerprints. As proof, gangster Marty Mitchell (Frank Scannell) resurfaces to commit a series of crimes, his face obscured with a lead mask so Read More

The Big Heat

Actors: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin

Synopsis: Fritz Lang directed this gritty drama of gangland murder and police corruption, which was considered quite violent in its day. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is a scrupulously honest police detective who learns that one of his fellow officers has committed suicide. Bannion is told by the officer's Read More

Trail Guide

Actors: Tim Holt, Linda Douglas, Frank Wilcox, Robert Sherwood, John M. Pickard

Synopsis: Tim Holt's first western release for 1952 was Trail Guide. Tim (Holt) and his perennial saddle pal Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin) are hired to shepherd a wagon train to Arizona. Our Heroes end up protecting the travellers from a vicious ban of land-usurpers. Halfway through the proceedings, Tim Read More

The Old West

Actors: Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Gail Davis, Lyle Talbot, Louis Jean Heydt

Synopsis: Gene Autry was clearly tiring of the rigors of moviemaking by the time he starred in The Old West. Even so, Autry gives his all to this story of frontier religiosity. Left for dead in an outlaw ambush, Gene is nursed back to health by a travelling parson (House Peters Sr.) Our hero decides to help Read More

Blue Canadian Rockies

Synopsis: In this musical western, a rancher sends a man to prevent the marriage of his daughter. When the man arrives he finds a dude ranch and several murders which require solving. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Greatest Show on Earth

Actors: Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame

Synopsis: Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth is a lavish tribute to circuses, featuring three intertwining plotlines concerning romance and rivalry beneath the big top. DeMille's film includes spectacular action sequences, including a show-stopping train wreck. The Greatest Show on Earth won Read More

The Haunted Mine

Synopsis: A series of prospector murders near an abandoned mine are investigated by a lawman in this exciting western. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Silver Canyon

Actors: Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Gail Davis, Jim Davis, Bob Steele

Synopsis: This 1951 Gene Autry vehicle is based on a supposedly true incident. At the close of the Civil War, a band of Southern guerillas disguised themselves as Union soldiers, the better to perform acts of sabotage in Utah. Autry plays a cavalry scout who goes after guerilla leader McQuarrie (Jim Davis). Read More

The Gold Raiders

Actors: George O'Brien, Moe Howard, Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Sheila Ryan

Synopsis: Filmed in a record five days, Gold Raiders was an attempt by producer Jack Schwartz to inaugurate a new western series starring old favorite George O'Brien. Adding novelty value to the proceedings are the Three Stooges: Shemp Howard, Larry Howard and Moe Howard. The action is fairly divided Read More

West of Wyoming

Actors: Johnny Mack Brown, Gail Davis, Myron Healey, Dennis Moore, Stanley Andrews

Synopsis: The Johnny Mack Brown West of Wyoming concerns the efforts by cattle baron Simon (Stanley Andrews) to prevent the opening up of the rang to homesteaders. Government agent Brown comes calling when Simon begins resorting to cold-blooded murder. The leading lady is Gail Davis, a few years shy of her Annie Oakley Read More

Bandit Queen

Actors: Barbara Britton, Willard Parker, Phillip Reed, Barton MacLane, Martin Garralaga

Synopsis: Long before she became a TV cosmetic-commercial spokeswoman, Barbara Britton essayed the title role in Bandit Queen. Britton plays Lola, daughter of a American father and Spanish-aristocrat mother. When her parents are murdered, Lola forms an outlaw band, dedicated to reclaiming those portions of Read More

I Shot Billy the Kid

Actors: Robert Lowery, Wally Vernon, Tom Neal, Wendy Lee

Synopsis: From Lippert Studios, the same company responsible for I Shot Jesse James, comes I Shot Billy the Kid. Those who know their western history will recall that Billy the kid was gunned down by his friendly enemy Pat Garrett. This time around, Garrett is played by Robert Lowery, while the larger part Read More

Arizona Territory

Actors: Whip Wilson, Andy Clyde, Nancy Saunders, Dennis Moore, John Merton

Synopsis: Whip Wilson, Monogram Pictures' clone of PRC's bullwhip champ Jack LaRue, stars in Arizona Territory. Wilson plays the pal of US marshal Andy Clyde, who is kept busy tracking down a counterfeiting ring. Wilson goes undercover to get the goods on the bad guys. When all else fails, he flails-his Read More

Border Rangers

Actors: Robert Lowery, Wally Vernon, Pamela Blake, Lyle Talbot

Synopsis: Don Barry stars as Texas Ranger Bob Standish, sworn to avenge his brother's death in Border Rangers. To achieve his goal, Standish goes undercover, joining the bandit gang. In this guise, he hopes to trap outlaw Mugo (Robert Lowery), his brother's murderer, unawares. Most Lippert Studio Read More

Outlaw Country

Actors: Lash LaRue, Dan White, House Peters, Jr., Steve Dunhill

Synopsis: Lash LaRue essays a dual role in the 1949 western Outlaw Country. LaRue plays himself (or at least his screen self) and an outlaw known only as The Frontier Phantom. The story finds the "good" Lash and his sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) searching for counterfeiters. Meanwhile, the "bad" Read More

Samson and Delilah

Actors: Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Henry Wilcoxon

Synopsis: Samson and Delilah is Cecil B. DeMille's characteristically expansive retelling of the events found in the Old Testament passages of Judges 13-16. Victor Mature plays Samson, the superstrong young Danite. Samson aspires to marry Philistine noblewoman Semadar (Angela Lansbury), but she is killed Read More

Riders of the Dusk

Actors: Whip Wilson, Andy Clyde, Reno Browne, Lee Roberts, Myron Healey

Synopsis: Riders of the Dusk is another of Monogram's formula Whip Wilson westerns. Since the studio couldn't build an entire film around Wilson's bullwhip prowess, a plot was called for. This time around, it's the one about a U.S. marshal who searches high and low for a mysterious masked desperado. The Read More

Western Renegades

Actors: Johnny Mack Brown, Max "Alibi" Terhune, Riley Hill, Jane Adams, Steve Clark

Synopsis: Johnny Mack Brown's first starring western for 1950 is cut from the same cloth as his 1949 releases. Brown's principal antagonist this time is the town boss (Hugh Prosser), an outlaw who has killed the community's leading citizen. The dead man's grown children (Jane Adams and Riley Hill) want to Read More

Radar Patrol vs. Spy King

Synopsis: In this suspenseful espionage actioner, the US radar defense system is about to be breached by enemy saboteurs and now only agent Chris Calvert and research-scientist Joan Hughs can stop them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Adventures of Sir Galahad [Serial]

Actors: Charles King

Synopsis: The legendary Knights of the Round Table came to the screen in 1949 courtesy of penny-pinching serial producer Sam Katzman. A pre-Superman George Reeves starred in the title role, a knight who, in order to join King Arthur (Nelson Leigh) and his famous table, must obtain the missing sword Read More

Thieves' Highway

Actors: Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence, Jack Oakie, Millard Mitchell

Synopsis: Thieves' Highway is set in San Francisco and the surrounding countryside. Richard Conte plays Nick Garcos, an American GI who returns from WWII to find that his father Yanko (Morris Carnovsky), a produce trucker, has lost the use of both legs because of a fight with crooked truck driver Mike Read More

A Southern Yankee

Actors: Red Skelton, Brian Donlevy, Arlene Dahl, George Coulouris, Lloyd Gough

Synopsis: Hot on the heels of Columbia's The Fuller Brush Man, MGM released another Red Skelton gagfest, A Southern Yankee. Set during the Civil War, the film casts Skelton as bumbling bellboy Aubrey Filmore. Yearning to help the Northern cause by becoming an undercover spy, Aubrey succeeds beyond his Read More

The Golden Eye

Actors: Roland Winters, Mantan Moreland, Tim Ryan, Bruce Kellogg

Synopsis: The Golden Eye is a Charlie Chan mystery set on a Southwestern ranch. A once-dormant mine mysteriously begins to yield gold, bringing out the worst characteristics of several people involved. When murder enters the picture, Charlie Chan interrupts his vacation and investigates, with the dubious Read More

Unconquered

Actors: Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva, Boris Karloff, Katherine de Mille, Ward Bond

Synopsis: Cecil B. DeMille's first postwar production, the $5 million Technicolor historical spectacular Unconquered lacks only the kitchen sink. The story begins in England in the 1760s, as Abigail Martha Hale (Paulette Goddard), unjustly accused of a crime against the Crown, is sentenced by the Lord Chief Read More

Cheyenne Takes Over

Actors: Lash LaRue, Nancy Gates, George Cheseboro, Lee Morgan

Synopsis: Whip-wielding westerner Lash LaRue closes out his 1947 schedule with Cheyenne Takes Over. Once again teamed with comical sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John), the Cheyenne Kid (LaRue) investigates the murder of a prosperous rancher. The audience knows that PRC's all-purpose villain George Cheseboro Read More

Raiders of the South

Synopsis: Johnny Mack Brown races to the rescue in the Monogram western Raiders of the South. But we're a bit ahead of ourselves here: we should explain that Johnny has come to the aid of helpless settlers who've been victimized by a vigilante group. The mysterious masked leader turns out be...but wait Read More

Brick Bradford [Serial]

Synopsis: Based on a popular comic strip, this 15 episode Columbia chapterplay produced by legendary cheapskate Sam Katzman (aka "Jungle Sam") heralded the beginning of the end of the American movie serial. Starring the otherwise watchable Kane Richmond in the title role, Brick Bradford had pretensions of Read More

Jack Armstrong: The All-American Boy [Serial]

Synopsis: When scientific mastermind Jack Armstrong is kidnapped by a devious fiend determined to discover the secrets of atom-powered motors, our hero must escape the island fortress of his nefarious captor in this thrilling cliffhanger starring John Hart and Rosemary La Planche. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Read More

I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now

Actors: Lenore Aubert, Truman Bradley, Harry V. Cheshire, George Cleveland, Eddie Dunn

Synopsis: I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now is the heavily laundered musical biopic of sentimental songwriter Joe E. Howard. As played by Mark Stevens (whose singing voice was dubbed by Buddy Clark), Howard is a humble 19th century organ salesman who rises to Broadway fame as the composer of maudlin ballads Read More

A Night in Paradise

Actors: Merle Oberon, Turhan Bey, Thomas Gomez, Gale Sondergaard, Ray Collins

Synopsis: If Grecian storyteller Aesop really did exist, he was most likely a black slave. He wasn't an Austrian actor with an Egyptian name, but that's who played him in A Night in Paradise. Turhan Bey portrays the fable-spouting Aesop, who tries to escape his bondage by disguising himself as an old man. Read More

Son of the Guardsman

Synopsis: Looking for all the world like Robin Hood, Robert Shaw starred in this typically threadbare Sam Katzman serial as David Trent, a nobleman who forms an outlaw group to combat his evil uncle Sir Edgar Bullard (Charles King). The outlaws of Sherwood Forest (yes, Sherwood Forest!) are championing Read More

Hop Harrigan

Synopsis: Like Captain Midnight before him, Hop Harrigan came to the serial screens courtesy of Columbia Pictures; and, also like the captain, Harrigan had appeared in both radio and the pages of comic strips before becoming a screen star in the guise of fresh-faced William Bakewell. But there the Read More

Girl on the Spot

Synopsis: A would-be nightclub entertainer finds her life jeopardized after she inadvertently witnesses a gangland murder while heading for an audition. Fortunately, a brave photographer is there to save her and this crime drama ends on a happy note. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Shadows on the Range

Synopsis: Johnny Mack Brown stars in the formula oater Shadows on the Range. The film was made at a time when Monogram was experimenting with the notion of passing Brown off as a singing cowboy. While his voice is dubbed, he's definitely handling all the action sequences himself, and that's what the fans Read More

Gilda

Actors: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray

Synopsis: When wealthy Ballin Mundson (George Macready) rescues down at his heels gambler Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) and invites him to the Buenos Aires casino he owns, both men get more than they wagered on. Farrell convinces Mundson to hire him as casino manager, but is shocked when Mundson introduces Read More

The Desert Horseman

Synopsis: In most of his Columbia westerns, Charles Starrett simply was the Durango Kid, a mysterious masked do-gooder who pretends to be a criminal. Desert Horseman attempts to explain why this disguise has been adopted. Starrett plays an army captain, dishonorably discharged for a theft he did not commit. Read More

Border Bandits

Actors: Johnny Mack Brown, Riley Hill, John Merton

Synopsis: Johnny Mack Brown dons a marshal's badge in the Monogram western Border Bandits. Brown's sworn duty is to bring in a gang of crooks whose hideout is on the other side of the Mexican border. Aiding Brown in his task are faithful sidekicks Raymond Hatton and Riley Hill. For reasons unknown, Brown is Read More

The Cherokee Flash

Synopsis: That veteran reprobate Roy Barcroft plays yet another outlaw in The Cherokee Flash, a perfectly acceptable B-Western from Republic Pictures, but Barcroft's title character reforms this time and even adopts a young orphan. Years later, the Cherokee Flash, now known as Jeff Carson, is visited by Read More

Brenda Starr, Reporter

Synopsis: Based on the popular comic strip by Dale Messick, this Sam Katzman-produced Columbia serial starred the beautiful and talented Joan Woodbury, an actress who never really lived up to her early potential. Brenda Starr, Reporter didn't exactly change that sad fact; a rather straightforward tale of a Read More

The Oregon Trail

Synopsis: In this western, a wagonmaster stops a greedy newspaper editor from buying up an entire territory. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Flame of the West

Actors: Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, Joan Woodbury, Douglas Dumbrille, Lynne Carver

Synopsis: Flame of the West has always attracted more attention than most of Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram westerns, if for no other reason than the offbeat casting of Douglass Dumbrille. Usually seen in villainous roles, Dumbrille herein offers a sincere, effective performance as a scrupulously honest US 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

Bandits of the Badlands

Synopsis: Sunset Carson plays a wandering cavalier who rides into the Badlands (hence the title). Heroine Peggy Stewart is bedeviled by bandits who've been raiding the livestock of her ranch. Carson plays his cards close to the vest for 45 minutes, then goes after the baddies in the film's last reel. Also Read More

Land of the Outlaws

Synopsis: The old bromide about the western town run by outlaws as a hideout for their fellow crooks makes a return appearance in Monogram's Land of the Outlaws. Since the crooks include such reliable disreputables as Charles King and John Merton, the good guys really have their work cut out for them. But Read More

Texas Masquerade

Actors: Andy Clyde, Jimmy Rogers, Mady Correll, Don Costello

Synopsis: William Boyd once again dons the disguise of a fop in this average entry in the long-running "Hopalong Cassidy" western series. The masquerade helps Hoppy and sidekicks California Carlson (Andy Clyde) and Jimmy Rogers get to the bottom of some dirty dealings in the Texas town of Glenby. A vicious Read More

Girl Rush

Actors: Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Frances Langford, Vera Vague, Robert Mitchum

Synopsis: Wally Brown and Alan Carney, RKO's own Abbott and Costello ripoffs, star in the comedy western The Girl Rush. As usual, Brown is cast as fast-talking Jerry Miles and Carney plays slow-witted Mike Strager. This time, Jerry and Mike are travelling showmen, stranded in San Francisco when the 1849 Read More

Kismet

Actors: Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, James Craig, Edward Arnold, Florence Bates, Hugh Herbert

Synopsis: Oriental Dream is the TV title for the 1944 Technicolor version of Kismet. Ronald Colman plays Hadji, "king of beggars" in the days of the Arabian Nights. Posing as a prince, Colman woos Marlene Dietrich, the favorite wife of the evil Wazir (Edward Arnold). Meanwhile, Colman's daughter Joy Ann Page Read More

Rustler's Hideout

Actors: Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Patti McCarty, Charles King, John Merton

Synopsis: Rustler's Hideout is more of the same from PRC's resident cowboy stars Buster Crabbe and Al St. John. Cast once again as Billy Carson and Fuzzy Q. Jones, our heroes declare war against a gang of cattle rustlers. Even the villains are making their umpteenth return appearances in the Crabbe - St. Read More

Valley of Vengeance

Actors: Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Evelyn Finley, Donald Mayo

Synopsis: This PRC "Billy the Kid" western once more teams Buster Crabbe, as Billy Carson, with Al St.John, as perennial sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones. Motivating the plot is the wholesale slaughter of two families by a gang of outlaws. Twenty years later, Billy and Fuzzy, survivors of the massacre, return to the Read More

Mystery Man

Actors: William "Hopalong" Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jimmy Rogers, Don Costello, Francis McDonald

Synopsis: An above-average entry in the long-running Hopalong Cassidy Western series, the enigmatically titled Mystery Man opens with Hoppy (William Boyd), California Carlson (Andy Clyde), Jimmy Rogers, and the Bar 20 cowboys driving a herd of cattle to the Circle J. Ranch, whose owner, Tom Hanlon (Bob Read More

Zorro's Black Whip [Serial]

Synopsis: Popular latter-day serial queen Linda Stirling starred in the title role in this well-made 12 chapter serial produced by genre specialist Republic Pictures. Stirling plays Barbara Mededith, a pretty girl who takes over her murdered brother's crusading newspaper. She also assumes the dead sibling's Read More

Ghost Guns

Synopsis: Supernatural events on the range prompt an investigation by cowboy Brown in this western. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Wild Horse Phantom

Synopsis: In this western, a courageous cowboy stops the land-grabbing conspiracy of a corrupt banker. The banker was planning to wait until hard-working local ranchers made their mortgage payments and then was going to stage a phony robbery so he could foreclose upon their land. Fortunately, the hero finds Read More

Devil Riders

Actors: Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Patti McCarty, John Merton

Synopsis: Buster Crabbe is back as Billy Carson, aka Billy the Kid, in the PRC western The Devil Riders. In this one, Billy and his saddle pal Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) try to keep an beleagured stagecoach line in business. This they can do only after foiling the outlaw gang that has been raiding the Read More

Fuzzy Settles Down

Synopsis: In this western, Billy the Kid must convince Fuzzy not to leave the trail. Fuzzy tries anyway and buys a small-town newspaper. It doesn't take him long to find himself accused of embezzling money from his new business. Unfortunately for Fuzzy, he is innocent. It is his pal the Kid that rides to Read More

Gentle Annie

Actors: James Craig, Donna Reed, Marjorie Main, Henry Morgan

Synopsis: Marjorie Main's first solo starring vehicle for MGM finds the formidable character actress cast as a tough-but-tender female outlaw. Living on her tumbledown ranch in Oklahoma territory, Annie Goss (Main) shelters her desperado sons (Henry Morgan, Paul Langton) from the authorities. While planning Read More

The Law Rides Again

Actors: Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Betty Miles, Jack LaRue, Emmett Lynn

Synopsis: The second entry in Monogram's low-budget "Trail Blazers" B-Western series, The Law Rides Again marked the final directorial effort of Alan J. Neitz (alias Alan James), a veteran genre specialist whose career dated back to 1916. Aging lawmen Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson are this time assigned to Read More

The Kid Rides Again

Actors: Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Iris Meredith, Glenn Strange, Charles King

Synopsis: In this western, Billy the Kid has been wrongfully arrested for robbing a train. In order to prove his innocence, the Kid breaks out of the pokey and hits the dusty trail to search for the real robbers. Along the way, he discovers an outlaw band impersonating upstanding ranchers. They are the real Read More

Land of Hunted Men

Synopsis: The Range Busters bust the range once more in Monogram's Land of Hunted Men. This time around, the star trio consists of Ray "Crash" Corrigan (returning to the Range Busters series after a brief hiatus), Dennis Moore and Max Terhune. The villains, led by good old Charles King, are Read More

Black Market Rustlers

Actors: Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Dennis Moore, Max "Alibi" Terhune, Evelyn Finley, Steve Clark

Synopsis: In the tradition of Cowboy Commandos, the Range Busters (Ray Corrigan, Dennis Moore, and Max Terhune) take on Black Market Rustlers in this wartime western. The film's villains busy themselves by stealing cattle, then selling the meat on the black market for ridiculously exorbitant prices. The Read More

Fighting Valley

Synopsis: The Fighting Valley is another of PRC's "Texas Rangers" westerns, with Dave O'Brien, Jim Newell and Guy Wilkerson as the aforementioned Rangers. This time, our heroes try to find out who's been stealing ore from a valuable smelting mine. One of the independent mine-owners victimized by the crooks Read More

Destroyer

Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Glenn Ford, Marguerite Chapman, Edgar Buchanan, Leo Gorcey

Synopsis: Edward G. Robinson portrays a hard-driving, hard-nosed perfectionist who causes dissension aboard the WWII destroyer he helped build before re-enlisting in the Navy. Coming aboard as a senior crewman and trying to emulate the perfection of his hero John Paul Jones, he drives himself as hard as he Read More

Cowboy Commandos

Actors: Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Dennis Moore, Max "Alibi" Terhune, Evelyn Finley, Johnny Bond

Synopsis: This diverting cinematic time capsule pits the hard-ridin' Range Busters against a Nazi spy ring. The Busters are played on this occasion by Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Dennis Moore and Max "Alibi" Terhune. The Teutonic villains intend to cripple the war effort by sabotaging local magnesite shipments Read More

Sagebrush Law

Synopsis: A young buckaroo gallops off after the conniving crooks who framed his bank president daddy for embezzlement. Plenty of western action ensues until justice prevails and the ornery varmints are jailed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Hitler's Children

Actors: Tim Holt, Bonita Granville, Kent Smith, Otto Kruger, H.B. Warner

Synopsis: This modestly produced film version of Gregor Ziemmer's book Education for Death surprised everyone at RKO--and in the film industry--by becoming one the biggest hits of 1943. The "children" invoked in the title are borne on behalf of Adolf Hitler; according to the film, it is standard operating Read More

Law and Order

Actors: Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Sarah Padden, Wanda McKay

Synopsis: Also known as Billy the Kid in Law and Order, this PRC sagebrusher stars Buster Crabbe as Billy "The Kid" Carson and Al St. John as Fuzzy Q. Jones. This time, Billy must impersonate a dead army lieutenant, in order to save the decedent's aunt (Sarah Padden) from marrying the villain of the piece (Charles King Read More

Invisible Agent

Actors: Ilona Massey, Jon Hall, Peter Lorre, Cedric Hardwicke, J. Edward Bromberg

Synopsis: Universal's "Invisible Man" series does its bit for the war effort in this slyly tongue-in-cheek action melodrama. Jon Hall stars as Frank Raymond, grandson of the man who invented the invisibility formula several pictures back. When Nazi agents try to coerce the secret formula out of Raymond, he Read More

Sheriff of Sage Valley

Actors: Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Maxine Leslie

Synopsis: In this episode of the "Billy the Kid" series of westerns, outlaw Billy (Buster Crabbe) is mistakenly appointed Sage Valley's new sheriff. He likes the job and works hard to maintain order. Unfortunately his crooked twin brother, who runs a casino and is in hiding after a murder, wants to keep the Read More

Panhandle Trail

Synopsis: In this western, Billy the Kid confronts an evil con artist who has been trying to gull two children out of their inherited mine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

A Missouri Outlaw

Actors: Don "Red" Barry, Lynn Merrick, Paul Fix

Synopsis: Don "Red" Barry is unjustly accused of being a Missouri Outlaw. The real bad guys are a gang of crooks who've been conning the local merchants and farmers out of their hard-earned dollars. Barry decides to use his bad reputation to his advantage by infiltrating the criminal gang. Our Hero may be Read More

Along the Sundown Trail

Synopsis: When the order of the Western frontier is threatened by bandits, cowboys are the only measure of justice in the area. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Smoking Guns

Actors: Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Al St. John, Dave "Tex" O'Brien, John Merton, Milt Kibbee

Boot Hill Bandits

Synopsis: "The Range Busters" -- "Crash" (Ray "Crash" Corrigan), Dusty (John "Dusty" King), and "Alibi" (Max Terhune) -- go up against yet another licentious saloon owner in this Western series entry from Monogram. As it turns out, the saloon proprietor, Brand Bolton (John Merton), is actually in the employ Read More

The Lone Prairie

Synopsis: Hayden enters the lawless prairie in which criminals have had free reign to manipulate the innocent settlers. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

The Mysterious Rider

Synopsis: Jack Greenhalgh's murky photography did not enhance this low-budget "Billy the Kid" series entry, in which a falsely accused Billy (Larry "Buster" Crabbe and his sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) flee to the ghost town of Laramy. Said town is lorded over by one Dalton Sykes (John Merton), a Read More

Prairie Pals

Synopsis: In this western, two deputies go undercover to save a scientist from his evil kidnappers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Under Fiesta Stars

Synopsis: Rodeo champ Gene Autry inherits half interest in both a ranch and a mine that provides steady employment for the surrounding rancheros. Unfortunately, the other half goes to Easterner Barbara Erwin (Carol Hughes), who is only interested in monetary remuneration. To convince Gene to buy her share Read More

The Great Commandment

Actors: John Beal, Maurice Moscovich, Albert Dekker, Marjorie Cooley

Synopsis: Filmed independently in 1939, The Great Commandment finally attained released in 1942 via 20th Century-Fox. Set in 30 AD, the story concerns the burgeoning Christian movement, and its effects on young Judean scholar named Joel (John Beal). A hotheaded reactionary, Joel spearheads an uprising Read More

White Eagle

Synopsis: Serials usually spawned feature film versions, but with this film, it was the other way around. A 1932 Buck Jones Western, White Eagle was made into a serial nine years later, again starring Jones in the title role, a (supposedly) Native American Pony Express Rider defending his people against a Read More

South of Tahiti

Actors: Brian Donlevy, Broderick Crawford, Andy Devine, Maria Montez, Henry Wilcoxon

Synopsis: An entertaining amalgam of Universal contract players, leftover sets and stock footage, South of Tahiti stars Brian Donlevy, Broderick Crawford and Andy Devine as Bob, Chuck and Moose, three stooge-like sailors who land on a South Sea island. While Bob pitches woos at voluptuous native girl Melahi Read More

The Gunman from Bodie

Actors: Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, Raymond Hatton, Christine McIntyre, Dave "Tex" O'Brien

Synopsis: Veteran action and western director Spencer G. Bennet certainly opens this the second of Monogram's eight "Rough Riders" oaters on a suspenseful and unusual note. On a dark and stormy night, a lone rider enters a secluded and seemingly vacant ranch house to find the slain bodies of the occupants Read More

Two Gun Sheriff

Actors: Don "Red" Barry, Lynn Merrick, Jay Novello, Lupita Tovar, Milt Kibbee

Synopsis: The paying customers got two Donald Barrys for the price of one in this typically well-mounted Republic Western directed with his customary vim and vigor by George Sherman. A petty criminal, The Sundown Kid (Barry number one), is persuaded by a gang of rustlers to change places with his lookalike Read More

The Trail Blazers

Actors: Robert Livingston, Bob Steele, Rufe Davis, Pauline Moore, Weldon Heyburn

Synopsis: An above-average entry in Republic Pictures' long-running "Three Mesqueteers" series, The Trail Blazers is something as unusual as a Christmas western that includes comic sidekick Rufe Davis' rendition of "Jingle Bells". The Mesqueteers -- who in addition to Davis' Lullaby Joslin also numbered Read More

The Dark Command

Actors: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Walter Pidgeon, Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes

Synopsis: Set in the years leading up to the Civil War and its outbreak, Dark Command tells a fictionalized version of the story of William Clarke Quantrill, the schoolteacher-turned-renegade, whose raids -- ostensibly on behalf of the Confederacy -- turned Kansas into a charnel house. John Wayne plays Bob Read More

Hi-Yo Silver

Actors: Lee Powell, Lynne Roberts

Synopsis: Hi-Yo Silver is a 69-minute abridgement of the 1938 Republic serial The Lone Ranger. Departing from the continuity established by the Lone Ranger radio program (which had been running since 1933), the film offers five leading man, any one of whom might be the legendary "masked rider of the Read More

Covered Wagon Days

Actors: Robert Livingston, Raymond Hatton, Duncan Renaldo, Kay Griffith, George Douglas

Synopsis: Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" western series hopscotched all over the calendar, with some entries taking place in the present, others in the far-distant past. As indicated by its title, Covered Wagon Days is a period piece, with heroes Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Rusty Joslin (Raymond Hatton Read More

Billy the Kid in Texas

Actors: Bob Steele, Carleton Young

Synopsis: The second entry PRC's "Billy the Kid" series was 1940's Billy the Kid in Texas. The titular Kid is played by Bob Steele, who this time out becomes sheriff of a Texas town (despite the price on his own head). In this capacity, he is forced to do battle with any number of outlaws, one of whom turns Read More

Northwest Passage

Actors: Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Walter Brennan, Ruth Hussey, Nat Pendleton

Synopsis:
Kenneth Roberts' fact-based novel Northwest Passage would seem too raw and explicit a book to be considered for an MGM film adaptation-much less one in Technicolor. Amazingly, MGM retained many of the grim episodes from the Roberts' novel, though - thanks to the Hays Code - most are discussed Read More

Melody Ranch

Actors: Gene Autry, Jimmy Durante, Ann Miller, Barton MacLane, Barbara Jo Allen

Synopsis: Beautifully restored to its original theatrical length of 84 minutes by the Gene Autry Foundation, Melody Ranch is a bright, tuneful, and at times quite action-packed piece of B-Western extravaganza, Republic style. The victim of both a drop in ratings and a tardy leading lady, radio star Gene Read More

Lone Star Raiders

Actors: Robert Livingston, Bob Steele, Rufe Davis, June Johnson, George Douglas

Synopsis: Yet another fast-paced western featuring the "Three Mesqueteers," pulp writer William Colt McDonald's trio of sagebrush heroes, Lone Star Raiders finds Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Tucson Smith (Bob Steele) and Lullaby Joslin (Rufe Davis) defending elderly rancher "Granny" Phelps (Sarah Read More

Pals of the Silver Sage

Actors: Tex Ritter, Sugar Dawn, Slim Andrews, Glenn Strange

Synopsis: Monogram's answer to Republic's Gene Autry, Tex Ritter was never successful in his choice of sidekicks. In Pals of the Silver Sage he had to contend with bucolic Slim Andrews, who at least was a personal friend if no bargain in the comedy department. But this time he was also saddled with one Read More

Rainbow Over the Range

Actors: Tex Ritter, Slim Andrews, Dorothy Fay, Gene Alsace, Warner P. Richmond

Synopsis: In his sixth of nine Monogram releases of 1940, Tex Ritter played a U.S. Marshal coming to the aid of a beleaguered schoolmarm. The latter was played by blonde Dorothy Fay, who had appeared in two previous Westerns with Ritter. By this time they were dating and would soon marry, a lifelong union Read More

Billy the Kid's Gun Justice

Synopsis: Sherman Scott is credited as director of Billy the Kid's Gun Justice, but you can't fool us: Scott is none other than the incredibly prolific Sam Newfield. We'd like to tell you what the picture's all about, but not even our most reliable sources can offer us any info. Judging by the rest of PRC's Read More

Drums of Fu Manchu

Actors: Henry Brandon, William Royle, Robert Kellard, Gloria Franklin, Olaf Hytten

Synopsis: Every time that sinister Oriental megalomaniac Dr. Fu Manchu is ready to kill, sounds of strange drums can be heard coming from -- well, nowhere really. In 1939, Republic Pictures purchased the rights to the first six of British pulp fiction writer Sax Rohmer's popular "Fu Manchu" stories. The Read More

Frontier Crusader

Actors: Tim McCoy, Dorothy Short, Lou Fulton, Karl Hackett, Ted Adams

Synopsis: Frontier Crusader was Tim McCoy's first western vehicle for the newly-formed Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). The star plays Trigger Jim Rand, an itinerant peacekeeper who springs into action when a gang of thieves steals the payroll money from a local mining company. The theft was actually Read More

The Return of Wild Bill

Actors: Iris Meredith, George Lloyd, Luana Walters, Edward J. Le Saint

Synopsis: Like its predecessor The Man From Tumbleweeds, the 1940 Bill Elliot western The Return of Wild Bill was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, whose innovative choice of camera angles was always well worth watching. Returning to his home town after a long absence, Wild Bill Saunders (Elliot) discovers that Read More

Knight of the Plains

Actors: Fred Scott, Marion Weldon, John Merton, Rychard Cramer

Synopsis: At the end of his long association with Hal Roach, comedian Stan Laurel produced three singing Westerns featuring operatic baritone Fred Scott. The second of the three, Knight of the Plains featured such songs as Paradise Valley (the film's working title), by Lew Porter and Harry Tobias, and When Read More

The Lady's from Kentucky

Actors: George Raft, Ellen Drew, Hugh Herbert, ZaSu Pitts, Louise Beavers

Synopsis: The "Lady" of the title is horse-farm owner Penelope Hollis (Ellen Drew), but during the first half of this film, bookie Marty Black (George Raft) only has eyes for Penelope's prize two-year-old. After losing his gambling joint, Marty finds himself with half ownership of the horse as his sole Read More

Rough Riders' Roundup

Actors: Roy Rogers, Mary Hart, Raymond Hatton, Eddie Acuff, William Pawley

Synopsis: Hot on the heels of Frontier Pony Express came the equally exciting Roy Rogers vehicle Rough Riders' Roundup. In the first film, Rogers was an express rider during the Civil War era; in the second, he's a veteran of the Spanish American war (ubiquitous fellow, isn't he?) With several of his fellow Read More

Flaming Lead

Actors: Ken Maynard, Eleanor Stewart, Walter Long, Tom London, Ralph Peters

Synopsis: Though it probably isn't saying much, Flaming Lead is the best of Ken Maynard's starring vehicles for low-budget Colony Pictures. The story begins, curiously enough, at a nightclub where Maynard is wowing the customers with his expert lariat tricks. One of the patrons is ranch owner Dave O'Brien Read More

Zorro's Fighting Legion [Serial]

Actors: Reed Hadley, Carleton Young, Sheila D'Arcy, Guy D'Ennery

Synopsis: In 1824, Benito Juarez (Carlton Young), the president of the new Mexican Republic, worries that vitally important gold shipments from the San Mendolito Mines shall never reach Mexico City. The president's understandable fears are quelled, however, by local nobleman Don Francisco (Guy D'Ennery) Read More

The Renegade Trail

Actors: William "Hopalong" Boyd, George "Gabby" Hayes, Russell Hayden, Charlotte Wynters, Russell Hopton

Synopsis: Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) once again embarks on a mild romance with a mature woman in this average Western filmed at Lone Pine, CA. The woman in question is one Mary Joyce (Charlotte Wynters), who calls herself a widow. But there is a husband lurking in the background, Smokey Bob Joslin Read More

In Old Montana

Synopsis: The war between cattle ranchers and sheepmen once again took center stage in this low-budget Western starring former opera baritone Fred Scott. Scott played Army Lieutenant Fred Dawson who upon learning that his father has been wounded heads for home disguised as a medicine show performer. He Read More

Three Texas Steers

Actors: John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Max "Alibi" Terhune, Carole Landis, Ralph Graves

Synopsis: Forever switching its time-frame from past to present, Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" series returned to a contemporary milieu for Three Texas Steers. The story revolves around a bankrupt circus, and the efforts made by Stony (John Wayne), Tucson (Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby (Max Terhune) to save Read More

Code of the Fearless

Synopsis: The first of four Fred Scott singing Westerns produced by C.C. Burr, Code of the Fearless was like all thirteen Scott vehicles released by poverty row company Spectrum Pictures. Scott, a former baritone with the San Francisco Opera, played a Texas Ranger infiltrating the feared Skull Mesa Gang by Read More

Union Pacific

Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, Brian Donlevy

Synopsis: Cecil B. DeMille takes us back to the 1860s, then rebuilds the first intercontinental railroad in Union Pacific. The real-life spectacle is occasionally interrupted by the fictional adventures of railroad overseer Joel McCrea, postmistress Barbara Stanwyck (with an incredible Irish brogue), and Read More

Phantom Ranger

Actors: Tim McCoy, Suzanne Kaaren, Karl Hackett, John Merton, Charles King

Synopsis: Phantom Ranger was the last of a quartet of Tim McCoy westerns produced by Maurice Conn for Monogram release. The star is cast as federal agent Tim Hayes, assigned to round up a counterfeiting gang. The audience knows way ahead of time that McCoy will pose as an outlaw to gain the villain's Read More

Gang Bullets

Actors: Anne Nagel, Robert Kent, Charles Trowbridge, Morgan Wallace, John Farrell MacDonald

Synopsis: Gang Bullets was one of a myriad of late-1930s Monogram crime pictures, bearing such interchangable titles as I Am a Criminal, Convict's Code and Federal Bullets. Morgan Wallace plays a Capone-like racketeer named Anderson, who after being chased out of one town by the authorities immediately sets Read More

The Lone Ranger [Serial]

Actors: Lynne Roberts, Hal Taliaferro, Herman Brix

Synopsis: Most everyone knows that The Lone Ranger, "masked rider of the plains", was in fact a former Texas Ranger named Reid, who vowed to fight for justice after his older brother was killed. The 1938 Republic serial version of The Lone Ranger muddies the "true identity" waters by offering us five Read More

Dick Tracy Returns [Serial]

Actors: Ralph Byrd, Lynne Roberts, Charles B. Middleton, Jerry Tucker, David Sharpe

Synopsis: The 15-chapter Republic serial Dick Tracy Returns also represents the return of Ralph Byrd in the role of Chester Gould's stalwart comic-strip detective. For the purposes of the film, Tracy has joined the G-Men in pursuit of criminal mastermind Pa Stark (Charles Middleton) and his killer brood. Read More

Gunsmoke Trail

Actors: Jack Randall, Louise Stanley, Henry Roquemore, Ted Adams

Synopsis: Featuring the husband-and-wife team of Jack Randall and Louise Stanley, this lukewarm Monogram Western eschewed the musical interludes that had been a Randall trademark thus far. Randall (the lesser known brother of B-Western star Robert Livingston) plays Jack Lane, a drifter who comes to the aid Read More

The Shopworn Angel

Actors: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Walter Pidgeon, Hattie McDaniel, Nat Pendleton

Synopsis: The second motion picture version of a Saturday Evening Post story by Dana Burnet, this romantic melodrama was also the second pairing of actors James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. Stewart plays Private Bill Pettigrew, a naïve young Texan in New York for basic training prior to being shipped Read More

The Colorado Kid

Actors: Bob Steele, Marion Weldon, Karl Hackett, Ernie S. Adams, Ted Adams

Synopsis: Less than a week after the release of the Bob Steele western Paroled-to Die came yet another Steele vehicle, Amateur Crook. Once again, the hero (Steele) is framed for a crime he didn't commit. Once again, he breaks jail to track down the culprit. And once again, he succeeds. Amateur Crook was Read More

The Law Commands

Actors: Tom Keene, Budd Buster, Matthew Betz, Robert Fiske

Synopsis: Directed competently by the veteran William Nigh, this ultra low-budget Western from diminutive Crescent Pictures Corp. features something as unusual as a hero who is also a medical doctor. The Homestead Act of 1862 not yet enforced in Johnson County, Iowa, the local homesteaders find themselves Read More

Two-Gun Justice

Actors: Tim McCoy, Betty Compson, Joan Barclay, John Merton, Al Bridge

Synopsis: In Two Gun Justice, Tim McCoy indulges in one of his favorite cinematic pastimes: Posing as a suave Mexican bandit, complete with paint-on mustache and Latino accent. The plot contrives to have McCoy go into his "Si, senorita" routine to infiltrate the outlaw gang headed by a nasty galoot named Read More

Land of Fighting Men

Actors: Louise Stanley, Dick Jones

Synopsis: Having eschewed music interludes in his previous Western effort, Gun Packer, Jack Randall returned to warbling a tune or two this time around. Accompanied by the Colorado Hillbillies, Randall sang "King of the Trail" by Eddie Cherkose and Charles Rosoff and "Cowboy Band" and "The West Was Meant Read More

Where the Buffalo Roam

Actors: Tex Ritter, Dorothy Short, Horace Murphy, Richard Alexander

Synopsis: In his second music Western for Monogram, Tex Ritter had the dubious honor of being accompanied by hillbilly acts Louise Massey and The Westerners. Clocking in at a short 55 minutes, Where the Buffalo Roam featured a grand total of seven music numbers, leaving little time for Ritter and co. to act Read More

Female Fugitive

Actors: Evelyn Venable, Craig Reynolds, Reed Hadley, John Kelly, Charlotte Treadway

Synopsis: In this crime drama, an innocent wife has no idea that her husband makes his living by hijacking trucks. When she finds out that she has been implicated in the crimes, she takes off with a chauffeur. Later she falls for a handsome artist and by the end of the story, after some tragedy occurs, she Read More

Valley of Terror

Synopsis: When an innocent man (Kermit Maynard) is suspected of stealing cattle, he must struggle to clear his name. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Wolves of the Sea

Actors: Hobart Bosworth, Jean Carmen, Dirk Thane, Pat West, Warner P. Richmond

Synopsis: Old-timer Hobart Bosworth heads the cast of the independently produced Wolves of the Sea. Bosworth is cast as Captain Wolf Hansen, the leader of an expedition to recover a fortune in jewels which was lost in a recent shipwreck. Mutinous seaman Snoden (Warner Richmond) intends to claim the gems for Read More

A Tenderfoot Goes West

Actors: Jack LaRue, Virginia Carroll, Russell Gleason, Joseph W. Girard, John Ince

Synopsis: In this western, a citified writer of pulp westerns decides to head into the West to experience it first hand. Unfortunately, he finds himself entangled with an outlaw and then falsely accused of murder. Fortunately, the greenhorn is saved from hanging by a brave hero. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Read More

Wild Horse Round-Up

Actors: Kermit Maynard, Dick Jones, Frank S. Hagney, Roger Williams

Synopsis: With Wild Horse Round-Up, cowboy star Kermit Maynard put his "Canadian Mountie" film series behind him to concentrate on orthodox western action. Maynard plays Jack Benson, who gallops to the aid of heroine Ruth Williams (Betty Lloyd). She cold-shoulders him, assuming that he's but one of the many Read More

Blazing Sixes

Actors: Dick Foran, Helen Valkis, Mira McKinney, John Merton, Glenn Strange

Synopsis: Another good entry in Warner Bros' Dick Foran western series, Blazing Sixes casts Foran as Red, an undercover federal agent. Sent Westward to break up a gang of stage robbers, Red poses as a bandit himself, whereupon he robs the robbers! Impressed by his nerve, outlaw chief Jim Hess (John Merton) Read More

Two-Gun Troubador

Actors: Fred Scott, Claire Rochelle, John Merton, Harry Harvey, Jr.

Synopsis: The third of four Fred Scott Westerns produced by C.C. Burr for Spectrum Pictures, Two Gun Troubadour was rather grim for what was ostensibly a true "horse opera," with the stress squarely on "opera. (Scott was a former light opera baritone.) Fred Dean, Sr. (Scott) is murdered and twenty years Read More

Drums of Destiny

Actors: Tom Keene, Edna Lawrence, Budd Buster, Robert Fiske

Synopsis: In this war film, set in 1817, an American Army captain searches throughout Spanish-ruled Florida for his brother who has been abducted by an evil Don. En route he begins to romance the daughter of the Don. He also manages to save his brother from the firing squad. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Read More

Crusade Against Rackets

Actors: Lona Andre, Donald Reed, Wheeler Oakman, John Merton, Rychard Cramer

Synopsis: What would an "exploitation" film of the 1930s be without Wheeler Oakman in the cast and Sam Newfield in the director's chair? In Crusade Against Rackets, Oakman is his usual slimy self as Jim Murray, the head of a big-city vice ring. His "cover" is an outwardly respectable beauty parlor, where Read More

Slaves in Bondage

Synopsis: A police raid on a roadhouse leads to a war on vice that results in the downfall of a vicious gangster and the sadistic madam who runs his prostitution ring in this sordid crime drama from director Elmer Clifton. While she may be beautiful on the outside, on the inside Belle Harris (Florence Dudley Read More

The Firefly

Actors: Jeanette MacDonald, Allan Jones, Warren William, Billy Gilbert, Henry Daniell

Synopsis: In this adaptation of the operetta by Rudolf Friml, secret agent Nina Maria Azara (Jeannette MacDonald) is working undercover for the King of Spain as a singer known as the "Mosca del Fuego" or "Firefly." Her mission is to uncover Napoleon's plot to invade Spain before it is too late. This film Read More

The Arizona Gunfighter

Actors: Bob Steele, Jean Carmen, Ted Adams, Ernie S. Adams, Lew Meehan

Synopsis: To those well versed in the Bob Steelewesterns of the 1930s, it's hardly surprising to reveal that the plot of Arizona Gunfighter was motivated by the murder of the hero's father. One of the more novel plot twists finds good-guy gunfighter Colt Ferron (Steele) casting his lot with reformed outlaw Read More

Roaring Six Guns

Actors: Kermit Maynard, Mary Hayes, Sam Flint, John Merton, Budd Buster

Synopsis: Kermit Maynard, the less-popular but arguably more talented brother of cowboy star Ken Maynard, heads the cast of Roaring Six Guns. Maynard plays Buck Sinclair, whose romance with heroine Beth (Mary Hayes) is hampered by the activities of her bombastic father (Sam Flint). Beth's dad covets a patch Read More

Galloping Dynamite

Actors: Kermit Maynard, Ariane Allen, John Merton, David Sharpe, Stanley Blystone

Synopsis: Based on a story by James Oliver Curwood, this western follows the quest of Texas Ranger Jim (Kermit Maynard) to track down the outlaws who murdered his brother. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

The Gun Ranger

Actors: Bob Steele, Eleanor Stewart, John Merton, Ernie S. Adams, Earl Dwire

Synopsis: A disgruntled ranger quits his job after a crooked state's attorney manages to get a case of murder thrown out of court in this standard Bob Steele western released by Republic Pictures. But as Dan Larsen (Steele) soon learns, there is more to the murder suspect, Wally Smeed (Ernie Adams), than Read More

Gunsmoke Ranch

Actors: Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Robert Livingston, Max "Alibi" Terhune, Julia Thayer

Synopsis: One of the timelier Three Mesquiteers westerns, Gunsmoke Ranch was inspired by the Ohio and Mississippi river floodings of 1937. As usual, the Mesquiteers are Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Tucson Smith (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune). After rescuing young Marion (Julia Read More

Headline Crasher

Actors: Frankie Darro, Kane Richmond, Muriel Evans, John Merton

Synopsis: The popular B-flick team of Frankie Darro and Kane Richmond star in the slick quickie Headline Crasher. Little Frankie and Big Kane play a pair of roving journalists who investigate a politician (Richard Tucker) up for re-election. When it seems as though the politico is being set up for a fall by Read More

Law of the Ranger

Actors: Elaine Shepard, John Merton, Hal Taliaferro, Lafe [Lafayette] McKee

Synopsis: Each of Bob Allen's six westerns for Columbia had the words "Ranger" or "Range" in the title, and Law of the Ranger was no exception. It all begins when despotic frontier fuhrer Nash (John Merton) doesn't like what newspaper editor Polk (Lafe McKee) has been writing about him. He arranges Polk's Read More

The Rangers Step in

Actors: Eleanor Stewart, John Merton, Hal Taliaferro, Jack Ingram

Synopsis: A courageous Texas Ranger leaves his job to mediate a violent, long-standing dispute between his family and that of his sweetheart. When, his investigations reveal that there is a third party of troublemakers involved, he gallops off to stop them and restore the peace. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Read More

Range Defenders

Actors: Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Max "Alibi" Terhune, Eleanor Stewart, Harry Woods

Synopsis: The Three Mesquiteers are back for more action in this well-photographed Republic western. This time, heroes Stoney Brooke (Bob Livingston), Tucson Smith (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune) find themselves in a middle of a range war between cattlemen and sheepmen. The villains Read More

Federal Bullets

Actors: Milburn Stone, Zeffie Tilbury, Terry Walker, William Harrigan

Synopsis: Federal Bullets is a leisurely paced Monogram crime melodrama with not a few clever plot twists. The FBI, represented by Milburn Stone and William Harrigan, investigates a seemingly respectable charitable organization. In fact, the enterprise is a front for a crime ring, headed by Ma Barker clone Zeffie Tilbury Read More

Fury Below

Actors: Russell Gleason, Maxine Doyle, LeRoy Mason, Sheila Terry, Matthew Betz

Synopsis: Russell Gleason, the personable and talented son of actors James and Lucille Gleason, is afforded a rare starring role in the bottom-budgeted Fury Below. The story centers on a group of courageous miners, digging away despite innumerable dangers and mishaps. Gleason is cast as mine operator Jim Read More

Aces and Eights

Actors: Tim McCoy, Jimmy Aubrey, Luana Walters, Wheeler Oakman, Earl Hodgins

Synopsis: Although slow-moving at times, Aces and Eights is nevertheless a fine little Western and certainly the best of the ten Tim McCoy would make for low-budget (and short-lived) Puritan Pictures. McCoy plays the legendary Wild Bill Hickock in a prologue that depicts how Wild Bill is assassinated during Read More

The Crooked Trail

Synopsis: Released by A.W. Hackel's Supreme Pictures Corp., this low-budget Western stars Johnny Mack Brown as Jim Blake, a cowpuncher who happens upon Harve Tarlton (John Merton), a wanted killer left for dead in the desert. After making Harve a partner in his prospecting business, Blake begins a romance Read More

The Lion's Den

Actors: Tim McCoy, Joan Woodbury, Dick Curtis, John Merton

Synopsis: In yet another unusual Western from short-lived Puritan Pictures, Tim McCoy is a Wild West performer in a Manhattan nightclub. As Tim is performing his sharpshooting tricks with sidekick Paddy Callahan (Don Barclay), wealthy Texas rancher Knute Merwin (Arthur Millett) and his daughter, Ann (Joan Read More

Wildcat Trooper

Actors: Kermit Maynard, Hobart Bosworth, Fuzzy Knight, Lois Wilde, Jim Thorpe

Synopsis: Kermit Maynard, Ken's less famous brother, plays a Mountie impersonating a killer impersonating a Mountie in this low-budget "Northwestern" produced by independent entrepreneur Maurice Conn from a screenplay "suggested" by the story The Midnight Call by James Oliver Curwood. After apprehending the Read More

The Eagle's Brood

Actors: William "Hopalong" Boyd, James Ellison, William Farnum, George "Gabby" Hayes, Addison Richards

Synopsis: In the second of producer Harry Sherman's Hopalong Cassidy Westerns, Deputy Sheriff Cassidy (William Boyd) promises El Toro (William Farnum), a retired Mexican outlaw, that he will search for the old man's grandson, missing after a gang of outlaws robbed and murdered the child's parents. With the Read More

The Vigilantes Are Coming [Serial]

Actors: Fred Kohler

Synopsis: Yet another Zorro imitation, this adventure serial starred Robert Livingston as Don Loring, whose father and brother are killed by the evil General Burr (Fred Kohler). Seeking revenge, Loring dons a black cape and mask, calls himself "The Eagle," and goes about bringing Burr and his men to Read More

Call of the Prairie

Actors: William "Hopalong" Boyd, James Ellison, Muriel Evans, George "Gabby" Hayes, Chester Conklin, Al Hill

Synopsis: Hopalong Cassidy's young sidekick, Johnny Nelson, is falsely accused of robbing the Bar 20 in this the fourth installment of the long-running Western series. Nelson (James Ellison) had left the ranch in high dudgeon over a perceived slight and fallen in with a gang headed by Shanghai (George Read More

Bar 20 Rides Again

Actors: William "Hopalong" Boyd, James Ellison, Jean Rouverol, George "Gabby" Hayes, Frank McGlynn, Jr.

Synopsis: Bar 20 Rides Again was the 3rd of William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy flicks. As with most early entries in the Cassidy series, the film is longer than usual, with emphasis on dialogue and situation for the first 2/3 of the picture. This time, Hoppy runs up against cattle rustlers, headed by Harry Worth Read More

Lightnin' Bill Carson

Actors: Tim McCoy, Lois January, Rex Lease, Harry Worth, Karl Hackett

Synopsis: The first of nine Bill Carson Westerns produced by Sigmund Neufeld and starring the stalwart Tim McCoy, Lightnin' Bill Carson was the only entry released by Puritan Pictures. Lightnin' Bill is the marshal of Blue Gap, TX, who resigns to chase down "Breed" Hawkins (John Merton) and the "Pecos" Kid Read More

The Three Mesquiteers

Actors: Robert Livingston, Sid Saylor, Kay Hughes

Synopsis: After a couple of false starts, William Colt MacDonald's "Three Mesquiteers" stories were converted into a western film series by Republic Studios. The Mesquiteers, a trio of wandering do-gooders, are muscular Tucson Smith, played by Ray "Crash" Corrigan; hotheaded Stony Brooke, played by Robert Livingston Read More

Hopalong Cassidy Enters

Actors: William "Hopalong" Boyd, James Ellison, Paula Stone, Robert Warwick, Charles B. Middleton

Synopsis: Filmed in two weeks at Red Rock Canyon and Lone Pine, California, Hop-Along Cassidy was the opener of one of the best -- and most fondly remembered -- B-Western series of all time. Former silent screen star William Boyd regained his lost fame playing the prematurely gray, black-clad hero of Read More

Sons of the Desert

Actors: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase, Mae Busch, Lucien Littlefield

Synopsis: Lodge members Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy take a solemn oath to attend the 80th-annual Sons of the Desert Convention (read: annual binge) in Chicago. That is, Ollie takes the oath, but Stanley balks. When asked why, Stanley answers that he's afraid his wife won't let him go. Ollie is appalled Read More

Running Wild

Actors: W.C. Fields, Mary Brian, Claud Buchanan, Marie Shotwell, Barnett Raskin

Synopsis: Running Wild bears a marked resemblance to One Glorious Day, a 1923 Will Rogers vehicle. W.C. Fields stars as a henpecked family man, browbeaten both at home and at work. Only his daughter Mary Brian truly cares about Fields, and he reciprocates by showering most of his familial affection on her. Read More

It's the Old Army Game

Actors: W.C. Fields, Louise Brooks, Blanche Ring, William Gaxton, Mary Foy

Synopsis: W.C. Fields' It's the Old Army Game is an expansion on four Fields stage skits, originally performed in the Broadway revue The Comic Supplement. Described in the opening title as "the epic of the American druggist," the story begins late one night, in the apothecary shop of Elmer Prettywillie (Fields Read More