Lafe [Lafayette] McKee Movies

In this crime comedy, a gang of reformed criminals takes over the town bank and must then fight with their temptation to rob it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In his penultimate Western for low-budget company Metropolitan, Bob Steele's horse Pirate, "one of the finest Arabian stallions in the West," is stolen by Ted Adams in a daring attempt to lure mares belonging to local ranchers into secret Wild Horse Valley. The ploy, of course, backfires and Adams and his unsavory partners are arrested for rustling. Perhaps the nadir of his long screen career, Steele's Metropolitan series came to a merciful end with the eighth entry, Pinto Canyon (1940). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The best thing about the Jack Randall Western Pioneer Days is its short-and-sweet running time, a brisk 50 minutes. Randall plays Dunham, a wandering cavalier who comes to the aid of frontier heiress Mary (June Wilkins). The girl's legacy is half-ownership of a prosperous saloon, the other half controlled by hissable villain Slater (Ted Adams). With the help of no less than two comic sidekicks (Frank Yaconelli and Nelson McDowell), Dunham cuts the villain down to size. Surprisingly, the film's funniest performance is delivered by frog-faced Western heavy Rychard Cramer, here cast as a bartender who fancies himself a cardsharp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Worth seeing for its title alone was the Johnny Mack Brown western Riders of Pasco Basin. This time, Brown plays the head of a group of vigilantes (the peace-keeping variety) who take on a gang of clever villains. With the law on their side, the bad guys have been cheating the local farmers while promising to dig an irrigation ditch. Before bringing the crooks to heel, second-billed Bob Baker (who own western series was scotched by Universal the previous year) performs a brace of cowboy tunes, the most enjoyable of which is "I'm Tying Up My Bridle to the Door of Your Heart". Director Ford Beebe brings a serial-like pace to the proceedings, as was his custom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Brothers Terry and Joe Murphy (Dick Purcell, Charles Quigley) are the Heroes in Blue in this Monogram actioner. Actually, Terry, a policeman, is the only one "in blue"; Joe washes out of the police training program early on, opting for a dangerous association with a band of gangsters. Poor old Pop Murphy (Frank Sheridan), an ex-cop turned night watchman, tries to extricate Joe from his dilemma, with disastrous results. It's up to Terry to round up the crooks during the film's pulse-pounding racetrack finale. It's best to ignore some of the plot absurdities in Heroes in Blue, including a murder that occurs in full view of a crowd, but reaps only a single solitary eyewitness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Singing cowboy Smith Ballew is the nominal star of Rawhide, but the audience only had eyes for Ballew's co-star: baseball-great Lou Gehrig, in his one-and-only screen appearance. Gehrig plays "himself"-that is, he's a rancher named Lou Gehrig. Pressured by crooks to give up his spread, Gehrig, his sister (Evelyn Knapp) and cowboy-lawyer Ballew inspire the neighboring ranchers to form a united front. During a climactic fist-fight in a pool hall, Gehrig utilizes his pitching skills to subdue the villains. A fan of B westerns in real life, Gehrig does his best to fit into the proceedings of Rawhide; his acting is strictly from hunger, but he does possess an imposing physique and an eagerness to the please the filmgoers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Orphan of the Pecos is one of the eight Tom Tyler westerns produced by Victory Pictures during the 1937-38 season. Victory was owned by legendary fast-buck entrepreneur Sam Katzman, who also directed this particular film. Tyler is cast as Tom Wade, an agent of the Cattlemen's Protection Agency; this time, he's after the man who killed his parents. Like most of the Victory productions, Orphan of the Pecos has a script seemingly made up on the spur of the moment, compelling Tyler to mouth some bizarre ad-libs. Tom Tyler was seen to better advantage in later years as a character actor and villain in both westerns and contemporary films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The locale may be South of Arizona, but the on-screen personnel in this Charles Starrett western is virtually the same as in all previous Starrett vehicles. The star plays rancher Clay Travers, who lives and works in an area plagued by perpetual dust storms. Because the local populace is forced to walk around with handkerchieves covering their faces, a gang of murderous outlaws is able to pull off their skullduggery in broad daylight. Travers vows to round up the bad guys, especially after they bump of the brother of his sweetheart Ann Madison (Iris Meredith). The supporting cast of South of Arizona includes the usual lineup of Starrett regulars, including heroine Meredith, singing sidekick Bob Nolan, villains Dick Curtis and Richard Fiske, and townsmen Edmund Cobb and Art Mix. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second of six low-budget Ken Maynard Westerns produced by Max and Arthur Alexander, Six Shootin' Sheriff featured a veteran star who, as reviewers were quick to point out, had gained quite a bit of poundage since his heyday in the early '30s. Maynard played Trigger Martin, a cowboy falsely accused of bank robbery and hiding out under an assumed name in a small Western town. Wounded in a barroom brawl with the town bully, Trigger is nursed back to health by post mistress Molly Morgan (Marjorie Reynolds). Impressed with Trigger's ability to stand up to the town's lawless elements, shopkeeper Zeke (Lafe Mckee) persuades the newcomer to accept the position of sheriff. A former associate, Chuck (Walter Long), attempts to blackmail the new sheriff, but Trigger not only prevents Chuck and his gang from raiding the post office safe, but also saves his kid brother (Bob Terry) from a life of lawlessness. Although made for around 15,000 dollars, Six Shootin' Sheriff netted its distributor more than six times that amount on Maynard's box-office value alone. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, a singing outlaw and a US marshal kill each other in a fight. Their demise is witnessed by an opportunistic fellow who assumes the dead lawman's identity. He soon finds himself in over his head when he tries to stop cattle rustlers and gain the love of a rancher's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on the notorious Black Legion which had created quite a turmoil in Michigan a few years earlier, screenwriter Edmund Kelso and director Al Taylor crafted one of the better Tex Ritter musical Westerns. Filmed on location at Kernville, California, The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen was made almost serial-style, except that this time the villains wore the masks instead of the hero. A gang of hooded riders is terrorizing the local ranchers and even shoots kindly old Tom Wilson (Lafe McKee) in cold blood. Before he expires, Tom begs Tex Martin (Ritter) and his sidekick Stubby (Horace Murphy) to help his partner, Farley (Joseph W. Girard), save their mine. The supposed leader of the riders, Blackie (Charles King), gets Tex in hot water with the sheriff (Earl Dwire) but assisted by old Tom Wilson's pretty daughter Nancy (Iris Meredith), the singing cowboy nevertheless manages not only to bring Blackie to justice but also reveal the identity of the real brain behind the terror. The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen proved the first Ritter Western to open on Broadway in New York City and the sometimes overbearing critic from the New York Times, John T. McManus, was charmed enough to term it "refreshing." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cheapie king Sam Katzman was both producer and director of the Tom Tyler western The Lost Ranch. "Our Tom" essays his customary role of Tom Wade, troubleshooter for the Cattlemen's Protective Association. When cattle rancher Carroll (Lafe McKee) is captured by outlaws, Carroll's daugther Rita (Jeanne Martel) inaugurates a search. At first convinced that Wade himself is one of the villains, Rita finally wises up and allows him to join the search-and, of course, to rout the villains in the final footage. Billed third in Lost Ranch is former Mack Sennett leading lady Marjorie Beebe, essaying yet another wisecracking comedy role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Superior locations, above-average direction, better than usual lighting and competent acting were the ingredients that made producer Harry Sherman's Hopalong Cassidy vehicles perhaps the finest series of B-Westerns of its time. The fifth in the series, North of the Rio Grande introduced former grip Russell Hayden in the continuing role as young Lucky Jenkins and remains one of the best of the early entries. When Hopalong's brother Buddy is murdered during a train holdup, and it is pronounced an accidental death by the town's kangaroo court, Cassidy (William Boyd) and sidekick Windy (George Hayes) hasten back to Cottonwood Gulch. The former arrives disguised as Wild Bill Dynamite McGrew, a "notorious" train robber, while Windy obtains a job tickling the ivories at the local saloon. Hayes' stint as an Irish-accented bar pianist leads to one of the film's many delights, as veteran silent screen villain Walter Long leads the assembly in a sing-along of Wearing of the Green. Hopalong, meanwhile, robs a train to get the attention of the mysterious Lone Wolf, the master criminal responsible for his brother Buddy's death. Lone Wolf is soon revealed to be leading citizen Henry Stoneham (Stephen Morris alias Morris Ankrum), who in desperation kidnaps Windy and the train. With Hopalong, Lucky, and the posse in hot pursuit, the chase ends with Windy making the unwanted acquaintance of a painful-looking cactus. Saloon Belle Bernadene Hayes, the film's otherwise rather superfluous leading lady, is awarded the closing line: "Funny, all my life, men like Cassidy have been saying goodbye to me." Lee J. Cobb (billed simply as "Lee Cobb") made his screen debut as a railroad president, and Bernadene Hayes' sister Lorraine played Hopalong's grieving sister-in-law. With one "Hayden" and two "Hayes" already in the cast, producer Sherman renamed the actress Lorraine Randall for the occasion. North of the Rio Grande was filmed on locations at Sonora, California, with interiors done at the Grand National studios in Hollywood. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide