Lafe [Lafayette] McKee Movies
White-haired Lafe McKee (real name, Lafayette McKee) was seemingly born old, dignified, and kind. Already playing old codgers by the mid-1910s, McKee delivered one of the funniest and most improbable moments in B-Western history, when, disguised as a bedraggled señorita, he sprang Ken Maynard from prison in Range Law (1931). "The Grand Old Man of Westerns," as film historian William K. Everson called him, retired in the early '40s after more than three decades of yeoman work opposite every cowboy hero on the Hollywood range, from Franklyn Farnum to Gary Cooper. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1933
Heroes and villains alike use airplanes instead of horses in this generally well-made Mascot serial featuring diminutive cowboy star Bob Steele. Steele and sidekick Guinn "Big Boy" Williams (whose supposedly comical craving for jellybeans quickly becomes tiring) are hired by an aviator friend (Jack Mulhall) to aid Lafe McKee and his daughter Lucille Browne in safeguarding the building of a dam. A mystery villain known only as "The Black Ace" is using a gang of air pirates in a (largely unexplained) war against the construction firm. The mystery villain proves, of course, to be the one character seemingly above suspicion. In fairness to the serial, we shall refrain from divulging his identity, however. Mystery Squadron contains many well-made aerial fights and stunts but is also filled with all kinds of silly and seemingly unnecessary gaffes. When a dart carrying a warning note is thrown through a window, for example, that same window is shown in the following shot as not only securely closed but covered by an undamaged lace curtain. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, (more)
- 1933
Gangsters and cowboys don't mix as a recently returned World War I veteran soon discovers in this drama. The trouble is set in the hometown of Tom Allen, the returned G.I. He returns to find that one of his friend's has been murdered and that another friend has been framed for it. The real killer is the son of a mine owner in cahoots with Chicago gangsters and together they take-on Tom. He beats them all and the mobsters return to Chicago, the bad son is convicted, and Tom gets a beautiful girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Keene, Betty Furness, (more)
- 1933
The last of three Tom Tyler Westerns produced by Gower Gulch regular John R. Freuler, War of the Range featured the strapping former silent star as a cowboy settling a dispute between homesteaders and proponents of a free range. J.P. McGowan of Hazards of Helen fame directed in his accustomed economical style and the supporting cast constituted the usual Poverty Row directory of former "names," this time including Charles K. French and 1929 WAMPAS Baby Star Caryl Lincoln as the farmer and his daughter respectively, as well as Lane Chandler, a handsome former Paramount star now down on his luck. Ted Adams, a comparative newcomer, played the head of the opposing cattle ranchers. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Charles French, (more)
- 1933
Filmed at picturesque Lake Tahoe, NV, this ultra-low-budget dog melodrama starred one of Rin-Tin-Tin's better successors, Kazan, and silent Western hero Jack Perrin, billed for unexplained reasons as "Richard Terry." The latter plays Kincaid, a Mountie coming to the aid of Judy Dean (Ruth Sullivan) and her mute friend Kickabout (Gene Toler), who are being terrorized by persons unknown because of a treasure hidden on their land. When Judy's father Seeker Dean (Lafe McKee) is murdered, Kazan) is the only one to recognize the killer, Boone Jackson (Robert Walker), a slippery stranger who masquerades as an author. Learning that the clue to the whereabouts of the treasure is to be found in the Edgar Allan Poe story The Gold Bug, Kincaid and Kickabout finally manage to convince Judy that Jackson is her enemy. The wily villain makes a quick getaway but is tracked down by Kazan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kazan the Dog, Jack Perrin, (more)
- 1933
Tom Mix goes up against a ruthless gang of rustlers headed by a crooked army colonel in this, his penultimate Western for Universal. When a vigilante group assembled by Colonel Charles Ormsby (John St. Polis) fails to make a dent in the rustlings -- primarily because Ormsby and the local sheriff (Frank Brownlee) are the secret leaders of the gang -- rancher Tom Munroe (Mix) is assigned by the governor of Arizona to look into things. With the help of local cowboy Lucky Dawson (Raymond Hatton), Tom discovers that young rancher Bernie "Little Casino" Laird (Arthur Rankin), the weakling brother of Norma Laird (Naomi Judge), is secretly a member of the gang. When the rustlers turn to robbing the stage, Mix manages to arrest Bernie and two henchmen (Francis McDonald and Robert Kortman), but all three are freed from jail by Ormsby. During a climactic shootout at the Laird ranch, young Bernie reveals that Ormsby and the sheriff are crooked and the entire gang is rounded up and arrested. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Mix, Naomi Judge, (more)
- 1933
A minor entry from small-scale Progressive Pictures, Under Secret Orders starred the rather pallid Donald Dillaway as Henry Ames, a bank employee assigned to bring valuable bonds from San Francisco to a client, Franklyn Lawrence (Lafe McKee), in South America. En route, Henry hits the bottle once too often and gets himself involved with a gang planning to steal the valuable bonds and fund a revolution. Happily, the boozy hero is helped by one John Burke (J. Farrell MacDonald) and the bonds are safely delivered to their destination. Forsaking the evil drink, Henry wins the love of Lawrence's daughter, Jane (Phyllis Barrington). Under Secret orders was produced by Poverty Row entrepreneur Willis Kent and released as a "Phyllis Barrington Special." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Dillaway, John Farrell MacDonald, (more)
- 1933
A pet monkey saves the day in this otherwise unusually adult Bob Steele Western. The bantam-weight Steele plays Nick, aka "the Kid," a sort of prairie Robin Hood planning to return some jewels he stole from French performer Lola Montaine (Naomi Judge). Nick's partner-in-crime, Sheriff Jake Sharpe (Charles King), has other ideas, and the two are soon at loggerheads. After killing Lola in order to retrieve a confession he had signed in a moment of weakness, Jack blames the killing on Nick. Lola's pet monkey recovers the signed statement and hands it over to the upstanding deputy sheriff (Hank Bell). Chased by Nick, the fleeing Jake is killed falling from a cliff. Back in Grass Valley, Nick, now a hero, is free to continue romancing pretty postal worker Gail Winters (Helen Foster). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Foster, Harry Semels, (more)
- 1933
The Galloping Romeo is Bob Steele, a wandering cowboy who's had incredibly bad luck with women. After several romantic setbacks, Steele finally falls for a girl who he thinks is as pure as the driven snow. In actuality, the "heroine" and her father are in charge of a lucrative stage-holdup racket. As Steele rounds up the miscreants, the girl promises to go straight, but he's heard that song before. While it's fun to see Bob Steele offer what amounts to a Hoot Gibson imitation in Galloping Romeo, one can be grateful that he didn't attempt comedy too often. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Doris Hill, (more)
- 1933
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
Directed by Tenny Wright, The Telegraph Trail features John Wayne as John Trent, a calvary scout who has been sent to put a stop to sleazy opportunist Gus Lynch's (Albert J. Smith) crooked business dealings. Lynch (Smith) has convinced High Wolf (Yakima Canutt), a local Native American tribe leader, that his people must delay the completion of the first transcontinental telegraph line unless they wanted their entire tribe to be wiped out by the consequent influx of white men. This action, which only benefits Lynch's (Smith) greed, creates an uprising from the Native Americans that results in the harm of the men working on the construction of this historical telegraph system. Luckily, the injustice doesn't last for long once Trent (Wayne) comes to town. The Telegraph Trail also features actors Frank McHugh and Otis Harlan, as well as actress Marceline Day. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Marceline Day, (more)
- 1933
In this western, a persuasive young oil salesman persuades the residents of a small Texas town to invest in an oil well. Unfortunately, the bankers are sure that the well is dry. Guess what? It isn't and soon oil and money are flowing like water. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Luana Walters, (more)
- 1933
A young woman believes that her mother's gambling house is a hotel. When a gambler angry about being cheated there convinces her to join her mother's business, it really does turn into a hotel. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Windsor, Theodore Von Eltz, (more)
- 1932
Tom Tyler is Singlehanded Sanders in this economical Monogram oater. Tyler plays a small-town blacksmith, whose reckless younger brother casts his lot with a crooked politician. When brother dear steals $5000 from heroine Margaret Morris, Tyler gallantly confesses to the deed. He eventually clears himself by rallying his fellow frontiersmen to form a united front against the villains (guess he's not so "single-handed" after all). Singlehanded Sanders was directed by Charles A. Post, previously the production manager for the Tom Tyler unit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Robert Manning, (more)
- 1932
In his third Allied Pictures release of 1932, veteran screen cowboy Hoot Gibson played his favorite role, that of a happy-go-lucky rodeo rider. This time, Gibson plays Johnny Ringo, a former lawman turned rodeo champ who returns to the old homestead to find his brother Bud (longtime Gibson protegee Fred Gilman) in trouble with a couple of crooked livestock-brokers cum cattle rustlers (Hooper Atchley and Al Bridge). Pretending to be a bumbling fool -- a favorite Gibson ploy -- "The Hooter" gains access to the villains' lair and is able to rescue a pretty kidnap victim (Doris Hill). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Doris Hill, (more)
- 1932
Though well past 50, Harry Carey could still play a virile and convincing cowboy hero in such inexpensive westerns as Without Honors. Carey is cast as Jack Marian, a gambler with an unsavory past. Suspected of being an outlaw, Carey plays along with this misconception, the better to infiltrate a gang of smugglers. Along the way, he clears the name of the brother of Texas ranger Mike Donovan, and helps patch up the romance between Donovan and heroine Mary Jane Irving. Among the supporting players are Gibson Gowland, previously the star of Erich Von Stroheim's silent classic Greed, and the "ever popular" Mae Busch, taking a break from her usual duties in the Laurel and Hardy comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Carey
- 1932
Released by Syndicate, a forerunner of sorts to Monogram Pictures, this Western serial stars veteran silent actor Robert Frazer as Jack Logan, the heir to half of a map to a hidden Indian mine. Evil French-accented trader Jean Gregg (Al Ferguson) sends his chief henchman Mack (Charles King) to make life difficult for Logan, who is aided in his quest by the heirs to the other half of the map, Helen (Blanche Mehaffey) and her kid brother Billy (Buzz Barton), and, most importantly, a uniformed mystery man known only as The Mystery Trooper. Produced by Harry S. Webb and one of Hollywood's few women executives, Flora E. Douglas, The Mystery Trooper has, somewhat unfairly, gone down in history as one of the worst serials made in the sound era. The surviving print is a 1938 reissue, retitled Trail of the Royal Mounted and complete with new, and more colorful, chapter titles. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blanche Mehaffey, Buzz Barton, (more)
- 1932
As he had so many times before, Hoot Gibson pretended to be a dimwit in this low-budget Western, his penultimate for penny-pinching producer M.H. Hoffman. Naturally, Gibson, as Ace Cooper, only pretends to be cowardly and stupid in order to investigate the mysterious killing of Dad Mason (Gordon De Main) in a hotel room. He does that disguised as "the Dude Bandit," quickly determining that Dad was murdered by greedy cattle baron Al Burton (Hooper Atchley). But how? Burton was observed by several witnesses as the fatal shot rang out. Aligning himself with old friend Skeeter (Gibson regular Roy "Skeeter Bill" Robbins) and the dead man's pretty daughter, Betty (Gloria Shea), Ace learns how Burton was able to establish an alibi for the murder. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Gloria Shea, (more)
- 1932
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
- Starring:
- Caryl Lincoln, Jack Richardson, (more)
Thrifty Warner Bros. remade their old silent Ken Maynard Westerns as starring vehicles for John Wayne, dressing young Wayne up to match the stock footage of Maynard in action. The Big Stampede used plenty of footage from its 1927 predecessor, The Land Beyond the Law, and the inserts, filmed at a completely different location, are rather obvious. Wayne plays John Steele, a deputy sheriff sent by Governor Wallace (Berton Churchill) to protect settlers arriving in New Mexico Territory. Cattle baron Sam Crew (Noah Beery) and his henchman Arizona (Paul Hurst) aim to stop the settlers while Sonora Joe (Luis Alberni) and his Vaqueros arrive from Mexico to rob them. When old settler Cal Brett is murdered by Arizona, Steele deputizes Sonora and his men, and together they bring the killer to justice. The settlers, meanwhile, drive their herd to the nearby fort, and Crew decides to create a stampede. Steele saves Brett's niece Ginger (Mae Madison) from being killed by the stampeding cattle, but the nasty Crew is trampled to death, a victim of his own greed. A better-than-average B-Western, The Big Stampede benefits from colorful performances by Beery, Hurst, Alberni and Wayne's horse Duke. Freckled Sherwood Bailey, formerly Spuds in the Our Gang series, provides a few moments of comedy as Ginger's slingshot-crazy kid brother, and Madison, usually a tough dame in Warner's gangster dramas, makes an adequate love interest. Veteran Bad Guy Tom Bay, in his final film before being killed in a bar-room brawl in October of 1933, appears unbilled as an army messenger. Not the studio to let a good plot and usable stock footage go to waste, Warner Bros. filmed Marion Jackson's story a third time in 1937, as Land Beyond the Law, starring Dick Foran. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Noah Beery, Sr., (more)
- 1932
Hoot Gibson's first 1932 western was the breezy The Gay Buckaroo. The ol' Hooter plays Clint Hale, a rancher in love with winsome Mildred Field (Merna Kennedy), the daughter of his best customer. But Mildred is sweet on suave gambler Dave Dumont (Roy D'Arcy), who happens to be a crook. Ultimately, Clint forces Dave to reveal his true colors, leading to the inevitable Ride Into the Sunset with sweet Mildred. With characters like "Hi Low," "Faro," and "Sporty Bill," one might conclude that Gay Buckaroo was a stray Damon Runyon yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Merna Kennedy, (more)
- 1932
Ostensibly based on a story by pulp writer William Colt McDonald, this minor Western, filmed at Lone Pine, CA, starred Lane Chandler, a former Paramount player. Chandler plays Keen Wallace, a wanted outlaw with a price on his head, who returns to the old homestead only to find his father murdered and the killer (Al Bridge), having forged his victim's last will and testament, residing in his place. Outfoxing the local sheriff (Harry Fox), Wallace (aka the Lone Wolf) not only wins the love of the lawman's pretty daughter (Adele Tracy) but also manages to bring the villain to justice and clear his own name. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lane Chandler, Adele Tracy, (more)
Having signed for eight Westerns with poverty row entrepreneur E.W. Hammons, Ken Maynard went on to deliver a series of solid sagebrush entertainment despite non-existing budgets and filming on standing sets at the old, threadbare Tiffany lot on Sunset Boulevard. The opener, Dynamite ranch presented Ken as a cowboy falsely accused of safe-cracking.The robbery was actually committed by villainous foreman Park Owens (Alan Roscoe) but only the rancher's daughter, Doris (Ruth Hall), believes in his innocence. But even she turns against the cowboy when his glove is found on the crime scene. When the assistance of the rancher's accountant (Arthur Hoyt), Ken sets a trap for Owens and manages to clear his own good name. As a sign of changing times in Hollywood, former silent star Jack Perrin appears at the bottom of the cast-list playing one of Owens' henchmen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Ruth Hall, (more)
- 1932
Tim McCoy is falsely accused of killing his own father in this typical low-budget oater directed by the generally efficient but unexciting D. Ross Lederman. Framed in the killing of his own father, Tim Benton (McCoy) escapes from prison along with brutish Red Larkin (Matthew Betz). The fugitives head for the former Benton mine now operated by the villainous John Sebastian (Ethan Laidlaw), where Tim plans to rob the payroll. En route, they are discovered by Bob Dinsmore (William A. Howell), the new marshal of Silver City, who is killed by Red. Tim, who believes the marshal to be merely knocked unconscious, decides to impersonate him in order to get the goods of the two men, Stevens and Ainsley, who framed him on behalf of Sebastian. Accepted by the townspeople in general and the sheriff's daughter Alice (Gulliver) in particular, Tim's scheme is endangered by the arrival of both Stevens (Bob Perry) and Ainsley (Dick Dickinson). After quickly arresting the two henchmen, Tim tells Red that he no longer wishes to go through with the planned payroll robbery. Red, in anger, frames his former partner for Dinsmore's murder. In the ensuing shootout, Red is mortally wounded, but manages to clear Tim's name before he expires. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Dorothy Gulliver, (more)
- 1932
A typical low-budget but competently made Columbia Western, The Riding Tornado featured Tim McCoy as a famous rodeo champ who, incognito, wins a supposed killer stallion, Pal, and a purse of 500 dollars in a small town race. Having amicably lost the money in a poker game, Tim is hired by Pal's prior owner, rancher Hiram Olcott (Lafe McKee), to track down a gang of cattle rustlers headed by Hetch Engle (Wheeler Oakman). In between fighting hothead ranch foreman Dick Stark (Wallace MacDonald) for the attention of lovely Patsy Olcott (Shirley Grey), Tim manages to track down Hetch and his gang before they can do more damage. Stark, meanwhile, is heroically killed attempting to stop a stampede, leaving Tim and Patsy free to plan a future together. Vernon Dent, who later menaced the Three Stooges in countless two-reelers, played Hefty, the bartender, a role he had originated in an earlier McCoy effort, Texas Cyclone. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Grey, Wallace MacDonald, (more)
- 1932
The third of Poverty Row producer Willis Kent's eight Lane Chandler Westerns, Battling Buckaroo was filmed on-location at the Hearst ranch in Lone Pine, CA. Chandler played Blackjack, a notorious outlaw who nevertheless helps Tonya Mendoza (Doris Hill) and her prospector father (Lafe McKee) escape a gang of outlaws lead by nasty Duke Lawson (Ted Adams). Arrested by Sheriff Jones (Yakima Canutt), Blackjack makes his escape with the assistance of Tonya, who has fallen in love with the bandit. Blackjack, however, is quickly caught by Duke's men but is once again rescued, this time by his faithful steed Raven. After a furious chase, Blackjack and Raven lose their pursuers and manage to arrive at the Mendoza gold mine in time to save Tonya and her father from Duke. About to be arrested once again by Sheriff Jones, Blackjack reveals himself to be an undercover United States marshal. Director Armand Schaefer later formed a close association with singing cowboy star Gene Autry and would head Autry's television company. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
