Helen Foster Movies

In this documentary-inspired thriller, P.J. McNeal (James Stewart) is a reporter who is asked by his editor to look into a potential story: their newspaper has been carrying an ad offering a substantial reward for information regarding the murder of a policeman that occurred eleven years ago. It turns out the ad was placed by a cleaning woman named Tillie Wiecek (Kasia Orzazewski); her son Frank (Richard Conte) was convicted of the crime, but she is thoroughly convinced her son had nothing to do with the killing. McNeal doesn't believe for a moment that Frank could be innocent, but he sees a good human interest story in Tillie and writes a piece that receives a great deal of favorable attention. Brian Kelly (Lee J. Cobb), McNeal's editor, thinks there might be more to this story and asks P.J. to look into the original murder case. To McNeal's surprise, Frank passes a lie detector test in which he proclaims his innocence, and the more he digs into records on the case, the more he finds wrong with the original investigation; some evidence is missing, much is inconclusive, and the reporter begins to wonder if Frank might have been railroaded after all, or if the police might be trying to keep something quiet. Call Northside 777 was based on a true story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The town of Vinegaroon, TX, is the home to Judge Roy Bean (Walter Brennan), who calls himself "The Only Law West of the Pecos." Bean keeps a saloon, where he also conducts trials, using his office to get fat on fines and the seizure of property, and hanging most of those who get in his way, sometimes more than one a day. Cole Hardin (Gary Cooper) is a saddle-tramp brought in on a charge of stealing a horse belonging to Bean's chief stooge, Chickenfoot (Paul Hurst). Hardin's conviction by a jury made up of Bean's hangers-on (with the undertaker, played with low-key comic zeal by Charles Halton, waiting eagerly for the verdict and the hanging) seems certain, despite his contention that he bought the horse from another man, until Hardin recognizes the judge's obsession with the English actress Lily Langtry. Hardin feigns having seen, met, and known Miss Langtry intimately, and he cons the judge into delaying the death sentence until Hardin can send for a lock of the actress' hair that he supposedly has in El Paso -- that's long enough for the real horse thief (Tom Tyler) to show up and get killed.

By the time the dust settles, the judge, for all of his warped sense of justice and corrupt nature, finds himself genuinely liking Hardin as something of a kindred spirit, as bold and daring as he was in his youth, and feeling something like friendship for him. But Bean also tries to shoot Hardin when he decides to cast his lot with the homesteaders, led by Jane-Ellen Mathews (Doris Davenport) and her father, Caliphet (Fred Stone), who have been fighting for survival against Bean and his cattle-rancher allies every step of the way. Hardin tries to appeal to the better nature within the judge, and also saves him from an attempted lynching, but when that fails, and a corn crop is burned and Mr. Mathews killed, he sees no choice but to take action. He gets an arrest warrant sworn out and is deputized by the county sheriff. Taking Bean in his saloon or anywhere in his town (renamed Langtry by the judge, in honor of the actress) is impossible, but then it's announced that Lily Langtry will be appearing in Texas, a long day's ride away from Bean's stronghold. The judge, dressed in his full Civil War regalia and with his men in tow, rides to see the performance while Hardin gets ready to try and arrest him. The kind of climactic shoot-out that follows has been done to death in the decades since, but it was something new and revelatory in a Western in 1940, and still plays beautifully on a dramatic level, capturing in full the complexity of the relationship between these two antagonists. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The Road to Ruin is a remake of notorious 1928 exploitationer of the same name, courtesy of the fly-by-night firm of True Life Photoplays (aka Willis Kent Productions). Neglected by her parents, a feisty teenager falls into a bad crowd. She ends up working for a call-girl operation, "servicing" wild parties. Imagine her dismay when, on one assignment, the heroine finds herself in a compromising situation with her own father (Richard Tucker)! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pet monkey saves the day in this otherwise unusually adult Bob Steele Western. The bantam-weight Steele plays Nick, aka "the Kid," a sort of prairie Robin Hood planning to return some jewels he stole from French performer Lola Montaine (Naomi Judge). Nick's partner-in-crime, Sheriff Jake Sharpe (Charles King), has other ideas, and the two are soon at loggerheads. After killing Lola in order to retrieve a confession he had signed in a moment of weakness, Jack blames the killing on Nick. Lola's pet monkey recovers the signed statement and hands it over to the upstanding deputy sheriff (Hank Bell). Chased by Nick, the fleeing Jake is killed falling from a cliff. Back in Grass Valley, Nick, now a hero, is free to continue romancing pretty postal worker Gail Winters (Helen Foster). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Ghost City was one of eight Monogram westerns which teamed veteran cowboy star Bill Cody with juvenile performer Andy Shuford. The motivating factor in this one is a valuable gold mine which rightfully belongs to heroine Helen Foster. The deed to the mine is currently (and illegally) in the possession of villain Walter Miller, but Cody aims to alter this status quo. The film is dominated by fight scenes and riding interludes, with scant attention paid to the romantic subplot (much to the relief of Bill Cody's younger fans). Jack Carlyle, who later had a career in "exploitation" pictures, plays a surly deputy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The arrival of a new rider creates a furor at a rodeo in this average Tom Keene Western from RKO. Joining Fred Burns' training camp, Keene not only causes trouble between the veteran riders but also gets on the wrong side of the owner's daughter (Helen Foster) when he naively dallies with coquettish rodeo girl Marie Quillan. On a dare, Keene agrees to ride Wild Fury, a horse that earlier injured one of Burns' best men and is badly hurt. But as Calgary (Harry Bowen) learns, Keene's gear has been sabotaged by the nasty Robert Frazer, the rodeo's resident star and Quillan's fiancé. Recovered in record time, the boy gets back in the saddle only to discover that he has lost his nerve. He leaves the ranch to seek solace in the wilderness, but an encounter with a wild stallion brings him renewed courage. Returning to the outfit, Keene learns that his erstwhile nemesis is now a cripple after yet another encounter with Wild Fury. Does the rejuvenated Keene conquer his fears and ride Wild Fury to victory? And does he fall in love with the rodeo owner's blond daughter? Why, of course he does! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The answer to the question asked by small-scale Sono Art/World Wide Pictures in this minor crime drama was a resounding -- only if the screenwriters pulled a couple of fast ones. All-purpose leading man Red Lease starred as Jerry Heath, an intrepid reporter whose sister, June (Helen Foster), goes to prison along with her guilty husband Dan (Robert Ellis). She dies behind bars and Jerry vows revenge. Covering a police raid, Jerry saves District Attorney Raymond's (Henry B. Walthall) wild daughter Kay (Blanche Mehaffey), who is found dancing on a table in her underwear. Although avoiding arrest, the girl is soon blackmailed by Dan, who has been released from prison and is then promptly murdered. Jerry is the most likely suspect, and, believing Kay to be the culprit, offers no defense. Sentenced to death row, he is saved by a last minute confession from a petty crook (Ernie Adams). Always a shaky proposition, Sono Art/World Wide Pictures managed to survive until 1933 on a steady diet of cheap crime dramas like Is There Justice? and B-Westerns starring Bob Steele and Ken Maynard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The surly but magnificent Rex the Wonder Horse was top-billed in Universal's Hoofbeats of Vengeance. As had been the case in several previous actioners, Rex is "teamed" with human star Jack Perrin, here cast as Canadian Mountie Jack Gordon. Together, horse and man prove that an "honest" politician named Tom O'Rourke (Edwards Davis) is Graft Personified. They also rescue winsome heroine Sally Drennan (Mildred June) from a raging tenement fire. Combining several popular movie genres, Hoofbeats of Vengeance isn't always credible, but it sure is a lot of fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A circus clown creates trouble when he serves on a jury and refuses to convict an innocent young woman for murder. His vote causes a hung jury for five long days. In the end, it is discovered why he is so sure the girl is innocent---it was he who killed the man for abusing his adopted daughter. When the court and new jury hear this, the render him innocent and all is well. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Universal's infamously obstreperous equine star, Rex the Wonder Horse, earned top-billing over leading man Jack Perrin in this, one of the studio's final silent Westerns. Rex plays the "World's Greatest Trained Horse" and is the star attraction of the Carney Carnival and Road Show. The show's new proprietor, crooked sportsman Martin Trask (Tom London), mistakenly assumes that he has full ownership of not only the horse but also his rider, lovely equestrienne Mademoiselle Estrella (Helen Foster). Rex and Estrella -- who is really an American girl named Margie -- seek shelter with young cowboy Jack Merritt (Perrin). In retaliation, Trask cancels Merritt's mortgage and blackmails Margie to leave with him. The evil showman then attempts to force himself on the girl, but she is rescued in the nick of time by Jack, Rex and Jack's horse Starlight. The Harvest of Hate was helmed by Universal's longtime head of serial and Western production, Henry MacRae. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy, an oddball wife fears that her husband's rich uncle will not like her and therefore disinherit her spouse, so she engages another woman to play her when the uncle comes to call. Songs include: "One Sweet Little Yes," "Clowning," "Beauty Shop," "Am I Blue?," "Let Me Have My Dreams," "My Strongest Weakness is You," (by Grant Clarke, Harry Akst), "Down Among the Sugar Cane" (by Clarke, Charles Tobias), and "So Long Letty" (Earl Carroll). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide