Frank Beal Movies

Rivalry between two towns for the honor of becoming county seat turns violent in this interesting Ken Maynard Western from low-budget Sono Art-World Wide. Although a notorious troublemaker, the Thunderbolt Kid (alias Ken Peters (Maynard)), is convinced to work on behalf of Coyote Gulch, a small community hoping to land the railroad franchise that will make it the county seat. Rival town Spotted Horse hires the notorious Matthews gang and soon it is all-out war between the communities. Ken, meanwhile, is conned by Matthews henchman One Shot Mallory (Bob Kortman) into attacking a stage supposedly carrying reinforcement. Unfortunately, the passenger, whom Ken publicly humiliates, is railroad president Charles Eaton (Wilfred Lucas). Much to the disgust of Red Matthews (William Gould) and his gang, Eaton awards the franchise to Coyote Gulch. After a climactic encounter between Red and Ken, Eaton persuades the latter to remain and witness the town prosper. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Confidence woman Martha Hicks (Alison Skipworth), better known to those who know her at all as "the Countess," is a career criminal who has just been paroled. She would like to slip away from the authorities and leave the country, but first she wants to look in on the only decent, respectable part of her life, the two daughters whom she left behind with her onetime husband, Elmer Hicks (Richard Bennett), a small-town hotel owner. She arrives to find that Elmer, in his well-meaning but dithering way, has let their younger daughter (Gertrude Messinger) fall in with the wrong crowd, including a two-bit criminal, Jack Houston (George Raft). He has filled her head with stories about what a big man he is and plans to take her to Chicago with him, until Martha intervenes -- she manages to turn the interest of veteran lawman John Adams (J. Farrell MacDonald) to her advantage and nearly gets Houston thrown in the slammer. When he proves tougher to get out of the way than she'd thought he'd be, Martha has to choose between freedom or the well-being of her daughter, and gets some unexpected help from Elmer. Skipworth is charming and the rest of the cast is first-rate in this sly, fast-paced, and enjoyable comedy drama. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Having built up the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey into a surefire box-office draw, RKO Radio was possessed with the notion to briefly split up the team, showcasing each actor in his own separate vehicle in hopes of doubling their profitability. Woolsey's first (and last) solo effort was Everything's Rosie, which though ostensibly a screen original by Al Boasberg was actually a rip-off of the 1923 W. C. Fields stage vehicle Poppy (in which Woolsey had played a featured role). The bespectacled, cigar-chomping comedian is cast as Dr. J. Dockweiler Droop, a crooked-yet-lovable sideshow medicine man. Rescuing a two-year old urchin named Rosie from her harridan of a mother, Doc Droop raises the girl as his own. By the time she reaches maturity, the lovely Rosie (played as an adult by Anita Louise) is every bit the sharpster that her "father" is. When Rosie falls in love with wealthy Billy Lowe (John Darrow), Doc tries his best to make a good impression at a party given by Billy's mother, only to end up in the calaboose when he's accused of theft. Realizing that he's a millstone around Rosie's neck, Doc quietly shuffles out of her life, but not before smoothing the romantic path for the hero and heroine. Funny though he was in the Wheeler and Woolsey comedies, Bob Woolsey simply wasn't a strong enough performer to carry a picture by himself -- though in all fairness, it should be noted that Bert Wheeler fared almost as badly in his solo RKO effort, Too Many Cooks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cimarron was the first Western to win the Oscar for Best Picture--and, until Dances with Wolves in 1990, the only one. The film begins on April 22, 1889, the opening day of the great Oklahoma Land Rush on the Cherokee Strip. Boisterous Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) is cheated out of his land claim by the devious Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor). Instead of becoming a homesteader, Cravat establishes a muckraking newspaper, and with pistols in hand he becomes a widely respected (and widely feared) peacekeeper. He also displays a compassionate streak by coming to the defense of Dixie Lee, who is about to be arrested for prostitution. Cravat's insistence on sticking his nose into everyone's affairs drives a wedge between him and his young wife Sabra (Irene Dunne), but she stands by him--until he deserts her and her children, ever in pursuit of new adventures. Sabra takes over the newspaper herself, and with the moral support of her best friend, Mrs. Wyatt (Edna May Oliver), she creates a powerful publishing empire. Cimarron makes the mistake of placing most of the action early in the film, so that everything that follows the spectacular opening land-rush sequence may feel anti-climactic. While it's always enjoyable to watch Irene Dunne persevering through the years, it's rather wearing to sit through the overblown performance of Richard Dix, who seems to think that he can't make a point unless it's at the top of his lungs. Cimarron creaks badly when seen today, but it still outclasses the plodding 1960 remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With less sumptuous production values perhaps, but with just as much savoir faire as in his earlier Fox Westerns, Tom Mix starred in this late-silent Wild West melodrama from poverty row company FBO as a ranch foreman assigned to escort his employer's daughter (Kathryn McGuire) from the big city back to the ranch. The girl, Ellen, is carrying the valuable Regent diamond, and the pair become the target of a gang of thieves led, it turns out, by Ellen's former fiancée Rodney (Ernest Hilliard). Still a name to be reckoned with, Mix was released from his contract later that year when FBO abandoned the outdoor units in preparation for a merger with RKO and sound films. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Though Universal temporarily abandoned its western product when talkies came in, a few of its 1929 silent sagebrushers were released with audible sequences. Completed as a silent, Senor Americano was 85% reshot for the benefit of the microphone. Set in Old California, the film concerns the exploits of U.S. Cavalry officer Ken Maynard, who is dedicated to keeping the territory safe from bandits and plunderers. Top-billed Katherine Crawford is cast as the fair senorita whose heart is captured by the dashing "Senor Americano". Both Maynard and Crawford are given ample opportunities to sing, which both do with enthusiasm if not great skill (Maynard, however, would continue to inflict cowboy ballads on his faithful fans for the next ten years). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Universal's sloppy-looking cowboy star Hoot Gibson plays the carefree son of the tough prison warden (Frank Beal) in this fine late-silent Gibson western. The penal colony is enjoying the presence of a very liberal-minded supervisor (Eugenia Gilbert), with whom Hoot naturally falls in love. She, however, is too busy rehabilitating the inmates to spare him a minute, so the resourceful hero masquerades as a hardened criminal and a trouble maker. He is soon involved with a gang of cutthroats and must use all his cunning to get out of the jam. Poverty row producer-director-star Denver Dixon (aka Art Mix aka Victor Adamson) is seen briefly as one of the inmates. The film was directed by Henry MacRae, who for many years was head of Universal's serial unit. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Based on Peter B. Kyne's Tidy Toreador, this fairly outrageous Western romp featured Universal's lackadaisical cowboy Hoot Gibson as Billy Halen, foreman of "Pop" Tully's (Otis Harlan) Peaceful Valley Ranch. Suffering a bad case of poison ivy, Billy finds not only relief but an improved appearance in mud collected from a nearby marsh. Jasper Thornby (Frank Beal) hears of the miracle mud, which also promises to improve the appearance of the wearer, and attempts to buy Tully's ranch. The old man declines, and Jasper instead purchases the mortgage, ordering Pop to pay or get out. A plan by Thornby's secretary (Edward Coxen) to kidnap Billy fails, and the cowpoke-turned-entrepreneur instead sells his patent medicine to a rival druggist, thus earning enough money to save Pop Tully's ranch. Appearing as the villain's innocent ward is Sally Rand, the future "fan dancer." A WAMPAS Baby Star of 1927, Rand had enjoyed little success in films when she discovered her lucrative second career during the 1932 Chicago World's Fair. The rest, as they say, is show business history. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

One of American Western star Buck Jones' finest silents, A Man Four-Square is a screen version of William McLeod Raine's popular tale of a rancher who finds himself falsely accused of murder while attempting to help a friend in need. Jones, needless to say, not only saves his friend (two-reel Western lead William E. Lawrence), but vindicates himself and gets the girl (Marion Harlan). This fast-paced Western marked the first of many screen encounters between Jones and the always hissable Harry Woods. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This melodrama featured Edmund Lowe in a dual role, and a very young Carole Lombard. Cyril Gordon (Lowe) joins the secret service, and since he is a dead ringer for international crook Harry Holden (also Lowe), he is assigned the task of retrieving a stolen government code from Holden's gang. He discovers that Celia Hathaway (Lombard) is being forced into a loveless marriage with the crook, so, still posing as Holden, he marries her himself. As they head for Chicago by train, they are pursued by the real Holden. Gordon tells Celia his true identity and the couple goes to Washington, D.C., where he reports to his higher ups. Holden breaks into Gordon's apartment and the two men fight it out. Holden loses and his gang is jailed. Celia decides she loves Gordon and wants to stay married to him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This picture was based on an old time melodrama by Lincoln J. Carter. Pauline Starke stars as Katherine Keith, whose brother David (Harold Goodwin) is vamped by Lola Nichols (Evelyn Brent). Lola belongs to a gang of crooks who are planning to rob the bank where David works. When one of the gang kills a man, David is arrested for the crime. He is convicted of the murder and Katherine is determined to prove his innocence. She becomes a member of the gang so she can evidence showing that David is not guilty, later rushing to the state capitol to reach the governor in time to prevent his execution. Every step along the way, the gang tries to stop her. Somehow she manages to board the Arizona Express, where her sweetheart, Steve Butler, a mail clerk (David Butler), is working. The two of them manage to thwart the gang and they save Katherine's brother. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This tense but implausible melodrama was John Gilbert's last film for Fox before moving over to the greener pastures of MGM. Jack Saunders (Gilbert) falls in love with a mysterious girl tourist and leaves his home in search of her. In the big city, his money quickly runs out and he is offered a lucrative deal by Burke (Harry Todd), a politician. The daughter of the governor (Edward Tilton) has murdered a lecherous old roué, and they need someone to take the fall. For a large sum of money, and the promise that he will be pardoned after a year, Saunders volunteers to plead guilty. When the time comes for the pardon and the governor unexpectedly denies it, Saunders makes a prison break. At the governor's mansion, Saunders finds that Burke is about to be married to the girl, Margaret West (Evelyn Brent), who also happens to be the tourist he has been trying to find. After everything is set right, Saunders weds Margaret. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Richard Armstrong (Reed Howe) has invented a carburetor that will enable his car to win a road race. Until that happens, however, he's working on a skyscraper being built by Robert Steele (Frank Beal). Armstrong falls for Steele's daughter, Doris (Alma Bennett), but her father won't hear of the match. His choice is Reynard Trask (William Bailey), who is posing as a broker, but is really an underworld leader. Steele finally tells Armstrong that if he comes up with five thousand dollars in 30 days, he will consider a match with Doris. Since that's the amount of the prize money for the race, Armstrong sees some hope. Just as he's about to end the race in first place, he gets sidetracked saving a child. Trask, meanwhile, convinces Doris that Armstrong is untrue and she agrees to marry him. Armstrong is able to unearth Trask's nefarious doings and rescues Doris at the altar. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide