Ethan Laidlaw Movies

In this western, a lawman tries to help prove that his friend did not commit murder. He rides in and saves his pal from a lynch mob. Soon afterward, the accused takes off and the sheriff loses both his job and his community's respect. He must now prove that he and his friend are innocent. He finds the real killer, a true psycho, and after a tremendous gun battle is able to bring the killer to justice, restore his own honor, and save his friend. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this western, a cowboy rides into Mesa and finds that he bears remarkable resemblance to a dead man. Actually he is the dead man, but instead of suffering a death, he suffered a blow to the head that caused amnesia five years before. After staying in the town a while, his memories begin to return. He then enlists the aide of some Texas friends to help him bring law to the wild western town. By the story's end, he has fully regained his memory and is able to reclaim his wife and ranch. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Game That Kills is professional hockey, at least according to this Columbia "B"-picture. Charles Quigley stars as Ferguson, a rough-and-tumble hockey player who discovers that his chosen profession is nothing more than a racket, a plaything for game-fixing racketeers. When his brother is killed in a highly suspicious accident, Ferguson and team trainer Holland (J. Farrell McDonald) join forces to bring the killers to justice. Second-billed Rita Hayworth is decorative as Holland's daughter (and Ferguson's sweetheart, natch). The Game That Kills was the second of three hockey-themed films released in 1937, the others being Warner Bros.' King of Hockey and Universal's Idol of the Crowd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Three Stooges actually play different characters here (or at least they have different names, different hairstyles, and different mustaches) -- Curly is Buffalo Bilious, Moe is Wild Bill Hiccup, and Larry is Just Plain Bill. They are General Muster's three best scouts, and now that the Indian problem is solved, he needs them to round up a gang of cattle rustlers. At first this sounds like bad news for General Muster and his men but, surprisingly, the boys are nearly halfway competent -- either that, or the rustlers are even more stupid than they are. Disguised as big gamblers from the West (sans mustaches and back to their usual hair), the Stooges head over to the Longhorn saloon, where they sit down to a card game with Longhorn Pete, the proprietor -- who's also the head of the rustlers. They've sent a note, via pigeon, asking for reinforcements, but the bird happens to be Pete's pet and their identities are uncovered. They escape in a wagon containing pots and pans which they toss out to stall their pursuers. There's also a monkey who terrorizes Curly. They wind up at a cabin where they shoot it out with the bad guys. When some bullets accidentally fall into a meat grinder Curly is using, it becomes a machine-gun-like device. The Stooges vanquish the rustlers and, as they are being congratulated, the monkey takes over the meat grinder and sends them off in a hail of bullets. Some shots from this picture would be recycled in 1954's Pals and Gals. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey star as Roy Banks and Dr. "Painless" Pennington, itinerant dentists in the Old West. Roy and Doc purchase a dentist's office from a crooked real-estate promoter (Richard Alexander), who neglects to tell our heroes that everyone in town is planning to head off via wagon train to the California Gold Rush. By the time they discover that they've set up shop in a ghost town, the boys have also uncovered evidence that the townsfolk are heading right into an Indian ambush. They quickly catch up with the wagon train, where Roy falls in love with cute schoolmarm Mary Blake (Dorothy Lee). Managing to convince the townsfolk that they're all about to be massacred, Roy and Doc are themselves accused of arranging the impending slaughter by Hank (Harry Woods) and Trigger (Ethan Laidlaw), the two greedy reprobates who'd cooked up the massacre in collaboration with the Indians. Escaping a lynch mob, the boys hide out at a nearby Indian reservation, where they discover that Hank is in cahoots with the Chief. Roy and Doc manage to make their way back to the wagon train, where they save the day by pelting the attacking Indians with chloroform-soaked sponges. Justifiably regarded as the worst of the Wheeler and Woolsey comedies, Silly Billes reaches its nadir when the two stars drunkenly attempt to extract a tooth from a billy goat! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

College mineralologist Bob (Richard Dix) decides to put his education to good use by prospecting for gold out West. Teaming with desert rat Solitaire (Andy Clyde), Bob strikes it rich, but while en route to town to stake their claim, he stops long enough to rescue Nellie (Leila Hyams) from a gang of stagecoach robbers. Alas, in the meantime villainous Hanway (Onslow Stevens) has jumped our hero's claim. The rest of the picture concerns Dix's efforts to get back his gold, a dilemma solved in the traditional climactic gunfight. Surprisingly threadbare for a Richard Dix vehicle, Yellow Dust is one of the few RKO Radio westerns that really looks like a "B" picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A horse and a dog share the same birthday in this exciting children's drama. Both are born in captivity, but end up escaping to the wilderness where they become close friends. Later when wolves attack a herd of wild horses, both team up to save them. Later they return to domesticity where the horse is trained to race. A wicked gambler attempts to stop the horse from winning. Fortunately, his pal the dog intervenes and the horse proves himself a champion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

William Colt MacDonald's 1934 story based on the Three Mesqueteers characters was brought to the screen the following year by RKO, who billed it "the Barnum and Bailey of Westerns" and seems to have rounded up every Western star not under exclusive contract. The Western, in fact, could boast of no less than 13 former silent screen cowboy heroes: Harry Carey, Hoot Gibson, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Bob Steele, Tom Tyler, Buzz Barton, Wally Wales (aka Hal Taliaferro), Art Mix (aka George Kesterson), Buffalo Bill Jr. (aka Jay Wilsey), Buddy Roosevelt, Franklyn Farnum, William Desmond, and William Farnum. Carey, Gibson, and Williams played Tucson Smith, Stony Brooke, and Lullaby Joslin, respectively -- the Three Mesqueteers -- who happen upon a stage robbery in progress. They catch the bandit (Ethan Laidlaw) red-handed rifling through the mail and discover that one of the letters is meant for them. Without their knowing, a young friend, the Guadalupe Kid (Steele), has bought a ranch in their names and is awaiting their arrival. The ranch, however, is located in an area controlled by greedy saloon proprietor turned political boss Steve Ogden (Sam Hardy), who takes umbrage to their presence to the point of hiring a professional gunslinger, Sundown Saunders (Tyler). Provoking a confrontation, Sundown challenges Tucson to his trademark sundown showdown. The wily Tucson realizes that Sundown prefers an encounter in the dusk because of failing eyesight and only lightly wounds his opponent. Although a recuperating Sundown turns down Tucson's request to join the fight against Ogden, in the ensuing shootout the gunslinger heroically takes a bullet meant for Tucson. After forcing a confession out of the crooked sheriff (Adrian Morris), the Mesqueteers confront Ogden who is killed in a fight with Tucson. Filmed on locations at Kernville and Newhall, CA, Powdersmoke Range was not the first film version of MacDonald's Mesqueteers. That honor goes to Law of the .45's, a cheap, independently made Western that had starred Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Tucson and perennial sidekick Al St. John as Stony. (The film omitted the third mesqueteer, Lullaby Joslin, altogether). Despite the success of Powdersmoke Range, RKO failed to follow up with a regular series. Bob Steele would play the character of Sundown Saunders in an independently produced Western of that name in 1936 but the Three Mesqueteers as a group found a regular berth with Republic Pictures, which went on to produce 51 highly successful and influential B-Westerns between 1935 and mid-1943. Through several cast changes both Bob Steele and Tom Tyler would at one point or another play one of the mesqueteers, as would Robert Livingston, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, ventriloquist Max Terhune, John Wayne, Raymond Hatton, Duncan Renaldo, Rufe Davis, Ralph Byrd, and Syd Saylor. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a fighter's fiancee refuses to marry him until he can overcome his insane jealousy. He does and they marry. The jealousy resurfaces when he finds his wife and her boss in a hotel room. He goes mad with rage and kills her boss. His wife is blamed for the killing. Just before the verdict is announced, the guilt-ridden man confesses and himself receives the death-penalty. Time passes and his finally hour arrives. He asks the attending priest to offer him a 10-count. Just as the priest hits nine, his voice becomes that of a referee and the boxer is seen slowly awakening from being knocked on conscious during a fight. The whole story was but a dream. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this sea-going thriller, an unsavory seaman working on a cargo ship bound for Singapore, enlists the aid of another, plots a mutiny; he also poisons the ship's captain. The conspiracy is overheard by the second mate who ends up falling into the ocean. Meanwhile, the captain's naive daughter finds herself falling for the villain's sugar-sweet words and finds him to be a kindly fellow. The ship makes it to Singapore where it takes on an extremely valuable cargo for the sailor. Actually the heavily insured "cargo" will be used to sink the ship and allow him to collect a nice sum on it later. While in port, he also takes on a new second mate who learns about the scheme from the sinister sailor's girl friend who has also come aboard. He then tries to take on the bad-guy, but he loses and winds up locked in a cabin. Meanwhile the girl friend tries to stop her lover by telling the late captain's daughter the truth about her "friend." She succeeds, locks the bad sailor in a cabin, rescues the second mate and all three manage to make it two a life-boat minutes before the ship explodes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Never one to hide his talent under a bushel basket, director Rouben Mamoulien proudly proclaimed that, while there were ten killings in his 1931 gangster drama City Streets, the audience never sees any of them. This was not the only innovation in this fascinating early talkie, in which straight-arrow movie hero Gary Cooper is cast as a racketeer known only as The Kid. He has chosen a life of crime out of love for Nan (Sylvia Sidney), the daughter of mob henchman Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee). Eventually railroaded into prison by her crooked cohorts, Nan implores The Kid to give up the rackets, but he refuses. Things go downhill very rapidly after that, culminating with The Kid and Nan being taken "for a ride" by rival thugs. Cast in a role originally intended for Clara Bow, Sylvia Sidney does a magnificent job and was soon typecast as a downtrodden Depression victim, born with two strikes against her. Conversely, Gary Cooper never again played anything quite like "The Kid." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though not quite as good as his previous The Montana Kid, Bill Cody's 1931 western Dugan of the Bad Lands was still better than the usual run of low-budget westerns. The white-Stetsoned, Canadian-born Cody stars as Bill Duggan, who after the death of his prospector friend promises to look after the friend's young son Andy (Andy Shuford). In the course of their travels, Bill and Andy try to solve the murder of Sheriff Manning (John Elliot). The culprit turns out to be Manning's own deputy Dan Kirk (Ethan Laidlaw), who of course proves to be no match for the brawny Bill. Blanche Mehaffey, one of Hollywood's most prolific "B"-pic leading ladies, plays the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The era's greatest western star Tom Mix had left his safe berth with the Fox company by 1929 and was struggling on poverty row. In this his third film for FBO (Film Booking Office), Mix plays Tom Manning, a cowboy framed for murder and bank robbery by bandit leader Ethan Laidlaw. As always, justice prevails, but Mix has to make a daring escape from jail to right the wrongs done to him. The leading lady, Sally Blane, was the sister of Loretta Young. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide