Kenneth Perkins Movies
- 1959
While driving through the desert, Professor John Piltkin (MacDonald Carey) stops his car to care for a seriously injured coyote. Not long afterward, the coyote vanishes -- whereupon Piltkin is confronted by a wild-eyed young girl named Julie (Collin Wilcox). Whether or not Julie and the coyote are one and the same turns out to be a moot point, as the story segues into a morality play involving treachery, theft, and sweet revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
After winning a poker game, Bret (James Garner) looks forward to claiming his prize, an "Arabian mount." But he is less than pleased when this prize turns out to be a broken-down Army camel--and an obnoxiously affectionate one at that. But soon Bret comes to appreciate his new travelling companion when the camel helps extricate our hero from a deadly dilemma involving his old friend Donna Selly (Maxine Cooper) and her crooked-gambler fiance Honest Carl Jimson (Fredd Wayne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this production from Benedict Bogeaus and RKO Radio, Robert Ryan stars as a fugitive from justice who hides out in the Far Eastern teak plantation managed by Barbara Stanwyck. As the two fall in love, Stanwyck comes to believe in Ryan's innocence. Upon the arrival of doggedly determined security officer David Farrer, Ryan and Stanwyck escape into the treacherous Burmese jungles. Like many of Bogeaus's productions of the 1950s, Escape to Burma was directed by Allan Dwan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1954
In this western, a shotgun rider on a stagecoach must clear his reputation after some outlaws accuse him of being a crook. Gunplay ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris, (more)
- 1953
Audie Murphy plays wagon train scout Jim Harvey in Universal-International's Tumbleweed. Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, Harvey is wrongly accused of saving himself while allowing the people under his protection to be slaughtered by Indians. With the help of sheriff Murchoree (Chill Wills) and his Native American friend Tigre (Ernesto Iglesias), Harvey breaks out of jail to prove his innocence. Figuring largely in the proceedings are horse-rancher Nick Buckley (Roy Roberts) and his wife Louella Buckley (K.T. Stevens), who provide Harvey with a "loser" horse that turns out to be a winner when the hero needs it most. The revelation of the film's true villain should be amusing for fans of TV's Gilligan's Island. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audie Murphy, Lori Nelson, (more)
- 1952
In this bizarre western, two prospectors strike it rich and set out across Death Valley with their riches. They are chased by three Arabs astride camels (they are left-overs from a proposed government program that brought the desert beasts to the US to assist with desert travel). The locals who see the Arabs pass by mistake them for everything from Indians to the 3 Wise Men. The prospectors are assisted by the real Indians who dispatch with the Arabs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wayne Morris, Virginia Grey, (more)
- 1949
East Indian actor Sabu goes through his usual paces in Columbia's Song of India. Sabu plays Ramdar, prince of a jungle tribe, who comes into conflict with Indian maharajah Gopal (Turhan Bey). At the behest of the British government, Gopal has been trapping wild animals and selling them to zoos. Ramdar finds this offensive, and does his utmost to free the jungle beasts and undermine Gopal's activities. Leading lady Gail Russell plays Princess Tara, Gopal's beloved, whom Ramdar kidnaps and holds hostage to keep the maharajah at bay. Appropriately, the film's musical score is adapted from Rimsky-Korsakov's "Song of India." Original prints were released in Sepiatone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sabu, Gail Russell, (more)
- 1948
Described by one critic as a western version of The 39 Steps, Relentless stars Robert Young as a cowboy on the lam. Framed for murder, Young must find the one man who can clear him, while a posse dogs his trail. He briefly becomes an outlaw, hoping to make contact with his quarry by befriending the dregs of the west, notably mercenary saloon keeper Akim Tamiroff. Marguerite Chapman plays the love interest, while Barton MacLaine does his usual as the main heavy. Directed at a rapid clip by George Sherman, Relentless does its best to live up to its title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Young, Marguerite Chapman, (more)
Ride Him, Cowboy was the first entry in John Wayne's "B"-western series for Warner Bros. Wayne plays John Drury, a handsome stranger who is blamed for a recent wave of barn-burnings. On the verge of being lynched, John is exonerated by the previously unconscious victim of the villains. At this point, our hero sets out to round up the genuine miscreants, headed by a skull-faced rapscallion known as The Hawk (Frank S. Hagney). Of interest is the fact that Wayne's faithful horse is named "Duke." Like the rest of Wayne's Warners series, Ride Him, Cowboy relies heavily upon stock footage from First National's silent Ken Maynard oaters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Ruth Hall, (more)
- 1926
Tom Mix's lucrative contract with Fox Studios was drawing to a close when the World's Most Popular Cowboy starred in Canyon of Light. The story begins as Tom Mills (Mix) rides off to fight in WWI. Leaving his ranch in the care of his sister Ellen (Carmelita Geraghty) and her husband Ed (Carl Miller) Mills returns from the battlefield two years later to find that his brother-in-law has deserted, and the ranch is in a state of ruin and disrepair. Even worse, Ed is now top man in a vicious outlaw gang. On her deathbed, Ellen begs Tom to find Ed and bring him back for one last reunion. Rescuing Ed from a lynch mob, Tom promises to deliver him to the sheriff before the final meeting with Ellen, but Ed escapes, forcing Tom to take his place in jail. As our hero awaits his fate, his no-good in-law lives high on the hog by impersonating one of Tom's dead army buddies. The plot gets even thicker before Tom is sprung from the calaboose to hastily set things right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Mix, Dorothy Dwan, (more)
- 1926
One of Ken Maynard's very best silent westerns, The Unknown Cavalier was filmed on locations in Death Valley, California. Maynard plays Tom Drury, a cowboy whose quick thinking stops a notorious outlaw, "The Hawk," from further misdeeds. The villain, as it turns out, is none other than Henry Suggs (James Mason), heretofore considered a pillar of the community. Based on pulp writer Kenneth Perkin's Ride Him Cowboy, the film was remade under that name in 1932 starring John Wayne. Like most of Wayne's films for producer Leon Schlesinger, Ride Him Cowboy featured obvious footage from the Maynard original. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Kathleen Collins, (more)
- 1924
English-born character star Victor McLaglen made his Hollywood debut in this highly successful Western melodrama about brothers, separated in early childhood, who wound up as opponents in a side-show wrestling match. There is a dance-hall girl (Marguerite de la Motte) and the usual Western trappings but the film's true highlight is the climactic wrestling match between McLaglen and co-star William Russell, a battle that reminded several reviewers of the legendary slugfest in the first version of The Spoilers (1914). The Beloved Brute was directed with a great deal of verve by J. Stuart Blackton, one of the founders of the Vitagraph Company. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marguerite de la Motte, William Russell, (more)
- 1923
Less a western than an attempt by Tom Mix to emulate Will Rogers, this silent action comedy features the star donning a suit of armor to battle an unscrupulous ranch foreman in a style that would appear familiar to King Arthur and his knights. Mix loved this kind of nonsense -- diehard western fans less so -- and it was "westerns" like Romance Land that made William S. Hart and his stark sentimentality seem awfully dated in comparison. Mix's producer, Fox, pulled out all the stops this time, casting brunette Barbara Bedford, a box-office "name," as the leading lady. Bedford had earlier earned splendid reviews for playing Cora Munro in Maurice Tourneur's lavishly mounted The Last of the Mohicans (1920). Romance Land came on the heels of the even more luxurious Arabia, also co-starring Bedford, and it only added to Mix's growing popularity. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Mix, Barbara Bedford, (more)
