Hank Bell Movies

Fancy Pants is a musicalized remake of the oft-filmed Harry Leon Wilson story Ruggles of Red Gap, tailored to the talents of "Mr. Robert Hope (formerly Bob)". The basic plotline of the original, that of an English butler entering the service of a rowdy nouveau-riche family from the American West, is retained. The major difference is that main character (Bob Hope) plays a third-rate American actor who only pretends to be a British gentleman's gentleman. Social-climbing American heiress Lucille Ball hires Hope to impress her high-society English acquaintances, then takes him back to her ranch in New Mexico. Though there are many close shaves, Hope manages to convince the wild and woolly westerners that he's a genuine British Lord--even pulling the wool over the eyes of visiting celebrity Teddy Roosevelt (John Alexander). Never as droll as the 1935 Leo McCarey-directed Ruggles of Red Gap, Fancy Pants nonetheless works quite well on its own broad, slapsticky level. If the ending seems abrupt, it may be because the original finale, in which a fleeing Bob Hope and Lucille Ball were to be rescued by surprise guest star Roy Rogers, was abandoned just before the scene was shot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Don Barry stars as the Pecos Kid in Red Desert. The Kid is a federal agent, assigned by President Ulysses S. Grant to locate an outlaw wanted by the government. The outlaw is something of a frontier fuehrer, hoping to use his ill-gotten gains to set up a nation of his own. The Kid thinks he's gotten his man at the film's halfway point, but he and the audience are in for surprise. President Grant is played by Joseph Crehan, who made a comfortable living imitating our 18th Chief Executive in the movies. Red Desert was Lippert's final release for 1949, but was hardly Don Barry's last effort for the studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown stars in the rubber-stamp western Over the Border. Bringing Bart Calhoun (Marshall Reed) to justice for his complicity in a robbery/murder, Johnny assumes that his job is over. Not by a long shot! Calhoun's arrest leads to the uncovering of a wide-ranging conspiracy to smuggle silver from Mexico to the United States. With Calhoun's cooperation, Johnny exposes the "Mister Big" behind the whole operation. There isn't much action in Over the Border; the screenwriters seem more concerned with mystery and intrigue. Johnny Mack Brown is obviously getting too old for this sort of thing, but he carries his years -- and excess poundage -- quite well. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tornado Range is one of five Eddie Dean westerns originally produced by PRC in 1947 but released the following year by Eagle-Lion. Cast as a troubleshooter for the U.S. Land Office, Dean is assigned to settle a deadly range war. Sure enough, the warring homesteaders and cattlemen are being whipped into a frenzy by a third party, who hopes to "divide and conquer," claiming the land for himself. Surprisingly, all-purpose PRC villain George Cheseboro isn't the culprit in this one; instead, he's cast as the father of heroine Jennifer Holt. Roscoe Ates is once more on hand for some questionable comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gene Autry goes in search of the man who killed his friend during a blackout in this action-packed western from Columbia. Someone cuts the lights and kills Ed Norton (Stanley Blystone) during a heated poker game and that someone, according to Sheriff Cramer (Chill Wills), may just be young hothead Larry Evans (Russell Arms). Gene, however, thinks otherwise and arranges for Larry to hide out in a cabin belonging to elderly prospector Jim Hedge (Clem Bevans). But the real killer is doing his best to incriminate Larry and Gene must not only fight the sheriff but also the accused man's pretty sister, Mary (Barbara Britton), in order to uncover the truth behind the killing. Despite a preponderance of action, Autry, backed by the Cass County Boys, manages to perform five songs in Loaded Pistols: "Pretty Mary", "Jimmy Crack Corn", "When the Bloom is on the Sage", "A Boy from Texas, A Girl from Tennessee" and the title tune. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Whip-wielding westerner Lash LaRue closes out his 1947 schedule with Cheyenne Takes Over. Once again teamed with comical sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John), the Cheyenne Kid (LaRue) investigates the murder of a prosperous rancher. The audience knows that PRC's all-purpose villain George Cheseboro is the culprit, and so does saloon owner Fay (Nancy Gates). Intimidated into silence by the bad guys, Fay turns to Cheyenne and Fuzzy for help. Surprisingly, Lash LaRue lays his legendary bullwhip aside in the last reel, preferring to use his fists to bring the criminals to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a tuneful saddletramp is appointed sheriff of Rawhide and begins rounding up three troublesome brothers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this western, Red Ryder tries to be a good example for a young man who idolizes his father, an outlaw. The boy wants to follow in his father's footsteps when the hero intervenes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A tuneful Roy Rogers Western, Along the Navajo Trail finds Dale Evans' Lazy A Ranch under siege from nasty J. Richard Bentley (Douglas Fowley), who is in cahoots with a greedy oil company aiming to erect a pipeline through the property come what may. Drifter Rogers, who is really a U.S. Marshal in disguise, eventually gets the goods on the villains with the assistance of Nestor Paiva's band of Mexican gypsies, comedy sidekick George "Gabby" Hayes, and vivacious Estelita Rodriguez. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Republic Pictures' reigning Bad Guy, Roy Barcroft, was at it again in this standard Allan Lane Western, this time playing Ben Jode, a nasty character conspiring with saloon owner Clyde Flint (Maine Geary) and crooked land agent Trent Parker (Tom London) to cheat the settlers from staking their claims during the Oklahoma Land Rush. The mean-spirited Barcroft attempts to achieve his goal of hegemony by recording false claims in the names of his henchman. Enter lone cowboy Chad Stevens (Lane) who is assisted by verbose Wild West lawyer Don Quixote Martingale (Earle Hodgins). The latter is rescued in the nick of time from a lynching when Chad reveals himself to be an undercover investigator for the U.S. Land Office. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, a Montana cattle rancher travels to San Francisco's notorious Barbary Coast and ends up falling in love with a dance hall girl who helps him win big at the gaming tables. Unfortunately, a card sharp takes it all from the innocent rube. The dance hall girl is also involved with the sharper. This western chronicles the way in which the rancher gets his revenge and wins back the love of the woman. The great earthquake of 1906 provides the story's climax. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Gary Cooper added "producer" alongside "star" on his resume with this light-hearted Western about a mild-mannered cowboy (Cooper) who drifts into a small town with his sidekick (William Demarest). Naturally, he's mistaken for a notorious highway robber (Dan Duryea), although he can barely handle a gun. His impersonation of the menacing gunman falls apart when his skills are put to the test, and he faces certain doom when challenged by the returning gunman himself. In the end, however, our hero defeats the villain and even ends up with his girl (Loretta Young). A send-up of both Western clichés and Cooper's own heroic persona, Along Came Jones is brisk, amusing entertainment. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide