Edward Cassidy Movies

An interesting idea falls somewhat flat in this average Allan Lane Western, in which the young sister (Twinkle Watts) of a returning World War II veteran learns about the experiences of their grandfather just after the Civil War. Having served with Texas Cavalry, Jim Christie (Allan Lane) returns home to Corpus Christi only to be falsely accused of murdering a local commissioner. Escaping, our hero teams up with three desperadoes, Rocky (Tom London), Spade (Kenne Duncan), and Steve (Bob Wilke), and together they rob a stagecoach. But Jim takes umbrage to Spade's harassment of a female passenger and vows to go straight. That, however, is easier said than done and Jim's past is revealed by nasty saloon owner Wade Larkin (Roy Barcroft), whose reign of terror Jim has attempted to prevent. After beating Larkin at his own game, Jim is all set to give himself up to Marshal Dan Adams (Ed Cassidy) when the loyal Steve takes a shot at the lawman. The quick-thinking Jim takes the bullet instead and his heroism is awarded with a full pardon. After learning the story of Corpus Christi Jim, the modern day Captain James Christie (also Allan Lane) is made an honorary Captain of the Texas Rangers by the Governor of the State of Texas. Corpus Christi Bandits was the second to last entry in Allan Lane's initial Western series for Republic Pictures. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

PRC's Arson Squad stars Frank Albertson as an insurance investigator and Robert Armstrong as chief of the police department's arson troubleshooters. Albertson and Armstrong team up to solve a particularly vicious series of deliberate fires. A man has been killed in one conflagration, so the villains have a murder rap hanging over them. The "usual suspects" include such murder-mystery reliables as Byron Foulger and Charles Arnt. The leading lady of Arson Squad is Grace Gillern, who emerged as something less than a household name after this programmer was distributed in September of 1945. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as Boss of Rawhide, this "Texas Rangers" western top-bills Dave O'Brien, James Newill, and Guy Wilkerson. This time, the three Rangers are called upon to solve a series of rangeland murders. The victims were all ranchers, and it looks as though the same gang was responsible for all the killings. Our heroes suspect that the gang leader is a "respectable" citizen-but who is it? Pepping up the proceedings (or slowing them down, depending upon one's point of view) are a couple of songs, adequately warbled by the stars. The leading lady is Nell O'Day, an accomplished horsewoman who should have had a western series of her own. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Wild Bill" Elliott heads the all-star (by B-flick standards, at any rate) western Hidden Valley Outlaws. Elliott does battle with a cartel of ruthless landgrabbers, who are victimizing settlers throughout the Southwest. With such formidable villains as Roy Barcroft, Kenneth Duncan, Leroy Mason and Bud Geary to contend with, he certainly has his hands full. Anne Jeffreys provides the romantic interest, while George "Gabby" Hayes makes with the usual "Consarn it"s and "Gol'durn whippersnapper"s. It's uncanny how much sheer entertainment value Republic Studios was able to pack into a mere 56 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No, the "Pinto Bandit" doesn't go around stealing beans. This is another of PRC's "Texas Rangers" series, starring Dave O'Brien and Jim Newell. This time, the Rangers' principal foe is a masked desperado. Evidently, the villain's main purpose in life is to disrupt the mail service between two frontier communities. With O'Brien and Newell on the job, rest assured that the settlers will get their bills and circulars on time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a gang of evil cattle rustlers wreaks havoc upon a community of ranchers. Three Texas Rangers come to the rescue and find out the ring leader works as a local ranch foreman. The bad guys do not escape the trusty Rangers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Buster Crabbe is back as Billy Carson, aka Billy the Kid, in the PRC western The Devil Riders. In this one, Billy and his saddle pal Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) try to keep an beleagured stagecoach line in business. This they can do only after foiling the outlaw gang that has been raiding the coach during its runs for the Pony Express. The bad guys include Charles King and John Merton, formidable foes indeed (did those guys ever shave?) Patti McCarthy handles the leading lady duties in Devil Riders as the obligatory daughter of the stagecoach operator. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This PRC "Billy the Kid" western once more teams Buster Crabbe, as Billy Carson, with Al St.John, as perennial sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones. Motivating the plot is the wholesale slaughter of two families by a gang of outlaws. Twenty years later, Billy and Fuzzy, survivors of the massacre, return to the small town where the instigator of the killings resides. Out of several suspects, our heroes narrow down the culprit by means of a twitching eye-the same device used by Hitchcock in Young and Innocent (1937). Evelyn Finley, who'd been a western ingenue since the 1930s, doesn't look a day older as the film's heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Partners in most of the low-budget Texas Rangers Westerns, Tex Ritter and Dave O'Brien are at loggerheads through the greater part of this slow-moving entry, the last in the series. In fact, despite a title card that reads, "Tex Ritter and Dave O'Brien as the Texas Rangers," Ritter actually works on Lorraine Miller's ranch. Peggy Barlou (Miller) is the young rancher who refuses to sell her spread to greedy stage-line proprietor John Rankin (Edward Howard). Tex Haines (Ritter), meanwhile, is accused of killing Bill Dugan (Art Fowler), Rankin's bodyguard, but eludes capture long enough to hook up with Dave Wyatt (O'Brien) and Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson), a couple of rangers in disguise. Despite constant arguments about taking the law into one's own hands, the three manage to prevent Rankin from evicting Peggy. In between the arguing, Ritter finds time to warble his own and Frank Harford's "I've Done the Best I Could" and Ernest Tubb's "Try Me One More Time." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Great Mike is a horse owned by sensitive farm boy Jimmy (Buzzy Henry). Though the nag is prestently hitched to a milkwagon, Jimmy is convinced that he's got a racing champ on his hands. Convincing big-time sportsman Whitley (Pierre Watkin) that The Great Mike has what it takes, Jimmy and veteran trainer Spencer (Stu Erwin) begin prepping the horse for an important race. A gang of crooks intrudes upon this set-up, threatening the horse's future well-being, but The Great Mike is rescued through the timely intervention of Jimmy's faithful dog. At the time of its release, The Great Mike garnered some good notices, many of them reserved for "Our Gang" alumnus Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, who essays a comedy-relief part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cattle Stampede was the 200th production of that legendary B-picture mill, PRC Studios. Buster Crabbe plays Billy the Kid (not the real one), while Al St. John, as ever, is Fuzzy Q. Jones. This time Billy and Fuzzy ("our old pals," as they were always billed) come the aid of a group of Oklahoma ranchers. The villains belong to a gang of cattle rustlers, headed by the swarthy Charlie King (whose character name, surprisingly, isn't "Blackie" ). The titular stampede isn't such a much, but Buster Crabbe's gunplay and Al St. John's buffoonery is well up to par. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young buckaroo gallops off after the conniving crooks who framed his bank president daddy for embezzlement. Plenty of western action ensues until justice prevails and the ornery varmints are jailed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide