Lafe [Lafayette] McKee Movies

Silent serial star Ben Wilson was the penny-pinching producer of the 1926 feature Captain's Courage. Set in the North Woods, the well-photographed film involves a violent dispute over possession of an island somewhere in Lake Michigan. The script is allegedly based on a story by James Oliver Curwood, a "magic" name at the box office back in the 1920s (he was to "northerns" what Zane Grey was to westerns). The leading lady is Dorothy Dwan, the wife of comedian Larry Semon. Captain's Courage comes to life during the action sequences, then grinds to a halt whenever anyone is required to act. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his third Western for low-budget company Tiffany, Ken Maynard plays Ken Neville, a cowboy returning to the old homestead to find his father (Lafe McKee) and a fellow rancher (Robert Homans) killed. The dead neighbor's daughter, Mary Warner (Virginia Brown Faire), blames Ken, whom she believes to be the leader of a gang of rustlers. Overhearing a plot by Rance Collins (Frank Mayo) to rustle Mary's steers, Ken pretends to be looking to join the gang. Unfortunately, Ken's sidekick "Repeater" Simpson (Irving Bacon) unwittingly gives away his real identity and Rance has him locked up in a cabin. Aided by his wonder horse Tarzan, who breaks through a window, Ken makes his escape and is later able to round up the entire gang. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown plays a dual role in the Universal B-western Bad Man From Red Butte. It seems that honest, upright Gil Brady has a less-than-honest twin brother, a desperado who goes by the name of Buck Halliday. Eventually, Gil is blamed for the crimes committed by Buck, and is promptly tossed in the calaboose. With the help of frontier lawyer Gabriel Hornsby (Bob Baker) and snake-oil peddler Spud Jenkins (Fuzzy Knight), Gil manages to clear his name and bring his black-sheep sibling to justice. Heroine Anne Gwynne offers a refreshing and likeable slant on the traditional "new schoolma'rm" role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this minor silent Western, a playful "kidnapping" goes horribly wrong when a gang of bank robbers enters the picture. Buddy Roosevelt starred as Buddy Miller, a young cowboy persuaded to "kidnap" prominent banker Henry Morton (Lafe McKee), whom the Morton family feels needs a rest. But when Mrs. Morton (Winifred Landis) and daughter Sylvia receive a ransom note, they assume that Buddy has deceived them. In reality, the young man and his comic sidekick (Robert Homans) are tracking down the real kidnappers, a gang of desperados headed by a disgruntled clerk (Al Taylor). The Bandit Buster was produced on the cheap by Lester F. Scott, Jr. and directed with the usual efficiency by Richard Thorpe. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

More of a whodunit than a straight Western, this Guinn "Big Boy" Williams vehicle from low-budget Beacon Pictures at least attempted something a bit different. Having just revised his will under the watchful eyes of lawyer Hartecker (William Gould), rancher John Duncan (Charles K. French turns down a proposal from neighbor Tap Smiley (Lafe McKee) to combine their properties. When Duncan's dog dies after eating pudding meant for his master, the old man suffers a heart attack. He has barely recovered from the shock when a masked intruder enters to finish him off with a bullet to the heart. John's son and heir, Tom (Williams), arrives to take control of the ranch and to search for his father's killer. The investigation leads directly to a gang of outlaws led by...? Well, that is the question, but Tom's detective methods ultimately reveal the identity of the masked intruder, a revelation than comes as something of a shock to the little community. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

John Wayne once again goes undercover to catch a wanted outlaw in this average entry in his 1934-1935 Western series for Monogram Pictures. Wayne plays John Carruthers, a U.S. marshal, and his quarry is the Polka Dot Bandit, aka Danti (Yakima Canutt), who has taken off with a 4,000-dollar pay roll. As John soon learns, Danti is in the employ of Malgrove (Edward Peil Sr.), a supposedly upstanding citizen who is secretly trying to starve the good people of Yucca City. Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, a valuable ore runs right through the area and Malgrove is plotting to buy the land on the cheap. Blue Steel was produced at Hollywood's General Service Studios with exteriors filmed at Big Pine, CA. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

From Big 4 Film Corp., Breed of the West stars former silent cowboy Wally Wales, in his second talkie, as Wally Weldon, a young cowboy who encounters a lost youth searching for his father. Wally takes the boy, Jim Bradley (Buzz Barton), back to the ranch where the kid obtains the job of cook's helper. While performing his duties, Jim learns that his immediate boss (George Gerwing) and Longrope Wheeler (Robert Walker), the ranch foreman, are planning to rob their employer, Colonel Sterner (Lafe McKee). When Wally finds Jim wounded by one of Longrope's henchmen, the Colonel admits to his daughter, Betty (Virginia Brown Faire), that the child is her long-lost brother. There is a second attempt to rob Sterner but Wally forces the cook to confess and the evil Longrope is arrested by the sheriff (Hank Bell). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Set during the Civil War, this rousing silent Western starred Ken Maynard in top form as a federal agent tracking down a gang of outlaws who are holding up vital shipments of gold from California. To get close to gang leader Butch McGraw (hulking Captain C.E. Anderson), Maynard pretends to be an outlaw himself, a ruse that always seems to work in Westerns such as this. After an exciting chase that features no less than three stagecoach lines, Maynard saves the girl (Dorothy Dwan), rounds up the gang, and wins the day for the Union forces. The chase footage from this film found its way into the later Maynard serial Mystery Mountain as well as the 1937 remake starring Dick Foran. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Chesterfield's City Park is dominated by the strong performances of venerable character actors Henry B. Walthall, Wilson Benge and Lafe McKee. When impoverished Rose Wentworth (Sally Blane) poses as a streetwalker in order to get arrested and secure herself food and shelter, she is paroled in the custody of eccentric-but-lovable Colonel Ransome (Walthall). The Colonel brings Rose into his own home as part of her reformation process, which displeases his wife (Judith Voselli) and son Raymond (Matty Kemp). The Ransome family responds to this "outrage" by cutting off the Colonel's funds and throwing him out of the house. Undaunted, the Colonel and his two park-bench chums (Benge and McKee) move into a boarding house, bringing Rose along as housekeeper. Having at long last proven her worthiness and virtue (which the Colonel never doubted for a minute), Rose finds happiness in the arms of handsome Charlie Hooper (Johnny Harron). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fourth of 18 inexpensive Tom Tyler Westerns produced by Reliable Pictures and filmed on location in Newhall, California, Tom and his sidekick, Windy (Ben Corbett), are hired by John Baker's Bar X Ranch. Baker (Lafe McKee) offers a $1,000 reward to anyone who can capture "The Phantom," a wild stallion suspected of chasing a herd of mares through a hole in the Bar X fence. The real horse thief, however, is Bar X's unscrupulous neighbor, Mack Larkin (Dick Alexander), who is in cahoots with Baker's crooked foreman, Bert (Charles "Slim" Whitaker). Tom befriends "The Phantom" and is determined to prove the horse innocent. Despite the skepticism of Baker's pretty daughter, Helen (Alice Dahl), Tom and Windy set out to prove Larkin's guilt. Although sharing the same character name, "Windy," the rustic Corbett had little else in common with George Hayes (later nicknamed "Gabby"), the quintessential comic sidekick of "Hopalong Cassidy" series fame. A holdover from the silent era, Corbett was woefully unfunny and an amateurish actor to boot. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Tom Tyler and Wally Wales, both refugees from the silent range, starred in this very low-budget oater from Poverty Row company Monarch. Tyler played an innocent victim of circumstances and Wales was the law-fighting postal inspector who mistakes him for a notorious outlaw known only as The Hawk. The real villain, however, is none other than Butch Cassidy, here depicted by an actor as far removed from Paul Newman as possible: Charles "Slim" Whitaker. Alice Dahl, another refugee from the silent era, played the heroine, the daughter of the sheriff (Lafe McKee). Carlotta Monti, W.C. Fields' longtime companion, was a fiery senorita named Lolita. Tyler starred in four Monarch Westerns in-between contracts with Monogram and Reliable. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Tim McCoy played a cavalry officer dishonorably discharged for selling weapons to the Indians in this arguably his finest sound film and by many considered one of the best series Westerns produced in the 1930s. Leaving the army fort in disgrace along with his young foster son Jimmy Travers (Wally Albright), Capt. Tim Travers (McCoy) is soon joined by disgruntled cavalry Sergeant O'Brien
(Wade Boteler). But in their attempt to catch the AWOL O'Brien, the cavalry shoots and kills little Jimmy. A bitter Tim goes to live with the Arapahos but is once again arrested on charges of treason. Alas, when the tribe attacks the fort, it is Tim who prevents a wholesale slaughter. As a reward, as he is waving the white flag of truce, Tim is cowardly shot in the back by a half-crazed soldier. Mortally wounded in the battle, fellow officer Wheeler Oakman lives long enough to confess that it was he, not Tim, who had armed the Indians for profit. Happily, Tim's wound is not fatal and his bravery is rewarded with the position of new Indian agent. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

B-Western perennial Bob Steele made attempts at diversifying in 1933 by playing a circus acrobat in The Gallant Fool and a would-be boxer in The Fighting Champ, although, truth be told, never veering too far from the range in either. In The Fighting Champ, Steele plays Brick Loring, an itinerant cowboy who shows some promise as a prize-fighter. Crooked fight promoter Nifty Harmon (George Chesebro) attempts to bribe both Brick and his opponent Jock Malone (Charles King) to throw the match and although Brick only pretends to be interested, his backer, rancher Fred Mullins (Frank Ball), publicly accuses him of cheating. Mullins daughter Jean (Arletta Duncan), meanwhile, believes the young cowboy to be innocent and sets a trap for both Harmon and Malone. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide