Cowboy Everett Tarkington John Clark (Bob Steele) looking forward to a long-awaited reunion with his mother stands in for a wounded pal, Marshal Lamar Blyth (Jack Rockwell), and sets out to round up the Kootney Kid (Earl Dwire) and his gang. The project becomes personal when he learns that the Kid is pretending to be …
Monogram Monday: Law Men (1944)
U.S. Marshals Nevada Jack McKenzie (Johnny Mack Brown) and Sandy Hopkins (Raymond Hatton) are sent to investigate a series of bank robberies and stage holdups, arriving just as the latest crime occurs. As is common with this series, they both go undercover: Nevada follows the escaping crooks and tries to get in with the gang, …
Bar-Z Bad Men (Republic, 1937)
Likeable Johnny Mack Brown stars as Jim Waters, who invests in a friend’s ranch only to find that someone seems to be framing the friend for rustling, as other ranchers are losing cattle even as the friend’s herd mysteriously grows. When a murder causes even more chaos and one of the victimized ranchers, Hamp Harvey …
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Outlaw Country (1949)
Lash (Lash La Rue) and Fuzzy (Al St. John) tangle with smugglers and Lash’s long-lost brother in this fair outing. Of course, the brother, who is in cahoots with the bad guys, is Lash’s twin, so there’s an opportunity for substitution; the family tie complicates the confrontations, too. The movie is entertaining enough for fans, …
Monogram Monday: The Texas Kid (1943)
A surprising ending adds interest to this Johnny Mack Brown feature, one of his Nevada Jack McKenzie series costarring Raymond Hatton as U.S. Marshal Sandy Hopkins. Much of the focus in the picture is on the title character (played by Marshall Reed), a man involved with a gang of outlaws who sets out to cross …
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Gunsmoke (1953)
Unoriginal but entertaining western has a bad man (Audie Murphy) throwing in his lot with a rancher (Paul Kelly) being targeted by the crook who originally hired him. Murphy has appeal, and the other performers are effective in their roles; though the plot is fairly standard, watching this is a pleasant way to spend a …
Monogram Monday: Oklahoma Blues (1948)
Singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely is thought to be a gun-slinging desperado, the Melody Kid, thanks to tales told by pal Cannonball (Dub Taylor). Wakely is persuaded to fill in for an injured lawman to put an end to a crime wave and thus secure a town’s bid to become the county seat. Matters get even …
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The Renegade Ranger (RKO, 1938)
Ranger Jack Steele (George O’Brien) goes undercover after accused killer Judith Alvarez (Rita Hayworth), who is leading a band of the dispossessed against the landgrabbers responsible, only to find his investigation revealing another likely culprit, and to have assorted complications arise — in the form of an ex-Ranger (Tim Holt) now with the Alvarez gang, …
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Monogram Monday: Hidden Valley (1932)
Likeable cowboy star Bob Steele is the lead in this unusual western, directed by his father, Robert N. Bradbury. It’s a lost-race tale in which Bob Harding (Steele) is framed for the murder of an archaeologist who possesses a map to the valley of the title, which supposedly contains gold, silver, turquoise, and opals. Harding …
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Gunsmoke Ranch(Republic, 1937)
It’s another land swindle, this time with refugees from a flood being duped into buying land already condemned to flooding by a planned dam. Can the Three Mesquiteers outwit the scheming Phineas T. Flagg (Kenneth Harlan)? And will Stony’s romance with a settler’s daughter (Julia Thayer) have a happy outcome? Lullaby and Elmer provide some …
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