Bud Osborne Movies
One of the most popular, and recognizable, character actors in B-Western history, pudgy, mustachioed Bud Osborne (real name Leonard Miles Osborne) was one of the many Wild West show performers who parlayed their experiences into lengthy screen careers. Especially noted for his handling of runaway stagecoaches and buckboards, Osborne began as a stunt performer with Thomas Ince's King-Bee company around 1912, and by the 1920s he had become one of the busiest supporting players in the business. Rather rakish-looking in his earlier years, the still slender Osborne even attempted to become a Western star in his own right. Produced by the Bud Osborne Feature Film Company and released by low-budget Truart Pictures, The Prairie Mystery (1922) presented Osborne as a romantic leading man opposite B-movie regular Pauline Curley. Few saw this little clunker, however, and Osborne quickly returned to the ranks of supporting cowboys, often portraying despicable villains with names like Satan Saunders, Piute Sam, or Bull McKee. Playing an escaped convict masquerading as a circuit rider in both the 1923 Leo Maloney short Double Cinched and Shootin' Square, a 1924 Jack Perrin feature Western, Osborne even demonstrated an affinity for comedy. The now veteran Bud Osborne continued his screen career into the sound era and became even busier in the 1930s and 1940s. As he grew older and his waistline expanded, Osborne's roles became somewhat smaller and instead of calling the shots himself, as he often had in the silent era, he now answered to the likes of Roy Barcroft and Charles King. But he seems to pop up in every other B-Western and serial released in those years, appearing in more than 65 productions for Republic Pictures alone. By the 1950s, the now elderly Osborne became one of the many veteran performers courted by maverick filmmaker Edward D. Wood Jr., for whom he did Crossroad Avenger: The Adventures of the Tucson Kid (1954), an unsold television pilot, Jailbait (1954), Bride of the Monster (1955), and Night of the Ghouls (1958). When all is said and done, it was a rather dismal finish to a colorful career. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1946
In this western, Billy Carson must help out his bumbling side kick after he involves himself in a land scam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1946
The Durango Kid rides again in Columbia's Landrush. As ever, the masked do-gooder, alias Steve Harmon, is played by Charles Starrett. Bringing up the rear in every sense of the word is Harmon's comical sidekick Smiley Burnette. In this outing, Harmon dons his Durango garb to rescue a group of homesteaders from scurrilous villains. Musical relief is provided by Ozie Waters and his Colorado Rangers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1946
A B-Western hero since the late silent era, Bob Steele would hang up his spurs after a final four westerns for director Harry L. Fraser. In the opener, The Navajo Kid, Steele, as he had so many times before, went in search of the villain, or villains, who murdered his foster-father and stole both ring and watch. The trail leads straight to Canyon City, Texas, and smooth cardsharp Honest John Grogan (I. Stanford Jolley), who is in possession of both the stolen items. But Grogan has an ironclad alibi for the time of the murder, an alibi confirmed by none other than Sheriff Roy Landon (Edward Cassidy). The Navajo Kid was produced independently by Arthur Alexander and Alfred Stern and released by PRC. Leading lady Caren Marsh had been Judy Garland's stand-in during the making of The Wizard of Oz (1939). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Sid Saylor, (more)
- 1946
In this western, a tuneful saddletramp is appointed sheriff of Rawhide and begins rounding up three troublesome brothers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1946
Rainbow over Texas is set in a western never-never land, with vintage six-shooters and stagecoaches sharing screen time with modern limousines and radio studios. Roy Rogers (cast as "himself," as usual), plays a cowboy singing star who agrees to participate in a re-creation of the first Pony Express race. For reasons too numerous to mention here, the villains conspire to prevent Rogers from winning the race. Not only does Roy foil the bad guys, but he also finds time to sing several sprightly musical numbers with co-stars Dale Evans and The Sons of the Pioneers. And of course, there's always room for the comic interpolations of grizzled old Gabby Hayes. Two notes of interest: The principal villain in Rainbow over Texas is played by Sheldon Leonard, who would seem to be more at home in the mean streets of Brooklyn; and the screenplay was based on a novel by Max Brand, of Destry Rides Again fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1946
In his final starring Western for PRC, Bob Steele plays Jim Brandon who is imprisoned for a bank robbery and murder he didn't commit. Returning home on parole, Jim is ostracized by all and sundry, except Sheriff Warner (Steve Clark) and Betty Morgan (Ellen Hall), both of whom believe in his innocence. Aided by ranch cook Utah McGirk (Syd Saylor), Jim begins an investigation into the killing of his ranch partner and manages to find the murderer by using a new French discovery, ballistics. In between the fightin' and shootin', Don Weston performs his own "Trying to Forget" and "End of Rainbow Trail." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Sid Saylor, (more)
- 1946
In most of his Columbia westerns, Charles Starrett simply was the Durango Kid, a mysterious masked do-gooder who pretends to be a criminal. Desert Horseman attempts to explain why this disguise has been adopted. Starrett plays an army captain, dishonorably discharged for a theft he did not commit. To recover the money and restore his reputation, Starrett assumes the guise of the Durango Kid. He brings the real criminal to justice, which presumably means that there's no further need for his disguise. But two months later, The Durango Kid was back (under a whole new set of circumstances) in The Fighting Frontiersman. Desert Horseman was released in Great Britain as Checkmate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Produced by Gower Gulch maverick Robert L. Lippert and filmed in not-so-glorious two-strip Cinecolor near Idyllwild, California, this Northwest Mounted melodrama starred the veteran Bob Steele as a rather surly mountie who, against his own better judgment, is persuaded to escort a patronizing Eastern girl (Joan Woodbury through the wilderness to her uncle's logging camp. Constantly bickering with her guide, the girl is carrying $20,000 in her purse, payroll money which is promptly stolen. At the logging camp, Steele runs into trouble with the local sergeant, Means (John Litel), who may not be all he appears to be, a wife-beating saloon-keeper (George Meeker, and sundry other more or less mysterious persons, most of whom were aware of Miss Woodbury's travel plans. Steele, who was nearing the end of his starring career (four Grade-Z Westerns were to come), also headlined Wildfire (1945), another Cinecolor "experiment" for Lippert's Action Pictures. Northwest Trail, however, was all but stolen by Miss Woodbury, whose feisty character made up for Steele's aging inertia. Troubled silent star Madge Bellamy made her final screen appearances as the mistreated wife of the saloon proprietor and real-life circus performer Poodles Hanneford played himself Like so many low-budget mountie melodramas, this one implied a non-existent connection to pulp writer James Oliver Curwood. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
Larry "Buster" Crabbe was billed "King of the Wild West" in this the final entry in PRC's ultra low-budget "Billy Carson" series. This time, Carson and sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) prevent a stage holdup, a crime organized by crooked land agent Vic Landreau (Jack O'Shea) in the mistaken belief that the coach was carrying cash earmarked for Devil's Gap rancher Jeff Barkley (Charles "Slim" Whitaker) to pay off the mortgage on his land. The plan thus having failed, Landreau has his henchman Hank Fowler (John L. Cason) frame Fuzzy in the murder of Barkley. ~ 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
Flame of the West has always attracted more attention than most of Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram westerns, if for no other reason than the offbeat casting of Douglass Dumbrille. Usually seen in villainous roles, Dumbrille herein offers a sincere, effective performance as a scrupulously honest US marshal named Nightlander. When he takes on a gang of crooked gamblers, Nightlander is shot down in cold blood, compelling frontier doctor John Poore (Johnny Mack Brown) to put his Hippocratic oath on the back burner and strap on the shootin' irons. Raymond Hatton contributes his usual grizzled comedy relief in Flame of the West, while Joan Woodbury is interestingly cast as a saloon-hall girl without a heart of gold. Flame of the West works so well on a dramatic level that the musical interludes of Pee Wee King seem downright intrusive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1945
Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) discovers that he may be an heir to a ranch in this ho-hum entry in PRC's Billy Carson Western series. But as Fuzz and Billy (Larry "Buster" Crabbe) soon learn the hard way, other parties arrive to claim the inheritance, including pretty Helen Stockton (Lorraine Miller), the dead man's niece. Merritt (Charles King), who is hoping to grab the loot himself, has Helen kidnapped and substituted with a tough-looking underling, Roxie (Marilyn Gladstone), but Billy and Fuzzy are right there to rescue the damsel-in-distress. As it turns out, Fuzzy is only the late rancher's 35th cousin and his inheritance consists of exactly one dollar and a bundle of unpaid bills. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Lorraine Miller, (more)
In this western, a dreamy young woman, tired of her boring life and job travels to an abandoned town where her grandmother had been a notorious dancehall queen. There she imagines scenes from her illustrious grandma's life. The dream takes up most of the picture and during it, the gal meets many fascinating characters. One of those characters is a clean-cut, handsome cowboy. Romance ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1945
In this western, a wagonmaster stops a greedy newspaper editor from buying up an entire territory. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1945
Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton once again play undercover U.S. marshals Nevada McKenzie and Sandy Hopkins. This time, Sandy's sergeant, Trevor (Jasper L. Palmer), is shot in the back by Slim Ramsey (Raphael Bennett), an outlaw he had been tracking. Masquerading as a desperado himself, Nevada manages to infiltrate Ramsey's gang and learn the identity of its leader, a villain named Farr (Edmund Cobb). Sandy, meanwhile, pretends to be an Indian trader and the undercover agents are helped in their investigation by Tober (Tom Quinn), a defecting gang member. The latter is being questioned by Paul (Riley Hill) and the murdered sergeant's pretty daughter, Mary (Jennifer Holt), when their cabin comes under attack from Farr and his henchmen. Happily, Nevada and Sandy arrive just in time to prevent a massacre. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
A gang which frees criminals and kills them to collect their reward is broken up by the Texas Rangers who plant one of their men in jail in order to be freed by the gang. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1945
That veteran reprobate Roy Barcroft plays yet another outlaw in The Cherokee Flash, a perfectly acceptable B-Western from Republic Pictures, but Barcroft's title character reforms this time and even adopts a young orphan. Years later, the Cherokee Flash, now known as Jeff Carson, is visited by former gang members who promptly blackmail him into doing their bidding. Carson refuses, of course, but lands in jail anyway, much to the consternation of now-grown foster son Sunset (Sunset Carson) and grizzled sidekick Utah (Tom London). The sheriff (Bud Geary), however, is working for Mr. Big who, unbeknownst to the Carsons, is Jeff's lawyer, Mark Butler (John Merton). Happily, the new doctor in town (Frank Jaquet) and his pretty daughter (Linda Stirling) discover evidence that will clear Jeff once and for all. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
Fighting Bill Carson, as any B-western aficionado can readily tell you, is played by Buster Crabbe. And where there's Bill Carson, you'll also find faithful sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones, portrayed as ever by Al "Fuzzy" St. John. This time around, Bill and Fuzzy rescue the lovely Lorraine Miller from stagecoach bandits. Little do they know that Lorraine is actually a member of the gang. Once they do know, Bill and Fuzzy use Lorraine to lure the other crooks into the calaboose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1945
An otherwise typically cheesy Billy "the Kid" Carson B-Western series entry from Poverty Row studio PRC, His Brother's Ghost is unusual in having no leading lady. Yes, that's right: no rancher's daughter or schoolmarm for Larry "Buster" Crabbe to romance and embrace at the fade-out and no damsel for the evil Charles King to bring in distress. In what could have been another departure from the norm is the fact that the comic sidekick is killed off early on. That, of course, is merely a plot contrivance to bring on his identical twin brother, who then goes about scaring the living daylights out of the gang that has been terrorizing Wolf Valley. The outlaws are so frightened that their leader, Thorne (King), takes the extreme measure of exhuming the dear departed to prove that he really is completely and irrevocably dead. Al St. John, as Andy Jones and his twin, Jonathan "Fuzzy" Q. Jones, had a field day playing the dual role, and Charles King got to utter such lines as "the only good sharecropper is a dead one." But all in all, His Brother's Ghost is typical PRC: shoddy production values (the bandits' hideout resembles, and probably was, a nice suburban tract house in the San Fernando Valley), occasionally inept direction, murky photography, and a wonderful overall sense of fun. But what happened to the girl? The handsome but somewhat stuffy Crabbe seemed lost without her. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
It's Buster Crabbe times two in this low-budget "Billy Carson" Western from PRC, which once again trots out that anatomical impossibility: identical cousins. The bad cousin, Jim, heads a gang of cattle rustlers that has just killed both the local sheriff and his deputies. The only one left standing is amiable diner owner Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John), who is promptly elected new sheriff. Enter Billy Carson, Jim's right-thinking relative, and the bad guys may as well pack it in, outnumbered as they are by an army of one. In a break from the fighting and shooting, Tex Williams and a hillbilly aggregation perform "It's Over and So Goodbye" by Lew Porter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Evelyn Finley, (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
This campy little drama launched the career of B-girl Yvonne De Carlo. It is set during the Franco-Prussian war and chronicles the exploits of Salome, a beautiful Viennese dancer who falls for an American reporter and for him gets involved in cloak-and-dagger activities involving the Bismarck, before returning to Arizona with him. There, she uses her talent and abundant charms to inspire the lawless residents of his hometown to reform. They in turn, name the town after her. She then goes to San Francisco where she seduces and marries a wealthy Russian who builds her an opera house and gives her the happy life she had always craved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne De Carlo, Rod Cameron, (more)
- 1944
In this western, a group of avaricious businessman try to coerce settlers from their valuable land until a brave cowboy rides up to protect them and round up the villains. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Bill Elliot is back as Red Ryder in Cheyenne Wildcat. Also back are Ryder's perennial cohorts Little Beaver (Bobby Blake, later Robert Blake of Baretta fame) and the Duchess (Alice Fleming). When not pummeling the bad guys, Ryder is the reluctant apex of a love triangle. It's formula stuff all the way, socked across with ingenuity by director Leslie Selander. Cheyenne Wildcat is especially fun to watch during the finale, when Republic's battery of stunt experts take over. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
