William A. Berke Movies
A graduate of Los Angeles Polytechnic High School, William A. Berke entered the burgeoning film industry as an office boy for L-KO comedies and later functioned as assistant to the cameraman then cameraman for the same company. He continued his career behind the camera with Pathé, Fox, Paramount, and, finally, FBO, a purveyor of inexpensive Westerns. An eye infection summarily ended Berke's aspirations as a cinematographer, however, and instead he became an assistant to C.C. Burr, the producer of the popular Torchy comedies. In the 1930s, Berke became one of the most prolific producer-directors of low-budget Westerns, directing under such pseudonyms as Lester Williams and William Hall, before signing on as an associate producer with newcomer Republic Pictures in 1937. He remained with the San Fernando Valley B-Western factory until 1941, then functioned as producer-director at Columbia Pictures. After a short stint directing training films for the Signal Corps., Berke returned to mainstream movie-making as a producer and/or director on a host of low-budget ventures for Monogram and its successor, Allied Artists, taking time out to produce the 1949 television series The Goldbergs. More television would follow -- including directorial duties on the Gene Autry and Annie Oakley shows -- but Berke's forte would become cheap jungle melodramas, a trait he shared with the even more notorious "Jungle Sam" Sam Katzman. His son, Lester William Berke, also entered the film industry, mostly as a writer. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1933
Preston Foster, Mischa Auer, and Evalyn Knapp star in this tale of political intrigue centering on the quest of a powerful mayor to clear his name. Political leaders are being assassinated - stealthily shot dead by bullets made of ice - and when the blame falls on the mayor he must race to find the real killer before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evelyn Knapp, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1933
Flash, yet another German shepherd in a long line of would-be Rin Tin Tin successors, took center stage in this obscure action-melodrama, which came complete with supernatural overtones. Stowing away on his master's plane, a parachuting Flash rescues Jim Robbins (John David Horsley) from drowning in the ocean between Los Angeles and Hawaii when Jim's aircraft catches fire during a fierce lightning storm. They both make it safely to Tabu Island where Sally James (Marceline Day), the skinny-dipping daughter of the local missionary, guides them to the nearby trading post. Said operation is lorded over by Von Krantz (Noah Beery), a nasty trader who is getting rich from exploiting the native villagers. Irredeemably villainous, Von Krantz not only attempts to ravage a native girl, much to the dismay of his floozy girlfriend, Molly (Carmelita Geraghty), but shoots the local high priest (Mischa Auer) when the latter takes umbrage to the goings-on. Soon, an uprising is under way, during which the high priest is resurrected in a cave, but in the end it is Flash who saves the day for all and sundry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1935
Toll of the Desert transcends its "B"-picture origins with a plotline that would have done Zane Grey proud. In one of his few starring roles, Fred Kohler Jr. plays hero Bill Carson. Apparently orphaned at the age of 4, Bill grows up to become a scrupulous honest, upright sheriff. In this capacity, he brings notorious outlaw Tom Collins (Roger Williams) to justice, never dreaming that the villain is his own father. Rather than compromise his son's integrity, Collins never reveals his true identity -- not even as he's being led to the gallows. Heroine Betty Mack, late of the Hal Roach Charlie Chase comedies, gets to sing a song or two. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fred Kohler, Jr., Betty Mack, (more)
- 1935
Harry Carey's western series for bottom-of-the-barrel Ajax Pictures were definitely a mixed bag, but some were pretty good, and Last of the Clintons was even better. Carey is cast in the William S. Hart mold as frontier detective Trigger Carson. With stoic determination, Carson takes on a gang of cattle rustlers headed by the monstrous Luke Todd (Earl Dwire). An interesting subplot involves the kidnapping of heroine Edith Elkins (Betty Mack), who manages to reform her abductor (Del Carson) before any harm can be done. Only in its haphazard story construction and occasionally fuzzy photography does Last of the Clintons betray its poverty-row origins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Betty Mack, (more)
- 1935
Silent Western star Harry Carey returned to his roots in this low-budget Western from Ajax Pictures. The strong silent type, Carey plays Cheyenne Kinkaid, a stranger claiming to be an outlaw on the run in order to infiltrate a gang lead by the notorious El Diablo (Theodore Lorch). At the villain's lair, Rustler's Paradise, Kinkaid discovers that a girl living there, Connie (Gertrude Messinger), is his long-lost daughter, who, years earlier, had been taken from him by his wife and her lover, Rance Kimball. Kimball, of course, is none other than El Diablo, and with the assistance of Larry Martin (Edmund Cobb) and his vaqueros, Kinkaid manages to catch the entire gang. El Diablo is brought back to Rustler's Paradise, where, tied up and threatened with being skinned alive, he confesses to having killed Kinkaid's wife. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Gertrude Messinger, (more)
- 1935
Fred Kohler Jr. is The Pecos Kid in this low-budget horse opera. When his family is murdered by the minions of a greedy land baron, the Kid vows revenge. Armed with pearl-handled pistols, he endeavors to reclaim the deed to his family estate, originally granted by the King of Spain. Though tall in the saddle and handy with his fists, Fred Kohler Jr., like his more famous father, had a sinister edge about him. He was more suited to the brutish villainies of such characters as Scrub White in John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1935
The family of a wealthy young heir is appalled and worried when the fellow decides to amuse himself by becoming a high speed auto racer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Weatherbeaten western star Harry Carey is the glue that holds the low-budget Wagon Trail together. Carey plays a sheriff who is forced to pay dearly for crimes allegedly committed by his son Ed Norris. The actual miscreant is "solid citizen" Earl Dwyre, who is given Carey's job. With only 55 minutes' worth of screen time at his disposal, Carey must wrap this one up at double speed. The script's disposal of villain Dwyre is a novelty for a B western, and one that shouldn't be given a try at home. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Gertrude Messinger, (more)
- 1935
Throughout his "B"-western series for Ajax Pictures, Harry Carey was consistently better than his material. In Wild Mustang, Carey plays a leathery ex-marshal named Norton. When the scurrilous Utah Evans (Bob Kortman) and his gang embark upon a crime spree, Norton is coaxed out of retirement and back into the saddle. Once the film swings into the "action" mode, it's pretty good; but whenever it reverts to a dialogue sequence, it's sleepy-bye time on the old prairie. Some of the film's better moments belong to Cathryn Johns as a boisterous female sheriff named Ma McClay. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Barbara Fritchie, (more)
- 1936
The second of former silent screen star Jack Perrin's "Blue Ribbon" Westerns, Hair-Trigger Casey deftly straddled the fence between gangster melodrama and ordinary horse-opera. Perrin played an army captain rushing back to his ranch where strange things are occurring. As it turns out, the ranch foreman (Edward Cassidy) and cook (Phil Dunham) have gone into business together smuggling Chinese immigrants across the border from Mexico. On his magnificent horse Starlight, Perrin chases the gangsters up and down the border, his "hair trigger" shooting skills eventually deciding the outcome. Fellow silent star Wally Wales co-starred as Perrin's equally tough brother, with African-American comedian Fred "Snowflake" Toones delivering the lighter moments. Betty Mack, who also appeared opposite Tom Tyler, Bob Steele, Kermit Maynard, Harry Carey and Rex Bell in a B-Western career that lasted 1931-1939, provided the necessary romantic interest. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
Ghost Town Gold was the second entry in Republic's long-running "Three Mesquiteers" western series. Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Robert Livingston return as Tucson Smith and Stony Brooke, while Max Terhune replaces Sid Saylor as Lullaby Joslin. Almost immediately, comic ventriloquist Terhune established a rapport with his two co-stars, though audiences could have done with a lot less of his garrulous dummy Elmer. As for the plot, our three heroes try to retrieve some stolen money before an innocent banker is blamed for the theft. Adding spice to the quest is the fact that the banker has a pretty daughter (Kay Hughes). Other highlights include a typical Republic saloon-brawl scene, in which Tucson cleans the clock of head-villain Frank S. Hagney. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Max "Alibi" Terhune, (more)
- 1936
This interesting low-budget Western was advertized as "A lightning trigger action drama of the glorious west .. packed with thrills and colorful adventure!" If it didn't quite live up to the hyperbole, Desert Justice nevertheless managed to surprise its mostly juvenile audience, especially by killing off one of the comic relief characters, Fred "Snowflake" Toones, in the very first reel. Toones' death during a bank robbery is just one of many surprises in a story that deftly combined the gangster film with traditional Western clichés. Former silent star Jack Perrin played Jack Franklin, a city patrolman who discovers that his kid brother (David Sharpe) has escaped reform school to hook up with a gang of bank robbers. Following the killing of a bank porter, the gang hides out in Jack's desert cabin. Jack arrives just in time to see kid brother Dave being mortally wounded in a gunfight. On his horse Starlight, Jack rides hell for leather to fetch a doctor but he is too late and Dave dies in his arms. With the assistance of a police buddy (Warren Hymer), the police commissioners daughter (Maryan Dowling), and the latter's dog Braveheart, an embittered Jack is finally able to brings his brother's killers to justice. Desert Justice was co-produced by its director, William Berke (who billed himself "Lester Williams" for the occasion) and Perrin himself. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1937
Weather-beaten western star Harry Carey is consistently better than his material in the cheapie shoot-em-up Aces Wild. Astride his wonder horse Sonny, Cheyenne Harey (Carey) comes to the rescue of heroine Martha (Gertrude Messenger), the owner of a valuable gold mine. The villains try to buy Cheyenne off, but he's not about to be dissuaded from his purpose. Two veterans of Columbia's 2-reel comedy mills show up in important roles: Theodore Lorch as the mustachioed heavy, and second-echelon comic Phil Dunham as a crusading newspaper editor. Also on hand is black comedian Fred Toones, who spent most of his career saddled with the demeaning cognomen "Snowflake." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Gertrude Messinger, (more)
- 1937
Hoping to ape the success of Sol Lesser's Bobby Breen musicals, Republic Pictures fashioned Dangerous Holiday as a movie vehicle for pint-sized violin prodigy Ra Hould. The star is appropriately cast as preteen violin virtuoso Ronnie Campbell who is so coddled and protected by his family and handlers that he never has a chance to be a "real boy." When he can stand no more, Ronnie runs away from home, whereupon everyone -- including the cops -- assume that the boy has been kidnapped. Meanwhile, Ronnie, together with his new street-urchin friends, stumbles upon a gangster hideaway. In time-honored "Our Gang" fashion, the kids outwit the crooks, whereupon Ronnie's mom and dad promise to give him more freedom of movement in the future. Billed second after Ra Hould is matronly actress Hedda Hopper, who within a year would become one of Hollywood's most powerful (and feared) gossip columnists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ra Hould, Hedda Hopper, (more)
Atlantic Flight was designed as a vehicle for Dick Merrill, a real-life pilot then very much in the news because of his record-breaking flights. Merrill is cast as flyboy Dick Bennett, the best friend of aspiring aircraft designer Bill (Weldon Heyburn). Entering a national air meet, Dick is prevented from flying by an unscrupulous phony nobleman (Ivan Lebedeff), whereupon darn-fool-kid Bill flies his new plane himself. On cue, Bill crashes to the ground, and soon is hovering between life and death in the hospital. Only a rare miracle serum can save Bill's life, but the only supply is in London. Dick volunteers to make the round-trip flight to retrieve the serum, thereby setting yet another air record (48 hours!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dick Merrill, Paula Stone, (more)
Tons Walker (Grant Withers) is the man in charge of the steel mill built from the ground up by the late William Reardon (Pierre Watkin). The fact that Tons is barely capable of putting his shoes on properly is unimportant: he will inherit Reardon's business on the proviso that he straighten out his late employer's wastrel son Bill (Ranny Weeks). Making Tons' job tougher is the fact that Bill has designs on our hero's sweetheart Susan (Beatrice Roberts); on the other hand, Bill isn't too keen on the fact that Tons has fallen for his sweetie Elaine (Judith Allen). By and by, however, both Bill and Tons begin taking their business responsibilities seriously, emerging as inseparable pals by film's end. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Grant Withers, Beatrice Roberts, (more)
- 1937
As one of Harry Carey's mid-1930s independent westerns, Ghost Town is noted for its good, atmospheric cinematography (as evidenced by the film's production stills). The star assumes his familiar guise as Cheyenne Harry, a wandering do-gooder with a questionable background but the noblest of intentions. His path intersects with that of an old pal with designs on a vacant mining town; the friend is killed, and Carey blamed for the murder and incarcerated.
~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Ruth Findlay, (more)
The Man Betrayed in this Republic actioner is hero Eddie Nugent, though this doesn't occur until the film is half over. Framed for a murder he didn't commit, Nugent finds support from an unlikely corner: a group of crooks, led by John Wray, set about to prove the boy's innocence. All of this meets with the benign approval of clergyman Lloyd Hughes, whose beatific good influence turns out to be contagious. Evidently intended to be longer than its present 58 minutes, Man Betrayed contains several gaping plot and continuity holes, the result of what seems to have been ruthless wholesale editing. The film makes even less sense on TV, where it was pared down to 53 minutes -- and then, to accommodate extra commercials, was whittled down further to 48 minutes (whew)! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddie Nugent, Kay Hughes, (more)
- 1937
In this crime drama, a newly deputized state trooper gets killed on his very first day. His younger brother, desiring to follow in his brother's footsteps swears vengeance. His sister's fiance helps him find the gangsters who did the killing. They find them and then trick the crooks into entering a boarding house where they claim gold is hidden. There the heroes discover that the crime boss is a crippled boarder who lives there. Just when it looks like curtains for the heroes, the cops arrive and bring the crooks to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frankie Darro, Kane Richmond, (more)
- 1938
In this entry in the long-running series of westerns, the Three Mesquiteers transform their ranch into a prison farm to provide a model for prison reform. They are opposed by a local contractor who wants to build a standard prison. He and his colleagues endeavor to destroy the ranch, but they are thwarted by the daring trio. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Max "Alibi" Terhune, (more)
- 1938
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
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, (more)
- 1938
The villains in the "Three Mesquiteers" entry Red River Range are bunch of progressive cattle thieves. This being 1939, the bad guys round up their stolen goods and herd them into streamlined trucks. It's a plot device that had previously used in Republic's Gene Autry series, but it still had plenty of mileage here. Riding to the rescue are the Mesquiteers, who on this occasion consist of John Wayne (Stony Brooke), Ray Corrigan (Tucson Smith) and Max Terhune (Lullaby Joslin). Lorna Gray, aka Adrian Booth, is the heroine, while raucuous comedy relief is provided by old-timer Polly Moran. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Max "Alibi" Terhune, (more)
- 1938
In this episode of the western series, the Mesquitters try to stop a ring of silk thieves while dealing with a shady medicine show man and his kids. One of his offspring is a beautiful young woman. The Mesquiteers must hurry to find the thieves as they too are suspects. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Max "Alibi" Terhune
- 1938
The "Three Mesquiteers"--John Wayne, Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune--find themselves in the modern-day west in Overland Stage Raiders. The "stages" being raided are actually Greyhound buses, bearing gold shipments to the east. Airborne hijackers steal the gold, but the Mesquiteers vanquish the crooks, then parachute to safety. Overland Stage Raiders represents John Wayne's second appearance in Republic's Three Mesquiteers series, but never mind that. The film's leading lady was former silent star and future cult- figure Louise Brooks, the hauntingly beautiful leading lady of G.W. Pabst's Diary of a Lost Girl and Pandora's Box, here making her last film appearance. When asked in later years why she would accept such an unprepossessing project, the no-nonsense Brooks replied that she needed the three hundred dollars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Max "Alibi" Terhune, (more)
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