Pete Morrison Movies

Its story credited to stunt-man extraordinaire Yakima Canutt, Riders of the Golden Gulch, from low-budget West Coast Studios, featured Buffalo Bill, Jr. as Bill Edwards, a young man searching for the villain who ruined his banker father. Along the way, Bill is himself accused of robbing a bank but it is all a ruse to ferret out the real culprit, nasty Bart Smith (Edmund Cobb). Yak Canutt played the hero's sidekick and the little western also featured such oldtimers as Pete Morrison and Buck Connors. A survivor from silent westerns, Buffalo Bill, Jr. later worked under his real name, Jay Wilsey. According to his widow, the former actress Genee Boutell, Wilsey earned approximately $50 a day as a low-budget western star. Although filmed in 1930, Riders of the Golden Gulch (aka Riders of Golden Gulch) was not released until two years later. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

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, Rovi

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, Rovi

"Trigger Tricks", wrote "B"-western historian William K. Everson, "may well have set a record as the most talkative talkie western ever made." Hoot Gibson stars as an easygoing cowpoke who becomes a fightin' fool in his efforts to learn the identity of his brother's murder. While working as a hired gun for a group of cattlemen, Gibson falls in love with Betty Dawley (Sally Eilers), the owner of a sheep ranch. Switching his allegiance to Eilers, our hero discovers that one of the cattlemen was the guy who knocked off his brother. Just so no one forgets that this is an all-talking picture, the plot is resolved when Gibson uses a trick phonograph record to trap the killer. Trigger Tricks was the second of two 1930 westerns teaming Hoot Gibson with his future wife Sally Eilers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Saucer-eyed silent-screen cowboy Jack Perrin and his magnificent horse, Starlight, star in this ramshackle early sound western. Perrin is falsely accused of a robbery actually committed by his onetime partner (fellow silent western star Edmund Cobb) and must flee South of the border to Mexico. Once there, he mobilizes a posse of expatriate cowboys and returns to bring the villain to justice. Penny-pinching poverty-row studio Big Four Corp. was able to hire several former westerns stars (Perrin, Cobb, Buffalo Bill, Jr., Pete Morrison, Franklyn Farnum), all of whom were out of work because of sound. Thus, Beyond the Rio Grande benefitted from a lineup that would have been unthinkable in previous years. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

A wild stallion is blamed for "kidnapping" local mares to build a harem! Cowboy Jack Perrin, however, believes the real culprit is smooth-talking Robert Walker (whose pencil-thin mustache was a dead giveaway of his evil intentions), and manages to rescue the stallion from the glue factory in the nick of time. Produced by that graveyard of silent screen western stars, Syndicate Film Exchange, this early sound oater died at the box-office because of inept sound recording and a silly script (by the veteran Carl Krusada who should have known better). It did feature one unusual scene, however; when the rogue stallion sees a wanted poster bearing his likeness, he simply eats it! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Silent-screen hero Jack Perrin and his handsome mount Starlight headlined this low-budget oater from shoestring company Big 4 Film Corp., one of the many Gower Gulch entrepreneurs catching former luminaries whose careers were on a downslide due to talkies. Perrin's father is murdered by villain Yakima Canutt, who flees to Mexico with the hero in hot pursuit. Reviewers were quick to pronounce the film a failure, not so much due to Perrin's performance, which was fine, but to leading lady Renee Borden's trouble with a below-the-border accent. Former western star Canutt also suffered vocal problems and saw his career turning increasingly toward villainy. The future Academy Award-winning stunt-man was still years away from his most enduring work at Republic Pictures. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Despite the creative input of producer David O. Selznick and director William A. Wellman, Chinatown Nights was just so much chop suey. In her first (and last) talking-picture appearance, silent screen queen Florence Vidor plays Joan Fry, a San Francisco socialite who ruins her reputation when she falls in love with Chinatown gang boss Chuck Riley (Wallace Beery). When she fails to convince Chuck to quit the rackets, the couple splits up. Unable to return to her own social class, unlucky Joan ends up as a streetwalker (albeit a very glamorous one!) Realizing that he is responsible for the girl's present sorry state, Chuck promises to reform, and together he and Joan leave Frisco to start life anew. In later years, the long-retired Florence Vidor described Chinatown Nights as "absurd," citing producer Selznick's decision to team her with the rough-hewn Wallace Beery as its biggest absurdity. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Colorado-born cowboy Pete Morrison and stunt-rider Ione Reed starred in this silent Western from the Universal assembly-line about a prairie detective hired by a group of ranchers to investigate a series of rustlings. Since square-jawed Tom London was prominently featured in the supporting cast, every child in the audience knew immediately who was behind the crimes. Veteran silent comedian Milburn Morante directed the proceedings, offering plenty of opportunity for Morrison and Reed to demonstrate their considerable riding skills. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Versatile silent screen comedian Milburn Morante directed this average Universal western starring Colorado-born Pete Morrison. Perhaps the studio's most authentic cowboy performer, Morrison never gained the popularity of Universal's top western hero, Hoot Gibson or the devoted following of Jack Hoxie. But he wasn't overly coy like Gibson or as bad an actor as Hoxie and it is surprising that he didn't do better. Bucking the Truth tells the usual western tale of a cowboy falsely accused of being an outlaw, who unravels a smuggling ring. Universal apparently believed in the film and surrounded Morrison with a top-notch supporting cast that included lovely Ione Reed as the usual damsel in distress, the always welcome "Slim" Whitaker as one of the bad guys, and a young cowboy from Montana, Curley Witzel, who was so convincing that the studio gave him a starring series of 2-reel westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In a case of one for all and all for one, D'Artagnan-ish ranger Buck Adams (Pete Morrison) and his two colleagues, Manuel Lopez (Lew Meehan in a rare sympathetic role) and English Charlie (Milburn Morante), rescue lovely Rose Warner (Peggy Montgomery) from being kidnapped by a vicious gang of cutthroats. Writer-director Forrest Sheldon obviously kept one eye squarely on Alexander Dumas while creating this pleasant silent western, just like pulp writer William Colt McDonald whose Three Mesqueteers became a popular series in the thirties. The Peggy Montgomery appearing in this and other westerns was not child star Baby Peggy, whose family name was also Montgomery. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

French-born director Marcel Perez directed this obscure, but surviving, silent western in which a cowboy (Pete Morrison) falls for a sophisticated femme fatale (Gene Crosby). Morrison's Bill Harrison is committed to Nell, the rancher's daughter (Dorothy Woods), when a road accident brings travelling nightclub owner Dick Murray (Jack Walters) and his kept girlfriend (Crosby) into their lives. The handsomely dressed woman makes a play for the cowboy and, having recuperated from a broken leg, manages to lure him to her lair in Chicago. Having lost the farm after her father's (E.L. Van Sickle) death, the naive Nell is persuaded by the smooth-talking Murray to appear at his Chicago nitery. She almost suffers a fate worse than death, but is saved in the nick of time by Bill, who has had enough of life as a lounge lizard. Slightly more sophisticated in approach than most independent westerns of the era, The Better Man Wins is consistently entertaining and includes a quite realistic automobile wreck. The site of the burly, ill-at-ease Morrison in top hat and tails crashing a nightclub on horseback is another of the film's memorable moments. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

One of the silent era's great beauties, Esther Ralston, began her screen career in minor oaters like Crossing Trails. The future Mrs. Darling (in the still breathtaking 1924 version of Peter Pan) plays Helen Stratton, a young girl falsely accused of murder and on the lam from the Law. She obtains a job as cook on the Warren ranch, whose owner, the strapping Jim (Pete Morrison), not only grows to love her but unmasks the real killer. With nasty-looking Lew Meehan in the cast, the identity of said killer was not hard to guess. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi