George "Gabby" Hayes Movies

Superior locations, above-average direction, better than usual lighting and competent acting were the ingredients that made producer Harry Sherman's Hopalong Cassidy vehicles perhaps the finest series of B-Westerns of its time. The fifth in the series, North of the Rio Grande introduced former grip Russell Hayden in the continuing role as young Lucky Jenkins and remains one of the best of the early entries. When Hopalong's brother Buddy is murdered during a train holdup, and it is pronounced an accidental death by the town's kangaroo court, Cassidy (William Boyd) and sidekick Windy (George Hayes) hasten back to Cottonwood Gulch. The former arrives disguised as Wild Bill Dynamite McGrew, a "notorious" train robber, while Windy obtains a job tickling the ivories at the local saloon. Hayes' stint as an Irish-accented bar pianist leads to one of the film's many delights, as veteran silent screen villain Walter Long leads the assembly in a sing-along of Wearing of the Green. Hopalong, meanwhile, robs a train to get the attention of the mysterious Lone Wolf, the master criminal responsible for his brother Buddy's death. Lone Wolf is soon revealed to be leading citizen Henry Stoneham (Stephen Morris alias Morris Ankrum), who in desperation kidnaps Windy and the train. With Hopalong, Lucky, and the posse in hot pursuit, the chase ends with Windy making the unwanted acquaintance of a painful-looking cactus. Saloon Belle Bernadene Hayes, the film's otherwise rather superfluous leading lady, is awarded the closing line: "Funny, all my life, men like Cassidy have been saying goodbye to me." Lee J. Cobb (billed simply as "Lee Cobb") made his screen debut as a railroad president, and Bernadene Hayes' sister Lorraine played Hopalong's grieving sister-in-law. With one "Hayden" and two "Hayes" already in the cast, producer Sherman renamed the actress Lorraine Randall for the occasion. North of the Rio Grande was filmed on locations at Sonora, California, with interiors done at the Grand National studios in Hollywood. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The "Hopalong Cassidy" series closed out 1937 with its 14th entry, Texas Trail. No surprises in the cast: William Boyd is Hoppy,George "Gabby" Hayes is Windy, and Russell Hayden is Lucky. This time the story takes place during the time of the Spanish American war, when the U.S. army was rounding up as many horses as possible. Hoppy and his pals are hired to deliver an equestrian shipment to the government, a task made difficult by a vicious gang of horse thieves. When things get too hot for our heroes, the Cavalry comes riding to the rescue (a particularly well-photographed sequence, courtesy of the talented Russell Harlan). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A former assistant to W.S. Van Dyke, Leslie Selander took over directorial chores from the unimaginative Nate Watt with this "Hopalong Cassidy" series entry in which Hoppy (William Boyd) believes that his girlfriend and her paleontologist brother are actually heading a gang of rustlers. The hero is only half-right; foppish Horace Hepburn (Harry Worth) quickly reveals his ignorance of skulls and bones but sister Nora (Nora Lane) remains in the dark about her brother's nefarious schemes. When Hepburn learns that the Bar 20 is driving a herd of cattle through the Black Buttes, he plans to trap Hoppy and sidekicks Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden) and Windy (George "Gabby" Hayes), but manages only to wound Artie (Billy King), the nephew of rancher Buck Peters (William Duncan). Hepburn later attempts to assassinate Hoppy, but misses and instead plans to ambush the Bar 20 foreman. Hepburn's lead henchman, Blackie (John Rutherford), refuses to shoot Cassidy in the back, and after a final shootout, it is a dying Blackie who finally finishes the fleeing Hepburn. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The opening sequence of this Ken Maynard Western is spectacular: Attempting to save heroine Beth Marion from the ubiquitous runaway horse, the hero makes a death-defying, head-first plunge on horseback into the Kern River far below. The stunt was performed by Maynard's unfairly neglected double, Cliff Lyons, who would marry Marion two years later. As for Maynard himself, the veteran cowboy star didn't do much action-wise in Avenging Waters, spending instead an inordinate amount of time playing his mouth organ and making romantic chit-chat with Marion. The story is the old one about the fencing off of the once free range. Ken and his top hand, Slivers (Wally Wales, aka Hal Taliaferro), are delivering a herd of cattle to rancher Charles Mortimer (John Elliott) when they have a run-in with Marve Slater (Ward Bond). The latter is demanding that Mortimer remove his new fences or else. The "or else" proves to be damming up the river and leaving Mortimer without water for his cattle. Ken takes umbrage to this kind of vigilantism but is overpowered by Slater's henchmen, Hoppy (Tom London) and Jake (Glenn Strange). A rain storm causes the dam to burst and the waters rush toward the shack where Ken is held prisoner. He is saved in the nick of time by his clever palomino, Tarzan, while Slater is left to drown in his own flood. Maynard's legendary ornery temper caused all kinds of delays on this inexpensive Western and the veteran star was getting a bit paunchy to boot. Director Spencer Gordon Bennet was forced to use rear-projection in a scene where Maynard desperately attempts to grab hold of Tarzan, one of the very few instances that this technique was used in a B-Western. The grand finale, the flooding of the valley, was done using a model built to scale and is not bad for this kind of low-budget fare. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In the second of producer Harry Sherman's Hopalong Cassidy Westerns, Deputy Sheriff Cassidy (William Boyd) promises El Toro (William Farnum), a retired Mexican outlaw, that he will search for the old man's grandson, missing after a gang of outlaws robbed and murdered the child's parents. With the help of young sidekick Johnny Nelson (James Ellison) and saloon girl Dolores (Joan Woodbury), Hoppy goes undercover as an outlaw in order to infiltrate the gang, which is headed by crooked saloon owner Big Henry (Addison Richards). Dolores is murdered for her efforts, and when Cassidy is forced to kill one of the gang members (Frank Shannon), Big Henry suspects foul play. Johnny, who has found little Pablo (George Mari) wandering in the woods, is wounded by yet another of Big Henry's henchmen (Paul Fix). The latter reports back to his boss, who fears that the child may implicate him in the murders of his parents and quickly plans a trap for Hoppy. There is the inevitable climactic shootout, during which Old Spike (George "Gabby" Hayes), a bartender in Henry's saloon, prudently switches sides and is mortally wounded as a result. Only Big Henry himself escapes the melee, but the villain is hunted down and killed by Hoppy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cowboy star Kermit Maynard's rope-twirling skills are seen to good advantage in Song of the Trail. Maynard is cast as a wandering rodeo performer named Jim, who settles in one place long enough to save an old pal in trouble. The fact that the old pal has a pretty daughter only serves to strengthen Jim's resolve to set things right. The biggest budgeted of Kermit Maynard's westerns for Ambassador Pictures, Song of the Trail is an excellent showcase for Maynard's athletic prowess, with the hero emulating Douglas Fairbanks throughout. Heroine Antoinette Lees later enjoyed a brief starring career at Goldwyn Studios as Andrea Leeds. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

First-time director Lew Ayres performs miracles on a tiny budget in the Civil War drama Hearts in Bondage. The story offers a romanticized version of the events leading up to the battle between the "ironclads" Monitor and Merrimac. Northern naval officer Kenneth (James Dunn), the nephew of Monitor designer John Ericsson (Fritz Leiber) is dishonorably discharged when he sinks the Merrimac instead of burning it, as ordered. He is restored to duty as a crew member on the Monitor, and in the ensuing sea battle with the recommissioned Merrimac he kills Confederate officer Raymond (David Manners), the brother of Kenneth's fiancee Constance (Mae Clarke). The estranged sweethearts are ultimately reunited with the help of Abe Lincoln himself! Both James Dunn and Mae Clarke are miscast in their roles, but they do their best under the circumstances to make their material "work" -- and often succeed. The real stars of Hearts in Bondage are Republic's special-effects mavens Howard and Theodore Lydecker, whose splendid utilization of scale models in the climactic Monitor-Merrimac confrontation is both exciting and convincing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The seventh of the "Hopalong Cassidy" westerns, Hopalong Cassidy Returns stars, as always, William Boyd as the black-stetsoned hero. This one is a surprisingly sadistic item, in which a mysterious predator forces various ranchers off their land through rather direct means. In the opening scene, a wheelchair-bound victim is roped and dragged to his death! Hopalong Cassidy discovers that the instigator of these attacks is a woman, played by one-time silent star Evelyn Brent. She is killed in an appropriately gruesome manner by her disgruntled henchman--whereupon upstanding Mr. Cassidy shoots the killer twice at point blank range. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Republic's The Lawless Nineties reteams the studio's up-and-coming cowboy star John Wayne with 19-year-old ingenue Ann Rutherford. Wayne plays John Tipton, who is determined to break up the corrupt Wyoming-territory political machine run by Charles K. Plummer (Harry Woods). What Tipton doesn't know is that Plummer is also the head of a night-riding vigilante army, bent on killing anyone who opposes his reign. Among Plummer's victims is newspaper editor Major Carter (George "Gabby" Hayes), but Carter's pretty daughter Janet (Rutherford) vows to carry on her dad's work. Amazingly, hero Tipton doesn't have to rely on his fists or fancy gunplay to rout the villains: this time around, Democracy itself saves the day. And in only 58 minutes! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The popularity of musical-comedy favorite Jack Hulbert sometimes obscured the fact that his brother Claude was a talented farceur in his own right. In Wolf's Clothing, Claude Hulbert plays Ambrose Girling, an upper-class twit who happens to be the exact double of a notorious international assassin. Forced to pose as his look-alike, Ambrose gets mixed up in a sinister espionage plot, with such fringe benefits as fancy clothes and gorgeous girls. Lili Palmer, who'd only been in England for a year or so, makes one of her earliest appearances as the ingenue (a role curiously overlooked in most official resumes of Palmer's career). Based on a stage comedy by Evadne Price and Brock Williams, Wolf's Clothing represents the second British directorial effort of Hungarian-born Andrew Marton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made with the full cooperation of the real-life Texas Rangers (who never met a publicity gimmick they didn't like), this sprawling historical western stars Fred MacMurray as Jim Hawkins, one of three outlaws working the Lone Star State in the years following the Civil War. Both Hawkins and his partner in crime Wahoo Jones (Jack Oakie) decide to go straight, but their bandit pal Sam McGee (Lloyd Nolan) has not quite seen the light. Eventually, Jim and Wahoo join the fledgling Texas Rangers, an organization dedicated to bringing law, order and honest government to their state, while McGee cuts a swath of terror with his new gang. When the two reformed outlaws are assigned to bring in their old friend Sam, Jim balks but Wahoo accepts. In the film's most talked-about scene, McGee smilingly puts a hole through Wahoo's stomach with a gun he has hidden under a table. Now motivated by revenge (although he couldn't say as much in a post-Production Code film), Jim vows to bring McGee to justice, dead or alive, but preferably the former. Released to coincide with the Texas Centennial, The Texas Rangers was remade in 1949 as Street of Laredo; there was also a 1940 sequel, The Texas Rangers Ride Again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hopalong Cassidy's young sidekick, Johnny Nelson, is falsely accused of robbing the Bar 20 in this the fourth installment of the long-running Western series. Nelson (James Ellison) had left the ranch in high dudgeon over a perceived slight and fallen in with a gang headed by Shanghai (George Hayes) and Sam Porter (Al Bridge). Since the gang's aim is to rob the Bar 20, Johnny's sudden appearance is seen as a golden opportunity. The youngster is drugged and his easily identifiable neckerchief prominently displayed as the gang unsuccessfully attempts to rob the ranch safe, wounding owner Buck Peters (Howard H.Lang) in the process. When Hoppy (William Boyd) learns of Johnny's assumed culpability, he vows to bring the youngster to justice. Johnny, meanwhile, has managed to escape the gang and is holed up on a spread belonging to innocent Linda McHenry (Muriel Evans), who, unbeknownst to him, is Shanghai's daughter. He is found there by Porter who concocts a devilish plan to kill the boy and establish an alibi for himself at the same time. Luckily, Cassidy arrives to save his young friend in the nick of time and the gang is finally hunted down. Shanghai, who has decided to go straight, is shot in a struggle with Porter, but survives to clear Johnny of any wrongdoing in the attempted robbery. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Bob Steele goes in search of the outlaw who killed both his parents and stole a valuable ring in this pedestrian western from producer A.W. Hackle's ramshackle Supreme Pictures Corp. Left to die in the desert, Smokey Smith (Steele) is nursed back to health by the sheriff of Pecos, John Law (Earl Dwire), who makes him his deputy. But Smokey is determined to find his parents' killer and surreptitiously joins a gang of stage robbers. Lead by Blaze Bart (George "Gabby" Hayes), who is determined to "earn" enough to send his foster-daughter Bess (Mary Kornman) back East, the gang is feuding with outlaw Kent (Warner P. Richmond), the very man Smokey is hunting. Kent murders Blaze but is himself killed by Smokey, who manages to reach the gang's mounted machine gun in time to save both Bess and the sheriff's posse. Smokey Smith was remade by low-budget Lippert Prod. as Crooked River (1950), a vehicle for down-on-their-luck former western stars James Ellison and Russell Hayden. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide