Dick Curtis Movies

Gambling Terror was one of the more worthwhile entries in Johnny Mack Brown's so-so western series for producer A.W. Hackel. The no-frills plotline finds hero Jeff (Brown), ostensibly a dude gambler, taking on a band of cowboy racketeers. The "big boss" turns out to be the outwardly respectable Bradley (Earl Dwire), a frontier Capone who runs a profitable protection racket aimed at the local cattlemen. The direction and camerawork are sloppy, but the action content can't be faulted. Appearing in support of Johnny Mack Brown are Iris Meredith and Dick Curtis, soon to become fixtures of Columbia's Charles Starrett westerns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two Gun Law perpetuated the cinematic winning streak established early in 1937 by western star Charles Starrett and director Leon Barsha. The action never lets up as hero Bob Larson (Charles Starrett) takes on an impressive triumvirate of villains (Charles Middleton, Alan Bridge and Dick Curtis). To do this, Larson must give up his own outlaw tendencies and trod the straight-and-narrow, which he does, all for the sake of heroine Mary Hammond (Peggy Stratford). The film is highlighted by a climactic fistfight between Charles Starrett and Dick Curtis, the first of dozens of such on-screen bouts between these two western stalwarts. Incidentally, at the time Two Gun Law was filmed, Starrett's co-star Peggy Stratford was performing double duty as leading lady in Charley Chase's comedy two-reelers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An existing production still for the Kermit Maynard "northern" Phantom Patrol pretty much sums up the outcome of the plot. Smartly dressed in a Mountie uniform, Maynard holds unconscious heroine Joan Barclay in his arms. Meanwhile, villain Julian Rivero, arms to his sides and a scowl of defeat on his face, surrenders to the Royal Canadian Mounted. About the only aspect of the plotline not revealed in the still is the fact that head-baddie Harry Worth has been trying to conduct a criminal empire while disguised as a celebrated detective-story writer. Directed by silent-serial veteran Charles Hutchison, Phantom Patrol was "suggested" by a James Oliver Curwood yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A cowboy turned G-Man looks into a series of mysterious plane crashes in this low-budget but fairly engrossing B-Western starring Tim McCoy. Masquerading as an outlaw, Tim Caverly manages to infiltrate a gang of mail thieves holed up in a ghost town. As Tim discovers, the gang leaders, Dawson (Walter Miller) and Kincaid (Wheeler Oakman), have kidnapped Professor Brent (Lloyd Ingraham), whose electrical ray gun is used to shoot down the planes. Also arriving at the hideout is Natalie (Claudia Dell), the professor's pretty daughter, who warns her father that women and children were among the victims of the latest crash. Although Dawson is suspecting Tim to be a G-Man, the villain orders Brent to shoot down an incoming government plane. There is an exchange of gunfire between Dawson and Tim, and Brent is shot attempting to shut off the ray gun. The professor survives, however, and the villains are apprehended. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In yet another unusual Western from short-lived Puritan Pictures, Tim McCoy is a Wild West performer in a Manhattan nightclub. As Tim is performing his sharpshooting tricks with sidekick Paddy Callahan (Don Barclay), wealthy Texas rancher Knute Merwin (Arthur Millett) and his daughter, Ann (Joan Woodbury), are being robbed at gunpoint. The muggers are scared away by Tim, whom a grateful Merwin hires to protect his property from nasty cattle rustler Nate Welsh (J. Frank Glendon). Arriving to Merwin's Western town by train, Tim is mistaken by Welsh for gunslinger Single Shot Smith (John Merton), who had escaped en route. While the Merwins mistakenly believe that he has double-crossed them, Tim lets himself be hired by Welsh who appoints him his first lieutenant. Naturally, the sharpshooter remains on the side of the angels, defeating Welsh and his gang and returning the Merwin ranch to its rightful owners. As usual, The Lion's Den was produced by Sigmund Neufeld and directed by his brother, Sam Newfield. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this drama, Dan is a horse trainer whose winning horse is disqualified when it is discovered that the animal has been drugged. The trainer is innocent, but is still suspended for one year. During that time, he investigates the incident, reveals the perpetrator, regains his good name, and winds up winning an even bigger race. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ostensibly based on James Oliver Curwood's Caryl of the Mountain, but bearing little or no resemblance to the 1935 Rin-Tin-Tin Jr. vehicle bearing that title, this Northwest melodrama stars Kermit Maynard as McKenna, a mounted police officer trailing the gang that kidnapped mining engineer Mason (John Elliott). The search leads to Ghost Mountain, where McKenna and his partner, Windy (Fuzzy Knight), encounter the missing man's daughter, Jane (Billie Seward). They also confront the gang of outlaws, who are eventually defeated after a chase through a labyrinth of caves and tunnels leading into mountain itself. Trails of the Wild was filmed at Hollywood's Talisman Studios and Bronson Canyon. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western about the adventures of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a fur trapper is robbed and killed by a local thug. Although he is caught by the Mounties and thrown in jail, his partner soon breaks him out. It turns out they are both part of a gang headed by a ruthless killer -- who is a woman! ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

The second of Kermit Maynard's "Mountie" actioners for Ambassador Pictures, Northern Frontier was a major improvement on the first (The Fighting Trooper), which in itself wasn't such a bad picture either. On behalf of the Feds, Royal Mountie McKenzie (Maynard) joins a gang of counterfeiters. The story becomes a bit hard to believe at this point, since McKenzie is so clean-cut and heroic that it's a wonder the villains aren't tipped off to his true identity from the get-go. Magnificently photographed in Northern California, Northern Frontier was ostensibly based on a story by James Oliver Curwood (whose name was automatically attached to practically every Mountie movie ever made!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"How would you like to star opposite the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood?" Enticed by these words, brunette leading lady Fay Wray dyed her hair blonde and accepted the role of Ann Darrow in King Kong -- and stayed with the project even after learning that her "leading man" was a 50-foot ape. The film introduces us to flamboyant, foolhardy documentary filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), who sails off to parts unknown to film his latest epic with leading lady Darrow in tow. Disembarking at Skull Island, they stumble on a ceremony in which the native dancers circle around a terrified-looking young girl, chanting, "Kong! Kong!" The chief (Noble Johnson) and witch doctor (Steve Clemente) spot Denham and company and order them to leave. But upon seeing Ann, the chief offers to buy the "golden woman" to serve as the "bride of Kong." Denham refuses, and he and the others beat a hasty retreat to their ship. Late that night, a party of native warriors sneak on board the ship and kidnap Ann. They strap her to a huge sacrificial altar just outside the gate, then summon Kong, who winds up saving Ann instead of devouring her. Kong is eventually taken back to New York, where he breaks loose on the night of his Broadway premiere, thinking that his beloved Ann is being hurt by the reporters' flash bulbs. Now at large in New York, Kong searches high and low for Ann (in another long-censored scene, he plucks a woman from her high-rise apartment, then drops her to her death when he realizes she isn't the girl he's looking for). After proving his devotion by wrecking an elevated train, Kong winds up at the top of the Empire State Building, facing off against a fleet of World War I fighter planes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide