Reed Howes Movies
One of several male models to achieve some success in action films of the '20s, Hermon Reed Howes was forever saddled with the tag "Arrow Collar Man," despite the fact that he had been only one of several future luminaries to have posed for famed artist J.C. Leyenecker's memorable Arrow ads. (Future screen actors Fredric March and Brian Donlevy also did yeoman duty for the company.)A graduate of the University of Utah and the Harvard Graduate School, Howes had served two and a half years in the navy prior to entering onto the stage. He became a leading man for the likes of Peggy Wood and Billie Burke, and entered films in 1923, courtesy of low-budget producer Ben Wilson, who cast the handsome newcomer as the lead in a series of breathless melodramas released by Rayart. Howes reached a silent screen pinnacle of sorts as Clara Bow's leading man in Rough House Rosie (1927), but his starring days were over with the advent of sound. There was nothing inherently wrong with Howes voice, but it didn't do anything for him either. His acting before the microphone seemed too stiff. He was still as handsome as ever, but his good looks were often hidden behind a scruffy beard or mustache. The veteran actor then drifted into supporting roles in B-Westerns and serials, his appearances sometimes devoid of dialogue, and more often than not, he was unbilled. Howes did his fair share of television in the '50s as well, but ill health forced him to retire after playing a police inspector in Edward D. Wood Jr.'s The Sinister Urge, filmed in July of 1960 and a guest spot on television's Mr. Ed. He died of cancer at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1939
In terms of action, Honor of the West ranks among the best of the Bob Baker westerns. In terms of its script, alas, it must rank as one of the worst. Screenwriter Joseph West (a pseudonym for director George Waggner) seems to have taken a perverse delight in serving up convoluted dialogue that Laurence Olivier might have found impossible to fathom. In one scene, ingenue Marjorie Bell (later known as Marge Champion) delivers a labyrinthine monologue that leaves her literally breathless. Best to turn down the sound and concentrate on the visual aspects of the plot, which deals with sheriff Bob Baker's decision to take off his badge and hunt down his brother's killers without the niceties of the law restraining him. Baker also gets to sing a brace of songs, the best of which is "The Old Chuck Wagon". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Baker, Carleton Young, (more)
- 1939
Radio crooner Tex Fletcher was given a one-time-only chance at western stardom in Grand National's Six-Gun Rhythm. The plot offers a bit of novelty value, with Fletcher starting out as an eastern-seaboard football player who heads westward when his rancher father is murdered. Heroine Joan Barclay's brother has been accused from the crime, but our hero exposes the genuine miscreant during a climactic fist-fight in a raging sandstorm (a standout sequence). The star plays his guitar left-handed, so there's little chance of his being confused with Autry or Rogers. All in all, Six-Gun Rhythm isn't bad, but all plans for a Tex Fletcher series were scotched when Grand National went out of business in late 1939. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Fletcher, Joan Barclay, (more)
- 1939
In this complicated western, a group of explorers head to Mexico to hunt for an Indian burial ground. The hero, who has been unjustly accused of murdering the leader of the first expedition, begins impersonating the notorious bandito El Puma. He intercepts the latest expedition just as the leader is stabbed. The real murderer then blames it on El Puma. Now the hero stands accused of two murders. The hero begins looking for the treasure buried within the grounds and for the real killer. He finds both. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Joyce Bryant, (more)
- 1938
The 15-chapter Republic serial Dick Tracy Returns also represents the return of Ralph Byrd in the role of Chester Gould's stalwart comic-strip detective. For the purposes of the film, Tracy has joined the G-Men in pursuit of criminal mastermind Pa Stark (Charles Middleton) and his killer brood. Things get off to an rousing start when Stark and his five sons rob an armored car and murder Tracy's pal Ron Merton (David Sharpe). One by one, the Starks are killed off by Tracy and the good guys until at last only Pa and eldest son Champ (John Merton) are left. Gathering together a daunting supply of dynamite and nitroglycerin, the surviving gang members draw up plans to blow Tracy and the other G-Men to Kingdom Come, but things don't quite work out that way. Like the other three "Dick Tracy" serials, Dick Tracy Returns was also released in an abridged feature-length version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd, Lynne Roberts, (more)
- 1938
The United States Marine Corps. became the focus of this typical Republic Pictures serial directed by two of the best in the business, William Witney and John English. The villain was yet another cloaked figure -- this time an inventor whose contribution to mankind was a weapon capable of discharging huge amounts of electricity from an airplane -- known only as "The Lightning." A group of alarmed scientists attempt to develop a countermeasure to the diabolical machine, and the government assigns a couple of marine lieutenants (Lee Powell and Herman Brix) to track down the master criminal. Both relative newcomers, Powell and Brix also co-starred in the year's most popular serial, The Lone Ranger. The former, sadly, lost his life in World War II, while Brix later signed with Warner Bros. and became a well-known second-lead under the name Bruce Bennett. To keep the audience guessing, Witney and English cast Lester Dorr as "The Lightning" when in costume and had Edwin Stanley furnishing his voice. Hugh Sothern played the villain's alter ego, the seemingly upstanding Ben Warfield. Fighting Devil Dogs was also released in an edited feature version, The Torpedo of Doom. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Powell, Herman Brix, (more)
- 1938
In his fourth starring Western, Universal's singing cowboy Bob Baker comes to the aid of Molly Taylor (Fay Shannon), an Eastern girl about to lose her inherited ghost town because of outstanding property taxes. Gomer (Forrest Taylor), who has discovered oil on the property, kidnaps the girl on her way to the tax collector (Murdock MacQuarrie), but she is rescued in the nick of time by singing Texas Ranger Bob Martin (Baker) and his sidekick, "Cherokee" Walton (Hank Worden). Composer Fleming Allan provided a couple of songs, including "We're Headin' Home" and "That Old Home Trail," but Baker's humdrum vocalizing did not make anyone forget Gene Autry. In contrast to Autry, Baker was easily overshadowed by Universal's well-chosen supporting cast which this time included George Cleveland as a supposedly senile judge, Martin Turner as the heroine's African-American domestic, and the always welcome Hank Worden. The Baker series remained a shaky proposition and by 1939 the star was playing second fiddle to the more robust (and non-singing) Johnny Mack Brown. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1938
West of Rainbow's End was one of two Tim McCoy westerns directed by Monogram Pictures workhorse Alan James. Returning to the screen after a tour with the Ringling Bros. circus, McCoy is cast as a former railroad detective who emerges from retirement to solve a series of suspicious accidents. The villains hope to sabotage the railroad so that they can engineer a big-time land swindle. For our hero, it's personal: the bad guys were responsible for the murder of his foster father. Kathleen Elliot, who spent most of her brief film career in westerns, co-stars as Tim's waitress sweetheart Joan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Walter McGrail, (more)
- 1938
Once one of Hollywood's "top ten" screen attractions, Charles Farrell had slipped somewhat by the end of the 1930s, and obliging to accept roles in such B productions as Columbia's Flight to Fame. Farrell plays air force captain Lawrence, a Billy Mitchell type who finds himself constantly at odds with his old-fashioned superiors. When his revolutionary new pursuit plane is rejected by the powers-that-be, Lawrence befriends another "radical"named Fisk, who has developed a deadly new death ray "for the good of mankind". Inevitably, the ray falls into the wrong hands, causing a series of mysterious air disasters. At first suspecting Fisk of misusing his invention, Lawrence eventually discovers that the actual culprit is another disgruntled aviator. Columbia's all-purpose heroine Jacqueline Wells provides the obligatory love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Farrell, Hugh Sothern, (more)
- 1937
Former silent-movie matinee idol Rod LaRocque does what he can with the Poverty Row quickie Taming the Wild. LaRocque is cast as family attorney Dick Clayton, who puts in overtime keeping headstrong heiress June Bolton (Maxine Doyle) out of trouble. Alas, June is attracted to gangster types, leading to her inevitable kidnapping and Clayton's equally inevitable race to the rescue. The script and the acting aren't too bad, but the camerawork is atrocious, robbing several scenes of their dramatic potential. Taming the Wild is based on Shipmates, a story by literary workhorse Peter B. Kyne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod La Rocque, Maxine Doyle, (more)
- 1937
Allegedly based on two factual works, Bouck White's The Book of Daniel Drew and Matthew Josephson's The Robber Barons, RKO's The Toast of New York is a largely fanciful account of the career of 1870s financier "Jubilee Jim" Fisk. As played by Edward Arnold in his usual "tycoon" mode, Fisk was a likable scoundrel who finagled his way into the upper rungs of Wall Street as much for fun as for profit. The film conveniently ignores Fisk's involvement with the infamous Tweed Ring, and skims over his complicity in 1869's "Black Friday," one of the most disastrous events in American economic history. We are also offered a sanitized version of Fisk's notorious mistress Josie Mansfield, who as played by Frances Farmer is an apple-cheeked lass who regards Fisk only as a loyal friend. Cary Grant is along for the ride as "Nick Boyd," a thinly disguised version of Fisk's actual partner in crime Ned Stokes. Too costly to post a profit, Toast of New York is nonetheless fine non-think entertainment, kept alive by a superb supporting cast ranging from Donald Meek as Daniel Drew and Clarence Kolb as Cornelius Vanderbilt to such bit players as Laurel & Hardy perennial James Finlayson, who plays the inventor of a self-tipping hat! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Arnold, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1937
Puritan Pictures seldom turned out a film that looked most expensive than it really was. The studio's Million to One appears to have been made on a budget of eight dollars and a box lunch, but that doesn't lessen its entertainment value one bit. Herman Brix (later known as Bruce Bennett) stars as Johnny Kent, a hot-shot Olympic athlete who lets success go to his head. After a dizzying cycle of wine, women and song, Johnny is no good to anyone, least of all himself. He wises up in time to qualify for a decathlon competition with his arch-rival Hale (Reed Howes). Oldtimers Monte Blue and Kenneth Harlan play key supporting roles, while the ingenue is a pretty but antiseptic newcomer named Joan Burfield. By the time Million to One made it to New York (nearly three years after it was made), Ms. Burfield was billing herself as Joan Fontaine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Herman Brix, Joan Fontaine, (more)
Puritan Pictures, a poverty-row operation devoted in the main to Tim McCoy westerns, turned out a few diverting murder mysteries during its short life span. In Death in the Sky, Leon Ames plays a World War I ace whose combat experiences have driven him mad. Convinced that every other aviator on earth poses a personal threat to him, Ames contrives to kill anyone who pilots a plane. Only hero John Carroll and heroine Lona Andre stand in the way of Ames' murder spree. The matching of new footage with stock shots from such earlier air epics as Hell's Angels is not always convincing, but at least the film keeps on the move. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lona Andre, John Carroll, (more)
Actually it's the great-grandson of legendary 19th century do-gooder Zorro who rides in this 12-chapter Republic serial. Villainous modern-day tycoon Marsden (Noah Beery) supervises the activities of a western outlaw gang from the plush confines of his Manhattan skyscraper. It is Marsden's hope to grab control of a new California-to-Yucatan railroad, and there isn't any low to which he will not stoop to get what he wants; he even deploys a modernistic machine gun and an art-deco twin-prop fighter plane. Recalling the heroic exploits of Zorro, a group of beleaguered Californians send for the masked hero's great-grandkid James Vega (John Carroll), only to find out that he's an airheaded playboy, more interested in his golf score than saving humanity. But like his famous ancestor, Vega rises to the occasion, adopting the mask, cape and whip of Zorro to settle Marsden's hash for good. Outside of its usual quota of thrills and spills, Zorro Rides Again is one of the few serials that can boast a theme song ("Zorro rides again -- riding along, singing a song" etc.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carroll, Helen Christian, (more)
- 1937
In this drama, a cafe singer gets into deep financial trouble. Fortunately, a group of amiable sailors endeavor to save her. One of them falls in love with her and nearly abandons his Navy career to be with her until the whole mess is cleared up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Linden, Cecilia Parker, (more)
- 1936
Produced by poverty row organization Stage and Screen, this less-than-faithful serialized version of the historical battle seems to have rounded up every B-Western player not otherwise engaged at the time. That fact added to a couple of impressive sets drew favorable reviews for the serial's initial chapters, but the overall verdict proved negative. A secret arrow and the secret key to a hidden stash of gold is lost during one of several skirmishes brought about by Young Wolf (Chief Thundercloud). The arrow is recovered by Major Trent (Josef Swickard) and his daughter Barbara (Nancy Caswell) who, unaware of its secret purpose, become the target of various nefarious villains, including Blade (Reed Howes), a renegade Indian. Scout Kid Cardigan (Rex Lease) and General George Armstrong Custer (Frank McGlynn, Jr.) attempt to prevent an all-out war over the arrow, but their endeavors only lead to the infamous Last Stand. A tragic event in American history is thus once again reduced to a mere fight for mammon. A great many well-known B-Western players parade in and out of the serial briefly portraying various historical figures, including Helen Gibson as Calamity Jane, Ruth Mix (Tom's daughter) as Elizabeth Custer, Ted Adams as Buffalo Bill Cody, Howling Wolf as Sitting Bull, Allen Greer as Wild Bill Hickock and High Eagle as Chief Crazy Horse. Stage and Screen and associate producer George M. Merrick announced ambitious plans to film four additional serials, but the company was dissolved in late 1936, yet another victim of the Great Depression and an inability to secure distribution. Custer's Last Stand was also released in a 90-minute feature version. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1936
An airborne serial killer terrorizes a group of war veterans in this ultra-cheap but fairly engrossing whodunit produced by one of Hollywood's few women executives, Fanchon Royer. Assigned to investigate a series of flight disasters committed by a phantom aircraft bearing only the legend "X," veteran test pilot Jerry Blackwood (John Carroll) learns from Dr. Norris (John Elliott) that the killer in all likelihood is a veteran of the last war suffering from "battle neurosis." Jerry gathers a group of fellow veterans at the plant operated by aircraft manufacturer Henry Goering (Henry Hall), an assembly consisting of Baron Von Guttard (John Peters) of the German Luftwaffe, the French pilot René LaRue (Gaston Glass), the British Captain Saunders (Pat Somerset), and American Douglas Thompson (Wheeler Oakman), late of the famous Lafayette Escadrille. Also present is the mysterious Lieutenant Ives (Reed Howes) and Carl (Leon Kent), Goering's son, who seems to know a great deal about Von Guttard. The German, however, is the first to die during an airborne patrol, closely followed by LaRue. Saunders, meanwhile, seems to come completely unhinged and remains the obvious suspect when Dr. Norris is found murdered. The real "Pilot X," however, is someone completely different, as Jerry and Goering's ward, Helen Gage (Lona Andre), learn the hard way. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lona Andre, John Carroll, (more)
The second of three serials produced by the Weiss Bros. for low-budget Stage and Screen Productions, The Clutching Hand brought back that eminent detective Craig Kennedy, who had first appeared in Pearl White's The Exploits of Elaine back in 1915. Now played by the veteran Jack Mulhall, another holdover from the early silent era, Kennedy is hired to solve the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Paul Gironda, whose formula for the manufacture of synthetic gold is coveted by a mysterious cloaked villain known only as The Clutching Hand. Along with Dr. Gironda's nubile daughter, Verna (Marion Shilling), and young newspaper reporter Walter Jameson (Rex Lease), Kennedy is aided or opposed in his quest by an impressive array of unemployed former silent screen "names" that include William Farnum, Reed Howes, Mae Busch, Bryant Washburn, Franklyn Farnum, and Snub Pollard, not to mention newcomers like Charles Locher (later known as Jon Hall) and Tom Mix's daughter, Ruth. The best made and most successful of Stage and Screen's three chapterplays (the company had promised six or seven), The Clutching Hand was also released in a 70-minute highly edited feature version. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
An average entry in the otherwise above-average Monogram/"Lone Star" Western series starring John Wayne, this film is noteworthy for containing one of the last screen appearances of Joseph De Grasse, a major silent screen actor-director, who -- with his screenwriter wife Ida May Park -- created scores of well-received Universal melodramas in the 1910s. De Grasse appears all too briefly here as Wayne's father, murdered during a robbery of his express office. Wayne, playing John Mason, chases after the killer, an outlaw whose face is hidden behind a polka dot neckerchief. Mason is injured during the chase and brought to the home of Alice Gordon (Marion Burns) by newfound friend Ben McClure (Reed Howes). Nursed back to health by Alice, with whom he is falling in love, Mason sets a trap for the killer and his gang by announcing that he is guarding a valuable gold shipment. The killer is revealed to be Rudd, Alice's brother (Dennis Moore, here billed "Denny Meadow"), whom John challenges to a duel. Feeling betrayed by Mason's love for Alice, Ben secretly substitutes the bullets in his former friend's gun with blanks. Persuaded by Alice that John has done nothing untoward, a repentant Ben arrives just in time to save his friend from certain death but is himself felled by a bullet fired by villainous barkeep Yakima Canutt in a final, well-staged, shootout. What there is of comic relief in this rather dour Western is provided by gangly Nelson McDowell, an actor seemingly born to portray comic undertakers, which is exactly what he plays here. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Marion Burns, (more)
- 1935
Neither the best nor worst of Hoot Gibson's westerns for producer Walter Futter, Feud of the West lies somewhere in between. The old Hooter plays a rodeo performer named Whitey, performing some remarkable riding and roping stunts before the plot proper gets under way. Said plot concerns a reclusive hermit named Wild Horse Henderson (Nelson McDowell), a heroine named Molly (Joan Barclay) whose parentage is in doubt, and, of course, the titular feud between ranchers and rustlers. The "mystery" villain of the piece is better hidden than usual, managing to fool even a few veteran whodunit buffs. As always, Hoot Gibson seldom resorts to gunplay when he can solve problems with a quick quip or quicker fists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Joan Barclay, (more)
- 1935
Based on a Peter B. Kyne short story, The Final Assignment (which was also the film's alternate title), Fighting Coward features silent-screen star William Farnum as Jim Horton, a former prison inmate falsely accused of killing a district attorney. Although engaged to his boss' daughter Marie Russell (Joan Woodbury), police officer Bob Horton (Ray Walker) resigns from the force in order to clear his father's name. Before he can rescue Jim, who is under the influence of the vile Krane (Matthew Betz), Bob is himself accused of a crime, this time of taking a bribe. After a tip from jealous Detective Hendricks (Syd Saylor), Marie and her father trail Bob to Krane's hideout but are overpowered by Baker (Roger Williams), the villain's chief lieutenant. They are saved in the nick of time by Bob and Jim, the latter losing his life courageously taking a bullet meant for Russell. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Tarzan the Police Dog starred in this shoddy mystery produced by Bert Sternbach for Poverty Row's Stage and Screen Productions. A number of warehouses have suffered robberies, and the owner, Amos Boswell (John Ince), calls in detective Kennedy (Reed Howes) and his clever police dog, Tarzan. Kennedy at first suspects the firm's secretary, Sheila (Janet Chandler), and her father, the nightwatchman (William Farnum), but the mastermind behind the crimes proves to be a person much higher on the corporate ladder. Written by actors Robert Walker and Victor Potel, Million Dollar Haul was the second of five "Tarzan the Police Dog" thrillers produced by Sternbach and dumped on the states rights market in 1934 and 1935. Tarzan himself never made anyone forget Rin-Rin-Tin. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1935
"Queen of Camp" might be a more appropriate title for this unintentionally hilarious low-budget serial. It is the story of two childhood friends who are separated when the little girl Joan is taken away in a hot air balloon and dropped in darkest Africa where the natives hail her as the great White Goddess and make her ruler of their people. Meanwhile, her pal David spends his life looking for her. He eventually finds her, but maybe he wishes he hadn't because wherever she goes, trouble is sure to follow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Paradise Canyon is one of the most action-packed entries in John Wayne's "Lone Star" series. On the trail of a counterfeiting gang, undercover agent John Wyatt (Wayne) joins the traveling medicine show of Doc Carter (Earl Hodgins). For a while, it looks as though Doc is the leader of the gang, but when he and his daughter, Linda (Marion Burns), are kidnapped by the real villain, Wyatt realizes he's been riding the wrong trail. The last-minute rescue is almost as thrilling as the earlier scene in which Wyatt takes a high dive off a steep cliff into a river. Ace stuntmen Reed Howes and Yakima Canutt are prominent among the supporting players. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Marion Burns, (more)
- 1935
Treasury agent Dave Elliot (Donald Cook) dedicates himself to smashing a crime syndicate, especially after his best friend is killed by the mob. This requires Elliot to go undercover, posing as a criminal. He gains the confidence of sadistic mob gunman Lefty (J. Carroll Naish), and it's nip-and-tuck from then on until the identity of the mysterious Mister Big is revealed. Evalyn Knapp is excellent as glib-tongued mob bookkeeper Maxine, and Warren Hymer is equally good as a stupid numbers runner. Confidential can be seen as a Mascot Pictures pocket version of Warner Bros.' Special Agent, which in turn was inspired by the tax-evasion downfall of Al Capone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Cook, Evelyn Knapp, (more)
- 1934
- NR
Loosely based on a story by pulp writer James Oliver Curwood, this Lone Star Western released by Monogram starred a young John Wayne helping an old family friend (James Marcus) find his long-lost brother and niece. Traveling by train to the Canadian Northwest, Rod Drew (Wayne) is reacquainted with old school chum Wabi (Noah Beery Jr.), a "half-breed" falsely accused of shooting a card shark. Escaping the law, the two friends find their way to Wabinosh General Store, whose gregarious owner, Newsome (Noah Beery), is in possession of a map leading to the whereabouts of the missing Ball family and a fortune in gold. A nefarious French trapper, LaRocque (Robert Frazer), is also interested in the map but Drew and Wabi beat him to the location of John Ball's abandoned cabin. Ball himself is long dead but a portrait proves that his daughter is none other than Felice (Verna Hillie), the adopted daughter of the general store owner. Felice and Rod have fallen in love, however, and after delivering the villains to the mounted police, they leave the Northwest together. A remake of the silent The Wolf Hunters (1926), The Trail Beyond was filmed at majestic Kings Canyon National Park in central California and includes several impressive stunts performed by Yakima Canutt and Eddie Parker. (One stunt that failed -- a transfer from horse to wagon -- was left in the film, adding a rare touch of realism to the proceedings.) The beautifully restored version of the film comes complete with a new background score, a nuisance to purists, perhaps, but a welcome addition for the more casual viewer. A colorized version is also available. Monogram filmed the story a third time, as The Wolf Hunters (1949) and starring Kirby Grant. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
