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
In this western, the Texas Rangers take on a shyster who is trying to bilk a family of their money after he learns that an oil company thinks their land may contain the black gold. The Rangers tell the family about the oil before the lawyer and his gang can take it from them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Unlike previous "Trail Blazers" entries, each of which starred three veteran western heroes, Marked Trails top-bills only two sagebrush favorites. Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele play a couple of wandering do-gooders who take on a gang of oil swindlers. Adopting a series of bewildering (but hardly impenetrable) disguises, the Ol' Hooter and Battling Bob manage to con the con-ners. But when it becomes absolutely necessary, our heroes rely on their fists to mete out justice. Just another western, Marked Trails is given distinction by the presence of perennial "hard-boiled dame" Veda Ann Borg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, (more)
- 1944
Filmed at Corriganville, actor Ray "Crash" Corrigan's movie ranch in Simi Valley, Sonora Stagecoach was the last of Monogram's eight ramshackle "Trail Blazers" Western. The series had already suffered the loss of veteran star Ken Maynard -- who had become too difficult and costly -- and both Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele were nearing the end of their starring careers. This time, the "Trail Blazers," Gibson, Steele and Maynard's odd replacement, Chief Thundercloud), are escorting prisoner Rocky Camron (aka Gene Alsace) to trial in Sonora. Sheriff Hampton (Henry Hall) warns the three marshals that a gang of outlaws may attempt to assassinate Camron, whom the sheriff believes to be innocent. And sure enough, Blackie Reed (Charles King) and his gang do their best to get to the prisoner, who is given a gun in order to defend himself. Rocky, as it appears, was framed for the murder of two deputies, a deed actually committed by Blackie on behalf of stagecoach office manager Paul Kenton (Glenn Strange) and his banker brother, Joe (Karl Hackett). With the help of Betty Miles), Rocky's girlfriend and Weasel (Charles Murray, Jr.), a henchman turned state's evidence, the "Trail Blazers" clear Rocky of all charges and arrest both Blackie and his backers. Gibson and Steele went on to appear together in three additional Monogram Westerns -- Marked Trails, Trigger Law and Utah Kid (all 1944) -- but although they are often designated as "Trail Blazers" Westerns today, they were never produced or advertised as such. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, (more)
- 1944
The Sundown Riders was the first in a brief series of "experimental" westerns, designed for the then-burgeoning 16-millimeter home-movie and classroom market. RKO contractee Russell Wade teams with "Hopalong Cassidy" alumni Jay Kirby and Andy Clyde, portraying the "Sundown Riders". Their first mission: to thwart an outlaw gang, thereby making the west safe for progressive education. Filmed in Kodachrome color, Sundown Riders is as professional-looking as possible under the circumstances, thanks to the conviviality of the stars and the surehanded director of veteran Lambert Hillyer. Alas, the 16-millimeter market was not of sufficient size and scope in 1944 to warrant a full years' worth of "Sundown Riders" epics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Wade, Jay Kirby, (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
The Utah Kid was a late entry in Monogram's "Trail Blazers" series. These low-budget westerns usually featured three cowboy stars; this time, however, there are only two, Bob Steele and Hoot Gibson. Though neither star is a spring chicken, Steele is the younger of the two, so he's the "Utah Kid" by default. The plot, involving a gang of crooks who go around fixing rodeo results, was designed to accommodate yards and yards of stock footage. Onetime D.W. Griffith heavy Ralph Lewis plays a supporting role in this 55-minute sagebrusher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1944
A "Texas Rangers" series entry from PRC, this low budget western features Dave "Tex" O'Brien as a stranger in town introducing himself as the notorious bandit Spade Norton. Crooked saloon owner Red Hayden (I. Stanford Jolley) believes him at first but then the real Spade (Jack Ingram) turns up and all hell breaks loose. Guy Wilkerson and James Newill plays O'Brien's ranger colleagues, the latter performing Speed Hansen's "Someone Is Waiting", "Forget Me Not" and "When the Western Sun Is Sinking". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Newill, Dave "Tex" O'Brien, (more)
- 1944
In the penultimate "Trail Blazers" B-Western, the often difficult Ken Maynard found himself summarily replaced by Chief Thundercloud, a somewhat original casting concept for Monogram, a stolid poverty row company that rarely took chances. Thundercloud joined veteran "Trail Blazers" Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele and yet another newcomer, Rocky Camron (aka Gene Alsace), in pursuing nasty "Honest John" Travers (Cy Kendall), a banker who rules the Johnstown area with an iron fist. "Honest John's" supremacy is threatened by the arrival of beef packing company buyer Carl Beldon (George Eldredge), there to purchase cattle from the very same ranchers Travers is trying to freeze out. When Beldon mysteriously disappears and rancher Bob Thornton is mortally wounded by renegades, U.S. Marshals Gibson, Steele and Thundercloud are assigned to investigate. With the assistance of Thornton's pretty daughter Alice (Jennifer Holt) and Sheriff Rocky Camron), the three "Trail Blazers" manage to get the goods on "Honest John," proving that the banker's henchman, Chuck Walters (Charles King), killed both Thornton and Beldon. In no less than her fifteenth B-Western, leading lady Jennifer Holt, daughter of Jack and sister of Tim, suffered the indignity of having her first name misspelled "Jenifer" in the on-screen credits. She shared the humiliation with legendary Native-American athlete Jim Thorpe, whose name read "Thorp." Monogram was just that kind of company. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, (more)
- 1944
This PRC "Billy the Kid" western once more teams Buster Crabbe, as Billy Carson, with Al St.John, as perennial sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones. Motivating the plot is the wholesale slaughter of two families by a gang of outlaws. Twenty years later, Billy and Fuzzy, survivors of the massacre, return to the small town where the instigator of the killings resides. Out of several suspects, our heroes narrow down the culprit by means of a twitching eye-the same device used by Hitchcock in Young and Innocent (1937). Evelyn Finley, who'd been a western ingenue since the 1930s, doesn't look a day older as the film's heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Evelyn Finley, (more)
- 1944
U.S. marshal Ritter arrives in town to round up bandits who are attempting to fix the local elections. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1944
With his performance in the offbeat sagebrusher The Laramie Trail, Bob Livingston makes his final appearance in a Republic western. When first we meet Livingston, he appears to be an ingenuous dude, unwise to the harsh ways of the West. He proves to have more grit than expected when he rescues innocent cowboy John James from a murder rap. The film's overall brooding atmosphere seems more attuned to a Raymond Chandler detective story than a B western. Even Livingston's sidekick Smiley Burnette curbs his comic impulses. Laramie Trail was adapted from Jackson Gregory's story Mystery at Spanish Hacienda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Brent, Smiley Burnette, (more)
Law Men is a typically austere entry in Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram western series. This one finds saddle pals Nevada (Brown) and Sandy (Raymond Hatton) working as undercover US marshals. Hoping to thwart a gang of stage robbers, Nevada joins the gang, while Sandy poses as a shoemaker in order to keep tabs on local gossip and heresay. Somewhere around reel five, Nevada is exposed as a lawman; and somewhere around reel six, he and Sandy round up the bad guys. Billed fourth in Law Men is orchestra leader Kirby Grant, later famous as TV's Sky King. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1944
In this western, a crusty old sourdough finally finds the silver mine of his dreams only to find his mine threatened by vicious outlaws. Fortunately, a cowboy hero rides up to save him, but not until considerable rootin' tootin' action. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Rustler's Hideout is more of the same from PRC's resident cowboy stars Buster Crabbe and Al St. John. Cast once again as Billy Carson and Fuzzy Q. Jones, our heroes declare war against a gang of cattle rustlers. Even the villains are making their umpteenth return appearances in the Crabbe - St. John series: Lane Chandler as a clever cardsharp, Charles King and John Merton as the cattle thieves. And, as always, there's the faintest hint of a romance between Billy Carson and the ingenue du jour, in this case Patti McCarthy. Despite the repetitiousness and predictability, Rustler's Hideout posted a profit, as did all of PRC's Buster Crabbe - Fuzzy St. John vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Patti McCarty, (more)
- 1944
In their third and final "Trail Blazers" Western together, Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele witness what appears to be a gang of Indians raiding a stagecoach. Investigating, the three lawmen discover that the attackers are actually white bandits dressed as Indians and that their leader is one Polini (Ian Keith), a gangster smuggling diamonds in the axle grease of the stagecoach wheels. Aided by young Donny Davis (Don Stewart) and pert Ruth Hampton (Myrna Dell), the "Trail Blazers" survive several clashes with death -- including being trapped inside a cave -- before Polini and his cohort, Banker Steve Lynch (Karl Hackett), are apprehended. In only her second Western, blonde heroine Myrna Dell was not exactly in awe of her veteran leading men who, as she later recalled were "old enough to be my grandfather!" Maynard, in fact, had come to the end of his long starring career. Unable to get along with his more athletic co-star Bob Steele, the often cantankerous left the series and only returned to films in rare cameo appearances. His place in the final two "Trail Blazers" Westerns was taken by Chief Thundercloud. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, (more)
In this western, a courageous cowboy stops the land-grabbing conspiracy of a corrupt banker. The banker was planning to wait until hard-working local ranchers made their mortgage payments and then was going to stage a phony robbery so he could foreclose upon their land. Fortunately, the hero finds out about it and brings the crook to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Range Law stars Johnny Mack Brown as "Nevada" and Raymond Hatton as "Sandy", the same characters they played in most of their mid-1940s Monogram westerns. This time, Nevada and Sandy, US marshals both, set out to collar some renegades who've been driving out the local ranchers. It's just possible that one of said ranchers is behind this land-grabbing scheme. The motive: the land is rich with silver. The formidable bad-guy lineup includes Jack Ingram, Stanley Price, and Lynton Brent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1944
Western star Bob Livingston inherits Eddie Dew's "John Paul Revere" character and Gene Autry's perennial sidekick Smiley Burnette in Republic's Pride of the Plains. Livingston is cast as Johnny Revere, while Burnette reprises his tried-and-true "Frog Millhouse" screen persona. Johnny and Frog take on a bad guy (Kenneth MacDonald) who intends to raid a government-protected herd of wild horses for his own financial gain. Though the villain manages to put several crooked lawmen and politicians in his pocket, he's no match for Our Heroes. Nothing special, Pride of the Plains is elevated by its breathless action highlights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Smiley Burnette, Nancy Gay, (more)
- 1944
Partners in most of the low-budget Texas Rangers Westerns, Tex Ritter and Dave O'Brien are at loggerheads through the greater part of this slow-moving entry, the last in the series. In fact, despite a title card that reads, "Tex Ritter and Dave O'Brien as the Texas Rangers," Ritter actually works on Lorraine Miller's ranch. Peggy Barlou (Miller) is the young rancher who refuses to sell her spread to greedy stage-line proprietor John Rankin (Edward Howard). Tex Haines (Ritter), meanwhile, is accused of killing Bill Dugan (Art Fowler), Rankin's bodyguard, but eludes capture long enough to hook up with Dave Wyatt (O'Brien) and Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson), a couple of rangers in disguise. Despite constant arguments about taking the law into one's own hands, the three manage to prevent Rankin from evicting Peggy. In between the arguing, Ritter finds time to warble his own and Frank Harford's "I've Done the Best I Could" and Ernest Tubb's "Try Me One More Time." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Wally Brown and Alan Carney, RKO's own Abbott and Costello ripoffs, star in the comedy western The Girl Rush. As usual, Brown is cast as fast-talking Jerry Miles and Carney plays slow-witted Mike Strager. This time, Jerry and Mike are travelling showmen, stranded in San Francisco when the 1849 gold strike at Sutter's Mill commandeers all available transportation. Making the best of things, our heroes decide to stage a girl-filled musical revue for the entertainment-hungry miners. They also promise that the girls will prove to be excellent wives for the prospectors. Only one problem: where are the girls? This slapped-together effort would be utterly unmemorable were it not for the presence of Robert Mitchum, cast as a clever outlaw who at one point in the film disguises himself as a mail-order bride! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wally Brown, Alan Carney, (more)
- 1944
Starring Monogram's low-budget answer to Gene Autry, the rather colorless Jimmy Wakely, this minor music Western was actually disapproved for export on the grounds that it depicted what the censorship boards deemed "general lawlessness." The "lawlessness" depicted centers around Denny (Dennis Moore), impersonating a federal agent after being falsely accused of killing Bruce Carter (Hugh Prosser), a guest at the Mesa Inn. As it turns out, the dead man isn't what he claimed to be, either, but with the help of Jimmy Wakely, grizzled sidekick Lasses (Lee "Lasses" White), and girl agent Dale Harding (Cay Forrester), Denny clears up the general confusion within the allotted 56 minutes or so. While Moore attempts to clear himself of the murder charge, Wakely croons his own "Too Bad, Little Girl, Too Bad," "Good Morning Mr. Sunshine," and two or three other selections, while Lee "Lasses" White performs "When the Sunset Bids the Desert Goodbye" and an aggregation calling themselves the Sunshine Girls take care of the traditional "Red River Valley" at the hotel's swimming pool. Johnny Bond & His River Valley Boys also join the fun. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1943
Tim Holt's third RKO Radio western for 1943 was The Avenging Rider. The story finds Holt trying to clear himself and his partner Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards of a robbery-murder rap. The actual villains each carry a portion of a Five of Spades, so that they can identify themselves when they claim their shares of the stolen money. Our Hero tracks down four of the five miscreants before he is able to expose the "brains" behind the operation (the Least Likely Suspect, as usual). Cliff Edwards has so much to do and so many songs to sing in The Avenging Rider that one feels he should have gotten top billing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Ann Summers, (more)
- 1943
In this western a pugnacious cowboy tries to prevent a city-slicker from conning the local ranchers and the utility company. The hero believes the man is really a murderer. To find out for sure, the hero and his assistant pretend to be cons on the lam. The hero is soon accused of the murder. Now he must escape and bring justice to the real killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Wally Vernon, (more)
- 1943
Though the film's title is The Texas Kid, the film's star Johnny Mack Brown plays a cowboy named Nevada. The titular "kid", played by Marshall Reed, is a former bandit leader who decides to go straight-and gets a bullet in his back for his trouble. Nevada and his sidekick Sandy (Raymond Hatton) take over from the Texas Kid, seeing to it that the stagecoach carrying the payrolls for local ranches aren't molested by the Kid's old gang members. As Monogram pictures go, this one goes rather well, with some well-lensed location shots. The Texas Kid was scripted by Lynton Brent, a general-purpose actor who also plays a small role in the film; Brent is perhaps best known today for his work in Columbia's "Three Stooges" comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1943
That favorite old B-Western menace Charles King is at it again in Raiders of Red Gap, the last of PRC's "Lone Rider" Westerns starring Robert Livingston. King plays Jack Bennett, the head of a crooked cattle syndicate attempting to drive away the local ranchers in order to build a packing plant. When Jim Roberts (Edward Cassidy) and his neighbors band together and fight back, Bennett hires dandified gunslinger Butch Crane (Roy Brent) but gets instead dopey Fuzzy Jones (Al St. John) in disguise. Fuzzy, of course, is soon in more trouble than he can handle but, happily, The Lone Rider, alias Rocky Cameron (Livingston) is along for the ride. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Myrna Dell
