Bill Cody

Young Buffalo Bill was one of a brief series of Roy Rogers "historical westerns" of the early 1940s. Per the title, Rogers plays the youthful Bill Cody, here depicted as an assistant land surveyor in old New Mexico. The villains plot to get their hands on valuable mineral deposits in the region, and to that end enlist the aid of a hostile Indian tribe. But Young Buffalo Bill saves the day, with a bit of assistance from the ever-on-time US Cavalry. George "Gabby" Hayes is around for his traditional comedy relief, while the aristocratic Spanish-American heroine is played by winsome Pauline Moore, Republic's "answer" to Margaret Sullavan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although there were Westerns before it, Stagecoach quickly became a template for all movie Westerns to come. Director John Ford combined action, drama, humor, and a set of well-drawn characters in the story of a stagecoach set to leave Tonto, New Mexico for a distant settlement in Lordsburg, with a diverse set of passengers on board. Dallas (Claire Trevor) is a woman with a scandalous past who has been driven out of town by the high-minded ladies of the community. Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt) is the wife of a cavalry officer stationed in Lordsburg, and she's determined to be with him. Hatfield (John Carradine) is a smooth-talking cardsharp who claims to be along to "protect" Lucy, although he seems to have romantic intentions. Dr. Boone (Thomas Mitchell) is a self-styled philosopher, a drunkard, and a physician who's been stripped of his license. Mr. Peacock (Donald Meek) is a slightly nervous whiskey salesman (and, not surprisingly, Dr. Boone's new best friend). Gatewood (Berton Churchill) is a crooked banker who needs to get out of town. Buck (Andy Devine) is the hayseed stage driver, and Sheriff Wilcox (George Bancroft) is along to offer protection and keep an eye peeled for the Ringo Kid (John Wayne), a well-known outlaw who has just broken out of jail. While Wilcox does find Ringo, a principled man who gives himself up without a fight, the real danger lies farther down the trail, where a band of Apaches, led by Geronimo, could attack at any time. Stagecoach offers plenty of cowboys, Indians, shootouts, and chases, aided by Yakima Canutt's remarkable stunt work and Bert Glennon's majestic photography of Ford's beloved Monument Valley. It also offers a strong screenplay by Dudley Nichols with plenty of room for the cast to show its stuff. John Wayne's performance made him a star after years as a B-Western leading man, and Thomas Mitchell won an Oscar for what could have been just another comic relief role. Thousands of films have followed Stagecoach's path, but no has ever improved on its formula. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Romance of the Rockies is considered the best of Tom Keene's starring westerns for Monogram. Keene is cast against type as a doctor, replete with non-cowboy wardrobe. Despite his calm demeanor, our hero proves a worthy adversary when the villains try to grab up all the local water rights. The best scene finds Keene "riding" a surging underground stream after a dynamite blast, using a stick as a rudder. The leading lady this time out is Beryl Wallace, a former Earl Carroll showgirl who made quite a few westerns in the late 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another of cowboy hero Bill Cody's low-grade horse operas for Spectrum Pictures, Cyclone Ranger casts the white-Stetsoned star as the Pecos Kid. Despite his reputation as a cattle rustler, Pecos is a nice guy underneath. He gets to prove it by saving a blind old woman's cattle stock from falling into the hands of the villains. When his work is done, Pecos deposits the baddies in the local calaboose and bids adios to the fuming sheriff. Cyclone Ranger is no prize winner, but it isn't as awful as such future Cody vehicles as Border Menace and Phantom Cowboy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

White-Stetsoned cowboy hero Bill Cody is appointed sheriff by default of a rough-and-tumble cattle-ranch community. The locals suspect that Cody is a fugitive from justice, but he does his job so well that no questions are asked. Eventually he proves his true worth during a cattlemen vs. sheepmen feud, fomented by a greedy third party. Juvenile actor Andy Shuford again co-stars as Cody's young and worshipful saddle pal. For reasons unknown, one fight sequence in Land of Wanted Men devolves into a pie-throwing orgy, suggesting that the producers were trying to broaden the film's appeal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cowboy star Bill Cody trades his Stetson and chaps for the red uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Mason of the Mounted. Our hero heads below the border to the U.S. to bring in an elusive murderer. His quarry turns out to be the mastermind behind a busy gang of horse rustlers, all of whom are well armed. Be that as it may, the Mountie manages to decimate the other members of the gang and haul the head villain back to Canada. Andy Shuford, a young "Our Gang" alumnus who'd been successfully teamed with Bill Cody on several previous occasion, is back on hand in Mason of the Mounted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Directed by the prolific Harry L. Fraser, Texas Pioneers features laconic silent screen cowboy Bill Cody as a cavalry captain who is court martialed and removed from service after a disagreement with his commanding officer (John Elliott). It is all a ruse, of course, concocted so that Cody may infiltrate the gang that is providing the Indians with weapons. Aided by his Native American "blood brother" Little Eagle (Iron Eyes Cody) and Andy Thomas (Andy Shuford), the hero-worshipping son of his commanding officer, Cody successfully tracks down the leader of the gang, Mark Collins (Leroy Mason). In the final confrontation, Little Eagle bravely takes a bullet meant for Bill, thus giving his life for peace. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Laconic silent screen cowboy Bob Custer starred in this cheap Syndicate Film Exchange early sound Western as a wrangler falsely accused of collaborating with Mexican revolutionists. Joan Prescott (Natalie Kingston) contracts to sell her horses to the Army in general and Captain Hartford (Tom London) in particular. In cahoots with a crooked secret service agent, Hartford plans to steal the horses, blaming wrangler Tom Rankin (Custer), who he accuses of conspiring with Mexican revolutionaries. Recovering the stolen horses, Rankin reveals that he is the real Captain Hartford, and the impostor is shipped off to prison. Both Custer and Bill Cody had seen better days in the silent era and would spend the remainder of their career in very low-budget independent Westerns such as Under Texas Skies. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Though not quite as good as his previous The Montana Kid, Bill Cody's 1931 western Dugan of the Bad Lands was still better than the usual run of low-budget westerns. The white-Stetsoned, Canadian-born Cody stars as Bill Duggan, who after the death of his prospector friend promises to look after the friend's young son Andy (Andy Shuford). In the course of their travels, Bill and Andy try to solve the murder of Sheriff Manning (John Elliot). The culprit turns out to be Manning's own deputy Dan Kirk (Ethan Laidlaw), who of course proves to be no match for the brawny Bill. Blanche Mehaffey, one of Hollywood's most prolific "B"-pic leading ladies, plays the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A couple of crooks battle over a pretty fortuneteller in this passable silent crime drama from Universal, the fifth and last in a series starring former B-Western hero Bill Cody. Wounded while committing a crime, Jimmy Lamar (Cody) and his pal Shrimp(George Hackathorne) seek shelter with the latter's girlfriend, "Crystal Annie," a fortuneteller. She is immediately attracted to the handsome Jimmy and, in retribution, Shrimp plans to frame his former friend in a robbery. But Jimmy has promised Annie to go straight and tips off the police, intending to escape before their arrival. Annie, however, sees danger in her crystal ball and hastens to the scene of the crime. Regretting his actions, Shrimp ensures their getaway by sacrificing himself. Produced by William Lord Wright, the Cody series got lost in shuffle due to the arrival of talkies and Cody returned to B-Westerns, a waning genre he had hoped to escape. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Attempting to change his image, B-Western star Bill Cody signed with Universal to do a series of five inexpensive crime melodramas. The Price of Fear, the premiere entry, starred the laconic former cowboy as Grant Somers, a wealthy clubman turned amateur detective who goes undercover as a waiter in the notorious Red Rooster café. Somers' target is "The Professor" (Ole M. Ness), a dangerous gang leader, but when stool pigeon Toad Magee (Jack Raymond) is murdered by one of The Professor's henchmen (Tom London), Somers finds himself accused of the crime. Warned by Mary Franklin (Duane Thompson), a government detective in The Professor's employ, Somers manages to escape. Her cover blown, Mary is ordered killed by the gang leader, but the intrepid Somers rescues her in the nick of time. Cody's change of venue was completely overshadowed by the changeover to talkies and he quickly returned to the realm of B-Westerns, working steadily until his retirement in 1936. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Two silent screen cowboys, Bill Cody and Edmund Cobb, squared off in this minor oater written by the prolific Adele Buffington. They play cousins, one a decent ranch hand, the other a notorious bandit, and the story becomes a case of mistaken identity. Both stars were popular among less sophisticated moviegoers, but while Cody hung up his spurs shortly after finishing an especially dreadful series for poverty row company Spectrum in the mid 1930s, Cobb enjoyed a long career in supporting roles that lasted well into the television era. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In one of his better efforts, silent screen cowboy Bill Cody plays Larry O'Donnell, the "Sheriff" of the title, who comes between the Wolf Pack gang and a train loaded with valuable platinum. Sheriff O'Donnell gets conked on the head for his efforts, awakening after a while with the obligatory: "Who am I?" Jeff Bains (Frank Ellis), the leader of the Wolf Pack gang, conveniently accuses O'Donnell of being the brains behind the robbery, convincing the entire town of their sheriff's guilt. But O'Donnell has the proof of Bains' complicity and with the assistance of the pretty and resourceful post mistress (Hazel Holt), manages to capture the gang and unmask the real gang leader. If nothing else, this minor Western entry provided a rare leading role for the grim-looking Frank Ellis, a grim-looking bit part player who usually played unnamed henchmen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide