Robert Walker Movies

Gene Autry enjoyed considerable success with his recording of Stan Jones' haunting "Riders in the Sky". He then parlayed this success into a film, which proved to be one of Autry's best postwar efforts. The basic plot concerns Autry's efforts to clear rancher Ralph Lawson (Steve Darrell) of a trumped-up murder charge. The trumper-upper, Rock McCleary, is played by Robert Livingston, a former cowboy star who turned to character roles late in his career. The heroine is played by Gloria Henry, ten years removed from her TV fame as Alice Mitchell in Dennis the Menace. The title song is imaginatively staged by director John English, with a ghostly Tom London riding hard and fast as a montage of moody images play across the screen. So effective was this vignette that Columbia included it in the coming-attractions trailer for Riders in the Sky. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

George Stevens' Talk of the Town is a quick-witted comedy driven by wonderful performances by Cary Grant, Ronald Colman and Jean Arthur. Michael Lightcap (Colman) is a stuffy law professor in line to a Supreme Court appointment, who is spending the summer at the house of schoolteacher Nora Shelley (Arthur). But Lightcap is not the only guest at the house. Shelley has also let Leopold Dilg (Grant)--a man who had recently escaped from prison, where he was serving a sentence for false accusations of immolating a local factory--stay at the house, telling Lightcap that he is a gardener. In addition to striking up a friendship, Lightcap and Dilg also compete for the affections of Shelley. Eventually, the professor learns of Dilg's true identity, finding out that Leopold was framed by a crooked government, led by the foreman of the factory, who supposedly died in the fire. When Dilg is captured by the police, Lightcap comes to his defense, bringing the still-alive foreman out of hiding and, in the process, clearing Leopold of all the charges. Talk of the Town received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Original Story, Best Score, Best Editing, and Best Interior Decoration, yet it lost in all of the categories. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a succession of reporters shout into telephones announcing the death of Senator Samuel Foley. Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), the state's senior senator, puts in a call to Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee) reporting the news. Hopper then calls powerful media magnate Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), who controls the state -- along with the lawmakers. Taylor orders Hopper to appoint an interim senator to fill out Foley's term; Taylor has proposed a pork barrel bill to finance an unneeded dam at Willet Creek, so he warns Hopper he wants a senator who "can't ask any questions or talk out of turn." After having a number of his appointees rejected, at the suggestion of his children Hopper nominates local hero Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), leader of the state's Boy Rangers group. Smith is an innocent, wide-eyed idealist who quotes Jefferson and Lincoln and idolizes Paine, who had known his crusading editor father. In Washington, after a humiliating introduction to the press corps, Smith threatens to resign, but Paine encourages him to stay and work on a bill for a national boy's camp. With the help of his cynical secretary Clarissa Sanders (Jean Arthur), Smith prepares to introduce his boy's camp bill to the Senate. But when he proposes to build the camp on the Willets Creek site, Taylor and Paine force him to drop the measure. Smith discovers Taylor and Paine want the Willets Creek site for graft and he attempts to expose them, but Paine deflects Smith's charges by accusing Smith of stealing money from the boy rangers. Defeated, Smith is ready to depart Washington, but Saunders, whose patriotic zeal has been renewed by Smith, exhorts him to stay and fight. Smith returns to the Senate chamber and, while Taylor musters the media forces in his state to destroy him, Smith engages in a climactic filibuster to speak his piece: "I've got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I'd like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna leave this body until I do get them said." ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The fifth of eight Metropolitan Bob Steele B-Westerns, The Pal From Texas featured the diminutive screen cowboy attempting to prevent old prospector pal (Josef Swickard) from being swindled by an unscrupulous tavern owner (Ted Adams). When the friend, Texas, is found murdered, suspicion immediately falls on Bob. Even Texas' niece, Alice (Claire Rochelle), believes Bob to be the killer. With the sheriff (Jack Perrin) and his posse close behind, Bob manages to unearth enough evidence to convict the tavern owner and his gang of racketeering and murder. With his innocence firmly established, Bob proposes to Alice. A blond starlet who often portrayed brassy dames, Claire Rochelle was Bob Steele's leading lady in four Westerns from 1937-1939. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In his sixth and final Western release of 1939, diminutive Bob Steele played a cowboy, who, searching for his father's killer, is mistaken for a notorious outlaw in a corrupt border town. Directed by producer Harry S. Webb's younger brother Ira, El Diablo Rides featured the usual Metropolitan Pictures stock company of villains, including Carleton Young, Ted Adams, and Robert Walker. The barely released Western, however, was a far cry from Bob Steele's main effort of 1939, the role of Curly in Lewis Milestone's perhaps definitive version of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

An above-average "Hopalong Cassidy" series entry, Borderland has Hoppy (William Boyd) going undercover as a bandit in a tough Mexican border town in order to trap a notorious bandit known only as The Fox. Not even sidekicks Johnny Nelson (James Ellison) and Windy (George "Gabby" Hayes) are in on the scheme, concocted jointly by Mexican Army Colonel Gonzales (Trevor Bardette) and Texas Ranger Major Stafford (Earle Hodgins). Lodging with widowed Grace Rand (Nora Lane) and her small daughter, Molly (Charlene Wyatt), both of whom he abuses in order to protect his cover, Hoppy learns that The Fox (Stephen Morris aka Morris Ankrum) is himself performing a bit of masquerade, in this case as a halfwit known as Loco. Windy, however, innocently spills the beans and is promptly kidnapped along with Molly. Chased by Hoppy, who is himself tailed by the villain's henchmen, Gonzales' troops, and a wounded Johnny Nelson, The Fox (alias Loco) escapes to his secret hideaway, a cabin stocked with dynamite. There, Hoppy catches up with him and in an exciting finale keeps the master villain at bay until help arrives. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Caryl is played by Lois Wilde, but despite her title-character status Ms. Wilde is third-billed behind a pair of "juniors." Doggy star Rin Tin Tin Jr. and human hero Francis X. Bushman Jr. handle all the rough stuff, while Caryl alternates between waiting patiently and requiring rescue. Rinty Jr. is the sidekick of Mountie Bushman Jr.; together they get their man (Robert Walker) after five reels of rugged adventure. The original story is credited to Northwoods specialist James Oliver Curwood, though chances are that he merely collected the royalties and ran. Caryl of the Mountains was released by a production firm called Reliable, which usually wasn't. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Stuffed dummies on horseback manage to fool a gang of munitions smugglers in this farfetched low-budget Western from the Reliable company. Tom Tyler stars as a Texas ranger going undercover to infiltrate the aforementioned gang, which is lead by nasty Travis (Al Bridge). The outlaw, however, learns of the ranger's subterfuge and orders him killed. Luckily, Tom's associate, Jimmy (Rex Lease), manages to get help from the ranger captain (William Gould) and the stuffed dummies are send in ahead of the rescue team. Using subterfuge, Travis escapes with Jimmy's blond sister, Joan (Margaret Nearing), but is eventually tracked down by Tom. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

The first of three inexpensive serials produced by Louis Weiss for Poverty Row company Stage and Screen Productions, The Black Coin centered around 12 black coins, who together form a treasure map. The plot was as old as the Hollywood Hills, and didn't quite deliver the same punch by 1936, despite the addition of the popular G-men to the proceedings. Secret Service agents Ralph Graves and Ruth Mix go in search of the villains who are using the Caswell Shipping Company as a front to their smuggling operation when they stumble over the secret of The Black Coin. Ruth Mix, the daughter of Tom, furnished much-needed name value to all three Stage and Screen serials. William Desmond, a major serial star in the silent era, plays a bit as a bartender in The Black Coin, while, more amusingly, veteran stunt man Yakima Canutt appears as a character named "Ed McMahon." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In the fourth of 18 inexpensive Tom Tyler Westerns produced by Reliable Pictures and filmed on location in Newhall, California, Tom and his sidekick, Windy (Ben Corbett), are hired by John Baker's Bar X Ranch. Baker (Lafe McKee) offers a $1,000 reward to anyone who can capture "The Phantom," a wild stallion suspected of chasing a herd of mares through a hole in the Bar X fence. The real horse thief, however, is Bar X's unscrupulous neighbor, Mack Larkin (Dick Alexander), who is in cahoots with Baker's crooked foreman, Bert (Charles "Slim" Whitaker). Tom befriends "The Phantom" and is determined to prove the horse innocent. Despite the skepticism of Baker's pretty daughter, Helen (Alice Dahl), Tom and Windy set out to prove Larkin's guilt. Although sharing the same character name, "Windy," the rustic Corbett had little else in common with George Hayes (later nicknamed "Gabby"), the quintessential comic sidekick of "Hopalong Cassidy" series fame. A holdover from the silent era, Corbett was woefully unfunny and an amateurish actor to boot. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

An innocent but admittedly none-too-bright victim of circumstance, Mary Burns (played by perennial movie victim Sylvia Sidney) is inexorably sucked into the vortex of organized crime. She tries to escape her murderer husband Babe Wilson (Alan Baxter), but it's a losing proposition, especially since the newspapers have already branded her a gun moll. Making matters worse, she is thrown into prison for crimes committed by her husband (understandably, since her behavior at her trial was self-defeating to say the least). Though believing her guilty, detective Harper (Wallace Ford) allows Mary to escape from jail, hoping in this way to track down Wilson. Nominal hero Alec MacDonald (Melvyn Douglas) isn't much help; not introduced until the film's halfway point, he spends most of his time in a hospital bed, recuperating from an injury. In fact, the story is wrapped up only after MacDonald is rescued by the heroine! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It is Richard Talmadge times two in this low-budget action adventure about a young man, Dick Rainey, who switches places with Norman Gray, a look-alike thief out to double-cross the gang. The latter ends up very much dead and Dick has a hard time explaining his real identity. Lovely Audrey Ferry (Janet Chandler) believes him, though, and together they catch the real crooks. Filmed at Universal by Reliable Pictures Corp., Now or Never was retitled Tearing Into Trouble when released to television in the early '50s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Former silent screen serial queen Dorothy Gulliver stars in this very low-budget Western as the owner of a mine terrorized by a gang of ruffians. Looking into several troubling occurrences at the site, including the murder of a mining engineer, Pat (Gulliver) learns that Devil Jackson (George Chesebro) and his henchmen are using the location for their counterfeiting operations. Happily, a couple of undercover agents, Joaquin (Rex Lease) and Pedro (Earl Douglas), are present to save Pat from certain death in the hands of the gang. Fighting Caballero was released by an outfit calling itself Superior Talking Pictures, Inc. -- a distinct misnomer. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi