Raye Hampton Movies
- 1927
Carefree sailors Bill Corbitt (Buffalo Bill Jr.) and Chub Barnes (Morgan Brown) win a dilapidated ranch in a poker game and almost immediately run afoul of a gang of stage robbers. Learning the ways of the West in no time, the former gobs not only foil a planned attack on the robbers, but manage to rescue a rancher's pretty daughter (Betty Baker) from the claws of the vicious gang's leader (Walter Maly). One of producer Lester F. Scott's nifty little silent thrillers, The Galloping Gobs marked one of the earliest screen appearances of curly-haired Western villain Robert Kortman, here playing one of the bandit leader's henchmen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1926
Based on an original story by the prolific L. V. Jefferson, this minor silent Western featured Colorado cowboy Pete Morrison as a ranch hand falsely accused of robbing the stage. With the assistance of his girlfriend, Barbara Starr, Morrison goes in search of the true culprit, the slick Bruce Gordon. Produced in assembly-line fashion by Universal and directed by veteran comic Milburn Morante, The Escape, like almost all Morrison Westerns, was thoroughly geared to audiences in the hinterlands. Morrison survived the sound revolution but was reduced to playing henchmen. He retired in 1935 to take up ranching near his hometown of Morrison, Colorado. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pete Morrison, Barbara Starr, (more)
- 1925
As its title implies, this independently made, routine melodrama takes place in the Canadian North Woods. Raoul LaFane (Francis McDonald) is a brutal, hard-drinking trapper who abuses his wife, Marie (Eva Novak), on a regular basis. During one attack, she shoots him and he falls. Marie is convinced he is dead and, fearing that she will be arrested for murder, flees into the snowy wilderness. Eventually she is found by Louis LaBlanc (Robert Ellis), and he helps her out. Romance blossoms between them and they marry. At this point -- not surprisingly -- it is revealed that LaFane is alive after all and when he shows up, Marie reveals her past to LaBlanc. LaBlanc tracks down LaFane, and the two eventually come to blows. During their battle, LaFane falls over a cliff to his death. LaBlanc comes back and tells Marie that she no longer has anything to worry about. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- 1925
Parsimonious Hollywood entrepreneur Lester F. Scott, Jr. produced this little western melodrama starring Buffalo Bill, Jr., an actor later known under his real moniker, Jay Wilsey. Bill, Jr. plays Bill Drake, a cowpoke who must prove himself innocent of robbing the general store. The real culprit, as our hero detects, is Tom Evans ("Slim" Whitaker), the weakling son of a local rancher (Louis Fitzroy). Scott's little oaters were usually filmed in sleepy California towns and employed local "talent" in minor roles. On the Go was no exception but did benefit from a veteran cast that also included leading lady Helen Foster (better known as the much put-upon heroine of the anti-drug melodrama The Road to Ruin [1928]), good old Lafe McKee, as the girl's father, and the aforementioned Charles "Slim" Whitaker, a truly hissable specimen of Hollywood villainy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1925
One of the rare late silent westerns dealing with Indians, Quicker'n Lightnin' starred minor-league cowboy Buffalo Bill, Jr. (AKA Jay Wilsey). This one has everything: marauding Indians, medicine men, nasty white gun runners and even a girl (Dorothy Dorr) almost burned at the stake! Unfortunately, the whole thing was produced by the miserly Lester F. Scott, Jr. so the audience watched a great deal of stock footage. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1924
In a case of one for all and all for one, D'Artagnan-ish ranger Buck Adams (Pete Morrison) and his two colleagues, Manuel Lopez (Lew Meehan in a rare sympathetic role) and English Charlie (Milburn Morante), rescue lovely Rose Warner (Peggy Montgomery) from being kidnapped by a vicious gang of cutthroats. Writer-director Forrest Sheldon obviously kept one eye squarely on Alexander Dumas while creating this pleasant silent western, just like pulp writer William Colt McDonald whose Three Mesqueteers became a popular series in the thirties. The Peggy Montgomery appearing in this and other westerns was not child star Baby Peggy, whose family name was also Montgomery. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pete Morrison, Peggy Montgomery, (more)
- 1923
Hollywood's self-described "Smiling Daredevil," Lester Cuneo starred in this very low-budget silent Western produced by Ward Lascelles. Lester played the title role, a pacifistic ranger who comes to the aid of a young girl (Alma Deer) besieged by a gang of confidence artists. The Cuneo Westerns played only in small towns and the former Selig actor never reached the height of success he had hoped for. Sadly, screen roles completely dried up in early 1925 and Cuneo committed suicide. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lester Cuneo, Lafe [Lafayette] McKee, (more)
