Leon McAuliffe Movies
Steel guitar player/songwriter Leon McAuliffe was a member of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys from the mid-'30s through the early '40s and in that capacity appeared in several Westerns with the other bandmembers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi- 1943
Riders of the Northwest Mounted was one of a handful of "northerns" produced by Columbia's B-western unit. Stalwart Russell Hayden and prankish Dub Taylor go through their paces in Mountie garb and Smokey-the-bear hats. They're on the trail of escaped criminal Dick Curtis, who has the whole great white north as his hiding place. Leading lady Adele Mara waits at home patiently for Hayden and Taylor to get their man. A musical number by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys lends an enjoyable if incongruous touch. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Featuring even more musical numbers than usual, this Tex Ritter Western from Monogram marked the feature film debut of the "King of Western Swing," Bob Wills, and his Texas Playboys, a group that also included Wills' brother Johnnie Lee Wills. The group performed no less than four numbers in a row -- including Wills' own Good Old Oklahoma, Lone Star Rag and {&The Bob Wills Special. Surrounding all this harmonizing, screenwriter Robert Emmett Tansey crafted a rather commonplace Western fable of Ritter and sidekick Slim Andrews rescuing a stage line owned by leading lady Terry Walker. The line is being sabotaged by rival operator (Karl Hackett). To get rid of the pesky Ritter, Hackett hires a notorious outlaw, Olin Francis. But Ritter has befriended Francis' young son and the scheme fails miserably. Ritter, whose pugilistic fervor always seemed more authentic than that of most singing cowboys, injured his knee in a fight with Hackett and production had to be suspended for two weeks, a rather expensive development for low-budget Monogram. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.