Art Dillard Movies

Roy Rogers plays an outlaw out to avenge the murder of his brother in this fine Republic Western directed by one of the masters of the genre, Joseph Kane. Learning that the man he believes to be the killer, Lee Jessup (Bob Steele), is running a gambling establishment in Sonora, the Kid manages to obtain a job body guarding Jessup's saloon and its star attraction, Joby (Pauline Moore). But although intent on biding his time, the hero cannot stand idly by while Jessup is taking advantage of a naïve prospector (Noah Beery Jr.) and is forced to show his hand. One of Rogers' better early vehicles, The Carson City Kid is enlivened by a couple of good songs, including "Are You the One?" and "Sonora Moon," both by Peter Tinturia and performed by Rogers and Moore (who later admitted to having been dubbed). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this musical western, ranch owner "Lucky" Langham (Robert Homans) dies unexpectedly, and in his will he leaves his spread to his daughter Cody (Carol Hughes). However, "Lucky" added the proviso that ranch foreman Gene (Gene Autry) is to be the executor of his will, and must give his OK before Cody can marry. Larry Cummings (Craig Reynolds) is a man from the city with eyes for Cody and her ranch; Gene has a feeling that Larry isn't to be trusted, and refuses to allow them to wed. Gene turns out to be a shrewd judge of character when Larry involves Cody in a kidnapping, and Gene (who is also drawn to Cody's charms) must come to the rescue. As usual, Smiley Burnette co-stars as Gene's sidekick Frog, and Gene warbles five songs of the sagebrush. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Riders of Black Hills is the second of 13 consecutive "Three Mesquiteers" westerns directed by George Sherman. The Mesquiteers this time out are Stony Brooke (Bob Livingston), Tucson Smith (Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune). All three come to the rescue when a racehorse is kidnapped by the mustache-twirling villains. One of the Mesquiteers is accused of being in on the snatch, but his two friends manage to clear his name by fadeout time. The unusally strong supporting cast includes Maude Eburne as the feisty owner of the horse, Roscoe Ates as a stuttering sheriff, and Ben Hall as a lamebrained reporter. Less violent than most Republic westerns of the era, Riders of the Black Hills finds our heroes using fancy rope tricks and horsemanship rather than bullets to rout the bad guys. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Pals of the Saddle is one of the more engaging entries in Republic's Three Mesquiteers Western series. Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune repeat their standard roles of Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin; the role of Stony Brooke, recently vacated by Bob Livingston, is here played by none other than John Wayne. The Mesquiteers films fluctuated between period stories and contemporary tales. This time around, we're in 1938, and Stony is chasing after foreign agents who are trying to steal and smuggle a secret weapon, the deadly chemical "monium," out of the United States. Director George Sherman paces this 55-minute effort like a Republic serial, with excellent results. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In an effort to compete with Republic's popular songfest Westerns, fours music numbers -- including Tumbling Tumbleweeds -- were added to The Old Wyoming Trail, an otherwise average Charles Starrett vehicle. No singer, Starrett left the vocalizing to his sidekick Donald Grayson and the popular Sons of the Pioneers. En route to purchase a herd of cattle, Bob Patterson (Starrett) and his sidekick Sandy (Grayson) get in the way of a scheme to defraud the local ranchers of their possessions. Aware of the coming railroad, the villains, Lafe Kinney (Guy Usher and Slade (Dick Curtis plot to take over Jeff Halliday's (Edward J. Le Saint) ranch. When Bob and Sandy get suspicious, the villains kidnap Halliday's daughter Elsie (Barbara Weeks). A posse is formed and in desperation, Slade demands that Bob meet him unarmed if Elsie is to be saved. In the ensuing shoot-out, Slade is killed and Bob is free to continue his romance with Elsie. Like many of the Starrett Westerns, The Old Wyoming Trail was filmed at the Andy Jauregui Ranch at Placerita Canyon, California, Jauregui himself appearing as a member of the posse. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

