Edward Cassidy Movies
Steely-eyed, mustachioed Edward Cassidy (or plain Ed Cassidy) bore a striking resemblance to Theodore Roosevelt, whom he played three times onscreen, including a brief appearance in the MGM musical Take Me out to the Ball Game (1949). But the McGill University graduate was more at home in B-Westerns and serials, of which he did an impressive total of 218. Cassidy could occasionally be found on the wrong side of the law, but more often than not, he would portray the heroine's (or hero's) beleaguered father, the stern sheriff, or a troubled rancher. Retiring after his 1957 appearance in the television series Circus Boy, the veteran supporting player died from undisclosed causes at the Motion Picture House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1943
In this western, the Three Mesquiteers team up with a Texas Ranger to round up the outlaws who forced the ranger's younger brother into becoming a criminal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Tom Tyler, (more)
- 1943
This western features a flying cowboy. He is a rancher who became a pilot. As a pilot he staunchly defends the newly formed Civil Air Patrol from the cattle barons who fail to see the value of airplanes on the range. The flying rancher proves that they are indeed valuable after he flies into a forest fire and saves a cattle rancher's daughter. He also uses his plane to catch a murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Dub Taylor, (more)
- 1943
In this western, a cowboy and his pals must stop outlaws from stealing a cache of gold ore. Action ensues, and they succeed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1943
This late entry in Republic's long-running "Three Mesquiteers" series stars Bob Steele, Tom Tyler and Jimmy Dodd as, respectively, Tucson Smith, Stony Brooke and Lullaby Johnson. This time out, the Mesquiteers try to help young Tim Clay (John James), who's been framed for murder by villains who want to gain possession of Clay's ranch property. While Tim sits helplessly in jail, the bad guys move in, forcing the neighboring ranchers to pay exorbitant prices for Clay's water supply. As usual, the Mesquiteers don't stage a counteroffensive until they've got enough legal evidence to do so, but when they do swing into action, watch out! Not the best of the "Three Mesquiteers" epics, Santa Fe Scouts is also far from the worst. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Tom Tyler, (more)
- 1942
A well-acted, well-paced entry in the Don "Red" Barry Western series from Republic Pictures, The Sombrero Kid featured the diminutive Barry as Jerry Holden, the apparent son and heir of veteran lawman Tom Holden (Robert Homans). But when Holden Sr. is killed by one of Banker Martin's (Joel Friedkin) gang of claim jumpers, Jerry learns that his real father was Bart Clanton, a notorious bandit killed by Marshal Holden, who then raised the orphaned boy as his own. After accidentally killing one of Martin's men, Taggart (I. Stanford Jolley), in a barroom fight, Jerry becomes a fugitive wanted for murder. He joins a gang led by Smoke (Stuart Hamblen), one of Martin's henchmen, hoping to obtain enough evidence to convict the crooked banker. Along with Tommy Holden Jr. (John James), who has replaced his late father as town marshal, Jerry sets a trap for Mason's weak-willed son, Phillip (Rand Brooks). In a desperate attempt to escape justice, Mason kills Phillip, but is arrested by Jerry. The latter is cleared of all charges and elected sheriff by a grateful citizenry. Country gospel songwriter Stuart Hamblen makes a fine villain in one of his infrequent screen appearances and blonde Lynn Merrick is, as always, an attractive adornment to any "Red" Barry vehicle. Merrick, whose contract was held jointly by Republic and Columbia Pictures, appeared in no less than 16 Barry Westerns, one of the longest runs of any sagebrush heroine. Her "leading man" this time around, however, is John James, not Barry. The Sombrero Kid was filmed at the Walker Ranch at Placerita Canyon, CA, a busy location for low-budget moviemaking from 1931-1955. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Lynn Merrick, (more)
Not quite as exciting as it should be, Stardust on the Sage is still a serviceable Gene Autry vehicle. This time, Gene is teamed up with young Jeff Drew (Bill Henry), who tries to sell mining stock to the local cattlemen. Meanwhile, villain Pearson (Emmet Vogan) plots to steal the mine from Gene and Jeff, using a veritable battalion of muscular hooligans. The finale is a kaleidescope of fistfights, gunfire and dynamite blasts-and none too soon, given the slow-moving passages which preceded it. The female contingent in Stardust on the Sage is handled by former child star Edith Fellows and serial heroine Louise Currie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
Bland former child actor Johnny Downs earns top billing in this low-budget horror film, but the real star is that most psychotic of all the mad doctors George Zucco. The British-born character actor plays Dr. Lorenzo Cameron, a discredited -- and quite mad -- medico who has discovered a way to turn his helper, Pietro (Glenn Strange), into a wolf man. The lycanthropic experiments succeed only too well and although Dr. Cameron spouts plans of turning his discovery into a weapon in defense of the civilized world ("men who are governed by one collective thought, the animal lust to kill without regard for personal safety! Such an army will sweep everything before it," Dr. Cameron promises), he instead unleashes his creation on those fellow scientists who had engineered his ouster from academia in the first place. Before long, however, the good doctor is unable to control the wolf man, who threatens to kill everything in his past, and only newspaper reporter Tom Gregory (Johnny Downs) and Lenora (Anne Nagel), Cameron's innocent daughter, may be able to stop the monster. A perennial cult favorite, The Mad Monster was released on the heels of The Wolf Man (1941), but cost a fraction of Universal's elaborate lycanthropic exercise. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Downs, George Zucco, (more)
- 1942
In one of his better early Westerns, Tim Holt, as Deputy Marshal Larry Durant, is sent to Spencerville where a gang of vigilantes has been terrorizing the citizenry. Going undercover as a gunsmith, Larry quickly learns that the leader of the vigilantes, John Spencer (John Elliott), is an honest man who only seeks to establish law and order. The real brains behind the crimes, meanwhile, are revealed to be Spencer's brother-in-law, Lou Harmon (Roy Barcroft), and his chief henchman, Leighton (Charles King), who speculate in the coming of the railroad by forcing the townspeople to relinquish their land. When Harmon learns from innocent tattle-tale Ike (Cliff Edwards) that the railroad will be bypassing Spencerville in favor of neighboring East Spencerville, the vigilantes shift their operations to that community. Spencer is killed by Leighton in the ensuing melee but with the assistance of the East Spencerville townspeople, Larry manages to trap Harmon and his gang in the local saloon. When not making life difficult for Tim Holt, comedy relief Cliff Edwards performs "Grandpap" and "Where the Mountain Meets the Sunset," both by Fred Rose and Ray Whitley. Pirates of the Prairie was a remake of Legion of the Lawless, a '40s Western starring Tim Holt's predecessor at RKO, George O'Brien. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1942
In this Victorian-era adventure, a blue-blooded girl is dismayed to discover that her recently deceased father, a compulsive gambler, has left her destitute and deeply in debt. At one time, he'd had a silver mine but even that was lost at the card table. The man who won the mine learns the circumstances of the girl's state of affairs, meets her, and falls in love. Unfortunately, she is to marry a wealthy young man so she can regain her previous social standing. The card-player demonstrates his love by giving her the deed to the mine as a wedding present, but she never sees it. Later she heads out west and opens a large saloon. It is a great success and she is finally able to pay her father's debts. She sends the money to her husband, who squanders it, looking for more silver. Now it is up to the gambler to rectify the situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Brent, Priscilla Lane, (more)
- 1942
In this western, Roy plays both the villain and the hero. As the bad-guy, he heads a ring of rustlers. The trouble begins when the gang runs across good-Roy and mistake him for their wicked leader. Good-Roy plays along so he can bring the gang to justice. Unfortunately, bad-Roy shows up and mayhem ensues. Fortunately good-Roy prevails and justice is served, but not before he sings a few cowboy songs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1942
A Federal agent masquerades as a horse trader in order to bring outlaw terrorists to justice in this western. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1942
Republic's The Phantom Plainsman is another in the long-running "Three Mesquiteers" western series. The heroic triumverate are herein portrayed by Bob Steele (as Tucson Smith), Tom Tyler (Stony Brooke) and Rufe Davis (Lullaby Joslin). In keeping with a trend then prevalent in "B" westerns, the Mesquiteers are pitted against a Nazi agent, one Colonel Hartwig (Robert O. Davis, aka Rudolph Anders). Ranch owner Cap Marvin (Charles Miller) is forced by Hartwig to turn his horses over to the Third Reich, lest harm befall Marvin's son, currently held behind bars by the Gestapo. Though jailed themselves on an assault-and-battery charge, the Mesquiteers manage to escape in time to clean Hartwig's clock and make the west safe for Democracy-and more Three Mesquiteers films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Bob Steele, (more)
- 1942
Former silent screen comic Harry Langdon earned above-title billing for the final time in his long career in this roughhewn but amusing World War II farce released by Poverty Row company PRC. Langdon and Charles "Buddy" Rogers are newspaper messengers helping reporter Ray Walker obtain an interview with journalist-hating inventor Richard Kipling. But before they know it, Harry and Buddy become unwittingly involved in plans to steal the professor's newest invention: a machine gun. A couple of munitions racketeers (John Holland and Guy Kingsford) concoct a scheme to drive down the price of the weapon but despite an ability to stumble over their own feet, the heroes manage not only to foil the plot but also reunite their reporter friend with the inventor's lovely daughter, Marian Marsh. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Rawhide Rangers is a satisfyingly equitable blend of western action, music and comedy relief. The villains are a group of frontier businessmen who set up a "protective" organization for the purpose of extorting money from the local ranchers. Enter hero Johnny Mack Brown, who has arrived in town to avenge the death of his brother. In short order, Brown deduces that the crooked businessmen were also responsible for his brother's murder, and then all heck breaks loose. Nell O'Day, one of the best horsewomen in Hollywood, is cast as the film's eminently self-reliant heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, (more)
- 1941
A superior B-Western in every way, this Hopalong Cassidy series entry features an especially compelling performance by former silent screen star Evelyn Brent. Along with his sidekicks, Lucky (Russell Hayden) and California (Andy Clyde), Hoppy (William Boyd) is searching for the gang that killed a couple of Bar-20 cowboys and rustled their steers. The trail leads to Gunsight, a lawless city lorded over by the proprietress of the Paradise Saloon, Belle Langtry (Brent). Although she falls in love with Hoppy, Belle, who has at least one murder on her conscience, refuses to mend her evil ways. Steadfastly refusing to fall for the lady's undoubted charms, Hoppy instead has a trick or two up his sleeve, and the villains are soon fighting among themselves with the mayor's teenage daughter (Bernice Kay) caught in the crossfire. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, Russell Hayden, (more)
- 1941
Congress suddenly changes the boundary between Texas and Mexico and the rangers leave the territory to the U.S. cavalry in this fine entry in Republic Pictures long-running Three Mesqueteers western series. Left to fend for himself, the commanding officer, Colonel Langley (Forbes Murray), makes the mistake of trusting LeRoque (Peter George Lynn), a half-breed interpreter who in reality is the feared Commanche renegade Waneeche. Nothing the Three Mesqueteers, "Stony" Brooke (Robert Livingston), "Tucson" Smith (Bob Steele) and "Lullaby" Joslin (Rufe Davis), do or say dissuades Langley from walking straight into a trap and only by taking a typically daring approach are the Mesqueteers able to prevent wholesale slaughter. Gale Storm plays the nominal female lead as the colonel's cheery daughter and comedy relief is provided by spinster-ish Ellen Lowe, as Aunt Amanda, a scalp-hungry Glenn Strange and rube comic Rufe Davis. The latter also performs Smiley Burnette's "Just Imagine That" backed by cowboy swing fiddler Spade Cooley. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Bob Steele, (more)
- 1941
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In this western, a mining engineer vengefully seeks out the claim jumpers that murdered his brother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Tim Holt plays a rancher named Drummond who runs up against a gang of crooked frontier land agents. When Drummond complains about land-office hanky panky, he's promptly framed for murder. Escaping the law, our hero exposes the real villains with the help of his saddle pals Smokey (Ray Whitley) and Whopper (Emmett Lynn). As proof that the cowboy-hero mantle at RKO Radio had definitely been passed from George O'Brien to Tim Holt, the latter inherits O'Brien's perennial leading lady Virginia Vale in Robbers on the Range. The musical portion of the program includes the stirring ballad "The Railroad's Coming to Town" (PS: It does). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Virginia Vale, (more)
- 1941
Don "Red" Barry's first western of 1941, Wyoming Wildcat told the careworn but still potent story of a war veteran returning home to find that his father is now a wanted outlaw. But as Frank Gannon (Frank M. Thomas explains, circumstances -- in this case severe economic conditions forced upon the settlers by local banks -- drove him into a life of crime. Trying to prove his father innocent of killing a local bank manager, Bill Gannon (Barry) is himself falsely accused of murder. Sprung from jail by his faithful army buddy Butch (Syd Saylor), Bill tracks down the real culprit, outlaw Blackie Jordan (Dick Botiller), but in the ensuing shoot-out, Frank is mortally wounded. Before he dies, however, Gannon clears his son of any wrong-doings and Bill is free to marry pretty Wells Fargo employee Derry Carson (Julie Duncan). The blond Miss Duncan, who also appeared in the previous Don "Red" Barry entry, Texas Terrors (1940), was a prize-winning steeplechase rider. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Julie Duncan, (more)
Tex Ritter's penultimate Western for Monogram -- and his second-to-last as a solo star -- Ridin' the Cherokee Trail featured no less than 13 musical numbers, several composed by Ritter and his sidekick Arkansas Slim Andrews. Surrounding all this warbling, screenwriter Edmond Kelso and director Spencer Gordon Bennet crafted a fine little story of a couple of Texas Rangers crossing into the lawless Cherokee Strip despite the fact that they lack jurisdiction. The area is terrorized by a gang of outlaws lead by Bradley Craven (Forrest Taylor, who consistently prevents the citizenry to hold an election to join the Union. Tex and Slim join the forces of rancher Wyatt (Fred Burns and his daughter Ruth (Betty Miles) and after several skirmishes -- during which Tex briefly goes undercover as an outlaw -- Craven and his gang are defeated. In gratitude, the citizenry elects Tex to hoist the first Union flag. In the music numbers, Ritter and Andrews were accompanied by The Tennessee Ramblers, a hayseed singing group popular with rural audiences. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Slim Andrews, (more)
The Monogram publicity machine advertised Gang's All Here as a story of "Young Americans Fighting for Their Rights." Young driver Frankie (Frankie Darro) decides to take on a gang of truck hijackers single-handed, running into opposition from the crooked district manager behind the crime spree. Frankie is aided and abetted by undercover insurance investigator George (Keye Luke), boss' daughter Patsy (Marcia Mae Jones) and longtime pal Jefferson (Mantan Moreland). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Darro, Marcia Mae Jones, (more)
- 1941
In this crime drama set on the seedy waterfront of San Francisco, a longshoreman studies in his spare time to become an aircraft mechanic. He is also in love with a barmaid who works at her father's saloon. One day at the bar, the longshoreman gets into a fight with a man who is later found dead. Naturally, the longshoreman becomes the prime suspect and is arrested. There are two men who can prove him innocent, but they are in league with the real killer, a fugitive from Alcatraz. Meanwhile, a priest, a drunk, and the girl's father try to prove that the longshoreman is innocent by finding the fugitive's wife. The barmaid and the trampy wife then get in a big fight. In the end, the priest and the fugitive wrestle it out and the thief gets his just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burgess Meredith, Irene Hervey, (more)
- 1941
- NR
The marvelous rapport between stars Clark Gable and Lana Turner makes MGM's Honky Tonk seem far more substatianal than it really is. About to be tarred and featherd by an angry mob, frontier con artists Candy Johnson (Gable) and his pal Sniper (Chill Wills) manage to make a quick getaway via train. While on board, Candy strikes up a friendship with Boston-bred Lucy Cotton (Turner), whose "respectable" daddy Judge Cotton (Frank Morgan) turns out to be as big of a sharpster as Candy. For Lucy's sake, Candy decides to use his huckstering skill to good use by helping to build a small-town church, but soon he's up to his old tricks, managing a dance hall and gambling emporium. Growing more ambitious by the minute, Candy intends to take over the whole town with the covert assistance of Judge Cotton. But when Candy marries Lucy (who still doesn't know that he's really a crook at heart!), the enraged Judge exposes Candy's takeover scheme, only to be shot down by the gambling hall's straw boss Hearn (Albert Dekker). In his efforts to set things right and atone for past misdeeds, Candy is separated from Lucy time and time again, but there's never any doubt that a happy ending awaits them both. A TV remake of Honky Tonk surfaced in 1974, with Richard Crenna in the Gable role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Lana Turner, (more)
- 1940
Paramount's "Zane Grey" series continued rolling into the 1940s with Knights of the Range. Taking a break from the studio's Hopalong Cassidy pictures, Russell Hayden stars as Renn Frayne, a college-educated youth who finds more than he bargained for when he heads westward. After a terrifying run-in with an outlaw gang run by a bloke named Gamecock (Morris Ankrum), Frayne aligns himself with heroine Holly Ripple (Jean Parker), whose father's cattle ranch is in danger of falling into the hands of the villains. Victor Jory manages to play on both sides of the fence as wily gambler Malcolm Lascallie. Knights of the Range was directed by Lesley Selander, who like star Hayden was an alumnus of the Hopalong Cassidy unit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Hayden, Victor Jory, (more)
- 1940
The first of eight Tim McCoy Westerns for ultra low-budget Producers' Distributing Corp./Producers Releasing Corp., Texas Renegades features the veteran star as "Silent" Tim Smith, "the greatest lawman of them all." When the good folks of Rawhide find themselves terrorized by a mysterious gang of outlaws, leading citizen Jim Bates (Lee Prather) suggests the forming of a vigilante committee. Bates, however, is opposed by pretty rancher Ruth Brand (Nora Lane) and her foreman, Bill Willis (Kenne Duncan), who secretly sends for Silent and his sidekick, Noisy (Harry Harvey). Hoping to reveal the identity of the brain behind the terror, Silent arrives in the disguise of Lefty Higgins, a notorious outlaw, but things get complicated when the real Higgins (Earl Gunn) suddenly shows up. His cover blown, Silent has a hard time convincing Ruth of his true intentions, but manages in the end to unmask Bates as the secret leader of the outlaws. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
