WESTERNS
A Guide to the Best (and Worst) Western Movies on DVD
By John Howard Reid
Smashwords Copyright 2011 by John Howard Reid
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Contents
Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island
Hopalong Cassidy—The Complete Theatrical Series
Randolph Scott [pictured left] (town marshal), Ann Dvorak [center] (Rita), Edgar Buchanan [right] (Sheriff Bravo Trimble), Rhonda Fleming (Sherry), Lloyd Bridges (Henry, a homesteader), Howard Freeman (Sherry’s father, a storekeeper), Helen Boyce (Big Annie), Richard Hale (Charlie Fair, a saloon proprietor), Jack Lambert (Jet Younger), Dick Curtis (Ryker, a rancher), Guy Wilkerson (fan-tan player), Walter Baldwin (train conductor), Dick Elliott (jailbreak messenger), Eddy Waller (Hannaberry), Earl Schenck (George Hazelhurst), Hank Patterson (Doug Neil), Polly Bond, Maryellen Sennett (town girls), Harry Tenbrook (wagon driver in stampede), Chief Tahachee (cowboy), Paul Brinegar (gambler), Chubby Johnson, Morgan Flowers (homesteaders), Buddy Roosevelt (Slim), Bob Perry (barkeep), Chick Hannon (cowboy), Victor Cox (barfly).
Director: EDWIN L. MARIN. Screenplay: Harold Shumate. Based on the 1946 novel by Ernest Haycox. Photography: Archie Stout. Supervising film editor: Otho Lovering. Film editor: Richard Heermance. Art director: Duncan Cramer. Costumes for Miss Dvorak and Miss Fleming designed by Peter Tuesday. Make-up: James Barker. Songs (all Dvorak): “I Love It Out Here in the West”, “All You Gotta Do”, “I Love It Out Here in the West” by Fred Spielman and Kermit Goell. Dances choreographed by Sammy Lee. Music: Albert Glasser, Gerard Carbonara, Max Terr, Charles Koff, James Mayfield. Music director: Nat W. Finston. Song arranger: Jack Elliott. Character drawings: Joe De Young. Unit manager: Ben Berk. Production manager: Joseph H. Nadel. Assistant director: Maurie Suess. Sound recording: Ben Winkler. Associate producer: Herbert J. Biberman. Producer: Jules Levey.
Copyright 11 January 1946 by Guild Productions. Released through United Artists: 11 January 1946. New York opening at the Globe: 2 March 1946. Los Angeles: 10 January. U.K. release: 2 September 1946. Australian release: 20 June 1946. 8,299 feet. 82 minutes.
COMMENT: A minor western classic, detailing the conflict between cattle men and homesteaders in Abilene, Kansas, in the 1870s, Abilene Town has much to commend it, not the least of which is the superb black-and-white cinematography by Archie J. Stout. One of the chief beneficiaries of Stout’s fine work is Ann Dvorak, who has never looked more attractive than she does here. Her singing is a treat too, as she renders three or four saucy songs with admirable vitality, backed up by Sammy Lee’s chorus girls.
Scott is more than his usual competent self. In fact he gives one of the best performances of his career. Forced to straddle both sides of the fence, the marshal’s sympathies are clearly with the raucous cowboys rather than the calculating merchants or the scruffy homesteaders. The interesting thing is that the script obviously favors the “good” people, but Scott brilliantly plays against the screenplay, his carefully controlled poker face revealing to the audience with just an occasional fleeting expression, a glance, a gesture, which side he favors in his heart, and his inner conflict that forces him to fight on the side that he knows will survive. Scott’s adversaries on the “wrong” side of the street are forcefully played by Richard Hale, Jack Lambert and Dick Curtis. On the right side, he has to contend with Howard Freeman, Rhonda Fleming and Lloyd Bridges. Finally, he is forced to watch “his” Abilene self-destruct. “This is how a tough town dies—not with a roar, but with a whine.” [Platinum Disc DVD rating: at least 9 out of ten].
Bob Steele (Curley Thompson), Syd Saylor (Sam Hawkins), I. Stanford Jolley (Hatch Bolton), Lorraine Miller (Alice Rhodes), Charles King (Al Craig), Bob Carson (Ed Blane), Budd Buster (Jim Haley), Kermit Maynard (Walter Gordon), Frank Ellis (Frank Owen), Edward Cassidy (Marshal Dawes).
Directed by HARRY FRASER from an original screenplay by Elmer Clifton. Photographed by Jack Greenhalgh. Settings (= art director): E. H. Reif. Film editor: Ray Livingston. Music scored and directed by Lee Zahler. Assistant director: Seymour Roth. Sound recording: Glen Glenn. Producer: Arthur Alexander.
