Steve Clark Movies

Although Disney's Ducktales was not the studio's first foray into made-for-TV animation, it was the first Disney cartoon effort to be locally syndicated, rather than sold to a national network. Debuting September 21, 1987 (after a special "preview" three days earlier), the half-hour series served as the linchpin for the studio's new "Disney Afternoon," a daily animation block consisting of anywhere between two and four programs, offered to fill the gaps in local kiddie-show schedules. That the series proved a phenomenal success was proof positive that, according to Disney Television Animation president Gary Krissel, a high quality series with incentive characters any storylines could almost single-handedly revitalize a floundering segment of the television business. Although Disney superstar Donald Duck made token appearances on the show, it was decided to feature several of the studio's "secondary" characters, led by Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. While the aforementioned characters had first appeared in the studio's theatrical features, the rest had made their debuts in Disney's comic book line, springing from the fertile imagination of legendary artist/writer Carl Barks. Heading the cast was Donald's fabulous wealthy uncle Scrooge McDuck, whose expeditions throughout the world motivated most of the storylines. Also on hand were such Barks creations as inventor Gyro Gearloose, handyman Gus Goose, the disgustingly lucky Gladstone Gander, feisty Grandma Duck, "saucy sorceress" Magica DeSpell, and that scurrilous outlaw trio the Beagle Boys (virtually the only non-fowl characters on the show!) Introduced for the first time on Ducktales were such characters as the ever-imperiled Webbigail Vanderquack and her grandmother Mrs. Beakley, who pulled extra duty as Huey, Dewey, and Louie's governess; Scrooge McDuck's unscrupulous business rival Flintheart Glomgold; dashing pilot-for-hire Launchpad McQuack; "superhero" Gizmo Duck, alias Fenton Crackshell; and another do-gooder-in-disguise, Drake Mallard, who was later spun off into his own series, Darkwing Duck. While Ducktales was comic in tone, it devoted much of its running time to fast-paced heroics and cliff-hanging adventures in the tradition of the Indiana Jones films; indeed, the series' opening credit titles bore a striking resemblance to the sort of lettering and graphics favored by Steven Spielberg. In all, 99 Ducktales episodes were produced, remaining in syndication for nearly a decade, and thereafter running on Disney's various cable outlets. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this espionage drama, an FBI agent heads to California's Big Bear resort for R&R and ends up stopping the evil communists from carrying through with their plot to steal important documents from a recently murdered nuclear physicist. The scientist was killed by his own assistant. Later, the FBI agent's own girlfriend, who witnessed the killing, takes the papers and tries to sell them. As a result, she is killed by the assistant who is in turn killed by someone else. The FBI man then safely retrieves the paper and America is once again safe from the dreaded Red Menace. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Gene Autry and Pat Buttram are innovatively cast as Gene Autry and Pat Buttram in Night Stage to Galveston. Set during the wild-and-wooly days when the Texas Rangers were supplanted by various local corrupt police officials, the story finds Gene at odds with crooked police chief Gen. Slaydon (Robert Livingston). Our Hero's task herein is to stem Slaydon's underhanded activities, and to restore the Rangers to their former glory. Meanwhile, his sidekick Buttram makes with the comic songs and the slapstick sequences. The feminine interest is provided by Virginia Huston, cast as the daughter of crusading journalist Thurston Hall. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Also known as The Tall Lie, For Men Only was a hard-hitting if somewhat gratuitous expose of college fraternity "hazing." A young man is rushed by a popular and well-established frat, only to discover that part of the initiation ceremony requires him to kill a puppy. He drops out of the fraternity and tells the world its "secrets". The fraternity leader, played by Russell Johnson, organizes a campaign to drive the pledge off the campus--which results in the pledge's death. Professor Paul Henried investigates, and learns that the fraternity's ties to the business community are so strong that he can do nothing to stop the cruelty of the hazing process. Henried's only recourse is to expose arrogant frat leader Johnson as a coward with feet of clay--which he does, in a breast-beating scene that will surprise those who know Russell Johnson only as the mild-mannered "Professor" on Gilligan's Island. Made inexpensively, For Men Only is competently directed by star Paul Henried. The only question is: Why should the non-collegiates in the audience care anything about the iniquities of fraternity life? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A stage line is once again threatened by a greedy rival in this ultra low-budget western from small-scale Monogram Pictures. This time the owner is lovely Phyllis Coates, who desperately needs to win a valuable mail contract in order to survive. The rival appears at first to be none other than the local sheriff (Pierce Lyden), but he is actually in the employ of a mystery man. Enter the whip-wielding Whip Wilson and his faithful sidekick Fuzzy Knight, and Miss Coates' stagecoach is saved in no time. In fairness to the age-old plot, here credited to former serial writer Joseph F. Poland, we shall not reveal the identity of the mystery villain; suffice it to say, the blackguard turns out to be the least likely candidate and is therefore highly suspicious from the get-go. Stage to Blue River was filmed many times before, most recently as Stage to Mesa City (1948), a "Cheyenne Kid" series entry featuring Al "Lash" LaRue and Al "Fuzzy" St. John. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Johnny Mack Brown closed out his 1951 manifest of "B"-westerns with Montana Desperado. The story concerns a fierce struggle over water rights. Complicating the plot is the presence of a masked desperado who is systematically killing off local ranchers. Brown arrives on the scene to find out who's behind the murders--and, of course, to stop him (Her? It?) Although Brown's character name is ostensibly Dave Borden, everyone in the film refers to him as "Johnny" or "Mr. Brown"; evidently the Monogram folks were getting a bit lazy with this long-running series. The cast of Montana Desperado is uniformly fine, including such horse-opera regulars as Myron Healey, Marshall Reed, and Edmund Cobb, whose western credits extended as far back as 1914! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Whip Wilson rides again in the Monogram western Abilene Trail. Wilson and his grizzled sidekick Andy Clyde are accused of horse stealing, a hangin' offense around these here parts. Eluding the authorities, the boys take jobs at a ranch where the real crook is hiding out. Between whip-cracking sessions, Wilson finds time to romance the ranch owner's pretty daughter Noel Neill ("Lois Lane" on the 1950s TVer Superman). Director Lewis D. Collins keeps things moving fast enough to make up for any plot or budgetary shortcomings. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Johnny Mack Brown stars in the Monogram oater Outlaw Gold. The plot is motivated by revenge: sentenced to five years in prison, vicious gunman Sonny Lang (Myron Healey) vows to "get" Dave Willis (Brown) the moment he's released. Our Hero, however, can't be bothered by such trivialities. He's too busy trying to prevent the hijacking of a gold shipment on the Mexican border. Inevitably, Willis and Lang's paths cross, but not before Willis exposes the mastermind behind the robbery. The film's romantic element is handled by Marshall Reed (cast as a crusading newspaperman) and Jane Adams. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Gunmen of Abilene top-bills Republic western hero Allan "Rocky" Lane and his horse Black Jack. Lane plays a U.S. marshal who is sent to investigate a reign of outlaw terror in Abilene. He arrives in town incognito, securing a job as deputy sheriff. Soon he discovers that the outlaws want to scare off the populace so that they can claim the gold ore that rests beneath the town. It's no surprise that Roy Barcroft is the chief heavy, though it is a bit startling that Barcroft's partner-in-crime is played by Peter Brocco, an actor usually cast as a pasty-faced gangster henchman or communist spy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Johnny Mack Brown West of Wyoming concerns the efforts by cattle baron Simon (Stanley Andrews) to prevent the opening up of the rang to homesteaders. Government agent Brown comes calling when Simon begins resorting to cold-blooded murder. The leading lady is Gail Davis, a few years shy of her Annie Oakley TV stardom. Surprisingly, West of Wyoming contains none of the comedy relief that had characterized earlier Johnny Mack Brown oaters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Republic's program westerns of the 1940s fell into two categories: the Saturday-matinee fare of Roy Rogers, Allan "Rocky" Lane et. al., and the more adult-oriented William Elliot vehicles. In The Last Bandit, Elliot and Forest Tucker play a couple of James-like bandit brothers, Frank and James Plummer. Deciding to go straight, Frank adopts a new name and takes a job as an express guard. James assumes that Frank is merely playing possum, intending to return to banditry when the time is ripe. But Frank is serious about reforming, setting the stage for an extreme and violent form of sibling rivalry at the climax. Andy Devine eschews his usual comedy relief as the railroad detective who decides to risk hiring Frank, while Adrian Booth offers another of her intelligent leading-lady characterizations. The Last Bandit was lensed in Republic's Trucolor process, which made up in vibrancy what it lacked in stability. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in "glorious" Cinecolor by Eagle-Lion, this was the first of four "Red Ryder" westerns starring Jim Bannon in the title-role, Don Kay Reynolds (billed, a bit condescendingly, as "Little Brown Jug") as juvenile sidekick Little Beaver, Emmett Lynn as Buckskin, and Marin Sais as Red Ryder's aunt, The Duchess. After rescuing crusading newspaper editor Libby Brooks (Peggy Stewart) from a gang of bandits, Red Ryder and his friends help the girl bring down Frenchy Beaumont (Edwin Max), the evil owner of the Parisian Hotel and the villain who has been terrorizing the town of Devil's Hole. Libby's brother Gerry (Steve Pendleton) loses his life in the fight, but Beaumont cheats the hangman with the help of his arrogant lawyer, Iverson (Fred Coby). There is a shootout on main street between Beaumont and Red Ryder before the villain is finally carted off to jail. Based on the long-running (1938-1964) comic strip by Fred Harman, the "Red Ryder" westerns had been very successful for Republic stars Don "Red" Barry, William Elliot, and Allan Lane before moving over to Eagle-Lion. Comedian Lynn was the only series regular to appear for both companies. Sais, the former wife of silent cowboy star Jack Hoxie, replaced Alice Fleming and Martha Wentworth as the Duchess. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Although ostensibly the grand-son of the legendary hero, Clayton Moore's Ken Mason is little more than a cowboy in a black mask in this 12 chapter Republic serial. Mason, the head of the telegraph line work crew, assumes his ancestor's trade-mark mask (but not whip) in order to prevent a local czar (Roy Barcroft) from sabotaging the burgeoning telegraph line. Pamela Blake, a brunette starlet formerly known as Adele Pearce, played Mason's imperiled girlfriend, and the serial also benefitted from the usual competent work of Republic's great stunt-performers, including Dale van Sickel, Tom Steele, Eddie Parker, and Joe Yrigoyen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi