Jock Mahoney Movies
Following his graduation from the University of Iowa and World War II service, Jock Mahoney came to Hollywood as a stuntman. Quickly establishing a reputation as one of the best and most courageous purveyors of his trade, Mahoney graduated to speaking roles in 1946. Billed as Jacques O'Mahoney, he played villains and secondary roles in Republic and Columbia westerns, showed up as a parodied "strong and silent" leading man in a handful of Three Stooges 2-reelers, and, while doubling for Errol Flynn, performed the legendary staircase leap in 1949's The Adventures of Don Juan.In 1951, Gene Autry hired Mahoney (who was now billing himself as Jack Mahoney) to star in the popular TV western series The Range Rider. This led to leading roles in such features as Overland Pacific (1954), Showdown at Abilene (1956) and I've Lived Before (1956). In 1958, Mahoney starred in another weekly TV western, Yancey Derringer. Two years later he played the villain in a Tarzan picture starring Gordon Scott, succeeding Scott as the "lord of the jungle" in Tarzan Goes to India (1962) -- during the filming of which he fell deathly ill, a fact that is painfully obvious in the completed picture.
Suffering a severe stroke in 1973, Mahoney made a near-complete recovery in the last five years of his life, performing his final stunt (tumbling from a wheelchair) in Burt Reynolds' The End. Reynolds exhibited his admiration for Mahoney in his 1980 vehicle Hooper, in which the stuntman character played by Brian Keith was named "Jocko." Mahoney's last film work was as stunt coordinator for John Derek's otherwise wretched 1981 remake of Tarzan of the Apes. Married for many years to actress Mary Field, whom he'd met while filming Range Rider, Jock Mahoney was the stepfather of Oscar-winning actress Sally Field. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1946
A grizzled old prospector literally stumbles over General Santa Ana's missing payroll treasure in this average "Durango Kid" Western from Columbia Pictures. Cimarron Dobbs (Emmett Lynn), who has been grubstaked by Rangers Steve Reynolds (Charles Starrett) and Smiley Burnette, soon finds himself in the clutches of greedy saloon proprietor John Munro (Robert Filmer) and his accomplice, saloon belle Dixie King (Helen Mowery), who will stop at nothing, including depriving the old man of water, to get hold of the treasure. Enter Steve Reynolds' alter ego, the Durango Kid, who not only manages to save Cimarron and find the treasure but also donates the loot to Munro's victims, the local farmers. Smiley Burnette performs his usual pratfalls and sings his own "Swamp Woman Blues", "Don't Be Mad at Me" and "Coyote Chorus", while the congregation known as Hank Newman and the Georgia Crackers takes care of Bob Newman's "Following the Trail". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1947
The Three Stooges returned to the wild and woolly West in this above-average two-reel comedy, the second to feature Shemp Howard as the third member of the team. They are visitors to a lawless frontier town and run afoul of the infamous Doc Barker (Jack Norman aka Norman Willis) and his gang. To their rescue (and that of Christine McIntyre) come not only the handsome young "Arizona Kid" (Jock Mahoney in his first of many appearances with the Stooges) but the entire cavalry. A reworking of Harry Langdon and El Brendel's 1945 Pistol Packing Nitwits, Out West was remade by the Stooges as Pals and Gals in 1954. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1948
The Three Stooges play troubadours of the Middle Ages in this comic short. It opens with Shemp stuck in his armor suit -- "I kept busting rivets so I had my tailor spot-weld me," he explains. It turns out that Cedric the blacksmith is hiding in their home to avoid beheading -- he has fallen in love with Princess Elaine (Christine McIntyre), who is betrothed to the Black Prince (Phil Van Zandt). To help him out, the Stooges accompany him to serenade the fair princess but they are all caught by the king (Vernon Dent) and jailed in the dungeon to await execution. But the princess saves them with a loaf of bread filled with files, saws, and hammers. The Stooges escape their captors and don suits of armor (or "steel step-ins," as Moe calls them). The Black Prince is planning to kill the king as soon as he's married to the princess, and Cedric is to be beheaded when the trumpets announce the forthcoming wedding. But the Stooges hurl fruit into the trumpets to keep them from sounding and reveal the Black Prince's nefarious plot. Cedric is saved, and the King allows him to wed the princess. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Randolph Scott both co-produced and starred in this above average Western chronicling the career of one of the last of the legendary Western outlaws. When the Dalton gang is ambushed by U.S. Marshals, Bill Doolin (Scott), the last surviving member, forms his own group of bank robbers that includes Red Buck (Frank Fenton), Arkansas Tom Jones (Charles Kemper), and Bitter Creek (John Ireland). Although the gang is widely successful, things quickly heat up to a point where Doolin advises his men to lay low before reuniting after three months. Hiding out in a church in Claymore, Doolin is befriended by Deacon Burton (Griff Barnett), whose daughter, Elaine (Virginia Huston), he begins to court and eventually marries under the alias of Daley. But the past catches up with the former outlaw soon enough and he is forced to skip town. Resuming their illegal occupation, the Doolin gang is finally cornered in Ingalls, where Tulsa (Jock Mahoney) is killed and Arkansas captured. Doolin and surviving gang member Little Billy (Noah Beery Jr.) hide out at the former Daley homestead, where, to their surprise, Elaine has been patiently waiting for the return of her husband. Determined to leave his old life for good, Doolin plans to flee with Elaine to an unclaimed area between Kansas and Texas, but an old foe, Marshal Sam Hughes (George Macready), is waiting in the wings. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, George Macready, (more)
- 1949
Charles Starrett plays Steve Allan in Columbia's Blazing Trail. Halfway through the proceedings, Starrett dons the familiar mask of the do-gooding Durango Kid, and when ranch-owner Old Mike Brady (Robert Malcolm) is murdered, Steve (Starrett) tries to root out the killer. Several people had pretty good motives, including Brady's envious brothers (Steve Darrell and Steve Pendleton--this film is festooned with Steves!) Before the Durango Kid swings into action, the film pauses for a few musical interludes, courtesy of hillbilly warblers Hank Penny and Slim Duncan. An uncredited Jock Mahoney performs a few of the Durango Kid's chancier stunts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1949
Shemp fans rejoice! This home video release collects three classic Three Stooges comedies with Shemp Howard starring alongside Moe Howard and Larry Fine. Hot Scots finds the boys traveling to Scotland, where they hope to become crime fighters with Scotland Yard. They have to settle for work as gardeners, but that doesn't stop them from guarding the castle of the esteemed Earl of Glenheather. In Fuelin' Around, the Stooges are laying carpet at the home of Professor Sneed, a rocket scientist working on a secret government project, when Armenian spies break in and take Larry hostage, convinced that he's Sneed (and making a liar of everyone who ever said, "That Larry -- you can tell he's no rocket scientist!"). And Larry, Moe, and Shemp travel to the South Seas in Hula-La-La, in which a movie studio needs to hire three dance instructors for an upcoming musical set in the tropics -- the studio ends up with the Stooges instead. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
This Technicolor follow-up to Columbia's 1946 blockbuster The Jolson Story again stars Larry Parks as legendary entertainer Al Jolson--and Jolson himself, as Parks' singing voice. The story concentrates on Jolson's tireless activities entertaining the troops during WW II. After VJ day, Jolson finds that his services are no longer required. Fortunately, he stages a spectacular comeback, thanks in great part to the release of The Jolson Story! The film's Pirandellian overtones come to a head when Larry Parks as Jolson meets Larry Parks as Larry Parks. Also returning from The Jolson Story are William Demarest as the title character's manager Steve Martin, Bill Goodwyn as Broadway-producer Tom Baron, and Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as Jolson's old-world parents. Barbara Hale appears as Jolson's wife (his third, though this fact is not dwelled upon), renamed Ellen Clark for the moment, while Myron McCormick plays a composite character based on several Hollywood executives (including, one supposes, Columbia mogul Harry Cohn). Song highlights include "After You've Gone", "You Made Me Love You", "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy", "Sonny Boy", "About a Quarter to Nine", "April Showers", "Back in Your Own Backyard", and, of course, "Mammy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Parks, Barbara Hale, (more)
- 1949
Two things are certain from the beginning of Renegades of the Sage. One is that star Charles Starrett will play a character named Steve Somebody-or-Other. The other certainty is that, when the need arises, Steve Somebody-or-Other will assume the identity of the masked righter-of-wrongs, The Durango Kid. The plot finds Steve/Durango attempting to capture ex-Civil War guerilla fighter Miller (Trevor Bardette), who may be the man who's been going around knocking down telegraph wires. Renegades of the Sage has plot holes large enough to swallow a rhinoceros, but Charles Starrett fans didn't mind so long as their hero delivered the goods, action-wise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
Gene Autry plays a dual role in the above-average Columbia oater Rim of the Canyon. Our hero plays "himself" and his own father, a famed sheriff. Twenty years ago, Autry Sr. threw a trio of outlaws (Walter Sande, Jock Mahoney and Francis McDonald) into jail for stealing a large sum of money. When the crooks escape and head for the hidden loot, it's up to Autry Jr. to track them down. Unlike previous Columbia Autrys, Rim of the Canyon downplays the musical element in favor of fast, sometimes violent action. Even Autry's faithful horse Champion gets in on the act by trampling one of the crooks. Autry's leading lady this time out is Nan Leslie, later a busy TV character actress; another future TV favorite, Alan Hale Jr., essays a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Nan Leslie, (more)
- 1949
Country-western favorite Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys star in the Columbia musical western Smoky Mountain Melody. Not much happens plotwise: Acuff, playing "himself," is a tenderfoot who somehow manages to come out on top when he heads westward. The villains (who aren't all that villainous) try to promote a phony stock deal, but Roy and his pals foils their plans. The comedy honors go to Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as a blowhard sheriff. Smoky Mountain Melody was scripted by Barry Shipman, the son of pioneering female filmmaker Nell Shipman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Acuff, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, (more)
- 1950
American actor/stuntman Jock O'Mahoney (aka Jock Mahoney) stars in the Australian The Kangaroo Kid. The star plays a 19th-century San Francisco detective named Tex Kinnane, who is sent "Down Under" to nab shyster lawyer Vincent Moller (Douglass Dumbrille). Several comparisons are made between the American Wild West and the equally treacherous Australian outback. Kinnane proves adept at adjusting to his new environment--much more so than the fugitive Moller. In addition to Jock O'Mahoney and Douglass Dumbrille, several other Hollywoodites contribute to the overall success of The Kangaroo Kid, including director Lesley Selander and actresses Martha Hyer and Veda Ann Borg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Veda Ann Borg
At first glance, Cow Town seems to be a documentary, as an unseen narrator describes the changes made in the Old West by the advent of barbed wire. Before long, however, the audience is assured that this will be a typical Gene Autry western. Autry plays a ranch owner who incurs the wrath of his neighbors by placing barbed wire around his turf. The local cowboys are certain that the new "invention" will mean the end of their jobs, since there will no longer be a need for ranch hands to keep the cattle from roaming free. Feeding into these fears is a group of "concerned citizens," who turn out to be a band of cattle rustlers. Autry manages to round up the baddies, smooth the ruffled feathers of the cowboys, and sing several old favorites. The supporting cast includes Gail Davis, who'd later star in the Autry-produced TV series Annie Oakley, and ace stunt men Jock Mahoney and Ted Mapes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Gail Davis, (more)
- 1950
No sooner had Columbia called it quits with the "Blondie" series than the studio launched a new group of "B"-pictures, based on the popular radio series David Harding, Counterspy. Third-billed Howard St. John plays Harding, with actor/director Fred Sears co-starring as Harding's assistant Peters. Most of the film is carried by Willard Parker as Jerry Baldwin, a navy commander assigned to root out saboteurs in a torpedo factory. Falling in love with Betty Iverson (Audrey Long), the widow of his murdered predecessor, Baldwin is aghast to learn that Betty may be an enemy agent. There's action aplenty as the film rushes to its pyrotechnic conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willard Parker, Audrey Long, (more)
- 1950
Those westerns produced by the team of star Randolph Scott and producer Harry Joe Brown tended to be several notches above the norm, and The Nevadan is no exception. Scott is cast as U.S. marshal Andrew Barkeley, who goes undercover in a federal pen to get a line on $250,000 in stolen money. Barkeley arranges for chief suspect Tom Tanner (Forrest Tucker) to escape from jail, the better to trail Tanner to the hiding place for the loot. If it were that easy, of course, the film would be over in 15 minutes. Complicating matters is avaricious rancher Edward Galt (George Macready), who also covets the stolen cash. Dorothy Malone adds "heart interest" as Galt's daughter. The chase and fistfight scenes are well-integrated into the suspenseful screenplay. The director was Gordon Douglas, an efficient craftsman who nonetheless wasn't nearly as skilled as Randy Scott's future collaborator Budd Boetticher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Dorothy Malone, (more)
- 1950
As an actor, Eddy Arnold was a good country-western singer. In Hoedown, Eddy plays himself, while the acting burden was carried by Miss Jeff Donnell, Jock O'Mahoney (aka Jock Mahoney), and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. O'Mahoney plays Stoney Rhodes, a cowboy star who is fired from his studio because he can't sing. Accompanied by Vera Wright (Donnell), Rhodes heads southward, where he attends a hoedown staged by Arnold and his C&W confreres. When bank robbers invade the party, Rhodes finds that he's not much help without his stuntmen to back him up. Eventually, however, he proves that he's a genuine hero, thereby assuring himself a renewed movie contract, not to mention the undying adoration of Wright. Among the musical guest stars featured in Hoedown are Carolina Cotton, The Pied Pipers and the Oklahoma Rangers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddy Arnold, Jeff Donnell, (more)
- 1950
Everybody is a comic in this Three Stooges picture. The killer Dillon clan are shooting up a Western town and Nell (Christine McIntyre) sends her handsome, but clumsy oaf of a sweetheart, Elmer, off to get help. Help comes in the form of the Stooges, who are playing a trio of cavalrymen so incompetent that their frustrated sergeant sends them on the mission only because he believes they won't return alive. The boys dress up as desperadoes and enter the town's saloon, doing their best to appear tough. While ordering drinks, Shemp asks for a milkshake "made with sour milk!" Their lack of prowess in all things Western is immediately apparent, and on top of that, the gang's leader (Kenneth MacDonald) figures out they are spies. The Stooges attempt a different kind of disguise. This time they're waiters, but their fake mustaches give them away in almost record time. Eventually they do emerge victorious over the bad guys, but it's only with Nell's help (she's upstairs, cold-cocking every bad guy who has the misfortune to enter her room), and Shemp's winning battle with two of the bad men and a stick of dynamite. Elmer shows up eventually and when he tells Nell that cowboys don't settle down, she beans him with a piece of crockery. This knocks some sense into him, ending the picture on something of a romantic note. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Juvenile actor Dickie Moore starred in the title role of this 15 chapter serial as a teen-aged Buffalo Bill Cody, who with an adult friend (played by the husky Jock Mahoney, still billed as Jock O'Mahoney), battles a gang of outlaws secretly headed by an unscrupulous lawyer (George J. Lewis). Since the serial was produced by Sam Katzman (known to his legion of detractors as "Jungle Sam"), it was heavily augmented by sometimes rather ill-advised stock footage. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1950
The Durango Kid rides again in Lightning Guns. As ever, the masked Durango (alias Steve Brandon) is played by Charles Starrett, who this time around is on the trail of a gang of cold-blooded killers. Rancher Dan Saunders (Edgar Dearing) is held responsible for the killings because of his opposition to a politically expedient dam project. Durango believes that Saunders is innocent, and he intends to prove it. Appearing in a secondary role is Jock O'Mahoney (later known as Jock Mahoney), who also doubles for Charles Starrett during many of the action scenes. Starrett's leading lady is Gloria Henry, whom couch potatoes of the 1950s will remember as Alice Mitchell on TV's Dennis The Menace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1950
Western star Charles Starrett does not disappoint his fans in Frontier Outpost. As usual, Starrett plays Steve Lawton, a lawman who is compelled to assume the identity of the masked avenger known only as "The Durango Kid." This time, the villains are gold raiders, preying upon Army shipments. Falsely imprisoned through the machinations of the head criminal (who, of course, is an "above suspicion" solid citizen), Lawton escapes, dons his Durango disguise, and brings the crooks to justice. Way down the cast list as "Lieutenant Peck" is Jock O'Mahoney, who also doubled for Charles Starrett in the tougher stunt sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1950
Charles Starrett plays The Durango Kid in the 1950 Columbia western Texas Dynamo. In fact, Charles Starrett always played the Durango Kid, but this was what his fans craved, so why spoil a good thing? As a novelty, Starrett not only plays Durango and his "alter ego" Steve Drake, but also takes on a third identity, that of a hired gun in the employ of the film's bad guys. As one critic noted, this may be the only western in which the hero is obliged to chase himself. Jock O'Mahoney -- later known as Jock Mahoney -- plays a secondary role, and also doubles for Starrett during the riskier stunt sequences. The rest of the cast includes Fred Sears, who'd directed some of the past Durango Kid entries, and Emil Sitka, best known for his appearances in Columbia's Three Stooges comedies ("Hold hands, you lovebirds!") ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1950
Charles Starrett once more rights wrongs as "The Durango Kid" in Horsemen of the Sierras. The story revolves around Robin Grant (Tommy Ivo), a young boy who's inherited a valuable range. Certain evil interests do their best to kill off Robin and claim the land for themselves. U.S. marshall Steve Saunders (Starrett) comes to the boy's rescue--and when Steve can't rely on the Law to back him up, he dons the guise of the masked Durango Kid. An uncredited Jock Mahoney performs some of Starrett's more dangerous stunts. Comedy relief Smiley Burnette is more obstreperous than usual, especially when he lets the bad guys slip right through his fingers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1951
Billed "Jack Mahoney" for the occasion, former stunt man Jock Mahoney steps up to the plate as a leading man in this average Western originally released in an inexpensive color process. Mahoney plays Ross Granger, a railroad agent masquerading as a telegrapher and looking into a series of Comanche raids on the railroad construction near Oaktown. But as Ross quickly establishes, the raids are sponsored by local businessmen Del Stewart (William Bishop) and Broden (George Eldredge), who want to force the railroad through land they possess. Stewart, an old friend of Granger's, is in love with Ann Dennison (Peggie Castle), the daughter of the railroad surveyor, but not even he can prevent Broden from having old man Dennison (Walter Sande) killed. Jock Mahoney had recently starred on television's Range Rider series when hired by former Columbia Pictures colleague Fred Sears for this independently produced Western. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jock Mahoney, Peggie Castle, (more)
- 1951
Charles Starrett once more plays the masked, do-gooding Durango Kid in Pecos River. While in mufti, however, Starrett is a government agent, posing as a bandit to expose a gang of mail thieves. He also takes time to teach Jack (later Jock) Mahoney, the hotheaded son of a murdered stagecoach driver, how to use his six-gun with accuracy and discretion. Mahoney also serves as Charles Starrett's stunt double in the climactic action sequence. Also on hand is Starrett's perennial sidekick Smiley Burnette, this time cast as an itinerant peddler. The feminine interest is provided by Delores Sidener, a Columbia starlet whose career apparently began and ended with Pecos River. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1951
Columbia Pictures elevated stunt man Jock O'Mahoney to stardom in this 15 chapter western serial about the building of the transcontinental railroad. O'Mahoney played a railroad agent who uncovers the master criminal behind a series of sabotage attempts on the construction site. The culprit, a German villain calling himself "The Baron" (George Eldredge), bribes the local Indians into doing his dirty work. Jock O'Mahoney later changed his billing to the more streamlined Jock Mahoney and enjoyed a lengthy career as a star of run-of-the-mill westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
The creative team of producer Harry Joe Brown and star Randolph Scott turned out some of the best westerns of the 1950s, and Santa Fe is no exception. Set in the years following the Civil War, the film casts Scott as Britt Canfield, one of four ex-Confederate brothers who head West to carve out a new life. While his three siblings (Jerome Courtland, Peter Thompson and John Archer) cast their lot on the wrong side of the law, Britt accepts a job with the Santa Fe Railroad. Inevitably, Britt is obliged to bring his wayward brothers to justice, though he knows full well that the person responsible for their downfall is "untouchable" gambling boss Cole Sanders (Roy Roberts). In a well-staged climax, Britt squares accounts with the evil Sanders and his hulking henchman Crake (Jock O'Mahoney). Curiously, many TV prints of Santa Fe were processed with the soundtrack slightly out of sync with the action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Janis Carter, (more)