Copyright by Pathé Industries, Inc., 21 June 1946. Distributed by P.R.C. U.S. release date: 17 February 1946. No New York opening. Los Angeles opening: 3 February. 60 minutes. [An Alpha DVD].
COMMENT: One of Bob Steele’s last starring roles, this is a very routine, minor western with far too much dialogue and too little action. The story is a familiar old chestnut that is unimaginatively developed and despite the presence of some attractive players (Steele himself, Charles King, Kermit Maynard), the film is at best only a fair offering for the lower half of an action double bill.
ON A SECOND VIEWING: Still a sub-standard, undistinguished and wearisome western with its old-hat plot about the villain who tries to ruin local cattlemen, but who is then all too slowly foiled by our diminutive hero.
Richard Dix (Dan Taylor), Leo Carillo (Domique Beauchard), Preston Foster (Paxton Bryce), Frances Gifford (Abby Taylor), Robert H. Barrat (Crowder), Jack LaRue (Pierre), Guinn “Big Boy” Williams (“Sailaway”), Cliff Edwards (Runty), Meril Guy Rodin (Paxton Bryce, Junior), Chris-Pin Martin (Augustin), Richard Webb (Crane), William Farnum (Louisiana judge), Etta McDaniel (Willa May), Hal Taliaferro (=Wally Wales) (Malone), Tom London (onlooker).
Directed by WILLIAM McGANN from a screenplay by J. Robert Bren, Gladys Atwater and Ben Grauman Kohn, based on an original story by J. Robert Bren and Gladys Atwater. Photographed by Russell Harlan. Film editors: Carrol Lewis and Sherman A. Rose. Music composed by Gerard Carbonara and directed by Irvin Talbot. Art director: Ralph Berger. Assistant director: Glenn Cook. Sound engineer: William Wilmarth. Western Electric Sound System. Associate producer: Dick Dickson (= Richard Dix). Producer: Harry Sherman. A Harry Sherman Production, released through United Artists. “A Sprawling Saga of Brawling Ambition!”—Publicity tag.
Copyright by United Artists Productions, Inc., 30 December 1942. U.S. release date: 13 December 1942. U.K. release: 15 February 1943. U.S. length: 7,359 feet (= 82 minutes). U.K. length: 7,200 feet (= 80 minutes). New York opening at the Rialto: 13 January 1943. Los Angeles opening: 11 November 1942. Australian release: 29 April 1943. Australian length: 7,302 feet. [An Alpha DVD].
U.K. release title: MY SON ALONE. Re-issue title: MEN OF DESTINY.
COMMENT: A period western about a Texas cattle breeder, set in the aftermath of the Civil War. The storyline is routine, but the action sequences are vigorously staged and a fine cast led by Richard Dix (then near the close of his career but still presenting a ruggedly masculine image), help considerably to give the film an above average interest.
ON A SECOND VIEWING: Set down South after the Civil War, this yarn centers on three men, Richard Dix, Preston Foster and (would you believe?) Leo Carillo (who can speak American as good as you or me) bringing his stupid Mexican accent to the role of a French Creole. The three set up a huge cattle ranch in Texas. Carillo is caught selling off part of the herd, but not only does he persist raiding the cattle, he entices the typically weak Foster character to join him is his rustling activities. Finally, Dix is forced to confront them. Despite its routine plot, this is a superior action film with all the usual super-high “Pop” Sherman production values, including Russell Harlan’s superlative, fresh-from-Hoppy photography.
Marlon Brando (Matt Fletcher), Anjanette Comer (Trini), John Saxon (Chuy Medina), Emilio Fernandez (Lazaro), Alex Montoya (Squint-Eye), Frank Silvera (Ramos), Rafael Campos (Paco), Miriam Colon (Ana), Larry D. Mann (priest), Argentina Brunetti (Yaqui woman).
Director: SIDNEY J. FURIE. Screenplay: James Bridges, Roland Kibbee. Based on the 1963 novel by Robert MacLeod. Photographed in Technicolor and Techniscope by Russell Metty. Film editor: Ted J. Kent. Art directors: Alexander Golitzen, Alfred Sweeney. Set decorations: John McCarthy, Oliver Emert. Make-up: Bud Westmore. Costumes: Rosemary Odell, Helen Colvig. Hair styles: Larry Germain. Music: Frank Skinner. Music supervision: Joseph Gershenson. Assistant director: Douglas Green. Production managers: Wallace Worsley, William S. Gilmore. Sound: Waldon O. Watson, Lyle Cain. Producer: Alan Miller.
Additional credits: Camera operator: Edwin Pyle. Assistant cameraman: Ledger Haddow. Set co-ordinator: Virgil Clark. Assistant film editor: Peter Colbert. Choreography: Poppy Del Vando. Additional sound men: William Griffith, James Alexander, Bruce Smith. 2nd assistant director: Carl Beringer. 3rd assistant director: James Welch. Script supervisor: Robert Forrest. Wardrobe: Olive Koenitz, Norman Mayreis, David Watson. Make-up artists: Mark Reedall, Hank Edds, Phil Rhodes, Sherrie Rose. Hairdresser: Clara Holgate. Special effects: Ben McMahon. Technical advisor: Salvador Baquez. Dialogue coach: Celia Webb. Still photographs: Chic Donchin. Gaffer: Max Nippell. Grips: Charles Cowie, Ken Smith. Props: Bill Nunley, John Faltis. Main titles by Pacific Title. Westrex Sound System. Executive producer: Edward Muhl.
Copyright 15 October 1966 by Universal Pictures. New York opening at the Baronet and the DeMille: 14 September 1966. U.K. release: 2 December 1966. Sydney opening at the Victory. 8,820 feet. 98 minutes. [An excellent Universal DVD].
U.K. and Australian release title: SOUTHWEST TO SONORA.
SYNOPSIS: After avenging the murder of his Indian wife, buffalo hunter Matt Fletcher enters a church in the border town of Ojo Prieto. He plans to unburden his sins and begin life anew by using his magnificent Appaloosa stallion to start a horse breeding farm. But his hopes are dashed when a beautiful young woman named Trini uses his appearance to further her own ends. Trini has been sold by her parents to a Mexican bandit, Chuy Medina, and, as a ruse to escape, she tells him that Matt molested her in the church. Then, when Chuy also enters the church, she rides off on Matt’s Appaloosa. But she is quickly captured and returned by Chuy’s pistoleros. And Matt’s hopes are completely shattered when Chuy steals the Appaloosa.
NOTES: Location scenes filmed in St George, Utah; Lancaster, California; and in the San Bernardino Mountains near Wrightwood, California.
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Strictly adults.
COMMENT: Stylishly and inventively directed, this off-beat western, beautifully photographed and played with surprising effectiveness by a stand-out support cast (Brando is much his usual self), emerges as one of the best films of the year. Some critics have objected to Furie’s mannered camera angles and compositions, complaining that they obtruded into and slowed down the action, but we feel they are a major factor in creating the film’s atmosphere—that together with the music score and the impressive natural locations they give the film a visual and a dramatic impact that lifts it right out of the class of the ordinary western.
ON A SECOND VIEWING A stylized western with some absorbing character studies—particularly Brando as the hero, Anjanette Comer as the double-dealing heroine and John Saxon as an oily Mexican bandit. Furie’s direction emphasizes character rather than action with the result that the pace is at times too slow.
ON A THIRD VIEWING: Here’s good old Mumbles Marlon up to his usual vocal tricks on the other side of the border. However, his is by no means the worst performance. That honor belongs to John Saxon, incredibly hammy and doubly as unconvincing as a Mexican villain. Anjanette Comer seems similarly out of place. Some of the native Mexican actors like Emilio Fernandez and Alex Montoya are more at home, though their forcefulness is undermined both by the unimportance of their roles and by the slow-moving, lingering close-ups style employed by the director. The film’s lack of sustained and sustainable suspense must be laid to the director’s account. True, he does always try to fill up his widescreen with something or other, be it sombrero (his favorite device) or bottle or pillar or post, but he fails to keep the film moving. Not only is there too much meaningless dialogue, but it is too slowly delivered. Whole scenes could be ruthlessly cut (especially those involving Comer and Colon with our hero) to tremendous advantage. Even the introductory scene between Brando and Montoya should go. It has atmosphere and tension, but it does nothing to advance the plot and takes far too long to make its one rather insignificant point.
Gregory Peck (James McKay), Jean Simmons (Julie Maragon), Carroll Baker (Patricia Terrill), Charlton Heston (Steve Leech), Burl Ives (Rufus Hannassey), Charles Bickford (Major Henry Terrill), Alfonso Bedoya (Ramon), Chuck Connors (Buck Hannassey), Chuck Hayward (Rafe Hannassey), Buff Brady (Dude Hannassey), Jim Burk (Cracker Hannassey), Dorothy Adams (Hannassey woman), Chuck Roberson, Bob Morgan, John McKee and Jay Slim Talbot (Terrill cowboys), Ralph Sanford, Harry V. Chesire, Dick Alexander (guests), Jonathan Peck, Stephen Peck, Carey Paul Peck (boys), Donald Kerr (liveryman).
Director: WILLIAM WYLER. Screenplay: James R. Webb, Sy Bartlett and Robert Wilder. Adaptation: Jessamyn West and Robert Wyler. Based on the 1957 novel and Saturday Evening Post serial “Ambush at Blanco Canyon” by Donald Hamilton. Photography: Franz F. Planer. Sound: John Kean and Roger Heman. Music: Jerome Moross. Art direction: Frank Hotaling. Set decoration: Edward G. Boyle. Costumes: Emile Santiago and Yvonne Wood. Hairstyles: Joan St Oegger. Make-up: Dan Greenway and Harry Maret Jr. Assistant director: Ivan Volkman. Second unit director: John Waters and Robert Swink. Second unit photography: Wallace Chewning. Technirama. Technicolor. Supervising film editor: Robert Swink. Film editors: Robert Belcher, John Faure. 2nd assistant director: Ray Gosnell. 3rd assistant director: Henry Hartman. Sound editor: Del Harris. Filmed on the Drais Ranch, near Stockton, California. A William Wyler Production for Anthony-Worldwide Productions. Released by United Artists. Producers: William Wyler and Gregory Peck.
Copyright 1958 by Anthony-Worldwide Productions. New York opening at the Astor: 1 October 1958. U.S. release: 15 August 1958. U.K. release: 1 March 1959. Australian release: 2 July 1959. 165 minutes. [Available on a superb M-G-M DVD].
NOTES: Back in the 1920s, director William Wyler learned his business by shooting a two-reel western a week. “Every Friday I was handed a script,” he recalls. “Universal employed real cowboys, and the films followed a set formula: a bit of action right at the beginning, a bit of a plot, and then big action for the finale.” The formula hasn’t changed much, but for The Big Country, Wyler had a $3 million budget that he over-spent by $1.1 million!
Burl Ives won the prestigious Hollywood award for Best Supporting Actor, defeating Theodore Bikel in The Defiant Ones, Leo Jacoby in The Brothers Karamazov, Arthur Kennedy in Some Came Running, and Gig Young in Teacher’s Pet.
Jerome Moross was nominated for an award for his Music Score, losing to Dimitri Tiomkin’s The Old Man and the Sea.
The New York Film Critics nominated the film for Best Picture and Wyler for Best Director, both losing to The Defiant Ones.
Burl Ives, Best Supporting Actor—Hollywood Foreign Press.
Best Western of the year—Film Daily annual poll of American film critics.
Best Western of 1958—New York Daily News.
Best Western of 1958—Time.
Best Western of 1958—New York Journal American.
Best Western of 1958—New York World-Telegram.
Best Western of 1958—New York Post.
“Simply the best film ever made. My number one favorite film.”—President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
COMMENT: Despite negative comments from Greg Peck who was probably disappointed that Burl Ives stole the picture, I enjoyed The Big Country. What makes the film really outstanding is Jerome Moross’s invigorating music score—one of the most exciting ever composed for a movie. Incidentally, The Big Country has the most writers of any Wyler film—and Wyler himself seemed amazed when I pointed out Jessamyn West among the names.
John Wayne (John Steele), Noah Beery (Sam Crew), Mae Madison (Ginger Malloy), Luis Alberni (Sonora Joe), Berton Churchill (Governor Wallace), Paul Hurst (Arizona), Sherwood Bailey (Pat Malloy), Hank Bell (member of Sonora Joe’s band), Lafe McKee (Cal Brett), Joseph Girard (Major Parker), Frank Ellis, “Duke”.
Director: TENNY WRIGHT. Screenplay: Kurt Kempler. Based on the 1927 screenplay The Land Beyond the Law by Marion Jackson. Photography: Ted McCord. Film editor: Frank Ware. Western Electric Sound System. Associate producer: Sid Rogell. Producer: Leon Schlesinger. A Leon Schlesinger “Four Star Western”.
Copyright 28 September 1932 by Vitagraph. Released by Warner Bros.: 8 October 1932. U.K. release: March 1933. 54 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A bandit (Alberni) aids a new deputy sheriff (Wayne) to clean up a gang of rustlers organised by a big land owner (Beery).
NOTES: A re-make of The Land Beyond the Law (1927) starring Ken Maynard as Steele. Re-made again in 1936 under the original title, this time with Dick Foran. [An excellent Warner DVD].
COMMENT: The original Ken Maynard effort must have been one spectacular movie. True, some of the stock footage was undoubtedly lifted from earlier films, but it’s still mighty impressive. This Wayne re-make would certainly have knocked the socks off most spectators who must have a wondered how a little “B” western could afford such exceptionally lavish effects.
And it’s not that The Big Stampede relies to all that great an extent on stock footage either! Impressively adding to the tautness and suspense of the script are a fine roster of players, led by the personable Wayne, the delightfully villainous Beery and the psycho-comic Hurst. (Love the way the cast is introduced in the credit titles: Wayne chatting to “Duke”, Hurst glowering at a laughing Beery, Miss Madison looking uncomfortable while Master Bailey stares self-consciously at the camera). Tenny Wright has directed with considerable flair and panache, making the most of the many action sequences (especially the saloon appointment) staged especially for this movie. Realistic sets and locations help too.
Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers), Roy Rogers (Billy the Kid), Mary Hart (Ellen Moore), Fred Kohler Sr (Matson), Morgan Wallace (Morganson), Edwin Stanley (Moore), Wade Boteler (Sheriff Pat Garrett), Smiley Burnette (Frog Millhouse), Joseph Crehan (Marshal Conway), Robert Emmett Keane (Page), Jack Kirk (Morganson henchman), Chris-Pin Martin (desk clerk), and George Montgomery, Fred Burns, Ray Nichols, Al Taylor, Patsy Lee Parsons, Betty Jane Hainey, Art Dillard, Rudy Sooter, Betty Roadman, Jim Corey, Bob McKenzie, Lloyd Ingraham, Oscar Gahan, Ralph Dunn, and “Trigger”.
Director: JOSEPH KANE. Screenplay: Jack Natteford. Photography: Ernest Miller. Film editor: Lester Orlebeck. Music director: Cy Feuer. Songs: “Born to the Saddle” (Rogers), “When the Sun Is Settin' on the Prairie” (Rogers, reprised Rogers and chorus), “When I Camped under the Stars” (Rogers), “Dixie Instrument Song” (Burnette and chorus), “Dixie Brand” (Burnette and chorus), “Sing a Little Song about Anything” (Rogers and Burnette). Production manager: Al Wilson. Unit manager: Arthur Siteman. RCA Sound System. Associate producer: Charles E. Ford. Executive producer: Herbert J. Yates.
Copyright 4 September 1938 by Republic Pictures Corp. No recorded New York release. U.S. release: 4 September 1938. Los Angeles opening: 15 September. U.K. release through British Lion. Never released in Australia. 6 reels. 54 minutes. [An Alpha DVD].
SYNOPSIS: A lawman impersonates Billy the Kid in order to stop a rancher hassling the nesters.
NOTES: Rogers’ 14th film and second starring vehicle.
Mary Hart is sometimes billed under her real name, Lynne Roberts.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Okay for all.
COMMENT: A singing Billy the Kid? Well no, it’s actually Leonard Slye’s Roy Rogers impersonating Billy the Kid—though he does play in a straight fashion Billy himself as well. The two characters never appear on screen together as the real Billy is shot before the Rogers character appears on the scene. Aside from this unusual intro, it’s a likable enough if thoroughly routine offering. Fred Kohler does the honors as the villain's chief henchman, the heroine is pretty, Mr Rogers does a bit of fast riding culminating in a spectacular horse-and-rider leap from cliff-top into a lake, while Mr Burnette’s foolery and novelty numbers are fairly tolerable. A couple of Mr Rogers’ songs are melodic enough to deserve more than the somewhat perfunctory treatment they’re given here. Not that this will worry the fans. What will disappoint the juvenile audience is that there’s no action climax. The villains are captured by a ruse and quietly, hang-doggedly submit. Direction and other credits are competent but thoroughly routine. Production values are firmly “B”.
Roddy McDowall (Scott Jordan), Damian O’Flynn (Bill Jourdan), Lyn Thomas (Cindy Baxter), Kirby Grant (Sheriff Gilbert), Gordon Jones (Roy), Fay Baker (Martha Baxter), Rand Brooks (Daniel Jordan).
Director: OSCAR “BUDD” BOETTICHER. Screenplay: Clint Johnston, Erna Lazarus, Scott Darling. Story: Clint Johnston. Photography: William Sickner. Camera operator: John Martin. Art director: Dave Milton. Film editor: Leonard W. Herman. Script supervisor (= set continuity): Bobbie Sierkes. Make-up: Ted Larsen. Gaffer: Lloyd Garnell. Still photographs: Talmadge Morrison. Assistant director: Wesley Barry. Music composed and directed by Edward J. Kay. Grip: William Johnson. Sound technician: John Carter. Associate producers: Leonard W. “Ace” Herman and Roddy McDowall. Producer: Lindsley Parsons.
Copyright 25 September 1949 by Monogram Pictures Corp. U.S. release: 2 October 1949. No New York or Los Angeles opening. U.K. release through Associated British-Pathe: 31 July 1950. No Australian theatrical release. 5,812 feet. 65 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Rivalry between a ranch foreman and a crooked saloon owner culminates in a vigorous fist fight.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Okay for all.
COMMENT: One of the most interesting of director Budd Boetticher’s early films. Although hampered by a corny script and some atrociously-padded dialogue—as well as by a most unpromising opening with the least talented member of the cast (Damian O’Flynn) and Roddy McDowall taking pratfalls in season and out—some fine location photography and inspired use of natural backgrounds give the film a sweep and grandeur that is not matched in any of Monogram’s other 1949 productions at all. Even Edward J. Kay’s music score is a cut above his usual efforts.
Despite its faults, the film as a whole is “must” viewing for connoisseurs. Yet, oddly, despite the present 2011 top-of-the-heap auteur status of director Budd Boetticher (pronounced “Bettycur”), this movie is only sold on VHS and not currently available on DVD.
Charles Starrett (Steve Blake, the Durango Kid), Smiley Burnette (himself), Patricia White (Lola Carter), Paul Campbell (Jim Traynor), Charles Wilson (Ace Brockway), Thomas Jackson (Matt Carter), Jack Ingram (Buckshot Thomas), Chief Thunder Cloud (Chief Bear Claw), Pat O’Malley (Mike Doyle), Jacques O’Mahoney [Jock Mahoney] (Bill Wheeler), Frank McCarroll (Gunsmoke Ballard), Pierce Lyden (Jason), Paul Conrad (Sleepy Larsen), Red Arnall and the Western Aces (themselves). Narrated by Fred F. Sears. [Available on a superb Sony DVD].
Director: RAY NAZARRO. Screenplay: Norman S. Hall. Original story: Normal S. Hall. Photography: Ira H. Morgan. Film editor: Richard Fantl. Art director: Charles Clague. Set decorator: Sidney Clifford. Songs: “Home Cookin” and “Popcorn” by Smiley Burnette. Script supervisor: Wyonna O’Brien. Grip: Al Becker. Still photos: Irving Lippman. Camera operator: Gert Anderson. Assistant director: Gilbert Kay. Sound technician: Jack Goodrich. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Colbert Clark.
Copyright 17 June 1948 by Columbia Pictures Corp. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 1 July 1948. U.K. release: September 1952. Not theatrically released in Australia. 6 reels. 55 minutes. U.K. release title: UNDER ARREST.
SYNOPSIS: Gambling czar attempts to seize control of a town.
COMMENT: Above average Durango Kid western. There’s plenty of action including a stagecoach chase with exciting running inserts and some good stunt-work (Jock Mahoney who has a brief two-or-three-line role doubles for the Kid) and some spectacular Indians-on-the-warpath stock footage. The patter-type musical numbers rendered by Mr Burnette and Red Arnall are very pleasant too, and Mr Burnette’s foolery is fairly amusing. Charles Starrett does his usual competent job and we liked Charles Wilson’s rubber-faced villain. Nazarro’s direction is a cut above his usual standard and production values are generally adequate. Despite his prominence in the cast list, Thomas Jackson has only a minor role. The bulk of the support work is actually carried by non-credited Jack Ingram as Buckshot plus also non-credited Paul Campbell as Jim Traynor.
John Wayne (?), Eleanor Hunt (Betty Mason), George Hayes (sheriff), Edward Peil (Melgrove), Yakima Canutt (Danti), George Cleveland (Hank), Hank Bell (stage driver), Lafe McKee (Mason), George Nash (bridegroom), Fern Emmett (Mrs Williams), Earl Dwire, Artie Ortego, Tex Phelps, Perry Murdock, Herman Hack (henchmen), Horace P. Carpenter, Ralph Bucko, Herman Nowlin, Silver Tip Baker, Barney Beasley, Theodore Lorch, Jack Evans, Bud McClure (townsmen). [Available on a fine Echo Bridge DVD].
Story, screenplay and direction: ROBERT NORTH BRADBURY. Photography: Archie Stout. Film editor: Carl Pierson. Art director: E.R. Hickson. Assistant director: Glenn Cook. Sound recording: J.A. Stransky, Jr. Producer: Paul Malvern.
Copyright 15 May 1934 by Monogram Pictures Corporation. A Lone Star Western. U.S. release: 10 May 1934. U.K. release through Pathé: 7 January 1935. 54 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Sheriff suspects lone cowpoke of being the Polka Dot Bandit. Nonetheless, the two team up to help a besieged township.
COMMENT: The 5th of John Wayne’s 14 Lone Star Westerns is nothing if not a lively piece. True, it gets off to a remarkably slow start, but once the bandits arrive on the scene the pace picks up no end. Although the heroine is somewhat lacking in thespian talent, she’s pretty enough and has little to do or say anyway. It’s Wayne and Hayes who set the action rolling and keep it up—interspersed with some spectacular Canutt stuntwork—right to the finish line. And it’s good to see Yakima Canutt in a sizable role on camera as well as doubling Wayne in the action spots.
Director Robert North Bradbury has a grand time once the action switches to the wide open spaces. You can virtually see him riding the camera car as it swoops along with galloping-hell-for-leather riders in super-fast tracking shots. And I love those whip pans!
Photographer Archie Stout, a specialist in location work, is also most at home with awesome vistas of wide open plains, ringed by rugged mountains and fleecy clouds in the Alabama Hills, Calif.
Charles Starrett (Steve Ramsey/The Durango Kid), Smiley Burnette (Smiley Burnette), Fred F. Sears (Henry Hardison), Luther Crockett (Judge Anthony Dillon), Myron Healey (Krag Boseman), Charles Horvath (Smoker), Ted Jordan (Bob Dillon), Al Wyatt (Bill Trotter), Paul McGuire (Marshal Reed), Vernon Dent (Whiskers), and Slim Duncan.
Director: FRED F. SEARS. Screenplay: Barry Shipman and Bert Horswell. Photography: Henry Freulich. Film editor: Paul Borofsky. Music director: Mischa Bakaleinikoff. Art director: Charles Clague. Set decorator: George Montgomery. Producer: Colbert Clark.
Copyright 14 June 1951 by Columbia Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 26 July 1951. U.K. release: 1954. No Australian theatrical release. 6 reels. 56 minutes.
U.K. release title: TWO FISTED AGENT.
SYNOPSIS: The Durango Kid tracks down an outlaw. Although believed dead, the outlaw is actually working in cahoots with a crooked townsman. [Available on a superb Sony DVD].
COMMENT: Although—courtesy of Columbia’s stock Durango Kid library—this 123rd entry of Starrett’s 132 westerns starts off with a rousing chase after a covered wagon, complete with running inserts, Bonanza Town is mainly of interest for the opportunity to watch director Fred F. Sears direct himself. Otherwise, it’s a definitely below average example of the Durango Kid cycle. And alas, even Sears’ direction lacks confidence. Worse, typical of the dying days of this series, at least half the story is narrated in flashback, introducing stock footage from a previous entry. I don’t usually object to this sort of cutting back in production values so long as the stock material is reasonably exciting. In this case, it isn’t. Oddly, Sony had the stupidity to issue this extremely bottom-of-the-barrel entry as a DVD. They obviously didn’t bother to consult any reviews, then had the chutzpah to complain that sales were poor. What do Sony take western fans for? Cretins?
Tim McCoy (Tim Ross), Lois January (Goldie), Ralph Byrd (Tex Weaver), Frank Glendon (Wiley Taggart), Ted Adams (Brayden), John Merton (Runnyan), Earle Hodgins (Doc Shaw), Henry Hall (Crowley), Harrison Greene (Doc drummer), Jack Rockwell (sheriff), Henry Roquemore (Murdock).
Director: SAM NEWFIELD. Screenplay: Joseph O’Donnell. Story: Norman S. Hall. Photography: Jack Greenhalgh. Film editor: Holbrook N. Todd. Sound recording: Hans Weeren. Producers: Sig Neufeld, Leslie Simmons. Puritan Pictures. Released: 1 March 1936. 59 minutes. [DVD from Echo Bridge. Quality rating: 8/10].
COMMENT: Although Doc Shaw’s endless fulminating is allowed to take up too much screen time, this is otherwise a well-produced “B” with a surprisingly gritty, realistic feel to it. By Newfield’s low standards, the direction is extremely gripping and involving, with action vigorously staged with lots of extras and a dark atmosphere deftly, realistically created despite a routine plot that pits our hero reluctantly against a band of bank bandits when his pal is killed.
William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), James Ellison (Johnny Nelson), George Hayes (Windy), Morris Ankrum (Loco), Charlene Wyatt (Molly Rand), Nora Lane (Grace Rand), Trevor Bardette (Colonel Gonzales), Al Bridge (Dandy Morgan), George Chesebro (Tom Parker), John Beach, Earle Hodgins, John St Polis, Edward Cassidy, Slim Whitaker, Cliff Parkinson, Karl Hackett, Robert Walker, Frank Ellis.
Director: NATE WATT. Screenplay: Harrison Jacobs. Based on the 1922 novel Bring Me His Ears by Clarence E. Mulford. Photography: Archie Stout. Film editor: Robert Warwick. Art director: Lewis J. Rachmil. Assistant directors: Derwin Abrahams, Harry Knight. Associate producer: Eugene Strom. Producer: Harry Sherman. A Harry Sherman Production, presented by Adolph Zukor. [Available on an excellent Image DVD].
Copyright 26 February 1937 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. No recorded New York showcase. U.S. release: 26 February 1937. 9 reels. Yes, 9 reels—the novel runs over 300 pages. 82 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Hoppy goes undercover as an outlaw. His quarry: a murderous border gang, led by Morris Ankrum (also playing a pretend role as a harmless half-wit).
NOTES: Don Miller says this one holds the record as the longest “B” series western ever made.
Number 9 of the 66-picture series.
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Okay for all.
COMMENT: Solely of curiosity value, this early Hopalong Cassidy has little to recommend it save some nice exterior photography by Archie Stout. The film is poorly directed by Nate Watt and the action sequences are some of the wettest we’ve seen (though the climax with Hoppy holding a bleeding gun-wound in his leg has a certain novelty value). Screenplay by Harrison Jacobs does a disservice to Clarence E. Mulford’s novel.
A SECOND VIEW: Borderland had a strong plot, a strong villain (Morris Ankrum again) and was strung out to 82 minutes, longest of all series Westerns. It was also the last appearance by Ellison as Johnny Nelson. He had been getting a buildup of sorts, including the role of Buffalo Bill in DeMille’s The Plainsman, and his desire to step forward to greener pastures was granted by Sherman.—Don Miller.
William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Andy Clyde (California Carlson), Jay Kirby (Johnny Travers), Russell Simpson (Orestes Krebs), Claudia Drake (Inez), Duncan Renaldo (commandante), Cliff Parkinson (Don Enrique), George Reeves (Mexican officer), Robert Mitchum, Herman Hack, Pierce Lyden (henchmen), Merrill McCormack.
Director: LESLEY SELANDER. Screenplay: Michael Wilson. Based on characters created by Clarence E. Mulford. Photography: Russell Harlan. Film editor: Sherman A. Rose. Art director: Ralph Berger. Music director: Irvin Talbot. Associate producer: Lewis J. Rachmil. Producer: Harry Sherman. A Harry Sherman Production for Paramount Pictures. Released through United Artists, who purchased the film outright from Paramount in order to take up the slack in a product shortage caused by the war.
Copyright 11 December 1942 by United Artists Productions, Inc. U.S. release: 2 April 1943. Australian release: 24 June 1943. 6,054 feet. 67 minutes. [Available on an excellent Platinum Disc DVD].
SYNOPSIS: Border Patrol, originally titled Missing Men, spotted unbilled Mitchum as a henchman for a ruthless silver-mine operator (Russell Simpson), who has been using Mexicans for slave labor. Hoppy and sidekicks California Carlson (Andy Clyde) and Johnny Travers (Jay Kirby) are Texas Rangers out to bring the villains to justice, but are instead framed for murder and only saved from hanging when a Mexican girl helps them make a getaway in time for the standard blood and thunder finale. George Reeves (later television’s “Superman”) and Duncan Renaldo (better known as the movies’ “Cisco Kid”) play Mexican army officers in this outing.
NOTES: Number 45 of the 66-picture series. Film debut of Robert Mitchum. Negative cost: $87,285. Initial world gross: $132,406.
COMMENT: A more appealing than average Hoppy entry, thanks not only to the easy-to-spot presence of Robert Mitchum as a bad guy, but to better acting all around. The script by none other than Michael Wilson—Five Fingers, A Place in the Sun, Friendly Persuasion, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Planet of the Apes, etc—is realistically suspenseful, providing some fascinating characters with plenty of opportunities to generate drama and conflict. Tensely directed by Lesley Selander, with the aid of fine photography by Russell Harlan and suitable mood music scored by Irvin Talbot.
William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Russell Hayden (Lucky Jenkins), Andy Clyde (California Carlson), Victor Jory (Henry Logan), Morris Ankrum (Dan Forbes), Frances Gifford (Helen Forbes), Ethel Wales (Aunt Jennifer Forbes), Tom Tyler (Jim Yager), Hal Taliaferro (Ed Stone), Jack Rockwell (Henry Weaver), Britt Wood (Lafe Willis), Hank Worden (wagon driver), Edward Earle (Banker Stevens), Hank Bell (liveryman), Curley Dresden (bank guard), Al Haskell (gambler), Chuck Morrison (wagon driver in brawl), Ted Wells (henchman).