Ted Adams Movies
Almost reptilian in appearance and disposition, B-Western heavy Ted Adams came out of a show business family and was reportedly born in the proverbial trunk. On-stage from childhood, Adams segued into films soon after the transition to sound, using several variations of his real name, Richard Theodore Adams. By the mid-'30s, he chose the friendlier Ted but there was nothing friendly about the characters he was given to play: He was sometimes the lead villain and often scruffy-looking so-called "dog heavies," the kind the audience could easily imagine kicking a dog. A constant presence in the low-budget Johnny Mack Brown and Bob Steele Westerns from producer A.W. Hackel, he later worked mainly for PRC and Monogram, the nether regions of sagebrush moviemaking. By the time of his retirement in the early '50s, Adams had added such television Westerns as The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, and Cowboy G-Men to his lengthy resumé. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
A drag race turns to tragedy when one car, with three young women inside, topples over a bridge and into the muddy river below. The authorities drag the river, but the search is fruitless and the girls are presumed dead until a single survivor stumbles out of the water with no recollection of how she escaped. Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) decides to forget her strange experience and carry on with her plan to move to Utah to accept a job as a church organist. She rejects the notion that because her profession leads her to work in the church, she is obligated to worship as part of the congregation, and this cold approach to her work unnerves many around her. While driving to the new city, she experiences weird visions of a ghoulish man who stares at her through the windshield, and passes an abandonded carnival on a desolate stretch of highway outside of town to which she feels strangely drawn. Mary tries to live her life in private, ignoring invitations to worship by the minister of her church and the leering propositions of a neighbor in her rooming house. Soon the ghostly apparition from the highway is appearing more often, and she experiences eerie spells in which she becomes invisible to people on the street. A doctor tries to help, but he too is rejected, and eventually Mary realizes that the deserted carnival holds the secret to her destiny. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, (more)
- 1952
Kansas Territory is one of Bill Elliot's latter-day Allied Artists westerns--meaning that even the non-western fan is in for a treat (albeit a violent one). Elliot's brother is killed, which naturally prompts him to seek revenge. On his bloody quest for the guilty party, Elliot learns many facts of his brother's life that he'd rather not know. By the time he confronts the killer, Elliot has a pretty clear picture of how rotten his brother truly was, and how his death was not altogether unjustified. Elliot must also come face to face with the fact that he has become just as brutal as the man he's after. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Wild Bill" Elliott, House Peters, Jr., (more)
- 1951
Whip Wilson rides again in the Monogram western Abilene Trail. Wilson and his grizzled sidekick Andy Clyde are accused of horse stealing, a hangin' offense around these here parts. Eluding the authorities, the boys take jobs at a ranch where the real crook is hiding out. Between whip-cracking sessions, Wilson finds time to romance the ranch owner's pretty daughter Noel Neill ("Lois Lane" on the 1950s TVer Superman). Director Lewis D. Collins keeps things moving fast enough to make up for any plot or budgetary shortcomings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whip Wilson, Andy Clyde, (more)
- 1951
In this Lash LaRue western, Our Hero aligns himself with the Pinkerton Detective Agency ("We Never Sleep") to capture a vicious outlaw gang. No dummies they, these criminals have developed a rather sophisticated communications system, using tin cans and waxed string. But the villains are no match for LaRue and his trusty bullwhip. Al "Fuzzy" St. John, as ever, is on hand for a few laughs. Producer-director Ron Ormond's Lash LaRue western series for Realart release ran hot and cold; Vanishing Outpost can be described as lukewarm, its protracted dialogue sequences jarring against the more exciting action highlights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lash LaRue, Riley Hill, (more)
- 1950
In a season that also brought the world such cinematic confessions as I Shot Jesse James (1949) and I Shot Billy the Kid (1950), both from low-budget Lippert Productions, rival producer Jack Schwarz released I Killed Geronimo, starring former "Hopalong Cassidy" sidekick James Ellison. Going undercover as the notorious "Waco Kid," U.S. Army Captain Jeff Packard (Ellison) manages to infiltrate a gang of gold-shipment thieves lead by nasty Walt Anderson (Ted Adams). But Anderson and his gang are not the only troublemakers around: Packard must also contend with Geronimo (Chief Thundercloud) and his Apache warriors, who are demanding guns in exchange for peace. When Major French (Luther Crocker) refuses, the Apaches attack. In the ensuing melee, Geronimo is stabbed to death by Packard, who almost single-handedly saves the fort. The demise of the great Indian warrior is, of course, totally fictitious. Rather than perish in heroic combat, the historic Geronimo (1829-1909) surrendered and was relocated to Florida, where he spent his declining years as a tourist attraction. Enhanced by heavy doses of stock footage from, among other films, John Ford's classic Stagecoach (1939), the film also marked the final appearance of Smith Ballew, a star of low-budget music oaters in the 1930s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1950
A state rangers rides out to find rustlers who have stolen from every ranch in the territory except a hot-headed loner, whom all the other ranchers think is the culprit. However, the ranger investigates, and finds that the blacksmith and his accomplice are guilty. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Lane, Chubby Johnson, (more)
- 1950
In his second starring vehicle, singing cowboy Rex Allen plays the head of a frontier cattlemen's association. The villain is dishonest meat packer Charles Stevens (Robert Emmet Keane), who has been trying to fix cattle prices to his advantage. When Rex decides to do business with another firm, it requires driving the herds through miles and miles of desolation--and, incidentally, avoiding Stevens' hired guns. The action highlights include a harrowing cattle stampede. Johnny Downs, star of many of collegiate musicals of the 1940s, has a cameo role as a square-dance caller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Allen, Elisabeth Fraser, (more)
- 1950
Johnny Mack Brown follows his tried-and-true western formula in Law of the Panhandle. This time, U.S. Marshal Brown backs up Sheriff Tom Stocker (Riley Hill) in an ongoing battle against a marauding outlaw gang. The thieves, led by snarling Henry Faulkner (Myron Healey), hope to scare all the local ranchers off the land that will soon be purchased by the railroad that's coming through the territory. The film's parade of cliches is stemmed by a truly innovative finale. Once more, Johnny Mack Brown leaves the film's romantic angle to the younger Riley Hill, whose vis-a-vis is played by Jane Adams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Jane Adams, (more)
- 1949
Quickie producer Sam Katzman gathered together a few leftover costumes, sets and props from past Columbia "A" pictures, and the result was The Mutineers. First Mate Nick Shaw (Jon Hall) stumbles across the murdered body of his captain (Lyle Talbot). The evidence indicates that the culprits are members of a vicious counterfeiting ring. Shaw's situation becomes precarious when it develops that practically every passenger aboard his ship is in cahoots with his gang. Future "Superman" George Reeves turns in an effectively villainous characterization, while Adele Jergens goes through her usual paces as a "bad" girl who may not be as bad as she seems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adele Jergens, George Reeves, (more)
- 1949
Lash LaRue essays a dual role in the 1949 western Outlaw Country. LaRue plays himself (or at least his screen self) and an outlaw known only as The Frontier Phantom. The story finds the "good" Lash and his sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) searching for counterfeiters. Meanwhile, the "bad" Lash is in cahoots with the crooks. After the two LaRues face each other in a showdown, the "bad" Lash turns good and helps the hero round up the villains. The leading lady this time out is Nancy Saunders, whose previous experience included a handful of Three Stooges 2-reelers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lash LaRue, Dan White, (more)
- 1949
Quick on the Trigger was Charles Starrett's second "Durango Kid" picture for 1949. It all begins when ousted sheriff Steve Warren (Starrett) is put on trial for the murder of heroine Nora Reed's (Helen Parrish) brother. Steve is innocent, of course, but he doesn't stand a chance against prosecuting attorney Garvey Yager (Lyle Talbot) -- especially since Yager is the real killer. Escaping from jail, Steve dons a mask and assumes the identity of the Durango Kid to see to it that justice is done. The film's requisite comedy and music are handled, respectively, by Smiley Burnette and the Sunshine Boys (not George Burns and Walter Matthau!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1949
In this late entry in Monogram's Jimmy Wakely series of musical Westerns, Wakely and sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor) come to the aid of Reno Browne, whose brother, Steven (Riley Hill), is convicted and sentenced to death for killing an enemy of their later father. Wakely and Cannonball, who has enrolled in a detective correspondence course, do a bit of investigating and are soon on the track of the real killer, Carson (Dennis Moore), the leader of a gang smuggling ore from Mexico. Although ostensibly a Jimmy Wakely vehicle, Across the Rio Grande became something of a showcase for supporting actors Riley Hill and Dub Taylor. The latter made much of his mail-order detective schtick, to the point of firing a bullet into a recently acquired "bulletproof" vest. The bullet, alas, was not deflected by the vest but by Cannonball's correspondence-manual. Across the Rio Grande marked the screen debut of radio songstress Polly Bergen, who appeared as a cantina singer under her real name Polly Burgin. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Wakely, Reno Browne, (more)
- 1949
Based on a novel by Charles Huckelmann, Deputy Marshal was a "special" by the standards of cost-conscious Screen Guild productions. The film stars Jon Hall and Frances Langford, who were Mr. and Mrs. at the time. Hall plays the title character, aka Ed Garry, while Langford essays the role of Janet Masters, a Wyoming ranchowner threatened by land thieves. While Garry does the dirty work so far as keeping the villains at bay, Janet gets to sing a couple of pleasant songs. Deputy Marshal was promoted on its novelty value; the film was photographed by Carl Berger with the Garutso Balanced Lens, a deep-focus apparatus that simulated a 3-D effect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Frances Langford, (more)
- 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)
- 1949
Even his cinematic rival Lash LaRue allowed that Whip Wilson was one of the best whip wielders in the movies. Shadows of the West was Wilson's second starring vehicle for Monogram, and as in the first, Crashing Thru, the star is teamed with seasoned sagebrush funster Andy Clyde. The Whipster plays a vacationing lawman who takes time out from his much-needed R-and-R to help out a reformed criminal. Striking an incongruous note is heroine Reno Browne, whose lavish wardrobe is a bit too lavish for her frontier surroundings. Though Whip Wilson wasn't much in the acting department, and while his singing and fisticuffs left a lot to be desired, his prowess with a whip was nothing short of astonishing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whip Wilson, Andy Clyde, (more)
- 1949
Singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely was in his final year of movie stardom when Gun Runner was released by Monogram. Wakely has more action than songs this time out, as he searches for an old pal who has gone sour and is selling guns to the Indians. The pathos of this situation is counterpointed by the pig-bladder comedy of Dub "Cannonball" Taylor. The leading-lady lineup is an interesting one: co-starring with Wakely are Noel Neill, the future Lois Lane on TV's Superman, and Mae Clarke, she of the "grapefruit massage" in 1931's Public Enemy. The comparatively sympathetic villain is portrayed by real-life sharpshooting champ Kenne Duncan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Wakely, Noel Neill, (more)
- 1949
To stop a madman from blowing up New York City, a researcher dons a flying suit and prepares for battle in this serial, later re-editing into the feature Lost Planet Airmen. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tristram Coffin, I. Stanford Jolley, (more)
- 1949
This Allan "Rocky" Lane western offers nothing new under the sun. Lane's fans expected nonstop action, and that's what they got. Our hero is called upon to halt a series of gold-shipment robberies. Someone is supplying the crooks with routing information, enabling them to await the arrival of the stagecoaches, guns in hand. The audience is on to the identity of the "mystery villain" long before Lane, but being able to second-guess the hero was part of the fun back in 1949. Without giving anything away, note that the supporting cast of Navajo Trail Raiders includes Eddy Waller as a coach driver, Barbara Bestar as Waller's pretty daughter, Hal Landon as Barbara's beau, and Robert Emmet Keane as a crusading journalist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Lane, Eddy Waller, (more)
- 1948
PRC's singing cowboy Eddie Dean once again brings law and order to a corrupt town in this average Western co-starring Roscoe Ates and Nancy Gates. When Red Gap's old sheriff (Edward Cassidy) is shot in cold blood by Ace (Mikel Conrad), a member of Brad Taggert's gang, the new lawman, Eddie, orders all firearms in Red Gap to be deposited in the sheriff's office. Taggert (I. Stanford Jolley) takes umbrage, of course, and hires a couple of gunmen (Russell Asrms and Marshall Reed) to rid the town of such nuisance. When that ploy fails, the villain falls back on crooked Judge Hammond (William Fawcett), but Eddie gets rid of him as well in favor of law-abiding Judge Walsh (Steve Clark) -- then the real Boss Villain reveals himself. Ates, Andy Parker, and the Plainsmen perform "A Miserable Ornery Coyote" and Dean sings "God's Little Lanterns" and "Moseyin' Along," the latter in a duet with leading lady Nancy Gates. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Dean, Roscoe Ates, (more)
- 1948
A rather corpulent Johnny Mack Brown more than fills the title role of Frontier Agent. Once more, Brown plays a government man, sent to the badlands to round up an elusive outlaw gang. And once more, he is aided and abetted by Raymond Hatton, an old codger who has a lot more on the ball than people suspect. Director Lambert Hillyer keeps things moving even when nothing much is happening. Though it usually adheres to The Expected, Frontier Agent has a few offbeat touches, just to keep the non-western fans awake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Three fellows band together to help a woman find her uncle's cache of gold in this western. All they have to help them is a tattered map that her uncle, a prisoner of war, created in camp. Unfortunately two badguys have the map and try to turn the three goodguys against the niece. They do not succeed and justice prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1948
In this western, a hero prevents a stagecoach robbery and wins the respect and confidence of a mine owner and a pretty woman who is going west to see her sister. Two outlaws next try to jump the miner's claim. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christine McIntyre
- 1948
The Durango Kid rides again in the person of Charles Starrett in Buckaroo From Powder River. The story concerns the efforts made by Steve Lacey (Starrett) to break up the outlaw family headed by Pop Ryland (Forrest Taylor). Posing as a hired killer, Lacey infiltrates the Ryland gang, rescuing the only "good" member of the family along the way. And when the necessity arises, Lacey dons the mask of the mysterious Durango Kid. The love interest is provided by Eve Miller, the laughs by Smiley Burnette, and the music by the Cass County Boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1948
"Some were good, some were bad, and all looked pretty much alike." This was "B"-western historian Don Miller's assessment of Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram westerns of the 1940s. One of the better look-alikes was Crossed Trails, in which Brown champions the cause of pretty ranch owner Maggie (Lynne Carver). The villains (Douglas Evans and Steve Clark) hope to control the local water rights by laying claim to Maggie's property. They further this cause by framing Maggie's guardian Bodie (Raymond Hatton) for murder. But our hero manages to rescue the damsel, clear the falsely accused Bodie, and round up the crooks seemingly in one fell swoop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Hatton, Johnny Mack Brown, (more)
- 1948
This action adventure centers on the attempts of the courageous Canadian cops to stop crooks from finding a fabulous hidden treasure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
