Shug Fisher Movies
- 1970
Aranda (Rodolfo Acosta, the Mexican-born sheriff of Prince River, regularly betrays his own people by participating in a land grab perpetrated by ruthless miner Owen Driscoll (Warren Stevens). The Cartwrights become involved when Aranda frames Mexican farmer Ramon Cardenas (Jaime Sanchez) for murder, the first step in Driscoll's scheme to buy out the other farmers for ridiculously low prices. A shocker ending caps this Bonanza episode, which was written by Ken Pettus and Dick McDonough. "El Jefe" first aired on November 15, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1968
On July 28, 1968, the producers of Bonanza surprised the series' fans by interrupting their summer-rerun schedule with the first-run episode "Stage Door Johnnies." Kathleen Crowley appears as Mademoiselle Denise, the sexy new singer at the Silver Dollar Saloon. The men of the Ponderosa vie for her attentions, only to find themselves defendants in a damage suit when Denise's pampered pooch Andre disappears. Featured in the cast are Mike Mazurki as "Big Man" (what else) and Shug Fisher as the Driver. "Stage Door Johnnies" was written and directed by William F. Claxton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1961
"The Infernal Machine" is a horseless carriage, invented by Hoss Cartwright's friend Daniel Pettibone (Eddie Ryder). Attempting to obtain financing for Dan's creation, Hoss is turned down by everyone except a city slicker named Throckmorton (Willard Waterman). Once this glib stranger agrees to invest money in the carriage, everyone else in town follows suit. Alas, Throckmorton skips town with the cash, leaving Dan and Hoss holding the bag. Also appearing are June Kenney as Robin and Nora Hayden as Big Red. Written by Ward Hawkins and directed by Republic Studios stalwart William Witney, "The Infernal Machine" first aired April 22, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
John Ford's last western film, Cheyenne Autumn was allegedly produced to compensate for the hundreds of Native Americans who had bitten the dust in Ford's earlier films (that was the director's story, anyway). Set in 1887, the film recounts the defiant migration of 300 Cheyennes from their reservation in Oklahoma territory to their original home in Wyoming. They have done this at the behest of chiefs Little Wolf (Ricardo Montalban) and Dull Knife (Gilbert Roland), peaceful souls who have been driven to desperate measures because the US government has ignored their pleas for food and shelter. Since the Cheyennes' trek is in defiance of their treaty, Captain Thomas Archer (Richard Widmark), who agrees with the Indians in principle, reluctantly leads his troops in pursuit of the tribe. While there was never any intention to shed blood, the white press finds it politically expedient to distort the Cheyennes' action into a declaration of war. Thanks to the cruelties of such chauvinistic whites as Captain Oscar Wessels (Karl Malden), the Cheyennes are forced to defend themselves--and whenever Indians take arms against whites in the 1880s, it's usually misrepresented as a massacre. Only the intervention of US secretary of the interior Carl Schurz (Edward G. Robinson) prevents the hostilities from erupting into wholesale bloodshed. Based on a novel by Mari Sandoz, Cheyenne Autumn is a cinematic elegy--not only for the beleaguered Cheyennes, but for John Ford's fifty years in pictures. It is weakest when arbitrarily throwing in a wearisome romance between Richard Widmark and pacifistic schoolmarm Carroll Baker, who out of sympathy for the Indians has joined them in their 1500-mile westward journey. When the Warner Bros. people decided that the film ran too long, they chopped out the wholly unnecessary but very funny episode involving a poker-obsessed Wyatt Earp (James Stewart). Contrary to popular belief, this episode was included in the earliest non-roadshow prints of Cheyenne Autumn; the scene was excised only when the film went into its second and third runs in 1966 (it has since been restored). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, (more)
- 1965
Git! tries very hard within its low-budget limits to offer Disney-style family entertainment. Jack Chaplain plays 17-year-old Deke, who rescues a woebegone Irish setter from a sorry demise. Teaming up with Elaine (Heather North), the daughter of widowed dog-breeder Andrew Garrett (Richard Webb), Deke tries to transform the pooch into a first-class hunting dog. Not that there aren't any setbacks: in fact, the film is virtually nothing but setbacks for the people the audience cares about. During its 92-minute running time, Git! manages to accommodate three songs, none of them as interesting as the dogs paraded before the camera. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In this musical western, a wanderer saves a ranch from the badguys. Music and gunplay ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Paladin (Richard Boone) finds himself in the middle of a long-standing feud between two Native American brothers. Jim Redrock (Charles Bronson) is the ineffectual sheriff of a small town, while brother Abe Redrock (Michael Keep) is a wild, untamed outlaw. When Jim offers a $200 reward for the capture of Abe, Abe counters with an offer of $500 for the capture of Jim. Forsaking any hopes of monetary gain, Paladin dedicates himself to reuniting the two warring siblings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Eight years ago, Paladin (Richard Boone) was unable to keep his promise to assure a fair trial for John Bartlett (Ben Johnson). Now that Bartlett has been released from jail, Paladin tries to make up for his past transgressions by provided the man a safe passage to visit his family--but there are five hired killers determined to see that Bartlett never gets home. Featured in the cast as Bartlett's son Johnny is Peter Boone, the real-life son of series star Richard Boone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Paladin (Richard Boone) is intrigued when his morning mail yields one-half of a $500 bill and a stagecoach ticket to Yuma, Arizona. En route to Yuma, Paladin finds that he has been snared in a death-trap, courtesy of Mexican bandit Solomon (Anthony Caruso). The other stagecoach passengers are held at gunpoint by Solomon's cohorts--and it is up to Paladin to determine who will live and who will die. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1943
Five singing farmer boys (the Hoosier Hotshots) have built up quite a following in their local community. Everybody likes them except for one politician. One day, the Baker Boys, as they call themselves, decide to join the Air Corps. Unfortunately, the politician heads the town draft board and spitefully denies them entry. This being a romantic musical, it doesn't take long before the politician's five lovely daughters (who are conveniently the same age as the five Baker Boys) return from finishing school. Romantic sparks fly everywhere when the Bakers decide to court the girls and then try to marry them, not to get wives, but to scare the girls' father into approving their enlistment. Fortunately, or unfortunately, things don't quite turn out as planned. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Evans, Isabel Randolph, (more)
- 1975
It's still the same old story...but what a story. This umpteenth filmization of the classic Mark Twain novel stars Ron Howard as Huck and Donny Most as Tom Sawyer. After faking his own murder to escape his brutish Pap (played by Howard's real-life father Rance), Huck and fugitive slave Jim (Antonio Fargas) fashion a raft and head off down the Mississippi. The darker elements and sociological commentary of the Twain original are carefully excised from this version, the better to allow more time for the antics of those "royal" rapscallions, the King (Jack Elam) and the Duke (Merle Haggard). Mark Twain himself makes a guest appearance, in the person of Royal Dano. Filmed along the Sacramento River in California (a frequent movie "stand-in" for the Mississippi), Huckleberry Finn was first broadcast March 25, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Henry Fonda returned to films after an eight-year absence in this masterful adaptation of the actor's Broadway hit Mister Roberts. Written and partially directed by Joshua Logan, the film stars Fonda as Lt. Doug Roberts, chief cargo officer of the supply ship "Reluctant." WW2 is in its last few months, and Roberts is itching for combat duty. But the Reluctant's surly, despotic captain (James Cagney), anxious to use Roberts to expedite his own promotion, refuses to sign any of Roberts' transfer requests. Helping to brighten Mister Roberts' humdrum existence are his best friends, Ensign Frank Pulver (Jack Lemmon, in an Oscar-winning performance) and the ship's philosophical doctor (William Powell, in his final film appearance). Most of the laughs are provided by Pulver, officer "in charge of laundry and morale." When he isn't wheeling and dealing to bring a bevy of beautiful nurses on board the Reluctant, Pulver is concocting elaborate schemes to avenge himself against the Captain -- even though he's spent 14 months on the Reluctant without ever meeting his nemesis. The film's highlights include the efforts by Roberts, Pulver, and Doc to mix a bottle of Scotch from Coca-Cola, Iodine, and other vital ingredients; and Mister Roberts' (and later Ensign Pulver's) assertion of manhood by tossing the Captain's precious palm tree overboard. Halfway through shooting, legendary director John Ford was replaced, ostensibly because of illness, by Mervyn LeRoy. One of the finest service comedies ever made, Mister Roberts spawned a less amusing sequel, Ensign Pulver (1964), as well as a 1965 TV sitcom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, James Cagney, (more)
- 1963
Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) takes it upon himself to write a new brochure for the Shady Rest Hotel. Since he's describing what he hopes will be the "future" Shady Rest, Joe is a bit careless with the facts, waxing rhapsodic about the luxuries and splendors of the hotel and even suggesting that it is a part of the vast Hilton chain. Unfortunately, the brochure is prematurely mailed to the community newspaper's snooty travel columnist Mrs. Stroud (played by Elvia Allman, who would later join the cast in the reccuring role of Selma Plout, hated rival of hotel owner Kate Bradley [Bea Benadaret]). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
John Wayne stars as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, whose devotion to duty has cost him his marriage to his beloved Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara). Yorke gets word that his son, Jeff (Claude Jarman Jr.) -- whom he hasn't seen in 15 years -- has been dropped as a cadet from West Point, and that he lied about his age to enlist in the cavalry, in an effort to redeem himself. By chance, the boy is then assigned to his father's post. Once more, as a function of his duty as a cavalry officer, Yorke must sacrifice his love of family -- he cannot show any preferential treatment to the boy, or exhibit any sign of love and affection. But Jeff is too strong to be injured by his father's actions, and already enough of a man that he is befriended by two older recruits, troopers Tyree (Ben Johnson) and Boone (Harry Carey Jr.), who watch out for him while taking him in as a virtual equal. Yorke's resolve is further tested when his estranged wife, Kathleen, arrives at the post, the better to look after her son -- and possibly to buy back the boy's enlistment, which Yorke, as commanding officer in a remote post with a critical shortage of men, can't and won't permit. After an attack by the Apaches, Yorke orders the post's women and children to be moved to safety, and Jeff is assigned as part of the troop conducting the caravan, despite his wish to participate in the planned action against the Apaches. The caravan is attacked, and the wagon with the children is taken by the Apaches to their encampment in a deserted village across the Rio Grande in Mexico. Yorke has been given permission by General Sheridan (J. Carrol Naish) to take his men into Mexico in pursuit of the Apaches, but the punitive expedition is now a rescue mission, as the Indians' night-time vengeance dance is the prelude to certain slaughter of the children at daybreak. As part of the mission, it's up to Tyree, the slyest man in the troop, to infiltrate the enemy camp, and he chooses Jeff and Boone as the two men he wants with him on this dangerous mission. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
The first big budget Western to feature a black hero, this military courtroom drama from director John Ford starred his long-time stock player Woody Strode. When a cavalry commander and his daughter are discovered murdered, racism amidst the 9th Cavalry immediately leads to suspicions that Sergeant Braxton Rutledge (Strode), a black man, is responsible for the crime. Arrested by Lieutenant Tom Cantrell (Jeffrey Hunter), Rutledge escapes from captivity during an Indian raid but voluntarily returns to warn his fellow cavalrymen that they are about to face an ambush by hostiles, saving the detachment from certain doom. At first among those who accept Rutledge's probable guilt, Cantrell and his love interest Mary Beecher (Constance Towers) become two of the accused man's scarce defenders as he is put on trial and faces testimony from prejudiced "witnesses." ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Hunter, Constance Towers, (more)
- 1970
Smoke stars Ron Howard as a sullen farm youth who resents the fact that his widowed mother (Jacqueline Scott) has remarried. Earl Holliman costars as Howard's new stepfather, a sheep rancher, who'd give anything to gain Ron's love and respect. Nursing an injured German shepherd back to health, the boy invests all of his affections in the dog. When the dog's real owners show up, Howard is certain that Holliman will betray him and return the animal. Just as in the original William Corbin novel, Smoke ends on a note that is both satisfying and logical. Ron Howard's real father Rance shows up briefly in a flashback sequence. Originally presented as a two-part episode of TV's Wonderful World of Disney, Smoke first aired February 1 and 8, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
It took a lot of courage to set up a new production company devoted to "B" westerns in 1949, a year when the genre was showing signs of winding down. Filmed in Trucolor, Stallion Canyon was the maiden effort from Kanab Productions, a Utah-based organization. Former Sons of the Pioneers vocalist Ken Curtis made his starring debut in this one, playing a ranch foreman who does his best to track down a rogue stallion. The rest of the cast is comprised of unknowns, save for villains Ted Adams and Forrest Taylor. Cheaply produced, Stallion Canyon has the twin advantages of a relatively new leading man and excellent location photography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Curtis, Carolina Cotton, (more)
Republic's Trucolor "special" Susanna Pass stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, King and Queen of the West. Rogers plays "himself," while Evans is cast as female doctor Kay Parker. The villains this time around are trying to force a fish hatchery owner out of business so they can drill for underwater oil. The film's action content never impedes its musical highlights (and vice versa); among the vocal contributors are Estrelita Rodriguez (who figures prominently in one of the cliff-hanging action setpieces) and Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. Susanna Pass represented the on-screen reteaming of Rogers and Evans, after several attempts by Republic to link up their Number One cowboy star with other leading ladies. Surprising, Rogers isn't teamed with a comical sidekick, though Estrelita Rodriguez is admittedly pretty funny as a flirtatious senorita. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, Estelita Rodriguez, (more)
- 1943
This musical features a number of old-time country music stars as it follows the exploits of a pretty dairy magnate who impersonates a worker to discover the shenanigans going on inside her plant. Songs include: "Cheese Cake," "Swing Your Partner" (Charles Henderson), "Cracker Barrel County" (Frank Loesser, Jule Styne), "Kiss Your Partner" (Dick Sanford, John Redmond, Frank Weldon), "Shug, Shug Yodel" (George "Shug" Fisher), "In the Cool of the Evening" (Walter Bullock, Styne). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Clark, Esther Dale, (more)
- 1979
- G
- Add The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again to QueueAdd The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again to top of Queue
Tim Conway and Don Knotts, mere supporting characters in the original Apple Dumpling Gang, are promoted to starring roles in the 1979 sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. Once more cast as clumsy, soft-hearted western outlaws, Conway and Knotts come to the rescue of cavalry private Tim Matheson. The villain, lieutenant Philip Pine, is undermining the authority of Matheson's commander Harry Morgan, and Matheson wants to find out why. Featured performers include Jack Elam as Big Mac and Ruth Buzzi as Tough Kate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Conway, Don Knotts, (more)
- 1970
In the sixth episode of an eight-part story arc, Shorty Kellems (Shug Fisher) manages to avoid marrying Elverna Bradshaw (Elvia Allman) by taking a much younger bride -- gold-digging bank secretary Gloria (Bettina Brenna). Hoping to annul the marriage, the Clampetts scheme to convince Gloria that her marriage was a major mistake. To that end, they set up a miniature farm in the back yard of their mansion, the better to expose Gloria to the hardships and drudgery of being a hillbilly wife. "Annul That Marriage" originally aired on February 18, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
In the seventh episode of an eight-part story arc, the Clampetts take up residence in the tiny "mountain cabin" built in the back yard of their Beverly Hills mansion. Meanwhile, Shorty Kellems (Shug Fisher) has learned that he is not really married to his gold-digging bride Gloria (Bettina Brenna). Undaunted, Shorty transforms the now-vacant Clampett home into a hotel -- for single female bank secretaries! "Hotel for Women" first aired on February 25, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In the fourth of five episodes filmed on location at Silver Dollar City in the Missouri Ozarks, Jane Hathaway and Jethro arrive in town to link up with the rest of the Clampett family. Succeeding where Granny has failed, Jane manages to find a potential husband for Elly May, a handsome young backwoodsman named Matthew Templeton. Roger Torrey, who had originally been the number one contender for the role of Jethro Bodine before Max Baer Jr. landed the part, appears as Matthew. "Jane Finds Elly a Man" was first telecast on October 15, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
