John King Movies

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

The Triangle W Ranch is indeed haunted in this Monogram Range Busters series entry, though not by the spirit of the late outlaw Reno Red as the townsfolk are led to believe, but by nasty Rance Austin (Glenn Strange) and his gang on the premises searching for a stolen gold bullion. Enter the Range Busters, one of whom, Dusty (John "Dusty" King), impersonates the heir to half of the ranch. The other half belongs to Helen Weston (Julie Duncan), and together with Dave (Dave Sharpe), Alibi (Max "Alibi" Terhune), and Red (Rex Lease) they finally nail Rance and his men and locate the gold bullion hidden in -- of all things -- a music box that plays "Little Brown Jug." Co-star Dave Sharpe entered the service during the filming of Haunted Ranch and was replaced in the latter part of the Western by Rex Lease. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, the courageous Range Busters, round up the rabble-rousing rustlers who've been rendering Rock River really rowdy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Thunder River Feud is the latest adventure of "The Range Busters," aka Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King and Max "Alibi" Terhune. This time, the heroic trio come to the rescue of pretty rancher Maybelle (Jan Wiley), who is stuck in the middle of a deadly range war. Causing all the ruckus is villain Pembroke (Jack H. Holmes), who pits the cattlemen against the homesteaders in hopes of wiping out both factions for his own financial gain. The Range Busters quickly figure out what the bad guy is up to, and from then on in it's "Katy bar the door!" Somewhere along the line, John King gets to sing "What a Wonderful Day". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Range Busters-John "Dusty" King, David Sharpe, Max "Alibi" Terhune-do their bit for the war effort in Texas to Bataan. The plot concerns the theft of a shipment of horses, originally destined for the US Army overseas. But instead of the usual home-grown rustlers, the villains are a gang of Axis spies, overseen by the seemingly innocent Cookie (Escolastico Baucin), a Japanese agent posing as a Filipino. Naturally, the bad guys are no match for our true-blue, 100% All-American heroes. Texas to Bataan represented stuntman David Sharpe's first appearance as a Range Buster, replacing Ray "Crash" Corrigan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like the first entry in the "Range Busters" series, the 1941-42 season opener Saddle Mountain Roundup was as much a whodunit as a western. This time, the murder victim is irascible rancher Magpie Harper (John Elliot). Arriving too late to save Harper from his fate, heroes Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King and Max "Alibi" Terhune commit themselves to solving the murder. The identity of the killer is tipped off by the actor's prominence in the screen credits (at this time, he was usually cast in uncredited bit roles). Fairly well directed and acted, Saddle Mountain Roundup is compromised a bit by the surprising shoddy editing of Ray Claire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Range Busters returned to bust a few more ranges in Tonto Basin Outlaws. As ever, the three protagonists are played by Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King and Max "Alibi" Terhune. The story takes off when Corrigan takes a job as manager of the Tonto Basin hotel. From here, he intends to observe the comings and goings of the local cowpokes, thereby hoping to uncover a gang of rustlers who've terrorizing the countryside. Making life miserable for Corrigan and his fellow Range Busters is the unwelcome snoopery of Jane (Jan Wiley), a big-city reporter assigned to cover the rustling story for her paper. The fact that the film takes place in 1898, when girl reporters were as scarce as hen's teeth (and almost as pretty), didn't seem to phase the screenwriters a bit; if the viewer wanted logic, the viewer was in the wrong theatre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Range Riders - Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King and Max "Albi" Terhune-ride the range once more in Monogram's Kid's Last Ride. Sent to a wide-open town to stem the activities of the local criminal element, our three heroes almost immediately get mixed up in a deadly feud between local land barons Harmon (Al Bridge) and Bart (Glenn Strange). The Range Riders patch things up by deflecting Harmon's son Jimmy (Edwin Brian) from a life of crime, thereby also expediting the romance between Jimmy and Bart's daughter Sally (Luana Walters). Then, almost as an afterthought, the do-gooding trio trounces the villains. Like most of the The Range Riders' entries, Kid's Last Ride was cheap but profitable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Apparently hoping to break out of the series' formula rut, the producers of the "Range Riders" western Tumbledown Ranch in Arizona employ a clever and amusing framing device. At the beginning of the picture, the son of Range Rider John "Dusty" King (played by King) meets the son of Dusty's old pal Ray "Crash" Corrigan (played by Corrigan) in college. After the boys exchange a few reminiscences of their dads' exploits, Dusty's son is knocked out by an accidental blow on the head. When he awakens, he finds he has been transported back to the Old West, and has assumed his father's identity. Once this has been established, the plot proper gets under way, wherein Dusty, Crash and Alibi (Max Terhune) try to stem the criminal activities of the villains (Quin Ramsyey, James Craven, Jack Holmes) and to champion the cause of the heroine (Sheila Darcy). By the time the heroes finally return to the Wild Frontier, the picture is half over, forcing the screenwriters to telescope 6 reels' worth of plot and action into 25 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Trailing Double Trouble was the second entry in Monogram's "Range Busters" series. Ray Corrigan, John King and Max Terhune star respectively as Crash, Dusty and Alibi, three wandering do-gooders dedicated to cleaning up the West. One wag suggested that this film could have been retitled "The Range Busters and the Baby", inasmuch as our three heroes champion the cause of an infant (Mary Louise King) who has just inherited $50,000. Unscrupulous attorney Jim Moreland (Roy Barcroft) hopes to use the kid to gain access to the money, but the Range Busters prevent this by "kidnapping" the baby. In due time, the child's mother (Lita Conway) is herself kidnapped by the villains, leading to the long-anticipated showdown between Good Guys and Bad Guys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mignight Limited takes place during an eventful nonstop train trip from New York to Montreal. A couple of murders take place, obliging detective Val (John King) to swing into action. There is no shortage of suspects, but Val refuses to believe that pretty Joan (Marjorie Reynolds) is the guilty party-and, of course, his instincts are credit. George Cleveland steals the show as a seemingly eccentric professor, a character obviously inspired by the addlepated religious fanatic in Hecht and MacArthur's Twentieth Century. For reasons best known to the Monogram executives, Midnight Limited is interrupted halfway through with a song performed by hero John King. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Monogram hoped that The Gentleman From Arizona would be their "prestige" release for 1940, and to that end the film was lensed in Cinecolor. The "gentleman" is played by John King, but the star of the show is J. Farrell McDonald, cast as a chronic gambler named Coburn. When the old man loses every penny he has, wandering cowboy Pokey (King) comes to the rescue by grooming a wild stallion for a successful racetrack career. Everything comes to a head during the climactic Big Race, with the expected (but still satisyfing) results. Ruth Reece and Joan Barclay share the leading-lady responsibilities, while the villainy is in the capable hands of Monogram's ace utility actor Craig Reynolds. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide