Edna Aslin Movies
A busy B-Western heroine in the late silent era, Edna Aslin co-starred in four Bob Steele oaters (1929-1930), including The Cowboy and the Outlaw (1929) from ill-named Big Productions Film Corp. in which screenwriter Sally Winters awarded her character the less than flattering name of Bertha Bullhead. Aslin, whose name was often misspelled Aselin, continued to work in very low-budget Western fare until the mid-'30s, often under two of the era's least able directors Robert J. Horner and J.P. McGowan, and for such low-budget firms as H. and H. Productions and Aywon. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi- 1942
Bob Steele stars as Dick Carlysle, who returns home to his family ranch after almost a year away in Texas to discover that his widowed mother has married Brute Kettle (J.P. McGowan), a local rancher with whom he has a lot of bad history. He's willing to stay on long enough to make certain of his mother's happiness, and learns that Kettle only married her to gain control of the ranch. The marriage allows him to replace her as executor of her late husband's estate, but still standing in the way of his plan is Dick, who is due to inherit his share of the estate (and the ranch) when he turns 21. It turns out that Kettle has been reading and intercepting his wife's mail and otherwise manipulating and isolating her, trying to divide mother and son, and Dick's return greatly complicates his plans and intentions. He's willing to fight with every ounce of strength, but can the young cowboy stop the wealthy, brutal, and totally larcenous Kettle and his men? ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Edna Aslin, (more)
- 1935
A typically poverty-stricken Victor Adamson Western, Arizona Trails was filmed on-location near Randsburg, CA, and features silent screen cowboy Bill Patton in his only talkie starring role. Reckless young Wallace Pindell loses 1,000 dollars that he doesn't have to gambler Tom Camden, who threatens to tell Dad (Ed Carey). The gambler is found murdered soon after and young Wallace becomes the natural suspect. Enter Bill Patton and his sidekick, Shorty (Denver Dixon aka Art Mix aka Victor Adamson), who hunt down the real killer. A family affair, so to speak, Arizona Trails was written by supporting actor Tom Camden. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ed Carey
- 1935
The first, last and only entry in the proposed Aywon Ranch series, Western Racketeers was directed by near-legendary bad filmmaker Robert J. Horner and starred silent screen cowboy Bill Cody. A gang is terrorizing the settlers in the San Bernardino Mountains, who are forced to pay toll along the only accessible route around. When an obstinate rancher (Steve Clark) is found murdered, his friends and neighbors form a vigilante group under the leadership of Bill Bowers (Cody). Haughty Eastern girl Molly Spellman (Edna Aslin) refuses to pay any heed to the outlaws and soon finds herself in deep trouble. She is saved in the nick of time by Bowers and the vigilantes and peace is restored. Like Cody, the company that produced this misfire, Aywon, was a survivor from the silent era but, also like Cody, its future in a new, more streamlined Hollywood was limited. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1935
Silent screen cowboy Buffalo Bill, Jr. both starred in and directed (under his real name, Jay Wilsey) this extremely low-budget western produced by the legendary Robert J. Horner. Buffalo Bill, Jr. plays Bill Merritt, a cowboy who falls for lovely Jean Wells (Edna Aslin), the daughter of Borderville's richest citizen (Raymond B. Wells). The town's bully (Allen Holbrook) also wants the girl, and her father basically tells both suitors that anyone with at least $100,000 has a chance. In the end, Merritt wins the girl, not by producing the cash, but after rescuing her from a kidnapping. Lensed near San Diego, California, Trails of Adventure was the final film produced by the famously amateurish Horner, who died in an automobile accident days before filming was to have commenced. Buffalo Bill, Jr. took over direction himself and did such a bad job of it that even Horner would have been proud. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1934
Mixing western romance with gangster hi-jinx, this extremely low-budget horse opera featured one of the veterans of the genre, Edmund Cobb, as a ranch foreman falsely accused of being in league with a group of Big City gangsters. The gang-leader kidnaps the rancher's pretty daughter (Edna Aslin), kills the rancher (Ned Norton), a reformed gangster himself, and takes off with $50,000, the loot from a robbery. Cobb manages to clear his good name, chases down the villains and rescues Miss Aslin. The End. Produced by one Fred Thomson, who was not the late silent star, Racketeer Round-Up was almost a family affair with screenwriters Eddie Davis and Ruth Runell also appearing in the supporting cast. After dumping the film on the states rights market in May of 1934, Thomson and film editor Henry Adams went back to the editing room, added some new footage featuring Black King, "The Horse with the Human Brain," and simply re-released the concoction less than a month later under a new title, Gunners and Guns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1929
Veteran director J.P. McGowan's moth-eaten Syndicate Film Exchange, a division of W. Ray Johnston's Rayart Pictures and commonly known as something of a graveyard for former silent western heroes, offered a synchronized soundtrack on Riders of the Rio Grande. Syndicate caught 'em on the way down, mostly cowboy refugees from Film-Booking-Office (FBO). One such was Bob Custer, the star of Riders of the Rio Grande. Custer plays a cowboy posing as an outlaw in order to infiltrate the gang of counterfeiters who has kidnapped leading lady Edna Aslin. The story (by Syndicate's resident scribe Sally Winters) was hardly fresh in 1929 and would see repeated service in the years to come. Organized in 1928, Syndicate was doomed to be swallowed up in 1931 by a new Johnston organization, the often maligned (and sometimes justifiably so) Monogram Pictures, Inc. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Custer
- 1929
Diminutive cowboy Bob Steele starred as a cowboy tracking down his father's killer in this modest silent Western produced by J.P. McGowan's penny-pinching (and grossly misnamed) Big Productions Company. The revenge theme was popular in Westerns at the time, especially with Steele who used it several times again. Interestingly enough, some of his films dealing with patricide were directed by his real-life father, Robert N. Bradbury. In this film, Steele's pa is played by producer-director McGowan and the outlaw of the title by Bud Osborne. Screenwriter Sally Winters, meanwhile, did leading lady Edna Aslin no favors by naming the film's heroine "Bertha Bullhead"! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Edna Aslin, (more)
- 1929
In this western, a wagon train is massacred by Indians and the only survivors are two children, a brother and a sister. They take the girl, adopt her into the tribe and name her "Black Fawn." Meanwhile, the cavalry saves the boy. He grows up to join them. Eventually the siblings are reunited after the boy thwarts an attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Edna Aslin, (more)
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