Art Ortego Movies
The husband of early Western star Mona Darkfeather, American stuntman/supporting player Art Ortego (born Arturo Ortega) played mostly Native American roles but also did his fair share of Mexican "greasers" in an amazing career that lasted from 1912-1951. Along the way, Ortego attempted to escape such typecasting by billing himself Art Ardigan. The ploy failed and he continued to play mainly villains up until his final credited film, 1951's Skipalong Rosenbloom. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1955
In this production from Benedict Bogeaus and RKO Radio, Robert Ryan stars as a fugitive from justice who hides out in the Far Eastern teak plantation managed by Barbara Stanwyck. As the two fall in love, Stanwyck comes to believe in Ryan's innocence. Upon the arrival of doggedly determined security officer David Farrer, Ryan and Stanwyck escape into the treacherous Burmese jungles. Like many of Bogeaus's productions of the 1950s, Escape to Burma was directed by Allan Dwan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1951
The "badmen" of the title in this average western from Monogram are Waller (I. Stanford Jolley), a greedy express agent and Banker Jensen (Bill Kennedy, who conspire to separate Bob Bannon (Kenne Duncan) from the gold found on his property. Bob's brother Jim (Jim Bannon) and his two pals Whip Wilson and Texas (Fuzzy Knight) arrive too late to save Bob from the bad guys. Hoping to flush out the killer, Whip arranges to auction off the property. The ruse works and the hidden mine is handed over to Bob's lovely daughter, and heir, Carol (Phyllis Coates). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Originally slated for release by Eagle Lion, Skipalong Rosenbloom purchased by United Artists -- who gave it a cursory theatrical release before selling the film to television. As it turned out, TV was the appropriate medium for this heavy-handed satire of video westerns. Former boxing champ Maxie Rosenbloom plays a lampooned variation of Hopalong Cassidy, with all the standard western cliches in evidence. "Skipalong" Rosenbloom is depicted as the star of a heavily commercialized TV kiddie show, presided over by a smarmy announcer. The plot proper finds "Skipalong" at odds with western bad guy Butcher Baer, played by Rosenbloom's onetime ring opponent Max Baer. Others in the cast are Jackie Coogan, Fuzzy Knight and Hillary Brooke, who seem to be having fun with the dreadful material foisted upon them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom, Max Baer, (more)
- 1950
The Randolph Scott western Colt .45 was retitled for TV so as not to be confused with the TV series of the same name. The new title, Thundercloud, misleads the audience into expecting a Native American epic. Actually the film involves a gun salesman (Randolph Scott) whose sample case of Colt 45's is stolen by an outlaw (Zachary Scott--no relation to Randolph). Accused of being a member of the outlaw gang when they start using the Colts in their holdups, the salesman is obliged to track down the crooks. Thundercloud, or Colt .45, represented the last film of supporting actor Alan Hale Sr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Ruth Roman, (more)
- 1950
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
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Myron Healey, (more)
- 1949
The differences between West of El Dorado and Johnny Mack Brown's previous 1949 vehicles are minimal. Once again, Brown is teamed with Max "Alibi" Terhune, comic ventriloquist extraordinaire. In this outing, Johnny and Alibi try to straighten out a hostile young boy (Teddy Infuhr) whose older brother was a notorious stagecoach bandit. When a gang of thieves try to strong-arm the kid into revealing the whereabouts of the stolen loot, Johnny and Alibi come to the rescue. There's a cursory romantic subplot involving heroine Mary (Reno Browne) and Barstow (Marshall Reed). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Max "Alibi" Terhune, (more)
- 1949
In one of his better later Westerns, singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely comes to the aid of a reformed outlaw and his wayward son. Wrongfully accused of a shooting, the outlaw, Hank Cardigan (Lee Phelps), is rescued by Jimmy, who manages to obtain a job for his new friend at the local express office. But Cardigan's unruly son, Tom (John James), is determined to repeat his father's mistakes -- until, that is, Jimmy and sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor) convince him that crime does not pay. Wakely and an unbilled Ray Whitley perform "I Have Looked the Whole World Over" and Foy Willing's "Rose of Santa Fe." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Stampede is a choice example of the Lesley Selander B-plus westerns of the late 1940s/early 1950s. Rod Cameron and Don Castle star as feuding brothers who own separate cattle ranches. The siblings find themselves on opposite sides of a water-rights battle, in which settlers are being deprived water by a gang of clever criminals. The war turns ugly before the film is over, resulting in the destructive stampede promised by the title. Despite poor reviews from big-city critics, this stacks up favorably against the more costly big-studio westerns of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Cameron, Gale Storm, (more)
- 1949
- NR
Though not acknowledged by contemporary reviewers, Colorado Territory is a westernized remake of the 1941 crime drama High Sierra. Raoul Walsh, director of the earlier film, returns to helm the remake, doing a grand job on both occasions. Joel McCrea stars in the Humphrey Bogart role, playing a veteran outlaw who hopes to pull off one last, spectacular heist. Virginia Mayo portrays the Ida Lupino counterpart, a "bad" dance-hall girl who proves to be the only person who genuinely cares about McCrea's well-being. As in the earlier film, the climax finds McCrea making a futile bid for escape in the mountains, with tragic consequences. High Sierra was good for at least one more remake, the 1955 Jack Palance-Shelley Winters starrer I Died a Thousand Times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, (more)
- 1948
"Some were good, some were bad, and all looked pretty much alike." This was "B"-western historian Don Miller's assessment of Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram westerns of the 1940s. One of the better look-alikes was Crossed Trails, in which Brown champions the cause of pretty ranch owner Maggie (Lynne Carver). The villains (Douglas Evans and Steve Clark) hope to control the local water rights by laying claim to Maggie's property. They further this cause by framing Maggie's guardian Bodie (Raymond Hatton) for murder. But our hero manages to rescue the damsel, clear the falsely accused Bodie, and round up the crooks seemingly in one fell swoop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Hatton, Johnny Mack Brown, (more)
- 1948
Two communities fight to become county seat in this Jimmy Wakely music western from Monogram Pictures. When Rainbow's End, one of the two towns in question, experiences a stage holdup, State Commissioner Walton (J.C. Lytton) looks to Yuba Junction where, unbeknownst to him, the local undertaker, Beasley (I. Stanford Jolley), is buying up all the surrounding land by means of terror. At first confused with a notorious, but highly fictitious, outlaw named "The Melody Kid," Jimmy obtains the job of deputy sheriff in Rainbow's End with a mandate to go after both the stage robbers and their secret boss, Beasley. Accompanied by "Fiddlin'" Arthur Smith, Dick Reinhart and Don Weston, Wakely performs his own and Smiley Burnette's "On the Strings of My Lonesome Guitar" and "Oklahoma Blues", Tiny Stokes' "Judy" and the traditional "The Old Chisholm Trail". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1947
In this western, two cowboys are framed as cattle rustlers and tossed in the pokey. Later, honest ranchers spring them and together they ride out against the rustlers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Johnny Mack Brown races to the rescue in the Monogram western Raiders of the South. But we're a bit ahead of ourselves here: we should explain that Johnny has come to the aid of helpless settlers who've been victimized by a vigilante group. The mysterious masked leader turns out be...but wait, we're gettting ahead of ourselves again. Featured in the cast is former silent screen star Evelyn Brent, and Superman's Perry White, aka John Hamilton. Raiders of the South benefits from the production polish indigenous to producer Scott R. Dunlap and director Lambert Hillyer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Johnny Mack Brown comes to the aid of a beleaguered female freight line operator in this standard Monogram oater directed by veteran Lambert Hillyer. Having saved his old friend Faro Jenkins (Raymond Hatton) and young Dave Porter (Robert Winkler) from marauding outlaws, Ranger Johnny Hudson (Mack Brown) learns that the attack may be part of a concerted effort by bandits to drive Dave's sister Peggy (Virginia Belmont) out of the freight business. Unbeknownst to Johnny and the Porters, the crimes are committed on behalf of local banker Gordon Gregg (William H. Ruhl), who wants to bankrupt the freight business in order to take over the valuable Porter ranch. Taking umbrage to Johnny's interference, Gregg orders his henchman Collins (Carl Mathews) to kill the ranger but he misses his mark. Tracking the unfortunate Collins to the gang's hideout, Johnny and Faro are taken prisoners but the former manages to cut his ties with a piece of broken glass. The gang is rounded up and sent to jail, but a desperate Gregg manages to free his henchmen after killing the trusting sheriff (I. Stanford Jolley). After discovering the murder weapon, a knife, Johnny orders every man in town to be fingerprinted, realizing full well that the culprit will attempt to steal the evidence. Hiding in the sheriff's office, Johnny and Faro catch Lem (Ted Adams) in the act but, the suspect is killed by Gregg, who explains that Lem had threatened his life. Sent on a wild goose chase by Gregg, Johnny and Faro manage to turn the tables and capture the entire gang, Johnny killing Gregg in self-defense. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Adams, Virginia Belmont, (more)
- 1946
In one of his better Monogram Westerns, Johnny Mack Brown goes up against a crooked saloon owner with more than one murder on his conscience. Steve Corbin (Tristram Coffin) and his gang of cutthroats are terrorizing the townspeople of Rimrock, who in self-defense hire Johnny Macklin (Mack Brown) as new town marshal. Corbin, meanwhile, kills a miner for his claim and threatens the local newspaper editor, Diane Foster (Reno Browne), who happens to be the daughter of Macklin's deputy, Idaho Jim Foster (Raymond Hatton). When a compromised jury returns a not guilty verdict, Macklin has Corbin transferred to the county seat but the villain manages to escape after killing a couple of witnesses. Naturally, the hero quickly hunts him down, restoring peace and tranquility to Rimrock. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
When a local banker is killed in the West, G-man Kirby Grant and partner Fuzzy Knight investigate and uncover an insurance scam. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1946
Stagecoach thieves are stalked by Wells Fargo agent Grant who wants to bring them to justice. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1946
As with his previous music Western vehicle, Moon over Montana (1946), former radio crooner Jimmy Wakely composed the title song for this film. With Wesley Tuttle and His Texas Stars as his backup group, Wakely also warbled Paul Westmoreland's Detour, De Camptown Ladies, by Stephen Foster, and I Miss You Since You've Been Gone by Arthur Smith. The girl Wakely "missed" was Jean Carlin, whose prospector grandfather (Budd Buster) is being harrassed by an unknown force. Wakely and his usual sidekick Lee "Lasses" White investigate and soon determine that the mystery villain is actually a villainess, Flora Carter (Iris Clive), a ruthless lady rancher who holds the mortgage to grandpa Buster's property. In between crooning the aforementioned tunes and winning the big race on his wild mustang, Wakely manages to discover enough evidence to convict the unscrupulous Ms. Carter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
Though it wasn't the first of the batch, The Stranger from Pecos would have been an excellent starting point for Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram western series. Containing a great deal more excitement than the official first entry (The Ghost Rider), the film casts Brown as Nevada, a US marshal assigned to squelch a crooked land-grab. Unfortunately, the head villain as the corrupt local sheriff in his pocket, which stymies Nevada's efforts during the first 4 reels. But justice prevails during the final 2 reels, as Johnny Mack Brown fans knew it would. The romantic subplot is handled by a pair of pop-culture icons: Kirby Grant, star of TV's Sky King, and Christine McIntyre, leading lady of many a 3 Stooges short. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1945
A range feud once again took center stage in this average Sunset Carson B-western from assembly-line studio Republic. Believing that his father Andy (Eddy Waller) has been killed by the neighboring Sterling clan, Carson, to his relief, learns that the old man was only wounded in the attack. But as Andy relates the story of how the feud had begun, he is shot dead through the window by an unknown assailant. At first, Sunset mistakenly believes that the killer is Melinda Sterling (Peggy Stewart), daughter of Andy's worst enemy (and onetime rejected girlfriend), Harriet Sterling (Mira McKinney). The real murderer, of course, is a cattle rustler (Wade Crosby), an outsider who, as one character puts it, is "playing both families for suckers." Under the advice of Sheriff Edwards (Tom London), the warring families agree to put an end to hostilities in order for Sunset and Melinda to catch the real enemy. One of Republic's most popular leading ladies (and certainly the most overworked), Stewart was Carson's most frequent co-star, appearing in eight Westerns with the former rodeo champion. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sunset Carson, Peggy Stewart, (more)
- 1945
The second of Monogram's 1945 trio of "Cisco Kid" westerns, In Old New Mexico stars Duncan Renaldo as Cisco and Martin Garralaga as Pancho. The plot concentrates on heroine Ellen (Gwen Kenyon), a nurse accused of murder. Gallant Cisco "kidnaps" Ellen from the authorities, then sets about to prove her innocence, all with the cooperation of a sympathetic sheriff. Cisco and Pancho stage an elaborate ruse to force a confession out of the genuine killer, which in real life would of course be thrown out of court-but whoever said that these films had anything to do with real life? After a third "Cisco Kid" entry, South of the Rio Grande, Duncan Renaldo would temporarily leave the series, returning with a vengeance three years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Duncan Renaldo, Martin Garralaga, (more)
- 1945
In another of her series of romantic desert adventures, popular actress Maria Montez is this time Naila, the newly crowned queen of an ancient Egyptian land. Her father the king has just been assassinated and she intends to make those responsible pay for their crime. She sets out into the desert to find the killer herself -- little does Naila know that her "loyal" assistant Horadef (George Zucco) may be working against her, for he has designs on the throne for himself. John Hall plays a secondary role as Merab, an adventurer who shows up in the titular region with his comic-relief pal Nebka (Andy Devine), and the two help Naila, totally unaware that she is the queen. The romantic lead this time out is Herua (Turhan Bey), a rebel leader opposed to the despotic Horadef. The villain has Naila under his evil influence, but this state of affairs comes to an end when she falls in love with the charismatic rebel. The climax, wherein Horadef and his invading hordes are caught in a cleverly rigged death trap, is the film's highlight. As usual, Maria Montez plays her rather ridiculous role in Sudan with the determined seriousness of a Lady Macbeth, which only adds to the giddy fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Montez, Turhan Bey, (more)
- 1944
Buster Crabbe is back as Billy Carson, aka Billy the Kid, in the PRC western The Devil Riders. In this one, Billy and his saddle pal Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) try to keep an beleagured stagecoach line in business. This they can do only after foiling the outlaw gang that has been raiding the coach during its runs for the Pony Express. The bad guys include Charles King and John Merton, formidable foes indeed (did those guys ever shave?) Patti McCarthy handles the leading lady duties in Devil Riders as the obligatory daughter of the stagecoach operator. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Patti McCarty, (more)
- 1944
Trail of Terror is a PRC Studios western starring Dave O'Brien (here billed as Dave "Tex" O'Brien) and Jim Newell. Texas ranger O'Brien has an outlaw twin brother. When his sibling is killed, O'Brien assumes his identity in order to infiltrate a gang of stagecoach robbers. The ruse falls apart at a crucial moment, and it looks bad for O'Brien--but Newell helps him squeeze out of his predicament. The PRC westerns were always cheap, but Trail of Terror hit a new budget low; at one point, the sound equipment goes on the blink, and the pops, clunks and hisses are audible throughout the next few scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dave "Tex" O'Brien, Guy Wilkerson, (more)
- 1943
In the second of PRC's ramshackle Texas Rangers Westerns, Tex Wyatt (Dave "Tex" O'Brien) is blamed for a murder actually committed by Ransom (Jack Ingram) and Holman (Charles King), a couple of thieves. Tex manages to escape and is reunited with his two ranger pals, Jim Steele (James Newill) and Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson), both of whom are working undercover as performers in a medicine show, a plot contrivance that allows baritone Newill to join Carl Shrum and His Rhythm Rangers in Shrum's "Ride, Ride Ride" and Tex Coe's "West Winds." All three rangers obtain jobs with Ransom's freight company, the owner luckily failing to recognize Tex. Everything comes out in the open, however, when lovely Martha Hobbs (Janet Shaw) inadvertently reveals that the newcomers are rangers, but the three heroes are saved in the nick of time by the sheriff's posse. As it turns out, Martha's uncle (Michael Vallon) is the real power behind the crimes. As always, Texas Rangers was defeated by the budget constrictions of PRC, a company known to insiders as "pretty rotten crud." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