An early entry in Republic Pictures' popular "Three Mesqueteers" western series, Wild Horse Rodeo features Robert Livingston who, as Stony Brooke, wants to capture Cyclone, a wild stallion made famous in the magazine illustrations of Alice Harkley (June Martel). Against the wishes of Alice, with whom he is falling in love, and partner Tucson Smith (Ray "Crash" Corrigan), Stony "breaks" the stallion and goes on to win first place at a rodeo operated by nasty Colonel Nye (Walter Miller). The latter wants Cyclone for himself but his attempts at horse rustling are deftly deflected by the third Mesqueteer, Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune), and his dummy Elmer. Cyclone escapes and Stony goes after him. The colonel, meanwhile, stoops to using an airplane to catch both the wayward stallion and Stony but is defeated in a fiery climax by the Mesqueteers, who now agree with Alice to let Cyclone roam free. Helmed by first-time director George Sherman, Wild Horse Rodeo also marked the debut under contract of Roy Rogers. Billed as Dick Weston, Rogers sings Fleming Allan's "Riding High" and "My Madonna of the Trail". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Ken Maynard saves Geneva Mitchell from a runaway coach in the opening of this so-so Columbia western. The victim of a stage hold-up, Geneva is mighty grateful but her banker father (John Ince) is only too willing to believe uncouth Charles "Slim" Whitaker when he fingers Ken as the master-mind behind the latest outrage, a bank heist. Geneva, meanwhile, has recognized nasty Harry Woods) as the real culprit of both stage holdup and bank robbery and promptly gets herself kidnapped. With Ken behind bars, help is a bit slow in coming but the bad guys are corralled in due time and peace is finally restored to the town of Santana. Sidekick Guy Wilkerson takes time out to serenade a winsome Indian maiden -- three times! -- and even Maynard is allowed to warble a campfire tune or two, more's the pity. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Directed by former film editor S. Roy Luby, this above-average mystery-western starred Johnny Mack Brown as Billy Donovan, a sharpshooter turned ammunitions expert coming to the aid of Jean Haloran (Sheila Mannors aka Sheila Bromley), whose ranch is the target of the "Desert Phantom," a masked killer. During his investigation of several mysterious deaths attributed to the "phantom," Billy comes across a wide range of suspects that includes Salizar (Ted Adams) a Mexican bandit trying to blackmail Jean into marrying him; Tom Jackson (Karl Hackett), Jean's somnambulistic stepfather; and Jim Day (Hal Price), a greedy neighbor. Literally stumbling over a hidden gold mine along the way, Billy manages to unmask the killer and save the girl from the usual fate worse than death. Desert Phantom was one of the last films distributed by A.W. Hackel's low-budget Supreme Pictures. Beginning with Undercover Man (1936), the Hackel/Brown series would be handled by Republic Pictures. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Produced by low-budget company Supreme Pictures (which weren't), this middling B-western was saved somewhat by its personable star, the strapping former footballer Johnny Mack Brown. Mack plays Dan Doran, the rogue of the title, who rescues a pretty missionary, Tess (Phyllis Hume), from the ubiquitous runaway team. In town, Doran not only leaves the welfare of the girl to Stella, the saloon hostess (Lois January), but admits to having earlier robbed the stage. Sent up the river for 20 years, Dan makes the acquaintance of Jim Mitchell (George Ball), a fellow inmate, and the two make their escape together. Returning to the scene of the crime, Dan joins Jim's gang of stage robbers. The town's natty-looking banker, Lige Branscomb (Alden Chase aka Stephen Chase) is observed courting Tess, who now owns the Golden Nugget coffee shop. Dan, who is in reality an undercover G-man, has Stella rescue Tess from marrying the villainous Branscomb who, of course, is the secret leader of the gang of stage robbers. Leaving Tess to her coffee shop, Dan proposes to Stella, who accepts. Although already beginning to exhibit the middle-age spread that would mar his later appearances, Johnny Mack Brown once again proves that he was a better actor than most of his B- western rivals. The same cannot be said for Phyllis Hume, who plays the missionary girl with only one expression, bewilderment, and whose only film this seems to have been. Max Davidson, an old-fashioned "Dutch-style" comic who had been in films before Charles Chaplin and almost everyone else, appears briefly and for no apparent reason in order to perform a bit of timeworn shtick as a Jewish salesman. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

A young John Wayne is charged with building a road into the title valley in this routine Western from Monogram. The building project, however, is constantly interrupted by LeRoy Mason and his gang who wants the valley in general and its rich mines in particular free from outside interference. Wayne, who is aided in his quest by grizzled old mail carrier George Hayes (who had yet to earn his famous nickname of "Gabby"), manages not only to build the road but also capture the nasty Mason, a rival for the affections of bleach blonde postmistress Lucile Browne, and his cohort, paroled convict Buffalo Bill Jr. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Kermit Maynard once again dons a Mountie uniform in Ambassador Films' Red Blood of Courage. The plot gets underway when Mark Henry (Reginald Barlow), the owner of a valuable oil deposit, is kidnapped and replaced by an outlaw look-alike (also Barlow). The masquerade fools everyone, even his niece Beth (Ann Sheridan, in one of her first leading roles). But RCMP officer Jim Sullivan (Maynard), himself travelling incognito to track down the murderer of his best friend, isn't so easily taken in by the phony landowner. Things get hairy when the false Mark Henry is murdered by his henchmen and blame for the killing is placed on Sullivan. But the real Henry shows up in time to help our hero track down the heavies and rescue the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi