Robert Horton Movies
Redheaded leading man Robert Horton attended UCLA, served in the Coast Guard during World War II, and acted in California-based stage productions before making his entree into films in 1951. Horton's television career started off on a high note in 1955, when he was cast in the weekly-TV version of King's Row as Drake McHugh (the role essayed by Ronald Reagan in the 1942 film version). The series barely lasted three months, but better things were on the horizon: in 1957, Horton was hired to play frontier scout Flint McCullough in Wagon Train, which became the highest-rated western on TV. Horton remained with Wagon Train until 1962. He then did some more stage work before embarking on his third series, 1965's The Man Called Shenandoah. When this one-season wonder ran its course, Horton toured the dinner-theatre circuit, then in 1982 accepted a major role on the popular daytime soap opera As the World Turns. Robert Horton's first wife was singer/actress Barbara Ruick, the daughter of radio stalwart Lurene Tuttle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1952
Apache War Smoke was a remake of Apache Trail (42); both films were based on a story by Ernest Haycox. Haycox had previously written Stage to Lordsburg, a western yarn filmed by John Ford as Stagecoach (39). Apache War Smoke adheres to the Stagecoach formula by trapping several strangers in a dangerous situation, in this instance an incipient Apache uprising. Included in the group are the passengers of a stagecoach, and the gang of bandits who've just held up the coach; there's also a notorious Indian hater in the bunch. Apache War Smoke spins its yarn in a brisk 67 minutes, with only a few slow stretches here and there. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gilbert Roland, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1952
Generous helpings of stock footage from the 1944 film Buffalo Bill help make Pony Soldier seem far more expensive and ambitious than it actually is. Tyrone Power stars as 19th-century Royal Canadian Mountie Duncan MacDonald, whose job it is to escort a group of Cree Indians back to their above-the-border reservation. His guide in this endeavor is the not-too-trustworthy half-breed Natayo (Thomas Gomez). Along the way, he tries to free two white captives of the Crees, escaped convict Jess Calhoun (Robert Horton) and Jess' sister Emerald (Penny Edwards). Calhoun nearly messes up the whole operation when he impulsively kills the brother of Chief Konah (Cameron Mitchell). Though set in Canada, Pony Soldier was filmed in Arizona's Coconino National Forest. A curiosity: leading lady Penny Edwards has barely five lines, while 6th-billed child actor Anthony Earl Numkena, cast as lovable Indian cub Comes Running, is given reams of dialogue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Cameron Mitchell, (more)
Sherlock Holmes and Watson travel to the home of their old friend Baskerville who wants Holmes to figure out who stole his prized race horse Silver Blaze and murdered the groom. The primary suspect is the young rider who loves the daughter of Baskerville, but he is innocent. Holmes finds the horse on a neighboring farm and deduces that his old enemy Moriarity is behind the mayhem. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Wontner, Ian Fleming, (more)
- 1936
After several years in India, Sir Guy De Vere (Jack Buchanan) returns to England where he has inherited his ancestral castle. His snobbish relatives, already disgusted by Sir Guy's cheek irreverence (and his insistence upon chumming around with the "common folk"), plot to wrest control of the estate from him. Among his detractors is his beautiful cousin Lady Rowena (Fay Wray), who yearns for the days of Chivalry, when noblemen behaved like noblemen. After several misfire efforts to prove that he can be as chivalrous as the next fellow, Sir Guy is rendered unconscious by a falling suit-of-armor -- and when he awakens, he finds himself back in the 15th century, "when knights were bold." Naturally, all of his relatives have also been thrust back in time, at which point the film becomes a farcical (and tune-filled) derivation of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, with Sir Guy proving that chivalry ain't all it's cracked up to be. When Knights Were Bold was based on a stage play by Douglas Furber and Austin Parker, and was photographed by future Oscar-winner Freddie Young. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Fay Wray, (more)
- 1935
A house party becomes deadly as several murders are committed following the passing of a famous actress. Detective Austin Trevor investigates the crimes and pins the blame on the dead woman's daughter. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1934
Matheson Lang stars as a brilliant British barrister, about to retire due to ill health. He reluctantly agrees to take on the case of a young man (Arthur Margetson) accused of murdering his mistress (Jeanne Stuart). The young man's wife (Margaret Bannerman) does not condone her husband's peccadilloes, but she doesn't want him to go to the gallows. The actual culprit, is exposed approximately five minutes before fade-out time. Having won his case, the ailing Lang dies, postponing his journey into the Hereafter long enough to deliver a colorful curtain speech. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matheson Lang, Margaret Bannerman, (more)
- 1933
A classy woman has an affair with a rake after she learns that she has a terminal disease in this British melodrama. When the cad dumps her, the woman's husband soon learns of her shenanigans, but he forgives her. She then gets even better news when her doctor tells her that they have finally found a cure for her disease. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1933
A feisty Irish lad leaves his home village to find fortune in bustling London. Things start off well when he lands a good job working as the partner of a wealthy young nobleman in his new company. The young Irishman got the job after helping the inebriated aristocrat out of a scuffle with an irate cabby. The lad does quite well and helps make the company successful. But his dreams turn to nightmares one day when his master falsely accuses him of rigging the books and embezzling. The young lord does this to conceal the fact that he has squandered the company's money on gambling and carousing. Because the Irish youth has fallen in love with the lord's sister and wants to protect her family's reputation, he takes the fall and goes to prison. Later the nobleman's guilty conscience prompts him to tell the truth before he commits suicide. Happiness ensues when the youth and the sister finally marry. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1932
In this British thriller, a hapless fellow learns that he has chosen to stay in a problematic hotel when he learns that the stockbroker in the adjacent room has died and a woman is being blamed for the death. It is son revealed that the hotel manager, and another are attempting to keep the killing quiet until they can arrange the clues just so. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
