J.P. McCarthy Movies

Monogram added a bit of music to this otherwise standard Johnny Mack Brown oater, courtesy of former star Smith Ballew, who performs Cindy Walker's "The Strawberry Blonde" and Don Swander and June Hershey's "Livin' Western Style" accompanied by Dusty Rhodes and the Sons of the Sage. Mack Brown, meanwhile, plays Dusty Smith, a drifter coming to the aid of Bill Simpson (Riley Hill), a young hothead accused of wounding a town bully (Reed Howes). Along with old-timer Santa Fe Jones (Raymond Hatton), falsely accused of rustling by smooth saloon owner Blackie Evans (Tristram Coffin), Dusty obtains a job as ranch foreman at the Simpson spread, much to the ire of Blackie, who proves to be the real rustler. Young Bill pays his debt to Dusty by springing him from jail after the latter has been falsely jailed for killing one of the gang and together they track down the villainous saloon owner. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Unlike previous "Trail Blazers" entries, each of which starred three veteran western heroes, Marked Trails top-bills only two sagebrush favorites. Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele play a couple of wandering do-gooders who take on a gang of oil swindlers. Adopting a series of bewildering (but hardly impenetrable) disguises, the Ol' Hooter and Battling Bob manage to con the con-ners. But when it becomes absolutely necessary, our heroes rely on their fists to mete out justice. Just another western, Marked Trails is given distinction by the presence of perennial "hard-boiled dame" Veda Ann Borg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton return to the screen as saddle pals Nevada and Sandy in Monogram's Pals of the Border. In this one, our heroes are US marshals, hot on the trail of cattle rustlers. To rout out the thieves, Nevada poses as a crook, while Sandy pretends to be hard of hearing. The criminals, it seems, have more than cattle on their minds: they've been trading their stolen goods for priceless jewels. As was customary, Johnny Mack Brown avoided any and all romantic entanglements in Raiders of the Border, allowing supporting actors Craig Woods and Ellen Hall to handle the smooching and hand-holding. The film was adapted from a short story by Johnston McCulley, of "Zorro" fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A loving mother sacrifices all for her son in this drama. She is an artist's model who finds herself financially drained by a dead-beat artist when she falls in love with a younger man, marries him and bears a son. When her beloved husband dies in the war, the old artist tries to win her back. When that doesn't work, he lures her into his studio and pulls a gun on her. During the ensuing struggle, she accidentally shoots him and ends up spending 15 years in jail. Upon her release she heads for America to keep her son from discovering the truth. In the States, she gets involved with a gambler, but then returns to England and discovers her son is being flimflammed by gamblers. She then saves him from losing it all, but the ungrateful son only has eyes for his lover and his mother slowly fades from view. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Written by John P. McCarthy (who also directed), Robert Emmett Tansey, and, rather incongruously, former real-life outlaw Al Jennings, this musical Western marked the screen debut of Tex Ritter, a former Broadway and radio crooner. Ritter played Tex (of course), a lawman going undercover as a bandit in order to infiltrate a gang of claim jumpers. As it turns out, the leader of the gang, Evans (Ted Adams), is using the ranch of Don Esteban del Valle (Martin Garralaga) and his daughter, Dolores (Joan Woodbury), as his headquarters, dragging the innocent rancher into a scheme to take over the local mines by any means possible, including murder. In between his detective work, Ritter finds time to sing such song as "Out on the Lone Prairie," "My Sweet Chiquita," and "You Are Reality," the latter composed by leading lady Joan Woodbury, the wife of actor Henry Wilcoxon. Ritter was discovered for films by Edward F. Finney, the former promotional director for Republic Pictures, who released the Ritter series through newcomer Grand National. Despite the crowd-pleasing presence of comic sidekick Fuzzy Knight and Ritter's horse, White Flash, Song of the Gringo proved an inauspicious opener. According to Ritter himself, Finney had his star outfitted with a hideous-looking toupee; and director John P. McCarthy, a holdover from the silent era, proved an unwise choice as well. Both hairpiece and McCarthy were gone by the second instalment, Headin' for the Rio Grande (1936), replaced by Ritter's natural receeding hairline and Robert North Bradbury, yet another veteran but at least one with an eye for pacing. Ritter, who achieved perhaps his lasting fame singing "Do Not Forsake Me" over the main titles to Fred Zinneman's High Noon (1952), was the father of 1970s television star John Ritter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In the seventh of his nine Westerns for Gower Gulch company Spectrum, former silent screen cowboy Bill Cody played a U.S. government agent who infiltrates a gang of smugglers operating on the border to Mexico. Cody is aided by a Mexican counterpart (Martin Garralaga) but complications arise when he falls in love with the gang leader's innocent sister (Molly O'Day). The story, which was not too taxing for anyone to follow, was written by Swedish-born actress Zara Tazil. Leading man Cody looked emaciated and ill at ease throughout but the film proved one of the former silent hero's better sound assignments. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A good idea never really gets off the ground in this circus melodrama/western starring Bob Steele. The bantamweight cowboy plays Kit Denton, whose father, Charles (George Hayes), the owner of a traveling circus, is forced to admit that he is unwanted in the western town of Big Ben. As Charles explains, he has been on the run for 18 years after being falsely accused of a murder he didn't commit. To elude the law in general and Big Ben politico Chris McDonald (John Elliott) in particular, Charles must wear his clown makeup at all times. McDonald, however, takes umbrage to any circus visiting his town, especially since his wife, Martha (Vane Calvert), ran off to join one 18 years earlier. Is Kit actually Martha's son and will the Flying Dantons get through their act without interference from McDonald and his lackeys? Like most of Bob Steele's early talkie western melodramas, The Gallant Fool was directed by his real-life father, Robert North Bradbury. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Diminutive cowboy star Bob Steele, who that same year also played a circus acrobat, a would-be boxer, and a barn-storming pilot, takes on the wintry Northwest in this low-budget action melodrama from Monogram. Attacked by persons unknown, a dying Jim Powers (Fred Burns) warns his young friend Lee Evans (Steele) that in order to locate the killer, Lee must first search for a woman named Mitzi. The youngster trails the redhead (Doris Hill) to the Canadian Northwest where she performs in a small-town dive. Impersonating an outlaw known as "Curly the Kid," the hero is readily accepted by a couple of local crooks, Lucky (Arthur Rankin) and "Flash" Ryan (George Hayes), one of whom may indeed be the mystery killer. But which one? Trailing North was penned by genre veteran Harry L. Fraser under the nom de plume of Harry O. Jones. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cowboy star Rex Bell revives a favorite plot device of silent westerner William S. Hart in Crashin' Broadway. Bell temporarily leaves the Wide Open Spaces to conduct business in New York City. He runs afoul of gangsters, who prove no match forBell. Doris Hill is the leading lady whom Bell charms during his visit to the Big Apple. Crashin' Broadway was one of Rex Bell's last starring vehicles; soon afterward, he entered politics, eventually becoming lieutenant governor of Nevada. And as a bonus, he married Hollywood's "It" girl Clara Bow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

David O. Selznick is listed as producer of the RKO western programmer Beyond the Rockies, but don't expect Duel in the Sun here. Within its own modest limits, however, this Tom Keene vehicle is quite enjoyable. Keene plays a cowpoke who battles a greedy land baron. The gimmick here is that the villain is a beautiful young woman, played by Marie Wells. In anticipation of Fritz Lang's Rancho Notorious (1952), Ms. Wells uses her ranch as a "safe house" for various rustlers and sidewinders. Naturally, Keene is too chivalrous to shoot down a woman, but the same cannot be said for Wells' scruffy partners in crime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a story in Golden West magazine by Frederick Ryter, this rather pedestrian Monogram Western starred handsome Tom Tyler as Jess Ryder, a detective for the Cattlemen's association who infiltrates a gang of rustlers. The gang is hired by a nefarious land grabber (Robert Walker) to drive the Langton family off their valuable land and their methods of destruction -- injecting the cattle with snake venom -- was the only off-beat touch in this otherwise humdrum Western effort. Tyler, whose B-Western career had begun in the late silent era, was never less than interesting to watch, but Monogram producer G.A. Durlam and veteran director J.P. McGowan offered him very little to work with here. The author of the story, Frederick Ryter, appeared as one of Walker's henchmen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Although dismissed in its day as just another cheap Western, God's Country and the Man proves to be a surprisingly well-made sagebrush thriller, whose fiddling master villain, Al Bridge, is a revelation. Bridge, who co-wrote the scenario with director J.P. McCarthy and Wellyn Totman, plays Livermore, the gun-running boss of De Vina, a border town inhabited by cutthroats. Strapping Tom Tyler, as Texas lawman Tex Malone, arrives in Da Vina with his latest bounty, Irish-brogued Stingaree Kelly (George Hayes, long before he earned the nickname "Gabby"), there to infiltrate Livermore's gang of smugglers. Malone, using the alias of Steve Rollins, falls for the villain's French mistress, Rose (Betty Mack), and together they set a trap for the bandits. Rose proves to be yet another investigator in disguise -- and not French at all -- and in the final shootout, Stingaree Kelly sacrifices himself so that she and Malone can plan a future together. The surprising demise of the comic relief, and a boss villain who initiates every one of his crimes by playing a sad dirge on his fiddle, are just a few of this strange Western's many breaks with tradition. Produced by Trem Carr for the low-rent Syndicate Pictures Corp., God's Country and the Man remains a startling, well-acted example of a near-Gothic B-Western. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Ships of Hate was one of the lesser entries in the "skullduggery-at-sea" genre of the early-talkie era. Hero Bart Wallace (Lloyd Hughes) happens to be on hand when the roughneck crew of the vessel commandeered by the despotic Captain Lash (Charles Middleton) decides to mutiny. Adding to Bart's problems is a collision at sea in the midst of a thick and treacherous fog. Somehow, he manages to survive long enough to rescue heroine Grace Walsh (Dorothy Sebastian) from a watery grave. Most of Ships of Hate was filmed indoors, utilizing a patently unconvincing studio water tank. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide