Robert Burns Movies

Allan "Rocky" Lane takes on a crooked landowner in Republic's Rough Riders of Durango. The villain intends to drive several ranchers into bankruptcy so he can snatch up their property at dirt-cheap prices. The ranchers fight back by scraping up $40,000 to clear all their debts. When the money is stolen, Lane is called in to retrieve the cash and collar the crooks. As was customary in the Allan "Rocky" Lane vehicles, Lane's horse Black Jack is afforded second billing in Rough Riders of Durango, while nominal leading lady Aline Towne is billed fourth. Even farther down the cast list is future Dukes of Hazzard co-star Denver Pyle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rustlers of Devil's Canyon was one of seven "Red Ryder" westerns with Allan Lane in the lead. Returning from the Spanish-American war, Red Ryder (Lane) discovers that his home turf has been overtaken by rustlers. To make matters worse, a range war erupts between homesteaders and ranchers. It turns out that the head of the rustlers, outwardly a pillar of the community, is responsible for fomenting the hostilities. Red Ryder sets things right within the allotted 6 reels, aided by his youthful pal Little Beaver (Bobby Blake), who says "You betchum!" at the drop of a feather. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cowboy star Allan "Rocky" Lane teams with a sagebrush favorite of yore, Jack Holt, in Republic's The Wild Frontier. In an unusual move, Holt is cast as the villain, the man responsible for the murder of Lane's sheriff father. Taking over from his day, Lane vows to locate the killer-who, unbeknownst to him of course, is above-suspicion solid citizen Holt. Having recently completed his duties in Republic's Red Ryder series, Allan Lane used Wild Frontier as a springboard for a series in which he appeared under his own name. Though popular with the public, the egotistical star did nothing to ingratiate himself to his coworkers, thus the "Rocky Lane" series was relatively short-lived. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a crusty old sourdough finally finds the silver mine of his dreams only to find his mine threatened by vicious outlaws. Fortunately, a cowboy hero rides up to save him, but not until considerable rootin' tootin' action. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Western star Don "Red" Barry essays a dual role in Republic's Outlaws of Santa Fe. Actually, the two "characters" are one: Barry plays a reformed bank robber named Bob Hackett, who starts life anew as Bob Conroy. This he does to track down the no-good, dirty skunk who murdered his father. Meanwhile, a rash of bank holdups occur, leading the Law to assume that Hackett/Conroy is up to his old tricks. Wally Vernon supplies the usual comedy relief, while precocious child actress Twinkle Watts is as annoying as she'd been in earlier Barry westerns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An above-average entry in the long-running Hopalong Cassidy Western series, the enigmatically titled Mystery Man opens with Hoppy (William Boyd), California Carlson (Andy Clyde), Jimmy Rogers, and the Bar 20 cowboys driving a herd of cattle to the Circle J. Ranch, whose owner, Tom Hanlon (Bob Burns), is to pay cash on delivery. In the town of Holbrook, however, the Bar 20 crew interrupts a bank robbery committed by the notorious Trilling gang whose boss (Don Costello) remains a mystery man. Not even the shrewd Hoppy is able to detect anything wrong with the inquisitive dude, who commends him for foiling the robbery. The dude, alias Trilling, manages to spring his henchmen from jail and then concocts a plan to steal the Bar 20 cattle en route to the Circle J. Despite strong resistance from Hoppy and his friends, Trilling does manage to drive the cattle to the Circle J where he presents himself as Hoppy. The real Hopalong Cassidy, meanwhile, is imprisoned by Sheriff Newhall (Taylor Homes), who accuses him of being Trilling. But the sheriff's daughter, Diane (Eleanor Stewart), who once rescued Jimmy from a would-be killer, knows otherwise and manages to free the Bar 20 cowboys. With the sheriff's posse hot on their trail and Diane acting as a decoy, Hoppy and his men force the Trilling gang into a box canyon and a final shootout. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cattleman Gene Autry is put out-to say the least-when he finds out that he's been slickered by crooked purchasing agent Thomas McCoy (Edmund MacDonald). It turns out that McCoy is in debt to bookies, and has been skimming his customers to pay off his gambling losses. Autry hopes to put a stop to all this by going directly to McCoy's boss, Grantley B. Johnson (Thurston Hall), but the Big Guy's office is crammed full of radio agents who hope to persuade Johnson to sponsor their programs. One of these agents is a young lady named Kit Carson (Ruth Terry), whose sample record disc is accidentally broken in the crush. Thus is the main plot briefly put on the back burner as Kit persuades Gene and his ranch-hand pals (the Sons of the Pioneers) to pose as radio crooners to impress Mr. Johnson. Eventually, Call of the Canyon gets back on track with an exciting runaway-buggy climax, but for the most part the film is more musical than western. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The three men of the title in this superior B-Western are Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd), Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden), and, making his series debut, grizzled old California Carlson (Andy Clyde). Carlson is the braggart cook of the Gardner outfit, a gang preying on defenseless ranchers, but when apprehended by Texas Ranger Hoppy, the old fool admits to having overstated his famous exploits. The bemused Hoppy takes California along to his namesake state, where Lucky is having a tough time bringing law and order to Santa Carmen, a community terrorized by greedy saloon proprietor Bruce Morgan (Morris Ankrum). Always the hothead, Lucky is determined to show Hoppy that he can handle things himself without any help. A bullet in the shoulder settles the matter once and for all, however, and the three work together to capture Morgan and his gang of cutthroats. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

When an evil land grabbers forces settlers out of their homes, the courageous Three Mesquiteers ride up to stop him. Rootin' tootin' western action ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The once-in-a-lifetime teaming of Mae West and W.C. Fields in My Little Chickadee had the potential for comic greatness: what emerged, though generally entertaining, was, in the words of critic Andrew Sarris, "more funny strange than funny ha-ha." Mae West dominates the film's first reel as Flowerbelle Lee, a self-reliant woman who is abducted by a mysterious masked bandit during a stagecoach holdup. Because she refuses to tell anyone what happened during her nocturnal rendezvous with the bandit, Flowerbelle is invited to leave her prudish hometown and move to Greasewood City. En route by train, Flowerbelle makes the acquaintance of con-artist Cuthbert J. Twillie (W.C. Fields), who carries a suitcase full of what seems to be large-denomination monetary notes. After a lively clash with marauding Indians, Flowerbelle tricks Twillie into a phony marriage; she does this so that she can arrive in Greasewood City with a modicum of respectability, and incidentally to get her hands on Twillie's bankroll. Once she discovers that Twillie's "fortune" consists of nothing but phony oil-well coupons, Flowerbelle refuses to allow Twillie into the bridal chamber (he unwittingly crawls into the marriage bed with a goat, muttering "Darling, have you changed your perfume?") Through a fluke, the cowardly Twillie is appointed sheriff of Greasewood City by town boss Joseph Calleila. The plot is put on hold for two reels while La West does a "schoolroom" routine with a class full of markedly overage students, and while Fields performs a bartender bit wherein he explains how he once knocked down the notorious Chicago Mollie. Jealous over the attentions paid to his "wife" by Calleila and honest newspaper-editor Dick Foran, Twillie decides to gain entry into his wife's boudoir by posing as the still-at-large masked bandit. His ruse is soon discovered by Flowerbelle, but the townsfolk capture Twillie as he makes his escape. They are about to lynch the hapless Twillie when Flowerbelle discovers that Calleia is the genuine masked bandit. She urges Calleia to save Twillie's life by making a surprise appearance at the lynching and by returning the money he's stolen. When all plot lines are ironed out, Flowerbelle and Twillie bid goodbye to one another. Borrowing a device utilized by ZaSu Pitts and Hugh Herbert in 1939's The Lady's From Kentucky, W.C. Fields invites Mae West to "come up and see me sometime," whereupon West appropriates Fields' tagline and calls him "My Little Chickadee." The script for this uneven comedy western was credited to Mae West and W.C. Fields, though in fact West was responsible for most of it. Fields willingly conceded this, noting that West had captured his character better than any other writer he'd ever met. Despite this seeming gallantry, it was no secret that West and Fields disliked each other intensely, a fact that had an injurious effect on their scenes together. My Little Chickadee has assumed legendary status thanks to its stars, and it certainly does deliver the laughs when necessary: still, it is hardly the best-ever vehicle for either Fields or West, two uniquely individual performers who should never have been required to duke it out for the same spotlight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This formula western stars George O'Brien as a member of the Arizona Rangers, a quasi-vigilante society aimed at ridding the west of lawlessness. O'Brien is assigned to infiltrate a criminal gang in Arizona. For duty's sake, O'Brien must alienate himself with his sweetheart (Laraine Johnson, later known as Laraine Day) and pose as a ruthless bandit. The hero comes awfully close to meeting his doom before the crooks are roped and hog-tied. Arizona Legion represented the 60th screen appearance of veteran action star George O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At the end of his long association with Hal Roach, comedian Stan Laurel produced three singing Westerns featuring operatic baritone Fred Scott. The second of the three, Knight of the Plains featured such songs as Paradise Valley (the film's working title), by Lew Porter and Harry Tobias, and When We Heard the Music Play Home Sweet Home, by Porter and L. Wolfe Gilbert, as well as the expected comedy routines of the redoubtable Al St. John. In between the songs and comedy, Scott portrayed rancher Fred "Melody" Brent, whose neighbors, the Rands, are in trouble with a gang of land grabbers out to acquire an old Spanish grant. After the usual sagebrush derring-do and a bit of romance with lovely Gale Rand (Marion Weldon, Scott and his sidekick Fuzzy (St. John) can deliver the bad Guys to Sheriff Steve Clark, happy with the knowledge that they have prevented a range war. Scott was to make thirteen singing Westerns for various low-budget producers, all of them released by Spectrum Pictures. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, a federal marshal is jumped and robbed while en route to Gunsight. He immediately follows the bandit, a gunfighter named Raven, to a poisoned watering hole. The outlaw, not knowing the water is tainted, drinks it and dies just as the lawman comes up. The marshal retrieves his stolen stuff and a valuable letter, that links the dead villain to an outlaw ring in town. Armed with this letter, the marshal impersonates the outlaw and is then able to round-up Gunsight's high-ranking crooks. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide