Garry O'Dell Movies

Long before such films as The Little Foxes and Detective Story, director William Wyler served his apprenticeship on low-budget westerns like Ranch Riders. Minor-league cowboy star Ted Wells comes to the rescue of heroine Lillian Gilmore when she inherits a gold mine. The villains would like to get their dirty hands on the gold, and to that end they've enlisted the aid of Gilmore's jellyfish nephew. Wells straightens the kid out in time, then concentrates on mowin' down the bad guys, one by one. It isn't likely that Wyler indulged in his habit of filming dozens of takes of each scene while putting together Ranch Riders. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although low-budget filmmaker Ashton Dearholt usually spent his time on the small end of the megaphone (this being the silent era, after all), occasionally he would pull out some of his athletic tricks and perform in front of the camera under the name of Richard Holt. This comedy-melodrama (cheaply made like most of Holt-Dearholt's films) has some amusing, if completely illogical, moments. Two college pals, Percy Browning (Holt) and Jack Strong (Jimmy Harrison), are expelled from school, and Percy's exasperated father sends them to his lumber camp. Percy is mistaken for a pugilist and has to get a crash course in boxing. Along the way he falls in love with Peggy Richmond (Jane Thomas), whose father is a rival of Percy's dad. The Brownings' foreman, Big Dan (Les Bates), is using dishonest means to interfere with Richmond's business. Percy uses his newfound skills to beat Big Dan to a pulp. When his father arrives at the camp, Percy explains everything, which leads to a reconciliation between them. Peggy confesses her love, and she is united with Percy. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Produced in Northern California by Paul Gerson, this minor crook melodrama featured Richard Holt as a young man helping his girlfriend (Ruth Dwyer) nap a gang of fake clairvoyants preying on gullible San Francisco millionaires. According to surviving accounts, the film ends with the already then obligatory chase up and down the city's steep hills, this time in "Hudson Super-Six wire-wheeled, open sports cars." Leading man Richard Holt was actually veteran low-budget director-writer-actor Ashton Dearholt. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi