John VanPelt Movies
In perhaps their most unusual Western adventure, the Three Mesqueteers -- Stony (Bob Livingston), Tucson (Ray Corrigan), and Lullaby (Max Terhune) -- go in search of Professor Marsh (John Van Pelt), an archeologist who vanished while searching for the lost city of Lukachukai. Along for the ride are Marsh's daughter, Betty (Mary Russell); Rutledge (Roger Williams); and an Indian guide, Otah (Yakima Canutt). The expedition heads straight for the Whistling Skull, a huge rock formation in the "nostril" of which the Mesqueteers discover the missing scientist, gaunt but alive among several mummies. Both Rutledge and Otah prove to be less than helpful, however, and at one point Betty and Stony go missing and are feared lost. As Tucson learns, the natives are under the influence of a fanatical white man, but who is he? Oliver Drake and John Rathmell's screenplay was later reworked into a latter-day Charlie Chan thriller The Feathered Serpent (1949), which featured Bob Livingston as the villain. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Max "Alibi" Terhune
In this western, Gene Autry plays a cowboy with a heart as big as Texas who heads for the city to try to raise money so that a crippled little girl can get the operation she needs to walk again. First he talks a coffee company into being his sponsor. They opt to broadcast their performance on television, which had only recently been invented. Just as the performance is aired, there is trouble back at the ranch and the little girl finds herself trapped in a runaway wagon. Fortunately, the ranch hands rally to her rescue. Back in the city, the performance is a success and the girl is healed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1936
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 with Helen Carter (Lucille Browne), the daughter of the hotel proprietor (Horace Murphy) in nearby Patchy Creek. Helen, however, is engaged to Lanning (Charles King), a nasty gambler who has been threatening her father. Using Harve's thieving skills, Lanning enjoys a lucrative business separating the local prospectors from their gold but is eventually driven out of town by Blake. Elected marshal by a grateful citizenry, Blake marries Helen, but refuses to listen when she warns him against Harve and continues to blithely deposit gold nuggets in the Carter safe. While Jim and the townsmen are fighting a gang of outlaws, Harve robs the safe and then asks Helen to run away with him. Hoping to prove Harve's duplicity once and for all, she agrees and they head for the badlands with Jim in hot pursuit. There is a final confrontation and Helen gets in the way of a bullet meant for Jim. Happily, she survives and is soon reunited with Jim, who has been forced to kill Harve in self-defense. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
