Reed Howes Movies

Like 1940's Melody Ranch, the 1941 Gene Autry vehicle Down Mexico Way was designed as a "special", to be promoted separately from Autry's regular B-western series as an A-picture attraction. The story gets under way when a pair of con artists, Gibson (Sidney Blackmer) and Allen (Joe Sawyer), breeze into the town of Sage City claiming to be movie producers. The two scoundrels promise to film a movie in the little burg on the condition that the townsfolk pony up the necessary production fees. When Gene Autry and his sidekick Frog (Smiley Burnette) catch up with Gibson and Allen, the two huckster head across the border into Mexico-a big mistake, since reformed bandit Pancho Grande (Harold Huber) and his amigos don't cotton to being swindled. In addition to the expected musical interludes from Gene Autry, Down Mexico Way includes several Latino numbers, courtesy of the Herrera Sisters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Part of the "Range Buster" series of westerns, this film follows the adventures of a couple of former criminals (Ray Corrigan and John King) as they give up their thieving ways and take on the responsibilities of deputies. When a group of outlaws, headed by a man known as "The Whip," begins to hassle the locals, it is up to Corrigan and King to track them down and bring them to justice. This film features some musical numbers, including "Riding Along," "My Little Prairie Annie," and "Chisholm Trail." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Although rather grandly dedicated to "the law officers of the Old West, who led the fight for law and order in the pioneer days of this country in 1880," Dead or Alive was merely another entry inThe Texas Rangers series, PRC's low-budget answer to Republic Pictures' Three Mesqueteers Westerns. Series regulars Dave Wyatt (Dave O'Brien) and Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson) are joined by lawyer Tex Haines (Tex Ritter) in their fight against outlaw leader Clint Yackey (Ray Bennett). Yackey, the ruthless owner of the Half Way Saloon, has framed Dave Wyatt in a bank robbery and the young ranger is about to be hanged when rescued in the nick of time by Tex and Panhandle. The usual Western shenanigans end in a rather brutal free-for-all involving Yackey, chief henchman Red Avery (Charles King), and the entire gang. The rangers and Tex emerge the winners, of course, much to the delight of lovely Arline Arthur (Marjorie Clements), the legal owner of the Half Way. Ritter, who made his series debut replacing James Newill, sang several songs, including his own "I Don't Care Since You Told Me Goodbye." But despite Ritter's engaging presence, The Texas Rangers series remained a shoddy proposition typical of PRC, a studio known affectionately along Poverty Row as "Pretty Rotten Crud." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Gene Autry battles a crooked mine owner in this his signature western from Republic Pictures. Years earlier, Gene promised to take watch over his employer's son Tom (Edward Norris), a young hothead who enjoys the so-called finer things in life. Tom has to be corralled out of the wicked city after finally inheriting the old homestead but life in the supposedly pastoral Arizona hamlet of Solitude proves less than idyllic when greedy copper miner E.G. Blaine (Arthur Loft) begins poisoning the water supply. Not patient enough to let law abiding Gene handle things, Tom takes matters into his own hands and is promptly slapped with a murder charge. Since the local authorities are controlled by Blaine, Gene has Judge Bent (Edmund Elson secure a change of venue for the upcoming trial but the enemy may have an ace up his sleeve. When not shooting it out with Blaine and his henchmen, Gene, Smiley Burnette, leading lady Jacqueline Wells and girl singer Mary Lee perform "Good Old-Fashioned Hoedown", "Swingin' Sam, the Cowboy Man", "When the Cactus is in Bloom", "I'm an Old Cowhand", "Where the River Meets the Range", "I'm in the Jailhouse Now", "You Are My Sunshine", "Ninety-Nine Bullfrogs" and Ray Whitley's title tune. Back in the Saddle has been restored to its original length by the Westerns Channel and Gene Autry Entertainment. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" western series hopscotched all over the calendar, with some entries taking place in the present, others in the far-distant past. As indicated by its title, Covered Wagon Days is a period piece, with heroes Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Rusty Joslin (Raymond Hatton) and Rico Rinaldo (Duncan Renaldo) riding into a silver mining camp. The villains keep busy by smuggling the valuable ore across the border, and to add insult to injury have framed Rico's brother Carlos (Paul Marion) on a murder charge. This time it takes only 56 minutes for the Mesquiteers to rout the villains and allow justice to triumph. As always, Covered Wagon Days is enhanced by excellent production values, thoroughly transcending the film's pinchpenny budget. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A fast-paced, enjoyable entry in the long-running Three Mesqueteers Western series, Heroes of the Saddle featured the three cowboy pals promising to look after Peggy Bell (Patsy Lee Parsons), the little daughter of mortally wounded rodeo champ Montana (Kermit Maynard). Legal technicalities, however, halt the adoption proceeding and Stony (Robert Livingston), Rusty (Raymond Hatton), and Rico (Duncan Renaldo) can only watch as the little girl is placed in the county orphanage. On a visit, the Mesqueteers discover that Peggy has been injured and Melloney the superintendent (sour-faced Byron Foulger) claims that the institution cannot pay for the necessary treatment. Stony wins the amount in a boxing match against "Killer" McCulley (Jack Roper), only to learn that Melloney is threatening the child to keep quiet about something. The "something" is the fact that Melloney and county supervisor Crone (William Royle) are not only mistreating the children in their care but cooking the books as well. Aided by a pretty nurse, Ruth Miller (Loretta Weaver of the Weaver hillbilly act), the Mesqueeters "kidnap" Peggy and the other kids and bring them to their spacious ranch. There is a final shootout before the three heroes can round up the gang and celebrate the election of a new county supervisor, nurse Ruth. A comic highlight of this Western has Duncan Renaldo pretending to be a department store dummy in order to fool drunken watchman Al Taylor. Heroes of the Saddle was one of the final films of ace villain William Royle, who later that year would appear in perhaps his best-remembered role as Sir Neyland Smith in the serial Drums of Fu Manchu (1940). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Frontier Crusader was Tim McCoy's first western vehicle for the newly-formed Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). The star plays Trigger Jim Rand, an itinerant peacekeeper who springs into action when a gang of thieves steals the payroll money from a local mining company. The theft was actually a subterfuge, to throw the miners off the trail so that the outlaws can plunder a heretofore unknown vein of gold ore. A subplot concerns a travelling show troupe, headed by high-kicking dancer Jenny Mason (Dorothy Short). Neither Jenny nor "Trigger Jim" benefit from the film's substandard cinematography, a trademark of sorts of the PRC output. Despite the murky camerawork, however, Fronter Crusader delivers the goods action-wise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Evidently Paramount had a great deal of faith in Mystery Sea Raider, else why would a mere B picture be permitted to run nearly 80 minutes? Onslow Stevens has the largest role as Carl Cutler, a prosperous importer who unexpectedly becomes a German spy when WW2 breaks out. Taking over a freighter in mid-ocean somewhere in the Caribbean, Cutler transforms the vessel into a Nazi raider, then does his best to decimate the British fleet. But Cutler has failed to take into consideration the resourcefulness of ship's captain Jimmy Madden (Henry Wilcoxon), who with the help of the Nazi's unwitting cohort June McCarthy (Carole Landis) manages to strike a blow for Democracy in the final footage. Though set in the 1940s, Mystery Sea Raider seems more like a WW1 melodrama, with both Allied and German forces displaying gallantry and even chivalry in the face of death. This sort of romanticism would be dispensed with after Pearl Harbor, whereupon no enemy officer would ever be cut any slack in a Hollywood film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Promoted as a follow-up to the popular 1939 western Dodge City (which, indeed, was left wide open for a sequel in its closing scenes), Virginia City bears only surface resemblance to the earlier film. Indeed, the only discerning links between the two pictures are the western setting and the presence in the cast of Errol Flynn, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. After escaping from a Confederate prison during the Civil War, Union officer Flynn vows to stop a $5,000,000 gold shipment from reaching the South. He is challenged by Southern sympathizer Randolph Scott, whose interest in the gold is patriotic, and by outlaw Humphrey Bogart (complete with a Mexican accent that wouldn't convince a cow), whose interests are purely mercenary. Adding spice to the proceedings is Miriam Hopkins as a dance hall chanteusse-cum-Confederate spy. Better in individual components than sum total, Virginia City pleased the crowds in 1940, assuring that the Tasmanian-born Errol Flynn would continue appearing in westerns in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Metropolitan Pictures' Port of Hate was directed by one of the studio's two chief executives, Harry S. Webb (the other, Albert Ray, was presumably busy on the company's Bob Steele western series). The story takes place on a faraway island (probably nearby Catalina), where soldiers of fortune Bob (Kenneth Harlan) and Don (Carleton Young) have located a valuable bed of pearls. A secondary plotline involves heroine Jerry Gale (Polly Ann Young, sister of Loretta), who is innocently involved in a murder. One of the more important roles is essayed by oriental actor Shia Jung, who earned the film's best reviews. Also featured are such silent-film veterans as Monte Blue, Jimmy Aubrey and Reed Howes, all of them hampered by shoddy cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cowboy star Ken Maynard goes the "Lone Ranger" route in Phantom Rancher. Upon inheriting his uncle's ranch, Ken Mitchell (Maynard) finds himself in the middle of a range war. Crooked real estate agent Collins (Ted Adams) is not averse to using strongarm methods to "persuade" the local ranchers to vacate the premises. When all else fails, hero Mitchell dons a domino mask and the new identity of "The Phantom Rancher", working outside the Law to protect the rights of his fellow ranchers and to bring Collins to justice. With Phantom Rancher, Ken Maynard brought his brief series for low-budget Colony Pictures to a close; it would be nearly two years before he'd return to moviemaking. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tex Ritter, Monogram' low-budget answer to Republic's Gene Autry, got himself a new sidekick in rangy Nelson McDowell in the otherwise dull Roll, Wagons, Roll. Executive producer Edward F. Finney only allowed two songs -- Roll Wagon Wheels, by Dorcas Cochran and Charles Rosoff, and Oh, Suzannah, by Stephen Foster -- and the Western included enough stock footage -- some dating back to the silent era -- that it barely qualified as a new feature film. Ritter and McDowell played army scouts attempting to lead a wagon train safely through hostile territory. The Indians, as it turns out, are under the influence of an evil white fur trader, Coleman (Reed Howes). The wagon master, Grimes (Tom London), who is in cahoots with Coleman, has Ritter and McDowell fired on a trumped-up charge of conspiring with the Indians but the two friends manage to alert the cavalry and the wagon train is saved in the nick of time. Muriel Evans. Ritter's blond leading lady, also appeared in his next film, Westbound Stage (1940). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Though it probably isn't saying much, Flaming Lead is the best of Ken Maynard's starring vehicles for low-budget Colony Pictures. The story begins, curiously enough, at a nightclub where Maynard is wowing the customers with his expert lariat tricks. One of the patrons is ranch owner Dave O'Brien, who invites our hero to head out west for a "working vacation." Once he's arrived in the Wide Open Spaces, Maynard is obliged to find out who's been depleted O'Brien's herd of horses, thereby endangering his contract with the US Army. For this outing, the increasingly portly Ken Maynard lost several unflattering pounds, a fact duly noted by fans and critics alike. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide