Fuzzy Knight Movies
To western fans, the nickname "Fuzzy" invokes fond memories of two first-rate comedy sidekicks: Al "Fuzzy" St. John and John Forest "Fuzzy" Knight. Knight inaugurated his career at age 15 with a tent minstrel troupe. His skill as a musician enabled him to work his way through West Virginia University, after which he headed his own band. Among Knight's theatrical credits in the '20s was the 1927 edition of Earl Carroll's Vanities and the 1928 "book" musical Here's How. Mae West caught Knight's act on the Keith vaudeville circuit and cast the bucolic entertainer in her 1933 film vehicle She Done Him Wrong; he would later show up playing West's country cousin in the actress' last important film, My Little Chickadee (1940). Usually essaying comedy roles, Knight was effective in the his dramatic scenes in Paramount's Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936), wherein he tearfully sings a mountain ballad at the funeral of little Spanky McFarland. Knight's B-western comedy sidekick activity peaked in the mid '40s (he appeared most often with Johnny Mack Brown), after which his film roles diminished as his fondness for the bottle increased. Promising to behave himself (at least during filming), Fuzzy Knight signed on in 1955 for Buster Crabbe's popular TV adventure series Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion; for the next two years, Knight played a semi-serious legionnaire -- named Private Fuzzy Knight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
U.S. Marshal Gid McCool (George Montgomery) leads a wagon train of convicted felons to Huntsville prison in this routine western. The only female among the crooks is the dancehall girl Laura Mannon (Yvonne De Carlo), McCool's former flame. When McCool cannot be swayed from completing his lawful duty, Laura tries to endear herself to shotgun rider Mike Reno (Tab Hunter) in hopes he will set her free. The party is shadowed by some outlaws led by Aaron (John Russell), the brother of one of the condemned murderers, in hopes he can free his doomed sibling. Mike's efforts land him in chains, but McCool releases him to fight when the outlaws attack. The hero McCool comes through with only a slight scratch while his adversaries are all beaten to a bloody pulp. Silent movie star Francis X. Bushman was to have appeared in this film, but died in August 1966. His part was taken over by Donald "Red" Barry. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Montgomery, Yvonne De Carlo, (more)
- 1966
In this western, a gunfighter is hired to clean up the chaotic streets of Emporia, Wyoming. The gunfighter arrives and finds that his ex-lover is there and is married to the town preacher. Though the two are still attracted, they resist temptation. When he sees how violent the town really is, the gunman sends for help. As soon as his friend gets there, the two begin cleaning up the town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howard Keel, Jane Russell, (more)
- 1965
Dan Duryea plays a Western bounty hunter, expert in his job, but ill at ease with his conscience. He is shunned by the "good" townsfolk until they need him to track down and kill a criminal; the gratitude doesn't last long, and it's back to outcast status for Duryea. At one juncture, the embittered bounty hunter delivers a condemnation against the "hypocrites" who hire him -- but nonetheless takes one more job. Ultimately, Duryea meets his end at the hands of a younger man (Peter Duryea, Dan's son), who becomes a bounty hunter himself, starting the cycle all over again. Produced very economically by B-Western specialist Alex Gordon, The Bounty Killer is distinguished by Dan Duryea's superb performance and by the presence in the supporting cast of several cowboy film veterans -- including Hollywood's very first Westerner, Billy Anderson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Duryea, Rod Cameron, (more)
Don Murray stars as a humble cowboy with aspirations for bigger things. He borrows money from his dance-hall girlfriend Lee Remick to buy a ranch, then dumps Remick in favor of banker's daughter Patricia Owens. Murray runs for political office, and in so doing is compelled to join a posse in search of his best friend Stuart Whitman, who has turned rustler. Anxious not to compromise his climb to the top, Murray stands by in silence as Whitman is lynched. In the end, however, Murray regains his essential decency when he is shot while trying to protect his ex-girlfriend Remick from bullying land baron Richard Egan. Based on a novel by A. B. Guthrie Jr., These Thousand Hills may look and sound like a western, but it has "film noir" written all over it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Murray, Richard Egan, (more)
- 1958
In this dark drama a hapless hitchhiker takes a ride with a drunk driver who takes him to his house. There he meets the driver's wife and murder ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The talented David Wayne is afforded a rare movie starring role in Allied Artists' The Naked Hills. Wayne plays prospector Tracy Powell, whose all-consuming lust for gold motivates the plot. Heading to California during the '49 Gold Rush to try his luck in the mineral-rich mountains, Powell is forever one step behind those who are smarter and swifter than he. Meanwhile, Powell's wife Julie (Marcia Henderson) waits patiently at home for her husband to return from his many lengthy absences. At film's end, the older-but-no-wiser Powell is still chasing rainbows, with the fabled pot of gold still just beyond his reach. The excellent supporting cast includes James Barton as Powell's grizzled partner and Keenan Wynn and Jim Backus as a pair of claim-jumping sharpsters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Wayne, Keenan Wynn, (more)
- 1955
Combined here are select episodes from two popular '50s TV serials which often appeared on Saturday mornings across the U.S. The serials are "The Adventures of Robin Hood," starring Richard Greene and "Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion," starring Buster Crabbe. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1953
Bill Elliot emulates his idol William S. Hart in the superior western Topeka. Elliot plays the archetypal Good Bad Man, hired to kick the crooked element out of a small town. A hard-drinking, hard-living man, Elliot entertains thoughts of taking over the town himself for the benefit of his own gang. After several reels of soul-searching, Elliot decides to honor his promise to clean up the town for its decent citizens. Evidently director Thomas Carr rented a camera crane for this Allied Artists production, since the camera performs remarkable calisthenics, the kind not normally seen in a medium-budget western. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Vigilante Terror was one of the last of the "Wild Bill" Elliot westerns for Columbia. This time, Elliot comes to rescue an imperiled storekeeper. A band of masked vigilantes is laying waste to the countryside, and the storekeeper is blamed. Wild Bill saves the day by going undercover -- or under hood, as it were. Lewis Collins directed ably, as he did on most of the valedictory entries in the Wild Bill Elliot series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this entry in the long running "Bowery Boys" series, one of the boys is bequeathed a farm in Kentucky. The boys go there and find themselves in the middle of a hillbilly feud between the Smiths and the Joneses. The warring clans unite when bank robbers break into the Jones' house and force the hapless family to assist them. The boys begin calling the thieves "Joneses" and this causes the Smiths to come a runnin' with their shot guns and capture them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Cowboy hero Wild Bill Elliot (whose trademark was wearing his six-shooters backwards in his holsters) stars in this oater. After his brother is murdered by crooked cattlemen, Elliot is determined to bring honest business to the plains of North Dakota, and he pioneers the use of barbed wire to fence in his property. The supporting cast includes Phyllis Coates, Jack Ingram, Denver Pyle, and Fuzzy Knight. This 1952 feature is not to be confused with 1996 crime comedy of the same name, which gave new life to the expression "You betcha!" ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The West is scared by an infamous gunslinger in this western film. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1952
Kansas Territory is one of Bill Elliot's latter-day Allied Artists westerns--meaning that even the non-western fan is in for a treat (albeit a violent one). Elliot's brother is killed, which naturally prompts him to seek revenge. On his bloody quest for the guilty party, Elliot learns many facts of his brother's life that he'd rather not know. By the time he confronts the killer, Elliot has a pretty clear picture of how rotten his brother truly was, and how his death was not altogether unjustified. Elliot must also come face to face with the fact that he has become just as brutal as the man he's after. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Wild Bill" Elliott, House Peters, Jr., (more)
- 1952
Cowboy star Whip Wilson keeps whipping along in Monogram's Night Raiders. This time, Wilson and saddle pal Tom Farrell are federal marshals, assigned to stop the activities of a nocturnal terrorist group. These so-called Night Raiders lay waste to local ranches, but curiously never steal anything. The trail of clues leads to a motivation (fixing an upcoming election) and, inevitably, a Least Likely Suspect who turns out to be the brains of the organization. Fuzzy Knight supplies laughs, while Terry Frost and Marshall Reed provide menace. Whip Wilson's Night Raiders co-star Tom Farrell was the son of actress Glenda Farrell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whip Wilson, Tommy Farrell, (more)
- 1952
Monogram's Whip Wilson western series was in its final year of existence when Lawless Cowboys hit the screen. Set in the contemporary West, the film casts Wilson as a Texas Ranger on the trail of a crooked gambling ring. The bad guys are doing their best to fix the results of local rodeo events. With the help of crusading newspaperman Jim Bannon, Wilson corners the crooks and lets them taste the lash of his bullwhip. Fuzzy Knight handles the comedy-relief chores as a disheveled newspaper publisher. Though the Whip Wilson vehicles were seldom any better than adequate, Lawless Cowboys is actually pretty good. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whip Wilson, Jim Bannon, (more)
- 1952
Hard-working leading lady Jane Nigh attains top billing in 1952's Rodeo. It's all about rough-and-ready gal Nancy Cartwright (Nigh) who takes over a travelling rodeo after the manager skips town with the payroll. Under her guidance, the show becomes a money-making proposition. Unfortunately, in her efforts to prove her value as a businesswoman, Nancy makes a careless remark to aging but proud ex-rodeo star Barbecue Jones (Wallace Ford). A near-tragedy ensues, prompting the rodeo workers to walk out on Nancy when she needs them most. But Slim Martin (John Archer), the rodeo's main attraction, manages to convince his fellow workers that Nancy is a "good egg" after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Nigh, John Archer, (more)
- 1952
The original title for Rancho Notorious was Chuck-a-Luck, which is also the title of the soundtrack ballad (written by Ken Darby) which unifies the plotline, à la High Noon. Frontiersman Vern Haskell (Arthur Kennedy) wanders throughout the West in search of the man who robbed and murdered his fiancée. He is told that he'll probably find the culprits at Chuck-a-Luck, a combination horse ranch and criminal hideout overseen by saloon chanteuse Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich). To gain entrance to Chuck-a-Luck, Haskell poses as an escaped prisoner. Keane warns him that the ranch has only one rule: "Don't ask questions." Still, he has ways of finding things out. Haskell is compelled to keep up his charade when the dirty denizens of Chuck-a-Luck plan a big bank holdup, but this has the result of exposing the killer of his girl. Director Fritz Lang had a rough time with RKO head Howard R. Hughes, who insisted upon making changes in the film that might have hurt it irreparably. The biggest argument centered over the title; Hughes complained that no one overseas would understand the meaning of Chuck-a-Luck, whereupon Lang riposted sarcastically that "I'm sure that everyone will understand Rancho Notorious." One of the principal villains was Lloyd Gough, but you'd never know it from the opening titles; Hughes, incensed that Gough had refused to testify at the HUAC "witch hunt," ordered that the blacklisted Gough's name be removed from the credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, (more)
The third and (to date) last film version of the Edna Ferber/Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Show Boat falls just short of greatness but is still a whale of a show. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson are in fine fettle as irresponsible gambler Gaylord Ravenal and showboat ingenue Magnolia Hawks. The plot adheres closely to the Broadway original making several welcome improvements in the final act (which was always a bit shaky). Magnolia, daughter of showboat impresario Captain Andy (Joe E. Brown) and Parthy Hawkes (Agnes Moorehead), falls head over heels in love with the raffish Ravenal. When the show's leading lady, Julie (Ava Gardner), and leading man, Steve (Robert Sterling), are forced to leave when Julie's mulatto heritage is revealed by disgruntled suitor Pete (Leif Erickson), Magnolia and Gaylord step into the vacant stage roles and score a hit. Eventually, the two are married and for several months are quite happy. After incurring serious gambling losses, however, Gaylord walks out of Magnolia's life never realizing that his wife is expecting a baby. With the help of her former showboat colleagues Ellie and Frank Schultz (Marge and Gower Champion) and a behind-the-scenes assist from the tragic Julie, Magnolia secures work as a Cabaret singer in Chicago. Her new year's eve debut threatens to be a bust until her father Captain Andy quells the rowdy crowd and guides his daughter through a lovely rendition of After the Ball (a Charles K. Harris tune that pops up in every stage version of Show Boat). Magnolia returns to her family, with her daughter Kim in tow. Upon learning from Julie that he has a daughter, Gaylord returns to Magnolia and Kim, setting the stage for a joyous ending.
Virtually all of the Kern-Hammerstein songs are retained for this version of Show Boat (though none of the songs specially written for the 1936 film version are heard). These cannot be faulted, nor can MGM's sumptuous production values. Still, the 1951 Show Boat leaves one a bit cold. Perhaps it was the removal of the racial themes that gave the original so much substance (as black stevedore Joe, William Warfield exists only to sing a toned-down version Ol' Man River while Joe's wife Queenie is virtually written out of the proceedings). Also, MGM reneged on its original decision to cast Lena Horne as Julie; the role was recast with Ava Gardner and rewritten with an excess of gooey sentiment). Or perhaps it was the production's factory-like slickness; typical of the film's smoothing out of the original property's rough edges was the casting of Marge and Gower Champion, who are just too darn good to be convincing as the doggedly mediocre entertainers Frank and Ellie. Even so, Show Boat does have Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson at their peak, not to mention the peerless Joe E. Brown as Captain Andy. And the film was a financial success, enabling MGM to bankroll such future musical triumphs as Singin' in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Virtually all of the Kern-Hammerstein songs are retained for this version of Show Boat (though none of the songs specially written for the 1936 film version are heard). These cannot be faulted, nor can MGM's sumptuous production values. Still, the 1951 Show Boat leaves one a bit cold. Perhaps it was the removal of the racial themes that gave the original so much substance (as black stevedore Joe, William Warfield exists only to sing a toned-down version Ol' Man River while Joe's wife Queenie is virtually written out of the proceedings). Also, MGM reneged on its original decision to cast Lena Horne as Julie; the role was recast with Ava Gardner and rewritten with an excess of gooey sentiment). Or perhaps it was the production's factory-like slickness; typical of the film's smoothing out of the original property's rough edges was the casting of Marge and Gower Champion, who are just too darn good to be convincing as the doggedly mediocre entertainers Frank and Ellie. Even so, Show Boat does have Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson at their peak, not to mention the peerless Joe E. Brown as Captain Andy. And the film was a financial success, enabling MGM to bankroll such future musical triumphs as Singin' in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, (more)
- 1951
Whip Wilson only gets to crack his trademark weapon once in this economic Western filmed in toto at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, CA. A government agent, Wilson arrives in the near ghost town of Tunis, where his friend (Jim Bannon) is in trouble with a couple of horse thieves. The latter are also terrorizing a homesteader, Texas Milburn (Fuzzy Knight), and his wife, Ruth (Barbara Woodell), and when the female sheriff Alice Long (Phyllis Coates) interferes, she finds herself taken hostage. Using a bit of trickery, Wilson, Bannon, and Texas manage to outwit the gang and arrest their leader, Sam Wellman (I. Stanford Jolley). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Filmed in a record five days, Gold Raiders was an attempt by producer Jack Schwartz to inaugurate a new western series starring old favorite George O'Brien. Adding novelty value to the proceedings are the Three Stooges: Shemp Howard, Larry Howard and Moe Howard. The action is fairly divided between O'Brien, who plays a frontier insurance investigator, and the Stooges, cast as itinerant snake-oil peddlers. The star and his comedian cohorts team up to squash a gang of thieves who've been hijacking gold-mine shipments. It is no surprise to anyone that the villain is local bigwig Sawyer (Lyle Talbot), but the plot does manage to sneak in quite a few interesting twists, including a red-herring character who turns out to be a spy for the baddies, and then turns out to be working for the good guys! For all their buffoonery, the Stooges perform heroically during the climactic shootout (even Larry)! Sheila Ryan co-stars as the granddaughter of bibulous doctor Clem Bevans, while Monte Blue enjoys a larger part than usual as the local mine owner. Gold Raiders was reissued in a shortened version (shorter even than its original 56-minute running time!) as The Three Stooges Go West. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Moe Howard, (more)
