Mary Newton Movies

The Toughest Gun in Tombstone, at least according to this film, as Arizona ranger Matt Sloane (George Montgomery). Working undercover, Sloane infiltrates an all-star outlaw gang consisting of Johnny Ringo (Jim Davis), Ike Clanton (Gerald Milton), Curly Bill Broces (Lane Bradford) and several other sagebrush celebrities. His purpose: to put an end to the smuggling of silver bullion across the Mexican border. Complicating matters is Sloane's concern over his young son Terry (Scott Morrow), who is being pursued across the territory by the man who murdered Sloane's wife. Not exactly an "A" picture, Toughest Gun in Tombstone is too well-mounted to be dismissed as a "B." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis romp is liberally based on the 1936 Bing Crosby film Rhythm on the Range. Set around 1910, the film stars Lewis as the pampered son of female tycoon Agnes Moorehead. Yearning to return to the Wild West where his father was a famed peacekeeper, Lewis purchases a prize bull, destined for the ranch inherited by rodeo star Dean Martin. It so happens that Martin and Lewis' late fathers were "pardners", so Martin takes it upon himself to protect Lewis from the various and sundry tough hombres in the region. Through a series of bizarre plot convolutions, Lewis gains a reputation as a rootin' tootin' gunslinger, and in his hubris he decides to round up a gang of outlaws headed by Jeff Morrow. As a result, he nearly gets himself blown to smitherines, but Martin shows up in the nick of time to rescue Lewis and help him capture the bad guys. Lori Nelson and Jackie Loughery supply the film's peripheral romantic angle. Pardners ends with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis turning to the camera and promising that they'll keep on making pictures for their faithful fans; ironically, the team was breaking up even while the cameras were turning. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A car with two men visible in it pulls up to a Los Angeles service station at night, with a single attendant (Dub Taylor) working. As he starts to pump the gas, he doesn't see the third man come around the side until it's too late and he's knocked cold. The trio carries out their robbery but before they can finish, a motorcycle cop rolls up. A gun battle ensues, and one of the robbers is shot, as is the police officer. Now a manhunt is on for the trio, all escapees from San Quentin who were making their way south; the other two give the wounded man enough money to get to the apartment of a former cellmate of one of them, Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson). But Lacey is genuinely trying to go straight and live a clean, honest life with his wife, Ellen (Phyllis Kirk), and wants nothing to do with anyone he knew in prison, or with harboring an escaped prisoner. He's even more unhappy when Dr. Otto Hessler (Jay Novello), another ex-con and a veterinarian, arrives to treat the gunshot victim. But when the hood dies, matters get even more complicated -- Lacey's life becomes a nightmare as the police arrive, led by the hardboiled Det. Sgt. Sims (Sterling Hayden), who doesn't believe that any hood ever goes straight. Sims doesn't believe that Lacey's claim of knowing nothing of the escapees, and is ready to send him back to prison on a parole violation -- even though his parole officer (James Bell) believes him -- when he won't cooperate. And worse still, the other two escapees, Doc Penny (Ted de Corsia) and Ben Hastings (Charles Buchinsky, aka Charles Bronson), force their way into Lacey's home, insisting on hiding out there and threatening Ellen. And as they're now a man short, they want Steve's help on a major heist they're planning -- and will kill Ellen if he doesn't cooperate. Soon Lacey is up to his neck in a daylight bank robbery, timed to the minute, and his wife is at the mercy of a mentally deficient, sexually deviant confederate (Timothy Carey), while the police still seem to be following every trail but the right one. Steve realizes that he is the only one who is going to be able to save himself or his wife from this nightmare, and isn't convinced that he'll get out of it alive -- but by then, between being put on him by Sims and his unwanted companions, he's prepared to die in order to save Ellen. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Randolph Scott makes his 3-D debut in the stereoscopic western Stranger Wore a Gun. This time, Scott plays Jeff Travis, a former spy for Quantrill's Raiders. When he heads to Arizona to start life anew, Travis finds that his reputation has preceded him: crooked Jules Mourret (George Macready) hires him to monitor a series of gold shipments, in preparation for a major robbery. Eventually, Travis falls in love with Shelby Conroy (Joan Weldon), daughter of freight-line operator Jason Conroy (Pierre Watkin), and decides to turn honest. That won't be easy: in addition to the surly Mourret, Travis must deal with such formidable movie heavies as Alfonso Bedoya, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. Also on hand is Claire Trevor, in a soft-pedalled variation of her role in John Ford's Stagecoach. Stranger Wore a Gun was directed by Andre DeToth, whose previous foray into 3D had been the box-office smash House of Wax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Columbia's "Durango Kid" series was winding down to a close by the time Junction City went before the cameras in 1952. Durango, aka Steve Rollins (Charles Starrett) rides into town with saddle pal Smiley Burnette. The boys go to the rescue of pretty Kathleen Case, who is being victimized by greedy relatives. Much of the film is related in flashback, giving Columbia an excuse to utilize miles and miles of stock footage from earlier "Durango Kid" efforts. Livening up the proceedings is Jock Mahoney, frequent stunt double for Charles Starrett, who plays "himself". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film, which is one of a series based on the characters from the Blondie comic strip, finds Dagwood entering the Army Reserve. Blondie visits, only to discover that he has caused all sorts of problems which lead to numerous conflicts. The ORC Training Center, Fort MacArthur, California was used for the setting of this film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director Kurt Neumann, more closely associated with science fiction and mystery programmers, delivers a powerhouse of a pocket western in Bad Men of Tombstone. Barry Sullivan and Broderick Crawford head the cast as a pair of gunslingers who hold no regrets and evidently harbor no consciences. They ride into a mining camp during the Gold Rush days and set about staking a claim--and woe be unto him who gets in the way. A blood-splattered gunfight is the logical conclusion when the two gunfighters have their final falling out. Screenwriters Philip Yordan and Arthur Strawn clearly hold their leading characters in contempt, but can't help imbuing them with a certain degree of fascination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Desert Vigilante perpetuated the long-running "Durango Kid" western series starring Charles Starrett. Per the title, Starrett gallops into a remote desert town, where he single-handedly (or so it seems) rounds up the villainous element. At this point in time, Starrett was being extensively doubled by the legendary Jock Mahoney, and the results were never less than spectacular. The subterfuge was helped along by the fact that Starrett's "Durango" character was required to wear a mask during most of the film. Desert Vigilante represented the first directorial assignment for Fred F. Sears, who remained with the Columbia "B" unit throughout the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Starrett once more assumes the guise of the Robin Hood-like Durango Kid in Last Days of Boot Hill. The star is cast as US marshal Steve Waring, assigned to locate $100,000 in missing gold and round up the thieves. Much of the story takes place in flashback, permitting cost-conscious Columbia Pictures to sneak in several stock shots from earlier "Durango Kid" entries (notably Both Barrels Blazing). This moneysaving device worked well enough for Columbia to extend the practice to the studio's 2-reel comedies, which explains why so many of the Three Stooges shorts of the early 1950s look alike. For the record, Last Days of Boot Hill comes to a climax as Steve Waring, aka the Durango Kid, gallops to the rescue of pretty rancher Paula Thorpe (Virginia Hunter). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cowboy star Charles Starrett goes through his usual paces in the under-an-hour formula western The Lone Hand Texan. As ever, Starrett plays a roving do-gooder named Steve who adopts the disguise of The Durango Kid to further the cause of justice. This time, he dons his Durango mask to save his old pal Smiley (Smiley Burnette), whose oil-rich land is dearly coveted by the villains. Halfway through the proceedings, Steve is framed for murder (as usual), but by reel five the actual miscreants are eating dust or rotting away in the calaboose. Musical relief is provided by the hillbilly team of Mustard and Gravy, who are about as funny as their name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There's oil in them thar hills in this late entry in the long-running Hopalong Cassidy Western series. Or, rather, there is oil under an abandoned church in the ghost town of Coltsville. On their way back to the Bar 20, Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and his two sidekicks, California Carlson (Andy Clyde) and Lucky Jenkins (Rand Brooks) seek shelter from a storm in that very same church. They are awakened by church organist Susan Crowell (Dorinda Clifton) and her mother (Mary Newton), who explain that both church and town were abandoned after a series of mysterious killings. Along with Deacon Black (Ian Wolfe), the Crowells are the only inhabitants left in Coltsville. The next morning, a wrecking crew headed by Riker (Harry Cording) arrives to tear down the church, which is defended by Hopalong Cassidy and his friends. During a lull in the siege, Hopalong Cassidy does a bit of snooping around and learns the truth about the ghost town. Armed with this new knowledge, our hero returns to Coltsville and unmasks the real culprit behind both the killings and the attack of the church. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, a nurse begins having strange premonitions about an impending murder. So strong is her intuition that she soon begins searching for the intended victim to try and save him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The overcrowding in WWII-era Washington, D.C., provided the concept for this comedy, as well as another film from the previous year, The More the Merrier (1943). Lee Stevens (Fred MacMurray) is an executive from a toy company owned by T.J. Todd (Edward Arnold). In hopes of landing a lucrative wartime production contract, Todd has dispatched Stevens and Jane Rogers (Paulette Goddard), a secretary, to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with a political fat cat. Once there, Jane foolishly cancels their hotel reservations, unaware that the capitol is so jammed that there is nowhere else to stay. She devises a plan -- she and Lee will pose as servants in the home of wealthy Ira Cromwell (Roland Young), where their lodging will be part of their salary. Lee is a disaster as a domestic, and when the very same politician they've come to meet arrives for a formal dinner, disaster looms. Standing Room Only (1944) was the third of five films in which MacMurray and Goddard would appear together. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide