Virginia Brown Faire Movies

The fifth of 18 inexpensive Tom Tyler oaters produced by Reliable Pictures, this film, like its predecessors, was filmed in Newhall, California, in 1934, but not widely distributed until February of the following year. Playing a sheriff caught in the middle of a range war, Tom arrests the rancher brother of his fiancée for killing a sheep herder. The young man, Ned Hampton (Edmund Cobb), escapes by shooting Tom in the shoulder, and the wounded sheriff seeks shelter with the leader of the sheep men, Jim Green (Lafe McKee). Molly (Virginia Brown Faire), Ned's sister, arrives to warn Tom of an impending stampede of cattle through sheep territory. She is held hostage by Green while Tom attempts to stop her father, John Hampton (Charles K. French), from stampeding his cattle. The attempt fails, and Tom arrives just in time to rescue Molly from the thundering herd. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Assigned to write and direct the John Wayne western West of the Divide, Robert N. Bradbury dug out the plotline he'd used so often and to such good effect in his son Bob Steele's vehicles. Wayne plays frontiersman Ted Hayden, who spends most of the picture searching for the man who killed his parents. Along the way, he "tames" spoiled heroine Fay Winter (Virginia Brown Faire) and rediscovers his long-lost brother Spud (Billy O'Brien). John Wayne's fistfights with chief heavy Yakima Canutt aren't in the same league as his later Canutt-supervised stunt sequences, but they're pretty good by their own standards. West of the Divide was the fourth entry in Wayne's "Lone Star" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former silent-screen star Frank Mayo plays a big-city bootlegger at odds with gangster chieftain Tom Santschi, the man who's been hijacking his shipments. The cops decide not to get involved but instead remain on the sidelines, hoping that Mayo and Santschi will knock each other off. But young newspaper reporter Charles Morton insists upon getting into the thick of the action -- causing no end of consternation for Santschi, who happens to be Morton's older brother. When Morton is "taken for a ride" by Mayo, he is saved by the bootlegger's cast-off mistress Dorothy Revier. Produced independently, The Last Ride was released by Universal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This little cheapie tries to pass itself off as a contemporary actioner, but at heart it's still a western. An old prospector strikes gold on the dude ranch owned by John Elliot, only to be promptly murdered by the villains. Despite several entreaties, Elliot refuses to sell his property, so the bad guys set out to sabotage a rodeo being staged on the ranch. Sensing that something's amiss, Elliot's business manager Glenn Tryon alerts the local constabulary, though he himself settles the heavies' hash with his fists. As a result, Tryon wins the hand of the owner's daughter, Virginia Brown Faire. Margaret Mann, best known for her portrayals of "Grandma" in the Our Gang comedies, essays a similar role in The Secret Menace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

King, the clever pooch publicized as "Emperor of All Dogs" (played by Muro), starred in this very low-budget serial produced by Harry S. Webb's Metropolitan Pictures. Muro had earlier appeared in Webb's Untamed Justice and Phantoms of the North, both cheap action features, but in The Sign of the Wolf you could at least hear him bark. The serial, whose human stars were Rex Lease and Virginia Brown Faire, silent actors who had seen better days, concerned an invention that could turn sand into precious jewels. The device is stolen in the Himalayas by an explorer (Harry Todd) who, during his escape through the jungle, picks up a little dog sacred to the Native population. Years later, in the American Southwest, the explorer, his daughter (Faire), and King find themselves besieged by villains (including the always despicable Al Ferguson) out to get their hands on the wondrous device. Ranchers Tom (Lease) and Bud (Joe Bonomo) come to the assistance of the embattled explorer, whose enemies are finally disarmed in the tenth and final chapter, "The Lost Secret." In an attempt to squeeze every dollar possible out of The Sign of the Wold, Webb and co-producer Flora E. Douglas re-edited and released the serial as a 61 minute feature entitled The Lone Trail. Much of the footage was used a second time in 1936, for the serial Skull and Crown, this time starring Rin Tin Tin, Jr. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

One of Hollywood's few women producers, Flora E. Douglas, produced this minor western starring former silent screen cowboy Wally Wales as a war veteran accused of being a notorious outlaw upon his return from the front. Managing to escape the law, Wales tracks down the real outlaw who, to nobody's great surprise, turns out to be veteran bad guy Lew Meehan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

An innocent cowboy is once again suspected of a crime he didn't commit in The Lonesome Trail, an obscure early talkie western from low-budget producer Syndicate that wasted the talents of silent western stars Yakima Canutt, Bob Reeves, Art Mix, and Monte Montague. The accuser (Montague), as it turns out, is the leader of a gang of rustlers, a man the hero once trusted. The star of this fiasco, Charles Delaney, gets to warble a couple of tunes (including Oh, Susannah) but did not set the screen aflame with his vocals or start a new trend. Delaney had enjoyed some success playing collegiate roles in the silent era but was consigned to supporting roles thereafter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Universal's ruffled cowboy star Hoot Gibson and brunette Virginia Browne Faire played feuding ranchers in this average silent Western co-directed by Henry McRae and Herbert Blaché. The two ranchers get together to fight a common enemy, however, and fall in love. Based on William McLeod Raine's A Daughter of the Dons, this film is remembered only for Boris Karloff playing one of the thugs. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Escaping from a revolution, the King (Joseph Swickard) of a mythical Balkan country heads to the United States. Here he finds a friend in the form of dashing secret service agent Yorke Norray (Cornelius Keefe). With Norray's help, the King is restored to his throne, and the rascally insurrectionists are thrown out. As a bonus, Norray wins the love of Princess Therese (Virginia Brown Faire), who at first glance seems to be one of the revolutionaries (but isn't!) Boris Karloff appears as one of the conspirators, playing a character cleverly named "Boris." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy-mystery is famed director Frank Capra's first all-talking film. It tells the story of a bungling police inspector who tries to re-enact a murder scene with disastrous results. The first killing occurred within a darkened dining room. Unfortunately, when the inspector resets the scene, someone else is murdered. The poor inspector is terribly embarrassed, but this does not stop him from trying one more time. The original guests assist him and the murderer is finally captured. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ken Maynard played a land agent in this fine Western from Maynard's silent heyday. A greedy land baron (Theodore Lorch) plans not only to take over farmer Eric Mayne's possibly profitable ranch but also has designs on the man's lovely daughter, Virginia Browne Faire. Happily, agent Maynard is on to the villain's evil schemes and peace is restored in the valley. Several veteran silent screen names popped up in this Western, including former director Harry Salter, who had begun his screen career as an actor with the old Biograph company, and Billy Franey, a veteran of Universal's "Joker Comedies" of the early 1910s. Canyon of Adventure was remade as The Man from Monterey by Warner Bros. in 1933, a vehicle for John Wayne. Ruth Hall, Lafe McKee, and Francis Ford took over for Browne Faire, Mayne, and Lorch, respectively. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Under the mistaken assumption that her father (Wheeler Oakman) is guilty of murder, Virginia Browne Faire runs away from home. Lost and helpless in snow country, the girl is rescued by a gallant mountie (William Russell), who then goes in search of the real killer. Released from his contract with Fox, veteran action star William Russell was drifting when he made this low-budget "North-Western" produced and directed by Duke Worne. Russell's leading lady, Virginia Browne Faire, was Mrs. Worne at the time. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Canine star Rin Tin Tin topped the cast of Warner Bros.' A Race for Life. The combination of star and title was in itself enough to pack theaters, but Warners insisted upon adding a plot, if only to appease the critics. In this one, Rinty becomes the best pal of juvenile "human" hero Danny O'Shea (Bobby Gordon). Their devotion to one another is proven beyond doubt when Danny is threatened by kidnappers. For those uninterested in the boy-and-dog angle, a romantic subplot was wedged into the proceedings involving Virginia Calhoun (Virginia Brown Faire) and Robert Hammong (Carroll Nye, who later played Frank Kennedy in 1939's Gone with the Wind). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide