Ted Mapes Movies

Red Ryder and his comical sidekick take on a new batch of bad-guys in this western, the 16th in the Red Ryder series. This time the heroic duo try to save a female rancher from a greedy financier who wants her land so he can exploit the enormous oil fields lying under it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This gentle, tuneful western is one of cowboy crooner Roy Rogers' best and most successful films; it is also his personal favorite. The fanciful tale tells how Rogers obtained his magnificent horse Trigger and begins with horse trader Rogers as he prepares to breed his best mare with his best friend's glorious Palomino stallion. Trouble comes in the form of a villainous gambler who has similar plans for his own mare. He attempts to rustle the stud, but the attempt fails, the stallion escapes and breeds with Roger's mare. Angrily, the gambler shows up and shoots the beautiful horse, leaving Rogers to shoulder the blame. Fortunately, Roy and his impregnated mare flee. Later she gives birth to Trigger who helps Rogers get revenge after he grows up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Columbia Pictures, as usual, cast a lesser-known player -- in this case the handsome but rather stolid Robert Lowery -- in the starring role of The Monster and the Ape, a rough-and-tumble serial released in 15 chapters. Lowery played Ken Morgan, an agent for a company manufacturing the newly invented Metalogen, a metal that can render a robot invincible. An evil professor (the wonderfully hammy Ralph Morgan, brother of Frank) attempts to steal the metal, using a trained gorilla as his weapon. Not one of the studio's better chapterplays -- to put it mildly -- The Monster and the Ape stayed mercifully forgotten until reappearing on early-morning television in the late '60s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Former Hopalong Cassidy sidekick Russell Hayden retains his nickname of Lucky in this average entry in his short-lived starring series for Columbia. The foreman of the Bar W ranch, Lucky Rawlins finds himself cheated out of a check for 12,000 dollars (the proceeds from a cattle drive). Unbeknownst to all and sundry, the culprit is none other than the local banker, Cash Watson (John Maxwell), who has learned that the railroad is interested in buying up the local ranches. Watson cruelly forecloses on the Bar W's owner, Rance Williams (Frank LaRue), but the latter is saved in the nick of time by friendly bank clerk Bert Saunders (Forrest Taylor), who offers him his life savings. Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, Watson has his henchman, Duke Cudlow (Ted Mapes), frame Williams in the murder of Saunders and then proceeds to have a phony cattle inspector (Edmund Cobb) quarantine the Bar W. Lucky, however, is on to all this skullduggery and cooks up a scheme to trap the crooked banker that includes having sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor) dress up as a woman. In between the general mayhem, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys perform "O.K. Oklahoma," "I'm Ridin' on Down," "Trouble on the Range," and several other cowboy-swing selections. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Sundown Riders was the first in a brief series of "experimental" westerns, designed for the then-burgeoning 16-millimeter home-movie and classroom market. RKO contractee Russell Wade teams with "Hopalong Cassidy" alumni Jay Kirby and Andy Clyde, portraying the "Sundown Riders". Their first mission: to thwart an outlaw gang, thereby making the west safe for progressive education. Filmed in Kodachrome color, Sundown Riders is as professional-looking as possible under the circumstances, thanks to the conviviality of the stars and the surehanded director of veteran Lambert Hillyer. Alas, the 16-millimeter market was not of sufficient size and scope in 1944 to warrant a full years' worth of "Sundown Riders" epics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, Billy the Kid must convince Fuzzy not to leave the trail. Fuzzy tries anyway and buys a small-town newspaper. It doesn't take him long to find himself accused of embezzling money from his new business. Unfortunately for Fuzzy, he is innocent. It is his pal the Kid that rides to his rescue, and kills the real embezzler. Fuzzy decides that newspaperin' ain't for him and so leaves the city and attempts to find a quiet place in the country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this western, the good-guy and his trusty side-kick rescue a pretty gal whose father's cows are threatened by villainous rustlers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Perhaps Hollywood's greatest success du scandal of the 1940s, this odd psychological Western became a box office hit largely thanks to the costuming of leading lady Jane Russell (or, more accurately, its relative absence). Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel) and Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) are close friends until lawman Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell) attempts to ambush Billy and put him behind bars. Doc brings Billy to his ranch to hide out, but when Billy meets Doc's mistress Rio (Russell), he's instantly attracted to the buxom beauty. An intense chemistry quickly grows between them, despite the fact that Billy murdered Rio's brother. Billy and Rio secretly marry, but their love runs hot and cold, and soon Billy, Doc, and Rio are fighting among themselves as they're chased through the desert by Garrett and his posse. Director Howard Hawks and screenwriter Ben Hecht both worked on The Outlaw, but they went uncredited after disputes with the legendarily difficult financier (and sometimes producer/director) Howard Hughes, whose battles with the censors resulted in the film spending three years on the shelf before finally gaining wide release in a cut version in 1946. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Range Busters bust the range once more in Monogram's Land of Hunted Men. This time around, the star trio consists of Ray "Crash" Corrigan (returning to the Range Busters series after a brief hiatus), Dennis Moore and Max Terhune. The villains, led by good old Charles King, are terrorizing a small town, setting up an "outlaw's hideaway" for themselves. Their reign lasts about 58 minutes of screen time. Best to revel in the ridin' and shootin' in Land of Hunted Men and ignore the alleged comedy relief of black actor Fred "Snowflake" Toones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a rancher is ambushed, killed, and robbed, but for some reason the killers through his money pouch in the bushes without opening it. Later a woman happens upon the cash and finds herself a prime suspect in the killing. Fortunately, a survey engineer proves her innocence, and they begin looking for the real villains. Action and romance ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Music, gangster melodrama, and snappy newspaper comedy is blended into the usual Western shenanigans in this unusual Gene Autry vehicle filmed on-location at the Russell Ranch near Agoura Hills, CA. Autry, as always, plays himself, a singing star, with Smiley Burnette and Joe Strauch Jr. as sidekicks Frog and Tadpole Millhouse. The trio is visiting Pop Harrison's (Forrest Taylor) Wyoming dude ranch, where Pop's wastrel son, Tex (James Seay), is in trouble with the law. Tex is involved with one Mr. Crowley (George Gordon), who really a gangster named Luigi. Recognized by newspaper reporters Clem (Fay McKenzie) and Hack (Chick Chandler), Crowley and his men indulges in a bit of skullduggery and are the obvious suspects when Pop Harrison is shot. But as Gene discovers, the gangsters are merely red herrings, the real culprit being a person much closer to home. In between detective work and romancing the girl reporter, Autry finds time enough to warble six songs, including Irving Berlin's then very topical "Any Bonds Today?," the official anthem of U.S. Defense Bond campaign. Despite good performances by Fay McKenzie, the daughter of veteran B-Western personality Robert McKenzie, and the always welcome Chick Chandler, Home in Wyomin' was not wholly appreciated by Autry's legion of fans who wanted their star straight up. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

John Wayne goes up against the lottery racket, 1880 Louisiana-style, in this passable time-killer from Republic Pictures. Arriving from New England to look into the Louisiana lottery on behalf of uplifter Blanche Brunot (Helen Westley), attorney John Reynolds (Wayne) falls in love with sultry Julie Mirbeau (Osa Munson), who attempts to persuade him that her father's gaming business is on the up and up. When a New Orleans restaurateur, Gaston (Shimen Ruskin), is found murdered, Reynolds begins to suspect that General Mirbeau's (Henry Stephenson) gang is behind the killing. To meet the attorney halfway, Mirbeau fires his chief henchman, Blackie (Ray Middleton), but is himself killed by one of Blackie's men, Cuffy Brown (Jack Pennick). Reynolds, who has been appointed special city attorney, pays his respect to Julie, but the angry girl accuses him of indirectly causing the death of her father and then flaunts her engagement to Blackie. Said engagement, however, suffers a fatal blow when Julie finds her fiancé in the arms of gambling hall hostess Pearl (Jacqueline Dalya). Taking the stand in court against the racket, Julie's testimony is interrupted when a rainstorm sweeps the area, breaking a levee. While pursuing a fleeing Blackie, Reynolds orders a steamship to block the hole in the levee, a plan that ultimately saves New Orleans. Having survived the potential disaster, Julie leaves the lottery racket behind and agrees to become Mrs. Reynolds. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, 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