Lois Wilde Movies

Singing cowboy Jack Randall does his usual in Monogram's Danger Valley, Randall's second starring film. When someone discovers gold in them thar hills, several disreputable promoters try to take financial advantage of the ensuing rush. By producing a packet of forged papers, two of these crooks manage not only to fleece the prospectors, but to set up an "outlaw colony" in a rattletrap ghost town. Randall and his pal Lucky (Hal Price) do their best to protect the miners and rout the villains. Though a passable singer, Jack Randall is somewhat stiff as an actor; he was far more natural in a reel of Monogram outtakes, in which he constantly curses himself out after blowing his lines. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Even for a Sam Katzman production, the 1937 Tom Tyler western Brothers of the West is remarkably tacky. The steely-eyed Tyler appears in his usual guise of Tom Wade, troubleshooter for the Cattlemen's Protective Agency. He spends most of the film trying to extricate his younger brother Ed (Bob Terry) from the influence of cattle rustler Tracy (Roger Williams). In one deathless (and probably ad-libbed) scene, Tom and heroine Celia (Lois Wilde) are searching the villain's cabin for clues when Tom's horse whinnies plaintively. "Wait a minute", whispers Tom "There's someone out there spying on us. That was my horse?he always tips me off." Producer Katzman also directed, so he had only himself to blame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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

Caryl is played by Lois Wilde, but despite her title-character status Ms. Wilde is third-billed behind a pair of "juniors." Doggy star Rin Tin Tin Jr. and human hero Francis X. Bushman Jr. handle all the rough stuff, while Caryl alternates between waiting patiently and requiring rescue. Rinty Jr. is the sidekick of Mountie Bushman Jr.; together they get their man (Robert Walker) after five reels of rugged adventure. The original story is credited to Northwoods specialist James Oliver Curwood, though chances are that he merely collected the royalties and ran. Caryl of the Mountains was released by a production firm called Reliable, which usually wasn't. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The second-to-last Rex Bell Western for Poverty Row producers Max and Arthur Alexander, Stormy Trails was the only entry not directed by Robert F. Hill. Sam Newfield, however, was even more of a hack than Hill and Stormy Trails bore Newfield's trademark of carelessly inserted stock footage (a stampede of cattle in this instance) whose ancient origins failed to match the rest of the film. Based on E.B. Mann's 1934 novel Stampede, Phil Dunham's screenplay featured siblings Tom (Bell) and Billy Storm (Bob Hodges) whose ranch is heavily mortgaged despite the existence of gold on their property. As it turns out, Billy is in league with a gang of outlaws headed by Dunn (Lane Chandler). Attempting to break free of the gang, Billy is killed by Dunn's henchman, Max Durante (Karl Hackett). Dunn then proposes to stampede the cattle so Tom will be unable to pay off his bank in time. Captured by the gang, Tom manages to break free in the nick of time and is able to bring Dunn and his gang to justice. The husband of silent screen star Clara Bow, Rex Bell left films after his sixth and final film for the Alexander brothers to successfully run for the office of lieutenant governor of Nevada. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi