The last of Dorothy Page’s starring westerns for Grand National may be the best of the lot, as she seems more active throughout, making a daring escape at gunpoint and directly confronting the head crook, for example. Vince Barnett returns as comic relief, this time with a female counterpart. Milton Frome is rather lackluster as …
Headin’ for the Rio Grande (1936)
Tex (Tex Ritter) and his pal Chili (Syd Saylor) drift down toward the Rio Grande country, apparently cowboys with no particular aim, though Tex has a reason for the trip — to visit and help out his brother (Forrest Taylor), a local lawman facing criticism for failing to put a stop to a cattle herd …
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Six-Shootin’ Sheriff (Grand National, 1938)
Ken Maynard stars as Jim “Trigger” Morton, newly released from prison after serving time for a crime he did not commit. Trigger is seeking revenge on the man responsible for putting him behind bars, and he ends up the lawman of the title, in which capacity he must deal with other crooks as well. Marjorie …
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Exile Express (Grand National, 1939)
Spies after a formula that can be used for warfare are after a woman being deported and riding the “exile express,” a cross-country train carrying deportees to the East Coast. Moderately entertaining fare. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great. Movie 236 for 2021.
Panama Patrol (Grand National, 1939)
Leon Ames returns as Major Waring, together with much of his crew from the movie Cipher Bureau, including Charlotte Wynters as Helen Lane; there’s even a mention of Waring’s brother, who had a prominent role in the prior film. Indeed, this sequel opens with Waring and Lane about to get married, when they are interrupted …
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We’re in the Legion Now (Grand National, 1936)
Two ex-bootleggers (Reginald Denny and Vince Barnett) hiding out in Paris from their erstwhile (and violent) associates take refuge in the French Foreign Legion, but are these two odd fellows really fit to serve? There’s a fair amount of misfits in uniform humor, particularly as the two compete (with their sergeant) for the affections of …
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Trailing Trouble (Grand National, 1937)
A peace-loving cowboy, “Friendly” Fields (Ken Maynard), has a strong resemblance to a noted outlaw, Blackie Burke, and when Friendly gets a job at the ranch owned by Patty Blair (Lona Andre) and sets out to retrieve some stolen cattle, that resemblance comes in handy, as the rustlers mistake his identity. But when he tries …
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Navy Spy (Grand National, 1937)
Another unmemorable entry in a four-movie series starring Conrad Nagel and Eleanor Hunt as federal agents, here trying to rescue a kidnapped inventor (who happens to be a naval officer) to prevent other powers from getting his newly developed formula for a concentrated aviation fuel. The banter between the leads is a little heavy (a …
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Cipher Bureau (Grand National, 1938)
The head of the U.S. Government’s Cipher Bureau (Leon Ames) and his skilled crew of assistants battle foreign agents. But matters get complicated when spies use a femme fatale (Joan Woodbury) to target his brother Paul (Don Dillaway). Will the official be able to foil a plot aimed at stealing important papers, a plot that …
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