Bud Geary Movies

Smoky is a Technicolor adaptation of Will James' beloved horse story, first filmed in 1933. Fred MacMurray plays a cowboy who is intrigued by a wild black stallion which refuses to be tamed. MacMurray ropes the stallion and determines to train it. "Smoky" responds to MacMurray, and horse and man form a strong bond; both are mavericks in a sense, and neither wants to be tied down to responsibility. During a cattle raid, Smoky is stolen and sold to various cruel owners. MacMurray finally catches up with his horse during a parade, in which Smoky breaks free from the junk cart he's been forced to pull. A third version starring Fess Parker was filmed in 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Monogram added a bit of music to this otherwise standard Johnny Mack Brown oater, courtesy of former star Smith Ballew, who performs Cindy Walker's "The Strawberry Blonde" and Don Swander and June Hershey's "Livin' Western Style" accompanied by Dusty Rhodes and the Sons of the Sage. Mack Brown, meanwhile, plays Dusty Smith, a drifter coming to the aid of Bill Simpson (Riley Hill), a young hothead accused of wounding a town bully (Reed Howes). Along with old-timer Santa Fe Jones (Raymond Hatton), falsely accused of rustling by smooth saloon owner Blackie Evans (Tristram Coffin), Dusty obtains a job as ranch foreman at the Simpson spread, much to the ire of Blackie, who proves to be the real rustler. Young Bill pays his debt to Dusty by springing him from jail after the latter has been falsely jailed for killing one of the gang and together they track down the villainous saloon owner. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In his final starring Western for PRC, Bob Steele plays Jim Brandon who is imprisoned for a bank robbery and murder he didn't commit. Returning home on parole, Jim is ostracized by all and sundry, except Sheriff Warner (Steve Clark) and Betty Morgan (Ellen Hall), both of whom believe in his innocence. Aided by ranch cook Utah McGirk (Syd Saylor), Jim begins an investigation into the killing of his ranch partner and manages to find the murderer by using a new French discovery, ballistics. In between the fightin' and shootin', Don Weston performs his own "Trying to Forget" and "End of Rainbow Trail." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Durango Kid rides again in Columbia's Landrush. As ever, the masked do-gooder, alias Steve Harmon, is played by Charles Starrett. Bringing up the rear in every sense of the word is Harmon's comical sidekick Smiley Burnette. In this outing, Harmon dons his Durango garb to rescue a group of homesteaders from scurrilous villains. Musical relief is provided by Ozie Waters and his Colorado Rangers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, Red Ryder tries to be a good example for a young man who idolizes his father, an outlaw. The boy wants to follow in his father's footsteps when the hero intervenes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The first of Republic Pictures' Allan Lane Westerns, Silver City Kid was assembled for Don "Red" Barry, whom the studio had decided to groom for "A" pictures. Unfortunately, Lane did not only inherit Barry's plot but also his sidekicks Wally Vernon and Twinkle Watts, the latter Republic's rather belated answer to Shirley Temple. Jack Adams (Lane) and his friend Wildcat Higgins (Vernon) come to the aid of a buddy, whose land is about to be usurped by unscrupulous banker William Stoner (Frank Jaquet) and corrupt attorney Sam Ballard (Harry Woods). Unfortunately, the beleaguered rancher, Steve Clayton (Lane Chandler), is murdered by one of Ballard's henchmen (Glenn Strange), leaving behind a sister, Ruth (Peggy Stewart), and a young daughter, Twinkle (Watts). According to Ruth, Stoner and Ballard are after a rare vein of molypdenum running through the Clayton property and will stop at nothing to get their greedy hands on the land. But they have counted without Jack, whose six-guns settle the matter once and for all. Although saddled with the presence of Vernon, whose Brooklyn accent hardly suggested the wild and woolly West, not to mention the insufferable Miss Watts, Silver City Kid proved Lane to be a handsome and stalwart cowboy hero of the old style. Also of benefit to the film was the presence of Peggy Stewart, perhaps the era's most competent Western heroine. Although Miss Stewart disliked working with the egotistical Lane, she would be forced to appear opposite him in four additional Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Republic Pictures' reigning Bad Guy, Roy Barcroft, was at it again in this standard Allan Lane Western, this time playing Ben Jode, a nasty character conspiring with saloon owner Clyde Flint (Maine Geary) and crooked land agent Trent Parker (Tom London) to cheat the settlers from staking their claims during the Oklahoma Land Rush. The mean-spirited Barcroft attempts to achieve his goal of hegemony by recording false claims in the names of his henchman. Enter lone cowboy Chad Stevens (Lane) who is assisted by verbose Wild West lawyer Don Quixote Martingale (Earle Hodgins). The latter is rescued in the nick of time from a lynching when Chad reveals himself to be an undercover investigator for the U.S. Land Office. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, a wagonmaster stops a greedy newspaper editor from buying up an entire territory. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Substituting for Allan Lane, who'd been called away to active military service, Bill Elliot stars in the Republic "Red Ryder" western Marshal of Laredo. This time, Red comes to the aid of a frontier lawyer, who is suspected of being an outlaw (a logical enough error). Enlisting the aid of his Native American chum Little Beaver (Bobby Blake) and his older friend The Duchess (Alyce Fleming), Ryder finds the real criminals post-haste. With such thugs and pluguglies as Roy Barcroft, George Cheseboro and Bud Geary in the cast, it's amazing that the bad guys weren't exposed in the first reel. Like all the "Red Ryders", Marshal of Laredo was inspired by the popular Red Ryder comic strip and radio series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An interesting entry in Republic Pictures' long-running "Red Ryder" B-Western series, this film is not about hardy settlers braving the Colorado winters, as the title would suggest. Instead it's a sort of Reform School Western about a couple of wayward Chicago boys (Billy Cummings and Freddie Chapman) taken in by Ryder's indomitable aunt, "The Duchess" (Alice Fleming. The boys escaped their very own "Fagin," Bull Reagan (Roy Barcroft), and were given a second chance on the lady's Western ranch. Unfortunately, Reagan returns to do a bit of cattle rustling, once again luring the boys into becoming his accomplices. The stalwart Ryder (William Elliot and his young Indian sidekick, Little Beaver (Robert Blake), come to their rescue, and the real villain is soon put away. Interestingly, at one point in the film, Ryder and his aunt are (unjustly) accused by the townspeople of exploiting their youthful ranch hands. Buckwheat Thomas of Our Gang fame, plays a character named Smoky. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

That veteran reprobate Roy Barcroft plays yet another outlaw in The Cherokee Flash, a perfectly acceptable B-Western from Republic Pictures, but Barcroft's title character reforms this time and even adopts a young orphan. Years later, the Cherokee Flash, now known as Jeff Carson, is visited by former gang members who promptly blackmail him into doing their bidding. Carson refuses, of course, but lands in jail anyway, much to the consternation of now-grown foster son Sunset (Sunset Carson) and grizzled sidekick Utah (Tom London). The sheriff (Bud Geary), however, is working for Mr. Big who, unbeknownst to the Carsons, is Jeff's lawyer, Mark Butler (John Merton). Happily, the new doctor in town (Frank Jaquet) and his pretty daughter (Linda Stirling) discover evidence that will clear Jeff once and for all. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, a crusty old sourdough finally finds the silver mine of his dreams only to find his mine threatened by vicious outlaws. Fortunately, a cowboy hero rides up to save him, but not until considerable rootin' tootin' action. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide