Larry "Buster" Crabbe Movies

Universal's three Flash Gordon serials have, over the years, been edited down to feature-length form. In 1991, these various abridgements were further whittled down into a six-hour-and-six-minute videotape compendium, titled The Original Flash Gordon Collection. Appearing throughout this ersatz "saga" is Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon, Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless, and Frank Shannon as Dr. Zarkhov. Jean Rogers plays Dale Arden in the scenes culled from Flash Gordon (1936) and Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) but is replaced by Carol Hughes in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940). The Original Flash Gordon Collection serves as a tantalizing introduction to the Gordon serial trio, though these remarkable efforts are best scene in their entirety. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Never released theatrically, this undistinguished monster film is set in the Florida swamps where an unusual meteor shower has given birth to a group of mutant youngsters who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The youngsters become horribly disfigured and are overtaken by an uncontrollable need for specific human flesh in order to survive. The sheriff (Buster Crabbe in his last movie role) offers a reward for the "alligators" that are mauling people to death, as a journalist and a game warden pitch to the truth and head to a confrontation with the mutants. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This early waterlogged effort from now-notorious exploitation king Fred Olen Ray (released directly to video) is an amateurish blend of 50s-style monster movie and Night of the Living Dead zombie mayhem. The zombies in question arise when a meteor (represented by a cheap 4th of July sparkler) crashes into a houseboat in a Florida swamp, killing the occupants but reviving them with cosmic radiation. Much like George A. Romero's ghouls, these zombies crave human flesh and are practically impervious to bullets (though apparently a good whack on the head will do the job, as illustrated ad nauseam). Preying at first on those unfortunate enough to stray into the swamp (whose deaths are blamed on alligator attacks), the ghouls later catch a whiff of the other cast members and massacre nearly everyone. The film simply ends with no apparent denouement and only a handful of characters surviving ... which may lead viewers to suspect that the director simply ran out of film. To his small credit, Ray manages to pepper the inane script with joking references to Roger Corman movies, but even Corman's stable of New World Pictures regulars would have disavowed any association with this bargain-basement nonsense. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Dan Duryea plays a Western bounty hunter, expert in his job, but ill at ease with his conscience. He is shunned by the "good" townsfolk until they need him to track down and kill a criminal; the gratitude doesn't last long, and it's back to outcast status for Duryea. At one juncture, the embittered bounty hunter delivers a condemnation against the "hypocrites" who hire him -- but nonetheless takes one more job. Ultimately, Duryea meets his end at the hands of a younger man (Peter Duryea, Dan's son), who becomes a bounty hunter himself, starting the cycle all over again. Produced very economically by B-Western specialist Alex Gordon, The Bounty Killer is distinguished by Dan Duryea's superb performance and by the presence in the supporting cast of several cowboy film veterans -- including Hollywood's very first Westerner, Billy Anderson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the busiest directors of westerns at this time, Edward L. Cahn helms this uninspired saddle saga about love and betrayal. Kip (Buster Crabbe) is a gunslinger with a score to settle. Seth (Barton MacLane), a villainous land baron, frames Kip's brother for a crime he never committed and using his supposed guilt as an excuse, he carries through his murderous intentions by lynching him. It seems the unfortunate man backed the ranchers in their claims against Seth. As Kip gets ready to avenge his brother's death and clear his name, Alice (Judith Ames) finds herself in an uncomfortable position. She is Seth's daughter, was engaged to Kip's dead brother, and now finds herself attracted to Kip. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this western, a circuit rider endeavors to warn the cavalry after he sees masked men cruelly abusing an Indian band. En route, the brave rider is shot and left to die. Fortunately, a gunfighter comes upon him and saves his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Combined here are select episodes from two popular '50s TV serials which often appeared on Saturday mornings across the U.S. The serials are "The Adventures of Robin Hood," starring Richard Greene and "Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion," starring Buster Crabbe. ~ All Movie Guide

In this convoluted adventure serial, a U.S. Air force captain begins searching for some stolen microfilm that contains vital information. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide