Ellen Hall Movies
The daughter of silent screen stars Emory Johnson and Ella Hall, Ellen Hall made an inauspicious screen debut in an unbilled bit part in Universal's Academy Award-winning All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). She returned to films a decade later playing bits in Hellzapoppin' (1941) and Louisiana Purchase and was one of the "Goldwyn Girls" gracing the Danny Kaye extravaganzas Up in Arms (1944) and Wonder Man (1945). Hall also had a supporting role in Bela Lugosi's Voodoo Man (1944) and appeared opposite such B-Western heroes as Johnny Mack Brown, Sunset Carson and, in the Hopalong Cassidy series entry Lumberjack (1944), William Boyd. Retiring to marry restaurateur Lee Langer in 1946, she returned for Jimmy Wakely's Lawless Code and several Cisco Kid television entries. In the 1970s, Hall functioned as president of the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1949
Ostensibly a Jimmy Wakely musical Western -- the singer's final starring vehicle -- The Lawless Code is really a showcase for Riley Hill, a young supporting actor who had played young henchmen for years under the name Roy Harris. While Wakely is barely given enough to warble "Trail to Mexico," Hill appears front and center as Curly Blake, a young rancher whose uncle (Steve Clark) is murdered for his valuable land. Uncle and nephew had been estranged since Curly rejected an offer to sell the family spread to the Red Rock Land & Development Company. Curly is accused of the killing, but the real culprit is the company president, a smooth-talking ex-judge (Tristram Coffin). With assistance from traveling troubadour Wakely and his sidekick, Cannonball (Dub Taylor), Curly rescues lovely Rita Caldwell (Ellen Hall) from Steele's blackmailing henchmen (Kenne Duncan and Terry Frost), one of whom is made to spill the beans about the killing. Wakely and the Sheriff (Bud Osborne) set a trap for Steele, who is soon apprehended. A busy supporting player well into the television era, Riley Hill later played the recurring role of Marshal Riley on Marshall of Gunsight Pass (1950). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
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
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Sid Saylor, (more)
- 1945
Having Wonderful Crime spotlights Michael J. Malone, the murder-solving attorney created by author Craig Rice. The film is also ostensibly based on a novel by Rice, though precious little of the original actually made it to the screen. The story begins as Malone (Pat O'Brien) brusquely informs his newlywed friends Jake and Helene Justus (George Murphy and Carole Landis) that he's not going to allow them to suck him into another murder mystery. Unfortunately for the attorney, Jake and Helene shortly afterward attend a stage magic show wherein the star magician (George Zucco) disappears for real! Their investigation leads to a resort hotel literally packed with murder suspects. When the newlyweds learn too much for their own good, it's up to Malone to come to the rescue and nab the killer. One of the suspects is played by an actress named Anje Berens, who as "Gloria Holden" previously starred in Dracula's Daughter (1936). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, George Murphy, (more)
- 1944
Range Law stars Johnny Mack Brown as "Nevada" and Raymond Hatton as "Sandy", the same characters they played in most of their mid-1940s Monogram westerns. This time, Nevada and Sandy, US marshals both, set out to collar some renegades who've been driving out the local ranchers. It's just possible that one of said ranchers is behind this land-grabbing scheme. The motive: the land is rich with silver. The formidable bad-guy lineup includes Jack Ingram, Stanley Price, and Lynton Brent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1944
In this western, a gang of evil cattle rustlers wreaks havoc upon a community of ranchers. Three Texas Rangers come to the rescue and find out the ring leader works as a local ranch foreman. The bad guys do not escape the trusty Rangers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton return to the screen as saddle pals Nevada and Sandy in Monogram's Pals of the Border. In this one, our heroes are US marshals, hot on the trail of cattle rustlers. To rout out the thieves, Nevada poses as a crook, while Sandy pretends to be hard of hearing. The criminals, it seems, have more than cattle on their minds: they've been trading their stolen goods for priceless jewels. As was customary, Johnny Mack Brown avoided any and all romantic entanglements in Raiders of the Border, allowing supporting actors Craig Woods and Ellen Hall to handle the smooching and hand-holding. The film was adapted from a short story by Johnston McCulley, of "Zorro" fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1944
Though it's not readily obvious from the title, Lumberjack is the 52nd entry in the long-running "Hopalong Cassidy" series. In this one, Hoppy (William Boyd) and his pals California (Andy Clyde) and Jimmy (Jimmy Rogers) come to the rescue of recently widowed Julie (Ellen Hall). It so happens that Julie has fallen heir to a valuable spread of timber property, meaning that any one of her business rivals could have been the murderer of her husband. Not only does Hoppy reveal the killer's identity, but he also moves heaven and earth to make sure that Julie's mortgage-lifting lumber shipment arrives at its destination on time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, Andy Clyde, (more)
- 1944
Though no more expensive or ambitious than any of his earlier Sam Katzman-produced vehicles, Bela Lugosi's Voodoo Man is perhaps the best of the batch, if only because of its quirky supporting cast and casually offbeat dialogue. Lugosi plays Dr. Marlowe, a practioner of voodoo who kidnaps nubile young ladies and places them in a state of suspended animation. He hopes that this practice will somehow restore his zombiefied wife (Ellen Hall) to her normal self. But when he abducts Betty (Wanda McKay), the girlfriend of screenwriter Ralph (Michael Ames), Marlowe's little scheme begins to unravel. Aiding and abetting Marlowe in collecting unwary females is gas-station attendant Nicrolas (George Zucco), while the doctor's retarded handyman Job (John Carradine, who has the film's best and most amusing scenes) dutifully looks after the quick-frozen cuties. When it's all over, Ralph enthusiastically suggests to his studio boss S. K. (not the real Sam Katzman, but reasonable facsimile John Ince) that the story of Marlowe and his voodoo-practicing cohorts would make a great film vehicle for Bela Lugosi! Best line: Lugosi calmly explaining that his wife seems so pale because "she has been dead for twenty-two years now." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, (more)
- 1943
Johnny Mack Brown heads the cast of Monogram's Outlaws of Stampede Pass. Per the title, the film concerns a western community held in the grip of a gang of desperadoes. Brown and his dusty sidekick Raymond Hatton set about to round up the bad guys. We know what's going to happen, but as always, Johnny brings a sense of freshness and spontaneity to the proceedings. Outlaws of Stampede Pass was adapted from a story by Johnston McCulley, of "Zorro" fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
The locale is slightly different in the Charles Starrett western Call of the Rockies, but the familiar Starrett formula remains the same. Starrett plays Clint Buckley, who defends female rancher Ann Bradford (Iris Meredith) against mortgage-holding villain Matt Stark (Dick Curtis). The bad guy retaliates by framing Clint for murder, but our hero sets things right in a bone-shattering fistic battle royal. Donald "Slim" Grayson and the Sons of the Pioneers wander in and out of the action to render a trio of pleasant sagebrush ballads. In addition to Iris Meredith and Dick Curtis, Call of the Rockies features such Starrett-series perennials as Edward LeSaint, Edmund Cobb, and George Cheseboro. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Donald Grayson, (more)
