Jack Holt Movies

Also known as Stormy, the Thoroughbred with an Inferiority Complex, this live-action Disney short subject was originally released in tandem with The Living Desert and Ben and Me. Co-written by actor Jack Holt and narrated by George Fenneman, the film concentrates on a Kentucky-born colt who undergoes an emotional crisis when his actual August birthdate is officially changed to January 1st, just like every other thoroughbred. Smaller than most of his fellow horses, Stormy feels left out and ignored but eventually realizes his true worth as a polo pony. Director Larry Lansbaugh later graduated to features with the Disney release The Littlest Outlaw (1955). Stormy was first seen on television as the March 14, 1956 installment of the weekly anthology Disneyland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The plot for this Western involves the wives and girlfriends of the Dalton gang, who decide to carry on the gang's criminal activities after the menfolk were either gunned down or locked up. Old-time B-Western star Lash LaRue shows up to take care of them. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in eye-pleasing Trucolor, Republic's Trail of Robin Hood is one of the most entertaining and likable of Roy Rogers' starring films. Roy comes to the rescue of veteran cowboy star Jack Holt (playing himself) when the latter's Christmas-tree business is jeopardized by greedy rivals. With the aid of several other western stars, Roy thwarts main bad guy Clifton Young and allows misguided lumber baron Emory Parnell to see the error of his ways (it helps that Parnell's pretty daughter Penny Edwards is on Rogers' side). The film's best scene is the climactic rally of Republic's top cowboy heroes. After Rex Allen, Allan "Rocky" Lane, Monte Hale, Tom Tyler, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Kermit Maynard, Tom Keene and William Farnum have ridden up and taken their bows, in gallops veteran western "heavy" George Cheseboro, who also wants to help Jack Holt but is shunned by the others. Cheseboro wins them over by explaining "After 20 years of being beaten up by Holt, he's reformed me." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With Return of the Frontiersman, Warner Bros. continued to test the acting abilities of their singing star Gordon MacRae. While he does get to warble two songs, MacRae plays it straight for the most part in his role as Logan Barrett, the son of hard-bitten sheriff Sam Barrett (Jack Holt). Villain Larrabee (Rory Calhoun) frames Logan for a series of robberies, forcing the sheriff to lead a posse after his own son. Our Hero is aided and abetted by the daughter (Julie London, who surprisingly doesn't get to sing) of the town sawbones. With the exceptions of Jack Holt and Rory Calhoun, most of the supporting cast -- Fred Clark, Matt McHugh et. al. -- seem slightly out of place in western garb. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The age-old enmity between cattle ranchers and settlers once again takes center stage in this slightly above-average Western filmed in Republic Pictures' Trucolor system. Walter Brennan plays Pop "Brimstone" Courteen, an ornery rancher who avenges the loss of the free range by robbing stagecoaches and banks. The Courteen gang, which also includes Pop's three sons, Nick (Jim Davis), Luke (Jack Lambert), and the reluctant Bud (James Brown), gets a bit of competition from The Ghost, a mystery outlaw who really is Marshal Johnny Tremaine (Rod Cameron). Tremaine's undercover investigation leads to McIntyre (Forrest Tucker), the sheriff of Gunsight, who is in the employ of the Courteens. In love with Molly Bannister (Adrian Booth), a settler, Bud turns against his ruthless family, but will Tremaine be able to save the boy from his father's wrath? ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this western, a troubled, battle-weary youth must somehow put his life together after he is discharged from Roosevelt's Rough Riders. His father wants him to take over the family ranch, but the son is still too haunted by war's horrors to care. Instead he begins wandering aimlessly until he gets involved with a battered wife. He takes care of her abuser and eventually falls in love with her. It is her love that finally helps him heal. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When Republic moved its popular star William Elliot from "B" series westerns to "A" frontier specials, a lot of the fun and excitement was lost in the process. Additionally, Republic seemed reluctant to admit the new Elliot films were westerns, as witness the title Gallant Legion, which could have been mistaken for a Sahara Desert epic. Actually Gallant Legion is one of the better Elliot big-budgeters, with Bill as one of the charter members of the Texas Rangers. The Rangers' task is to prevent greedy landgrabbers from dividing Texas into sections and setting up their own fiefdoms. Elliot's leading lady in Gallant Legion is Adrian Booth, who as "Lorna Gray" had been a Republic serial villainess a few seasons earlier. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cowboy star Allan "Rocky" Lane teams with a sagebrush favorite of yore, Jack Holt, in Republic's The Wild Frontier. In an unusual move, Holt is cast as the villain, the man responsible for the murder of Lane's sheriff father. Taking over from his day, Lane vows to locate the killer-who, unbeknownst to him of course, is above-suspicion solid citizen Holt. Having recently completed his duties in Republic's Red Ryder series, Allan Lane used Wild Frontier as a springboard for a series in which he appeared under his own name. Though popular with the public, the egotistical star did nothing to ingratiate himself to his coworkers, thus the "Rocky Lane" series was relatively short-lived. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Originally slated for release through Monogram Pictures, The Chase was ultimately distributed by United Artists. Adapted by Philip Yordan from Cornell Woolrich's The Black Path of Fear (a perennial of the radio series Suspense), the film stars Robert Cummings as Chuck, shell-shocked ex-GI. Tormented by bizarre dreams, Chuck is drawn into the orbit of racketeer Roman (Steve Cochran). Hired as Roman's chauffeur, Chuck deals as best he can with his boss' faithless wife Lorna (Michele Morgan) and sinister henchman Gino (Peter Lorre). Persuaded by Lorna to help her escape the brutish Roman, Chuck agrees, only to end up accused of a murder he didn't commit. Thus begins the chase of the title, with Chuck eluding not only the authorities but also the stiletto-wielding Gino. Just when it seems that Chuck has cleared himself and all's right with the world, the story takes an unexpected turn, thrusting the hero back into a nightmarish maelstrom. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Alan Curtis plays a hired Union agent who's been dispatched to capture a Confederate gal who's the leader of some ravaging rebels. ~ Rovi

Handed the exploitive title Cat People, RKO producer Val Lewton opted for a thinking man's thriller--a psychological mood piece, more reliant on suspense and suggestion than overt "scare stuff". Simone Simon plays an enigmatic young fashion artist who is curiously affected by the panther cage at the central park zoo. She falls in love with handsome Kent Smith, but loses him to Jane Randolph. After a chance confrontation with a bizarre stranger at a restaurant, Simon becomes obsessed with the notion that she's a Cat Woman--a member of an ancient Serbian tribe that metamorphoses into panthers whenever aroused by jealousy. She begins stalking her rival Randolph, terrifying the latter in the film's most memorable scene, set in an indoor swimming pool at midnight. Psychiatrist Tom Conway scoffs at the Cat Woman legend--until he recoils in horror after kissing Simon. If the film's main set looks familiar, it is because it was built for Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (Lewton later used the same set for his The Seventh Victim). Cat People was remade by director Paul Schrader in 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

On a secluded base in Arizona, veteran World War One pilot Steve Britt (Preston Foster) trains flyers to fight in World War Two. One of his trainees, Englishman Peter Stackhouse (John Sutton), competes with Britt for the affections of Kay Saunders (Gene Tierney), the daughter of a local rancher. Despite their differences, Britt makes sure Sutton passes his training and becomes a combat pilot -- even though he loses Kay to the young man in the process. Note the photos of director (and former flying ace) Wellman, which are used as the pictures of Sutton's father displayed by Britt and Sutton's grandmother, Lady Stackhouse (Dame May Whitty). ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi

It's ironic that leading man Jack Holt, who in real life was deathly afraid of flying, should appear in so many aviation-oriented pictures. In The Great Plane Robbery, racketeer Joe Colson (Noel Madison) is released from jail three months before the expiration of his $500,000 life insurance policy. The plane on which Colson's flying home is hijacked by several of his old underworld cronies, who hope to collect on the policy by killing Joe-and, of necessity, everyone else on board. But insurance investigator Mike Henderson (Jack Holt), another passenger, isn't about to let that happen. The first half of the film is a mini-"Grand Hotel", giving way to three climactic reels of nonstop action and suspense. The heroine is played by Vicki Lester, who "borrowed" her screen name from the character played by Janet Gaynor in the original A Star is Born (1937). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi