Rex Bell Movies
University of Iowa alumnus Rex Bell began playing small film roles in the late '20s. Blessed with good looks and an easygoing manner, Bell rapidly achieved stardom as a cowboy hero. He appeared in scores of B-Westerns, was seen as Virgil Earp in 1942's Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die, and hosted a TV anthology of vintage sagebrushers, Cowboys and Injuns (1950). Entering politics in the 1950s, he served as Lieutenant Governor of Nevada from 1954 to 1962. During this period, he made his final screen appearance in The Misfits (1961) which was partially filmed in Reno. From 1931 until his death, Rex Bell was the husband of silent screen star Clara Bow, with whom he'd appeared in True to the Navy (1930). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1951
- NR
During the 1845 battle for Texas' independence, a cattle baron (Clark Gable) spars with an evil senator (Broderick Crawford) over the state's future and for the affections of newpaperwoman Ava Gardner. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, (more)
The Rough Riders--Buck Jones, Raymond Hatton and Rex Bell--endeavor to provide a wagon train safe passage through Indian country. With Jones heading the caravan and Bell and Hatton working undercover, the threesome discover that the "savages" planning to attack the settlers are actually renegade whites. The criminals' target is the shipment of railroad supplies being carried in one of the wagons. Normally, the third "Rough Rider" would have been played by Colonel Tim McCoy, but when McCoy was called to active duty in World War II, he was hastily replaced by old-time western star Rex Bell. Dawn on the Great Divide was the last film for Buck Jones, who was killed in the infamous Coconut Grove fire shortly before the film was released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Rex Bell, (more)
- 1942
This Western is set in the Arizona town and centers on former gunslinger Wyatt Earp who has been recently deputized and is helping the sheriff round up all the criminals. Earp becomes a lawman after he sees an outlaw accidentally kill a child during a showdown. Earp's brothers and Doc Holliday help him take on the outlaw and his gang. More trouble ensues when the sheriff is involved with the gang. Earp manages to get them on robbery charges and the situation finally culminates at the infamous O.K. Corral. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Kent Taylor, (more)
- 1938
A couple are shipwrecked and saved by a sea captain. The ruthless man blinds the husband in a fight and his sexual advances drive the wife to suicide. Twenty years later, the husband recognizes the captain's laugh and seeks to avenge their treatment. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1937
Rex Bell was always an agreeable cowboy hero, even when stuck in such bottom-barrel oaters as Law and Lead. On this occasion, hero Jimmy Sawyer (Bell) tries to find out who's been impersonating a famous retired bandit. Since the ex-outlaw is a friend of his, Jimmy is anxious to clear his buddy's name by exposing the phony. Along the way, he falls in love with heroine Hope Hawley (Harley Wood). Because singing cowboys were popular, Rex Bell was required to sing, which he does adequately; he was far more effective when he quit films to become lieutenant governor of Nevada. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Wally Wales, (more)
- 1937
The third of six Rex Bell Westerns produced by the Alexander brothers, Arthur and Max, The Idaho Kid was the first to be distributed by newcomer Grand National. Bell appeared in the title role, a drifter who returns to the old homestead only to find his adopted family engaged in a range war with his natural -- but estranged -- father, Clint Hollister (Earl Dwire). The latter's foreman, Bib Slagel (Charles King), and his men attempt to force Endicott (Lafe Mckee) out of business by depriving his cattle of water from a shared stream. There is a final confrontation during which Hollister shoots the Idaho Kid, learning only afterwards that he is his long-lost son. Happily, Idaho survives his wounds and the feud comes to an end. Popular B-Western heroine Marion Shilling played Bell's foster sister-turned-love interest and former Paramount star Lane Chandler appeared in a small supporting role as Lafe McKee's foreman. Bell was the husband of silent screen star Clara Bow and later ran successfully for the office of lieutenant governor of Nevada. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, David Sharpe, (more)
- 1936
The second of six generally well-made Rex Bell Westerns produced on the cheap by Gower Gulch company Colony Pictures, West of Nevada starred the personable Bell -- husband of silent star Clara Bow -- as Jim Lloyd, a young drifter coming to the aid of an embattled prospector. The latter, Milt Haldain (Steve Clark), is assisting an Indian tribe mine their gold when he is attacked by Slade Sangree (Frank McCarroll) and his gang. Sangree, as Jim discovers, is actually working for bank manager Steven Cutting (Forrest Taylor), who needs the gold to cover his debts. Cutting frames Jim in a rustling scheme, but Jim proves to be the son of a senator assigned to investigate Cutting's dirty dealings. In real life, Rex Bell spent his post-Hollywood career not "West of Nevada" but in Nevada proper, where he was twice elected lieutenant governor. All but one of the Bell Colony Westerns were directed by Robert F. Hill, who also supplied screenplays under the pseudonym of "Rock Hawtrey." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Joan Barclay, (more)
- 1936
Directed by the veteran Robert F. Hill -- who also wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym of Rock Hawkey -- this Rex Bell Western was the first in a series of six produced by Arthur Alexander and his brother Max. Bell played Tucson Smith, a character well-known to Western fans from the writings of William Colt MacDonald. Tucson is an agent from the Cattlemen's Association investigating a case of "too much beef" at the Brown ranch near Saddlerock, AZ. As Tucson discovers, the rancher, Rocky Brown (Forrest Taylor), is framed for rustling cattle because he refuses to sell his land to the railroad. But everything isn't exactly what it appears in this generally well-paced if somewhat complicated Western, which benefitted from no less than two leading ladies -- Constance Bergen (whose name was misprinted as "Coney Bergen" in the opening credits) and Peggy O'Connell. A personable performer, Rex Bell was the husband of silent screen star Clara Bow and a future lieutenant governor of Nevada. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1936
Produced for around 10,000 dollars by Gower Gulch entrepreneur Arthur Alexander, this the fourth of six Rex Bell Westerns was distributed through the newly founded Grand National exchanges. Jim Dean (Bell) and Dad Baxter (John Elliott) are postal inspectors assigned to investigate a series of gold shipment robberies from the mines near Goldflat. They quickly discover that the brains behind the robberies is Goldflat bank president Travis (Forrest Taylor, whose last name was misspelled "Tailor" in the onscreen credits). Travis is in league with young telegraph operator Billy Sawyer (George Ball), who warns his girlfriend, Laura Long (Joan Barclay), not to arrive on a certain stage earmarked for an attack. Laura never receives the message but Jim and Dad manage to get the passengers, including the girl, off the stage before the planned heist. Dad is later murdered by Travis' henchmen, Cole (Roger Williams) and Johnson (Charles King), and Billy is mortally wounded in the final shootout. Before he expires, Billy makes Jim promise not to tell Laura about his involvement. A handsome and personable former Fox star, Rex Bell was the husband of silent screen icon Clara Bow. He left films to successfully run for the office of lieutenant governor of Nevada. Men of the Plains was written by Robert Emmett Tansey who also functioned as Robert F. Hill's assistant director. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Joan Barclay, (more)
- 1936
The second-to-last Rex Bell Western for Poverty Row producers Max and Arthur Alexander, Stormy Trails was the only entry not directed by Robert F. Hill. Sam Newfield, however, was even more of a hack than Hill and Stormy Trails bore Newfield's trademark of carelessly inserted stock footage (a stampede of cattle in this instance) whose ancient origins failed to match the rest of the film. Based on E.B. Mann's 1934 novel Stampede, Phil Dunham's screenplay featured siblings Tom (Bell) and Billy Storm (Bob Hodges) whose ranch is heavily mortgaged despite the existence of gold on their property. As it turns out, Billy is in league with a gang of outlaws headed by Dunn (Lane Chandler). Attempting to break free of the gang, Billy is killed by Dunn's henchman, Max Durante (Karl Hackett). Dunn then proposes to stampede the cattle so Tom will be unable to pay off his bank in time. Captured by the gang, Tom manages to break free in the nick of time and is able to bring Dunn and his gang to justice. The husband of silent screen star Clara Bow, Rex Bell left films after his sixth and final film for the Alexander brothers to successfully run for the office of lieutenant governor of Nevada. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Bob Hodges, (more)
- 1935
The second of four inexpensive Westerns starring Rex Bell, Ruth Mix, and Buzz Barton, Gunfire seems to have offered employment to nearly every B-Western player not otherwise engaged. Bell and Mix (Tom's daughter) play Jerry Dunbar and Mary Vance, partners in the Double D Ranch. The ranch is also home to Danny (Barton), a kid whom Jerry has rescued from crooked gambler Les Daggett (Lew Meehan), and Sally Moore (Mary Jane Irving), Daggett's stepdaughter, who has refused to marry nasty Alex McGregor (Ted Adams). While a jealous Mary is quietly seething over the presence of Sally, the Double D barn is set ablaze by the mad McGregor clan, who desires the property, and Jerry is framed in the killing of another neighbor. Almost lynched -- twice -- Jerry and Danny arrive back at the still burning Double D just in time to save Mary from the lecherous Dan MacGregor (Philo McCullough). The nasty McGregor family finally rounded up, Jerry proposes to Mary -- forced at gunpoint by nutty Aunt Lydia (Fern Emmett). Gunfire was produced by Marion H. Kohn and Alfred T. Mannon for low-budget Resolute Pictures as part of a series of six Westerns. But due to a glut on the market and a less than enthusiastic response from exhibitors, only four films were ultimately released. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Former footballer Reb Russell stars in this very low-budget oater as Muley Benson, a young cowpoke unfairly accused of cattle rustling. After splitting the ear of his accuser, Flash Purdue (Kenneth MacDonald), Muley leaves the area only to be summoned five years later by lovely Sally Griswold (Mary Jane Carey). The Griswolds are being terrorized by a mystery man who, it turns out, is none other than Purdue seeking vengeance for the loss of his auricle. Filmed in 1934, Border Vengeance was produced by Willis Kent, an independent operator better known as a purveyor of cheap exploitation melodramas. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1935
While on a train taking them to prison, a convicted killer and a safecracker manage to engineer their escape. They show up at a ranch, where they discover that a local cattle company is trying to cheat the pretty female owner of the ranch out of her property. They determine to help her keep her land. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1935
The third of four threadbare Westerns produced by Resolute Pictures and starring Rex Bell, Ruth Mix, and Buzz Barton, Fighting Pioneers was rather too haphazardly made for its epic theme. Crow Indian Chief Blackhawk (Chief Standing Bear) is mortally wounded in a failed attempt to attack a wagon train. Escorted by Cavalry Lieutenant Bentley (Bell), Wa-No-Na (Mix) brings her father back to the reservation to die. Before he expires, the chief makes his daughter the leader of the tribe, to the chagrin of Eagle Feathers (Chief Thundercloud). The latter conspires with crooked trading post operator Hadley (Stanley Blystone) to attack yet another wagon train, but Wa-No-Na and Bentley successfully foil the attack. With the villains behind bars, Wa-No-Na signs a peace treaty and leads her tribe to new hunting grounds. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1933
In this western, a hero is arrested and tossed in the pokey. He and a renowned mail thief escape together. It is soon revealed that the hero is only masquerading as a crook; in reality, he is a Secret Service agent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Cecilia Parker, (more)
- 1933
In this western, a renowned eastern polo-player will not go West with his girlfriend who desires to be with her father, a rancher. Eventually, he decides to follow her even though he realizes that while Easterners consider him tough, out West he will be considered a pampered sissy-boy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Blystone, Julian Rivero, (more)
- 1933
Tall-in-the-saddle Rex Bell stars in this Monogram western. Bell, a Navy boxing champ, returns to his family's ranch, only to find out that his wealthy uncle has been murdered. The villain has done the dirty deed to grab up the local water rights -- and incidentally, to get his mitts on Bell's girlfriend Cecilia Parker. Our hero is framed on a trumped-up charge and squirreled away in jail, while the bad guy prepares to march Parker to the altar. Will vice triumph over virtue this time around? Not on your life! The principle heavy is played by Bob Kortman, possessor of one of the meanest mugs in moviedom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Cecilia Parker, (more)
- 1933
In this action film, a New York reporter follows a group of East Coast jewel thieves trying to move their operation to the West Coast. The intrepid journalist tries to infiltrate the ring, but is quickly discovered. Mayhem ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Frances Rich, (more)
- 1933
Cowboy star Rex Bell revives a favorite plot device of silent westerner William S. Hart in Crashin' Broadway. Bell temporarily leaves the Wide Open Spaces to conduct business in New York City. He runs afoul of gangsters, who prove no match forBell. Doris Hill is the leading lady whom Bell charms during his visit to the Big Apple. Crashin' Broadway was one of Rex Bell's last starring vehicles; soon afterward, he entered politics, eventually becoming lieutenant governor of Nevada. And as a bonus, he married Hollywood's "It" girl Clara Bow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 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)
- 1932
In 1932, Monogram Pictures was essentially the clearing house for the films of independent production firms. Monogram was responsible for the Southeastern distribution of Trojan Productions' Arm of the Law. Rex Bell, the handsome cowboy-star husband of actress Clara Bow (and later lieutenant governor of Nevada) plays the leading role. Bell wears city duds as a newspaper reporter who tries to solve the murder of nasty nightclub singer Lina Basquette. A whole slew of silent movie veterans pop up as the suspects, including Marceline Day, Bryant Washburn, Donald Keith, Wallace MacDonald, and William V. Mong. A well-crafted little mystery quickie, Arm of the Law was based on Arthur Hoerl's The Butterfly Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marceline Day, Robert E. O'Connor, (more)
- 1932
A newspaper journalist must choose between the two women he loves in this drama. On one hand, he is in love with a publisher's daughter. On the other, he also loves a stage star who came to Tinsel Town to seek her fortune but finds she can only get parts as an extra. The hard working reporter soon finds himself promoted to city editor after he provides a couple of gangland scoops. For a while, he stops seeing the actress in favor of the publisher's daughter. The jilted actress then becomes a gangster's moll. It is during a car chase in which the editor is chasing the crooks, that he must finally choose whether to continue chasing them or to follow the car containing the actress. Naturally, he chooses hers. Love ensues. Meanwhile, the publisher's daughter is left out in the cold. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Shilling, Rex Bell, (more)
- 1932
Silent-movie favorites Priscilla Dean and William Farnum appear in the company of up-and-coming action star Rex Bell in the low-budget Law of the Sea. Ship's captain Farnum and his wife Dean are saved from drowning by sadistic skipper Ralph Ince, who promptly blinds Farnum and casts him adrift again, the better to "have his way" with Dean. The wife kills herself, whereupon Farnum vows to have his revenge against Ince -- but he'll have to wait 20 years to do so. When events threaten to repeat themselves as Ince goes on the make for Sally Blane, the sweetheart of Farnum's son Bell, Farnum is at last afforded the opportunity to settle his long-standing account with his old enemy. In addition to borrowing heavily from Jack London's The Sea Wolf, Law of the Sea is also beholden to the 1919 seafaring melodrama Behind the Door. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Ince, Sally Blane, (more)
