William Norton Bailey Movies

In this reworking of the earlier episode "The Jeweled Gun", attractive widow Margaret Ross (Catherine McLeod) asks Bret (James Garner) to provide protection while she heads to a Montana bank, there to deposit a large sum of money. Margaret claims to be worried that the men who killed her husband will try to steal the cash. In the course of the journey, Bret discovers that Margaret's money is counterfeit and her story is probably bogus--a disturbing realization, especially since he has fallen in love with her. Featured in the cast is Luis Delgado, the brother-in-law of Maverick producer-creator Roy Huggins and a semi-regular as Officer Billings on James Garner's later TV series The Rockford Files. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The opening credits appearing over a turbulent ocean serve as a foreshadowing of things to come in this standard-issue love triangle that shifts into high drama thanks to taut direction by Fritz Lang and a sizzling performance by Barbara Stanwyck. Returning to live with her brother, Joe (Keith Andes), at her family's home in a small fishing village, Mae Doyle (Stanwyck) has reached rock bottom. Reeling from the pain of her previous romances, Mae slowly pieces things together and begins dating Jerry (Paul Douglas), a simple-minded fisherman. More along Mae's speed is Jerry's slick, boozy pal Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan), a film projectionist who makes his feelings for her known right away despite the fact that he is married. Mae spurns his advances and decides to marry Jerry. Meanwhile, Joe has grown close to ditzy factory worker Peggy (Marilyn Monroe). Some time later, Mae and Jerry have had a baby, and things appear happy, but Mae is not in love with Jerry, and soon finds herself in Earl's arms. Jerry discovers the affair, and during a confrontation with the deceitful couple, Mae reveals that she is leaving to be with Earl. After some booze and a pep talk from his Uncle Vince (J. Carrol Naish), Jerry confronts Earl and proceeds to nearly strangle him until Mae arrives. Jerry storms off, but when Mae comes to their home to retrieve the baby, she discovers that Jerry has taken the child. Desperately upset, she explains the situation to Earl, but as they talk, she begins to arrive at a new realization about her life and what it takes to find happiness. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi

With a female protagonist as its only selling point, Cattle Queen trots out a farfetched Western story of Queenie Hart (Maria Hart), a rather glamorous bleached blonde cattle driver in 1866 Wyoming. After conning a potential buyer (Robert Robinson) into believing that Queenie's herd is diseased, nasty would-be empire builder Duke Drake (Robert Gardett) is confronted by the girl's new tough foreman, Bill Foster (Drake Smith). In retaliation, Drake frames Bill for a stage robbery, actually committed by his own henchmen, and arranges a phony trial presided over by the saloon's bartender, Judge Whipple (Douglas Wood). Queenie, however, interrupts the "trial" with the news that the townswomen have all elected Jim marshal. To uphold the decision, Bill has secured the release of three convicted outlaws: Blackie Malone (Joe Bailey), Bad Bill Smith (James Pierce), and Shotgun Thompson (Emile Meyer), two of whom join in the fight against Drake and his gang. With all this muscle -- and the power of prayer! -- Queenie finally bests Drake in a climactic shootout. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Based on the television series Captain Video and His Video Rangers, this 15-chapter serial was pretty much the beginning of the end for that venerable format (the last serial was made five years after this). Although put together by such longtime serial specialists as director Spencer Bennett, producer Sam Katzman and writer Royal Cole, this cheaply filmed anemic entry has Judd Holdren, as Captain Video, flying around in cartoon rocket ships, wearing what appears to be an old football uniform and fighting old robots that aficionados will recognize from serials filmed years before. The plot, such as it is, has Captain Video and his young Video Ranger sidekick battling the evil ruler of the planet Atoma. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

The real Al Jennings was a wizened little man who, after a largely unsuccessful career as a western outlaw, reformed to the extent of hitting the lecture circuit and even producing his own films. Jennings was still alive when Columbia's Al Jennings of Oklahoma was produced in 1951, so one can assume that he approved of the radical changes made in his life story and the casting of the better-looking Dan Duryea in the lead. The story begins with Al and his brother Frank (Dick Foran) trying to go straight, even though there's a $25,000 reward on their heads. Al's hopes for connubial bliss with Margo St. Clare (Gale Storm), who loves him despite his reputation, is shattered by the vengeful machinations of a railroad detective. Forced back into a life of crime, Jennings is captured and sentenced to life imprisonment--a sentence that, of course, was eventually modified. Al Jennings of Oklahoma is not one of the classic westerns, but it manages to hold one's attention throughout a plenitude of plot twists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lippert Studio's first 1951 release was the compact western 3 Desperate Men. The title characters are the Denton Brothers, played by Preston S. Foster, Jim Davis and Ross Latimer. Accused of crimes they didn't commit, the Dentons are obliged to become outlaws to survive. So long as they stay away from their home town, the brothers are able to pull off their crime spree unabated. But their fate is sealed the moment they head homeward to exact revenge against those who framed them. Critics of the period were satisfied with 3 Desperate Men, though it was felt that at least two of the three Dentons could have used some lessons in horsemanship. The film secured pretty good bookings for a Lippert production. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Faith Domergue, the latest of Howard Hughes' protegees, made her film debut in 1950's Where Danger Lives. Domergue plays Margo Lannington the wife of Frederick Lannington (Claude Rains), an elderly millionaire possessed of a sadistic streak. Robert Mitchum co-stars as Jeff Cameron, a poor soul who falls in love with Margo without knowing that she's married. During a violent confrontation with the jealous Frederick, Cameron knocks the older man out and stumbles out of the room. Upon his return, he discovers that Frederick is dead. Margo had smothered her husband during Cameron's absence, but she insists that Cameron is the killer. The desperate lovers flee to Mexico, where Cameron at long last discovers that his travelling companion is more than a little unhinged. Masterfully directed by John Farrow, Where Danger Lives might have been one of the classic "film noirs," were it not for the acting deficiencies of Faith Domergue, who flounders in a role that Jane Greer could have played blindfolded. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A late entry in Monogram's Jimmy Wakely musical Western series, Brand of Fear features a nice performance by Gail Davis, television's Annie Oakley. Davis plays Anne Lamont, whose guardian, Marshal Black Jack Flint (Tom London), hires her as the new schoolteacher of Oreville, AZ. Black Jack, however, is really a reformed outlaw and is being blackmailed by crooked blacksmith Cal Derringer (Marshall Reed). Derringer is in league with outlaw Tom Slade (William H. Ruhl), who plans to rob a shipment of ore. On the side of law and order are trouble-shooter Jimmy Wakely and his sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor). They run down the villains, and with his dying breath, Derringer confesses that Black Jack was innocent of the charges leveled against him 20 years earlier and that he is actually Anne's natural father. In between battling the bad guys, Wakely finds time to sing "There's a Rainbow Over the Range" by Tim Spencer and "Cool Water" by the prolific Bob Nolan. Monogram could have done much worse than this tightly packaged piece of Western hokum, and often did. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

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, Rovi

Lash LaRue stars as U.S. deputy, with Al "Fuzzy" St. John as his comic-relief deputy. Lash and Fuzzy are on the trail of El Sombre (Michael Whalen), a notorious bandit. Unbeknownst to everyone but the audience, El Sombre doubles as a kindly dentist named Jarvis. While trying to stem the villain's activities, Our Heroes rescue heroine Vicki (Noel Neill) from various perils. True to his name, Lash LaRue wields his bullwhip with deadly accuracy. Son of a Badman received better reviews than usual, by virtue of the clever screenplay by Ron Ormond and Ira Webb and the top-flight supporting cast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Both Van Johnson and Gregory Peck were considered for the role of baseball star Monty Stratton in the 1949 biopic The Stratton Story before settling upon the real Stratton's own first choice, James Stewart. The film covers several years in the 1930s, as Texas farm boy Stratton rises from the minors to the Chicago White Sox. Along the way, Monty marries an Omaha gal named Ethel (June Allyson), who gives him a son. In November 1938, Monty accidentally shoots himself in the leg while on a hunting excursion. When the leg has to be amputated, it looks as though Stratton's pitching career is over. He broods over his bad luck for months before snapping out of his self-pity and learning to walk with his new prosthesis. To prove to himself that he's overcome his handicap, Monty takes a job pitching with the Southern All-Stars. His return to baseball is rough sledding (the other team persistently bunts balls out of his reach), but Monty Stratton is finally able to make a successful comeback. Only occasionally playing fast and loose with the facts (the time-frame of Stratton's real-life return to baseball is telescoped by several years), The Stratton Story was one of the best and most profitable baseball pictures ever turned out by Hollywood. Fans of the game will get an extra kick from the presence in the cast of big-leaguers Bill Dickey and Jimmy Dykes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely stars in Monogram's Silver Trails. It all begins when Jimmy and his comical sidekick Dub "Cannonball" Taylor ride into a small California engineering community. Villain Jackson (George Meeker) is busy orchestrating a land-grab scheme, using the members of an outlaw gang as his flunkies. Jackson hopes to split the miners down the middle by sparking a feud. Jimmy does his best to keep the peace, resorting to gunplay only when all else fails. Future Monogram star Whip Wilson essays a secondary role. In fact, Silver Trails was partially designed as a "pilot" for a potential Whip Wilson series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi