Lafe [Lafayette] McKee Movies

Filmed at Red Rock Canyon, AZ, and at rental stages at the California Tiffany Studios, Tombstone Canyon was the fifth of eight low-budget westerns Ken Maynard would make for independent producer E. W. Hammons' K.B.S Productions. Searching for his parents' killers, Ken goes up against a mysterious masked villain, "The Phantom," whose shrill cry of vengeance sends shivers through the settlers in Tombstone Canyon. But as Ken quickly learns, "The Phantom" (Sheldon Lewis) only kills men working for nasty Alf Sikes (Frank Brownlee). The latter attempts to blame Ken for the recent slayings of his henchmen but the newcomer manages to prove otherwise. In the end, there is a huge surprise in store for our intrepid hero, whose parentage is not quite what he has always believed. Although technically crude and directed with the usual lethargy by Alan James (formerly Alvin J. Neitz), Tombstone Canyon is at times beautiful to look at and presents a legendary cowboy star at the height of his game. ~ 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

In his first Western for 1932, Buck Jones went mostly for laughs playing a former Texas ranger inheriting an Arizona ranch together with an uppity girl (Lina Basquette). The will stipulates that neither may sell without the other's consent but Lina is inclined to take an offer from smooth-talking Easterner Alan Roscoe. Jones, however, refuses to sell and the stage is set for a battle of the sexes. But there is silver in them there hills, which the Easterner has known all along. Tired of waiting for a mutual decision, Roscoe and his chief henchman, Wallace MacDonald, kidnap the girl but she is saved in the nick of time by Jones. Have the former combatants fallen in love along the way? Why, of course they have. Lina Basquette married the third of her nine husbands on the set of this film and Jones threw her a party that by all accounts was more entertaining than the film itself. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this crime thriller, a suicidal writer is saved by a helpful newspaper editor who gives her a much-needed job. Later she finds herself entangled in a plot to smuggle Chinese laborers into the country. She follows up on the many clues and ends up in the middle of Chinatown where she is eventually able get her story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

More a romantic melodrama than a true Western, this Buck Jones vehicle from Columbia starred Jones as Buck Randall, a carefree cowboy whose popularity with the local saloon girls becomes the talk of the town. The new marshal, Joseph Slyde (Russell Simpson), gets on Buck's bad side by enforcing a "no gun" rule. Buck returns the favor by falling in love with the marshal's mistreated wife, Mary (Mary Doran), and she asks her husband for a divorce so she can marry Buck. After helping Mary escape a lecherous deputy, Frame (Walter Miller), Buck hears a shot and returns to find Frame dead and Mary holding a smoking gun. Marshal Slyde enters and accuses Buck of the crime. Convicted of murder in Slyde's kangaroo court, Buck is saved from being lynched by a more level-headed judge (Robert Mckenzie). As it turns out, Slyde is the real killer and Buck is free to pursue a life with Mary. A former Ziegfeld girl, blond Mary Doran was one of Hollywood's better "other women." She left films in 1937 to marry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A remake of the silent When a Man Rides Alone (1919), this low-budget oater from the Big 4 Film Corp. stars Wally Wales as Wally Madison, a ranger investigating the robbery of a shipment of gold bullion. In a shootout with the gang, one of the robbers, José Valdez (Jack Phipps, is shot and killed. At the nearby Fernando ranch, Rosita Fernando (Virginia Browne Faire) is told to choose a husband from among the Valdez clan. She picks José. Upon learning of his demise, she charges the surviving brothers, Carlos (Franklyn Farnum) and Manuel (Edmund Cobb), with capturing his killer. Wally is caught and imprisoned at the ranch. Rosita falls in love with her captive, and when Don Francisco Fernando ($Lafe McKee) is murdered, Wally concocts a plan to capture the killer, one of the Valdez brothers. Forcing Manuel to pose as the murdered Don Francisco, Wally lures Carlos to the ranch. There is a fierce duel with swords, after which Carlos is arrested by the rangers. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Filmed at Newhall, CA, with exteriors shot at Universal City, Mascot Pictures' The Vanishing Legion became the little company's signature serial. Producer Nat Levine had managed to sign veteran cowboy star Harry Carey, blonde starlet Edwina Booth, and Olive Fuller Golden, Carey's wife, all of whom had recently just barely survived the travails of filming MGM's Trader Horn (1930) under extremely difficult conditions in what was then termed Darkest Africa. Now they were employed in a typical serial story of young Jimmy Williams (Frankie Darro) and his wild stallion (the famously intemperate Rex, King of the Wild Horses), both searching for the mysterious gang that framed Jimmy's father (Edward Hearn) in a murder scheme. The two get assistance from leathery old Happy Hardigan (Carey), who has discovered a plot by the lawless Vanishing Legion to sabotage Caroline Hall's (Booth) ancestral oil company. Behind the shenanigans is a master criminal, heard but never seen and known only as "The Voice." The identity of the villain is revealed only in the 12th and final chapter, "The Hoofs of Horror." Said identity, which of course shall not be revealed here either, was that of a venerable, old character actor who usually played kindly fathers. Of course, Mascot engaged in a bit of skullduggery themselves by having Boris Karloff as a "voice double." Also released in a re-edited feature version, The Vanishing Legion has become synonymous with Mascot Pictures and is the title of a groundbreaking biography of the little studio by Jon Tuska. Sadly, the serial proved the final film for silent screen cowboy Dick Hatton, who was killed in a car accident later in the year. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Like many "Big Four" westerns of the early talkie era, The Cyclone Kid spotlights a popular cowboy star of the silent era, in this instance diminutive Buzz Barton. The youthful hero undergoes all manner of perils for the sake of his sweet sister, played by Caryl Lincoln. Francis X. Bushman Jr., son of the celebrated matinee idol, plays the young ranch hand in love with Barton's sis. The dialogue is poor throughout but fortunately kept at a minimum by director J.P. McGowan. Cyclone Kid truly comes to life whenever Buzz Barton hops on his horse and rides hell-fer-leather to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One-legged Western maverick Robert J. Horner came up with yet another loser in this dead-on-arrival oater starring silent screen cowboy Jack Perrin and his handsome horse Starlight. On the trail of a gang of smugglers, deputy sheriff Jack Saunders (Perrin) is knocked unconscious. He awakens to find Kent, one of the smugglers, murdered. With the assistance of the sheriff's daughter (Gloria Joy) and a comical prospector (Jimmy Aubrey), Saunders manages to round up the gang, including the leader, Steward (George Chesebro), who confesses to murdering his henchman. A terrible Western in all departments, Lariats and Six Shooters even incorporated the already then overused scene of bathing beauties who must stay in the water because a villain has absconded with their clothing. Not a bad actor when given half a chance, Jack Perrin was sadly wasted in ineptly produced and directed fare such as this. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The star of the 12-episode Mascot serial The Galloping Ghost can be only one man: legendary college football star (Red Grange). Cast as the star gridiron attraction at mythical Clay College, Red is thrown off the team in disgrace when he attempts to cover for his pal Buddy (Francis X. Bushman Jr.), who has accepted a bribe to throw the Big Game. Thus, Grange is obliged to spend the serial's remaining 11 episodes to clear himself and to find out who is the "brains" of the gambling ring. Can there be any doubt as to the outcome? Evidently, there was some doubt in 1931, since Galloping Ghost proved to be one of Mascot's most profitable chapter plays. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this mystery-thriller, set on Broadway, a cynical reporter looks into the killing of a New York actor who was found strangled in his dressing room. The reporter also must deal with the death of the lead actress, who is shot. One more person dies before he can solve the murders and drag the murderer into the police. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Though he spent the bulk of the talkie era at mighty MGM, director Richard Thorpe put in three solid years' service on Poverty Row. In Thorpe's Neck and Neck, Glenn Tryon plays Bill Grant, a boastful young chap who claims to be an expert horseman. When he falls in love with wealthy Norma Rickson (Vera Reynolds), Grant is forced to prove his turf prowess by Norma's father Col. Rickson (Lafe McKee). Comic relief is supplied by Walter Brennan -- already playing toothless codgers at age 37 -- and stereotypical Black mirthmaker Stepin Fetchit. Much of Neck and Neck was filmed on location at the racetrack at Aguascalientes, Mexico. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide