Art Dillard Movies

Aired originally on September 3, 1950, and restored by Gene Autry Entertainment in 2000, this The Gene Autry Show series entry features Stanley Andrews as Carl Meachem, the owner of the "Flying M" cattle ranch. Determined to keep the range free of fences, Meachem bars a right of way for neighbor Tim Carson (Francis McDonald) when the latter puts his part of the valley up for sale to settlers. The feud leads to murder, and Meachem is arrested. But foreman Gene Autry knows that his boss is innocent and puts his own life on the line to catch the real culprit. In between duking it out with a vicious land grabber, Gene sings his own "That's My Home." Leading lady Gail Davis went on to star in the 1954-1956 series Annie Oakley, also produced by Gene Autry's Flying "A" Productions. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Kirk Alyn, erstwhile Superman of the serials, plays government man Dave Worth in the Republic serial Federal Agents Vs. Underworld Inc. Worth is put on the trail of a famous archaeologist who has disappeared. He learns that the far-reaching criminal organization Underworld Inc. wants to get its mitts on the Golden Hands of Kurigal, the key to a huge fortune hidden away in an unknown foreign country. The brains of the bad-guy operation is bad-girl Neela (Carol Forman), a master-or mistress-of disguise. Former Miss America Rosemary LaPlanche portrays Dave Worth's ever-imperiled girl Friday. Federal Agents vs. Underworld Inc managed to sustain audience interest for a full 12 chapters. ~ 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

When the order of the Western frontier is threatened by bandits, cowboys are the only measure of justice in the area. ~ All Movie Guide

Roy Rogers saves the day for the ranchers of Cherokee City in this fast-paced comedy-Western directed and produced by Joseph Kane. Roy and no less than three sidekicks -- Smiley Burnette, George "Gabby" Hayes and Bob Nolan of the music group The Sons of the Pioneers -- attempt to persuade eccentric river-boat owner Col. Silas Popen (Walter Catlett) to service Cherokee City. The surrounding ranchers would otherwise be forced to ship their cattle with crooked trucking company operator Ross Lambert (Edmund MacDonald). Aware of the colonel's phobia of anything Western, Lambert and his henchmen (William Haade and Hal Taliaferro) stage typical Wild West brawls, helped inadvertently by Roy's well-meaning sidekicks. Burnette, whom Rogers inherited from draftee Gene Autry, and Hayes perform their usual routines but the comedic highlights are provided by flibbertigibbet Catlett and blustery Paul Harvey, the latter playing B-Western history's perhaps most incompetent Cattlemen's Association president. Ruth Terry makes a spirited heroine as the colonel's daughter but the great African-American actor Leigh Whipper is sadly wasted in a stereotypical "comic" servant role. A proposed action scene in which Lambert and his men start a fire using gasoline was rewritten in order to avoid reminding theater-goers of the war-time rationing. In most prints seen today, Rogers' musical numbers have been cut, making Heart of the West a fast-paced hour or so of nearly non-stop action and comedy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, two deputies go undercover to save a scientist from his evil kidnappers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Gene Autry battles a crooked mine owner in this his signature western from Republic Pictures. Years earlier, Gene promised to take watch over his employer's son Tom (Edward Norris), a young hothead who enjoys the so-called finer things in life. Tom has to be corralled out of the wicked city after finally inheriting the old homestead but life in the supposedly pastoral Arizona hamlet of Solitude proves less than idyllic when greedy copper miner E.G. Blaine (Arthur Loft) begins poisoning the water supply. Not patient enough to let law abiding Gene handle things, Tom takes matters into his own hands and is promptly slapped with a murder charge. Since the local authorities are controlled by Blaine, Gene has Judge Bent (Edmund Elson secure a change of venue for the upcoming trial but the enemy may have an ace up his sleeve. When not shooting it out with Blaine and his henchmen, Gene, Smiley Burnette, leading lady Jacqueline Wells and girl singer Mary Lee perform "Good Old-Fashioned Hoedown", "Swingin' Sam, the Cowboy Man", "When the Cactus is in Bloom", "I'm an Old Cowhand", "Where the River Meets the Range", "I'm in the Jailhouse Now", "You Are My Sunshine", "Ninety-Nine Bullfrogs" and Ray Whitley's title tune. Back in the Saddle has been restored to its original length by the Westerns Channel and Gene Autry Entertainment. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Tex Ritter's thirty-second music Western for producer Edward F. Finney -- the last twenty released by Monogram -- The Pioneers was also Ritter's perhaps most unusual. "Suggested" by James Fenimore Cooper's 1853 The Leatherstocking Tales, the Western featured both Ritter and sidekick Slim Andrews wearing buckskin jackets, the latter even completing his ensemble with a homey coonskin cap. Ritter and Andrews played trail guides saving a wagon train from an Indian attack, much to the dismay of land owner J.W. Carson (Karl Hackett). Carson, along with henchmen Wilson (George Chesebro) and Jingo (Lynton Brent), had orchestrated the raid in the first place in an attempt to scare settlers away from a valuable parcel of land. Tex, meanwhile, is falsely accused of murdering one of the settler's, Ames (Del Lawrence), whose daughter, Suzannah (Wanda McKay), Carson has been courting. Ritter narrowly escapes a lynching party to hook up with his pal Red Foley. Together with Slim and Doye O'Dell (of radio fame), they manage to save Suzannah from a fate worse and death and the settlers in general from Carson's evil machinations. Making their screen debuts, country and western performers Red Foley and Doye O'Dell "played" themselves, a rather odd choice for what was ostensibly a Fenimore Cooper adaptation. Ritter, who had just married his former co-star Dorothy Fay, left Finney in favor of a more steady paycheck from Columbia Pictures. The Pioneers, alas, was the former radio performer's final solo starring vehicle. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Congress suddenly changes the boundary between Texas and Mexico and the rangers leave the territory to the U.S. cavalry in this fine entry in Republic Pictures long-running Three Mesqueteers western series. Left to fend for himself, the commanding officer, Colonel Langley (Forbes Murray), makes the mistake of trusting LeRoque (Peter George Lynn), a half-breed interpreter who in reality is the feared Commanche renegade Waneeche. Nothing the Three Mesqueteers, "Stony" Brooke (Robert Livingston), "Tucson" Smith (Bob Steele) and "Lullaby" Joslin (Rufe Davis), do or say dissuades Langley from walking straight into a trap and only by taking a typically daring approach are the Mesqueteers able to prevent wholesale slaughter. Gale Storm plays the nominal female lead as the colonel's cheery daughter and comedy relief is provided by spinster-ish Ellen Lowe, as Aunt Amanda, a scalp-hungry Glenn Strange and rube comic Rufe Davis. The latter also performs Smiley Burnette's "Just Imagine That" backed by cowboy swing fiddler Spade Cooley. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Rodeo champ Gene Autry inherits half interest in both a ranch and a mine that provides steady employment for the surrounding rancheros. Unfortunately, the other half goes to Easterner Barbara Erwin (Carol Hughes), who is only interested in monetary remuneration. To convince Gene to buy her share, Barbara enters into an unholy alliance with unscrupulous attorneys Arnold (Ivan Miller) and Fry (Sam Flint), who, without their client's consent, hire a gang of thugs headed by Tommick (John Merton). When a ranchero (Elias Gamboa) is mortally wounded in the ensuing gun battle, Barbara sees the error of her way and switches sides. When not fighting for the rights of the common man, Gene Autry and sidekick Smiley Burnette perform "Under Fiesta Stars", "Purple Sage in the Twilight", "When You're Smiling" and "The Man in the Flying Trapeze". Under Fiesta Stars has been restored to its original length of 62 minutes by Gene Autry Entertainment. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This Roy Rogers vehicle was based on a Zane Grey story, previous filmed twice in the silent and early-talkie era. Rogers stars as young doctor Steve Kells, who after leaving New York in disgrace (it wasn't his fault) takes up residence in Idaho territory. Here he redeems himself by taking on a deadly outlaw gang, headed by a surly gent named Gulden (Joe Sawyer). Just so the audience knows that this is a "typical" Rogers picture despite its pedigree, the producers cast Gabby Hayes as Steve's sidekick Honest John Whittaker. Carol Hughes, who'd recently played Dale Arden in the third "Flash Gordon" serial, is Rogers' leading lady in this one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide