Tex Palmer Movies
Actor Tex Palmer was busy in films from 1932 to 1947. Spending his entire career in B-Westerns, Palmer played bits and minor roles in the films of such sagebrush favorites as John Wayne and Ray "Crash" Corrigan. From 1937 to 1939, he showed up in six of singing cowboy Tex Ritter's vehicles for Grand National Pictures. Tex Palmer was particularly active at PRC Studios in the 1940s, appearing in the company's Billy the Kid, Lone Rider, Frontier Marshal, Buster Crabbe, and Eddie Dean series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1937
A disgruntled ranger quits his job after a crooked state's attorney manages to get a case of murder thrown out of court in this standard Bob Steele western released by Republic Pictures. But as Dan Larsen (Steele) soon learns, there is more to the murder suspect, Wally Smeed (Ernie Adams), than meets the eye and together they go after the state's attorney, Kemper Mills (John Merton), who has quite a few interesting secrets of his own. Like so many of his westerns, The Gun Ranger was directed by Steele's real-life father, Robert North Bradbury. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Eleanor Stewart, (more)
- 1937
In this western, a cattleman's son and a homesteader's daughter fall in love, but find their love thwarted by a trouble-making lawyer who creates a conflict between the ranchers and the settlers by telling the ranchers that the cattleman's stock will die if the homesteaders are allowed to dam the river. Gunplay and mayhem ensues. Eventually love triumphs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Karl Hackett, (more)
A rather weak entry in producer Edward F. Finney's series of Tex Ritter Westerns, Trouble in Texas enjoyed a much longer than usual shelf life courtesy of its beautiful leading lady Rita Hayworth, then known as Rita Cansino. Ritter stars as a rodeo champion searching for the villains who killed his brother. The gang, headed by Barker (Earl Dwire), is summarily poisoning competition to Barker's own champion, Squint Harmer (Yakima Canutt). With the assistance of Carmen (Hayworth) and comedic sidekick Lucky (Horace Murphy), Ritter not only avoids being poisoned, but goes on to win the rodeo. As a sort of consolation prize, the Barker gang rob the local bank, but choose a rather unfortunate wagon filled with dynamite as the getaway vehicle. In between riding in the (stock-footage) rodeo and chasing down his brother's killers, Ritter sings his own "Song of the Rodeo" and Al Bryan's "Down the Colorado Trail," while Hayworth performs a Mexican dance. When Trouble in Texas was re-released in 1943 by Ambassador Pictures, Rita Hayworth not surprisingly earned star billing ahead of Ritter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Earl Dwire, (more)
- 1937
A courageous Texas Ranger leaves his job to mediate a violent, long-standing dispute between his family and that of his sweetheart. When, his investigations reveal that there is a third party of troublemakers involved, he gallops off to stop them and restore the peace. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleanor Stewart, John Merton, (more)
Singing cowboy Tex Ritter once again battled the ornery Charles King in this average music Western from poverty row company Grand National. The usually so jovial Robert McKenzie joined King this time, playing mean Judge Roy Dean and conspiring to take over the Summer's Freight Line. Passing cowboys Tex Archer (Ritter, who warbles the title-tune and his own Goodbye Old Paint) and Duke Evans (Al St. John) happen upon the dead body of George Summers (Jack C. Smith) and decide to take up the fight against the crooked judge. They are briefly jailed but escape in time to save Madge Summers (Louise Stanley) and bring the villains to justice. A big fan of silent slapstick comics, Ritter constantly badgered his producer, Edward F. Finney, to hire former Keystone Kops and in addition to St. John, Sing Cowboy, Sing also featured Snub Pollard and Chester Conklin. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Louise Stanley, (more)
- 1937
In his third starring Western, former radio singer Tex Ritter played a minstrel performer turned tax collector! During a performance at the Tombstone, Arizona, opera house, Tex Malinson (Ritter) courageously goes up against Harry Price (Forrest Taylor) and his henchmen, who refuse to pay the price of admission. The local sheriff (Budd Buster) is so impressed that he suggests Malinson for the job of tax collector. Price, needless to say, is a major tax offender but Tex and sidekick "Grass" Hopper (Syd Saylor) manage to "convince" him to do his civic duty. In between collecting taxes from town bullies, Ritter performed his own Tombstone, Arizona and High, Wide and Handsome, as well as If Love Were Mine by Frank Sanucci. Salty Holmes, known as "The Harmonica Maestro," performed his specialty of playing two harmonicas at the same time: one with his mouth, the other with his nose, and former Broadway luminary Ethelind Terry played one of Ritter's fellow minstrels. The erstwhile operetta diva's first film since the disastrous Lord Byron of Broadway (1930), it was also to be her last. Producer Edward F. Finney headed a trek to Wilcox, Arizona, for a few scenes, but most of Arizona Days was made at the Brandeis and Garner Ranches in Chatsworth, California. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Ethelind Terry, (more)
Bar Z Bad Men is a slick 1930s oater showcasing Johnny Mack Brown. Per the title, Brown signs on as ranchhand at the Bar Z. The spread is plagued by rustlers, and this plot peg builds to a well-staged cattle- stampede climax. Leading lady Lois January, whose acting ability was several steps above most western ingenues, provides spirited support for Brown. Bar Z Bad Men was produced independently by A. W. Hackel's Spectrum Productions, then released by Republic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1937
Robert Allen isn't particularly "reckless" in this rather pedestrian Western, which had the gall to cast the non-actor in dual roles. When Jim Allen (Allen number one) is lynched, his identical twin brother Bob (Allen number two), a Texas Ranger, takes his place in an attempt to flush out the man responsible. He proves to be one Barlowe (Harry Woods), a cattle baron who has hired a gang of ruffians to intimidate the local sheepherders. But when one of the gang members, Mort (Jack Rockwell), escapes from the law, the game is up and Bob's real identity is revealed. Attempting to warn her beau, pretty Mildred Newton (Louise Small) is abducted along with the late Jim Allen's young son, Jimmy (Buddy Cox). The latter, however, manages to free himself and while Bob hunts down the evil Barlowe. The sheep men, lead by Mildred's brother, Chet (Jack Perrin), bring the rest of the gang to justice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Slim" Whitaker, Bob Allen, (more)
- 1937
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Based on the notorious Black Legion which had created quite a turmoil in Michigan a few years earlier, screenwriter Edmund Kelso and director Al Taylor crafted one of the better Tex Ritter musical Westerns. Filmed on location at Kernville, California, The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen was made almost serial-style, except that this time the villains wore the masks instead of the hero. A gang of hooded riders is terrorizing the local ranchers and even shoots kindly old Tom Wilson (Lafe McKee) in cold blood. Before he expires, Tom begs Tex Martin (Ritter) and his sidekick Stubby (Horace Murphy) to help his partner, Farley (Joseph W. Girard), save their mine. The supposed leader of the riders, Blackie (Charles King), gets Tex in hot water with the sheriff (Earl Dwire) but assisted by old Tom Wilson's pretty daughter Nancy (Iris Meredith), the singing cowboy nevertheless manages not only to bring Blackie to justice but also reveal the identity of the real brain behind the terror. The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen proved the first Ritter Western to open on Broadway in New York City and the sometimes overbearing critic from the New York Times, John T. McManus, was charmed enough to term it "refreshing." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Iris Meredith, (more)
- 1937
This average Tex Ritter music Western provided the former radio and Broadway performer with not one but two comedy sidekicks: Horace Murphy) and Snub Pollard. According to a few dour critics, Ritter would have been much better off without. The three played Arizona Rangers who rescue a pretty stagecoach passenger, Louise Rogers (Louise Stanley), from a gang of outlaws. Learning that rustlers are terrorizing the border populace, Tex and his cohorts align themselves with Captain Mendoza (Martin Garralaga) of the Mexican Rurales. But when Doc (Murphy) and Pee Wee (Pollard) are falsely accused of stealing and thrown in jail, Tex pretends to desert the rangers. He is quickly befriended by Jeffries (Earl Dwire), the head of the rustlers, and grabs the opportunity to combat the gang from the inside. Louise Rogers, pretending to be a saloon singer, is actually a secret agent and together they bring the rustlers to justice. Ritter took time out to warble his own title-tune as well as Arizona Rangers and, with Miss Stanley, Home on the Range. Riders of the Rockies was one in a series of Ritter Westerns produced independently by Edward F. Finney for release by Grand National. In fact, the low-budget but lucrative Ritter vehicles would finance the latter company's $900,000 Something to Sing About (1937), a James Cagney musical fiasco quickly dubbed "Something to Cy About." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Louise Stanley, (more)
- 1937
No, we don't get to see Johnny Mack Brown's mother in labor in A Lawman is Born. Brown is "born" as a star packer when he's fully grown. He is moved to slap on his guns by a gang of usurping cattle rustlers. Iris Meredith is the leading lady and Warner Richmond the principal baddie in this reasonably realistic oater. A Lawman is Born was produced independently by A.W. Hackel, and released by Republic Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Iris Meredith, (more)
- 1937
Gambling Terror was one of the more worthwhile entries in Johnny Mack Brown's so-so western series for producer A.W. Hackel. The no-frills plotline finds hero Jeff (Brown), ostensibly a dude gambler, taking on a band of cowboy racketeers. The "big boss" turns out to be the outwardly respectable Bradley (Earl Dwire), a frontier Capone who runs a profitable protection racket aimed at the local cattlemen. The direction and camerawork are sloppy, but the action content can't be faulted. Appearing in support of Johnny Mack Brown are Iris Meredith and Dick Curtis, soon to become fixtures of Columbia's Charles Starrett westerns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Iris Meredith, (more)
In this western, a tough hombre begins stalking his brother's killer. He shows up during a range war and because he is a notorious gun-slinger, finds both sides seeking his services. He chooses to stay focused on finding the killer. In the end the two have a showdown. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Iris Meredith, (more)
- 1936
Ken Maynard at least tries to keep his characteristic off-the-wall ad-libs to a minimum in Fugitive Sheriff. Hoping to rid a small western community of its corrupt political machine, Maynard runs for sheriff against the bad guys' candidate and wins the election. Dissatisfied with this, the villains contrive to frame Ken on a murder charge. He breaks out of jail (hence the film's title) and tracks down the genuine culprit, pausing ever so briefly to sing a song or two for the benefit of leading lady Beth Marion. Maynard's singing is definitely an acquired taste, but there's no argument that his riding stunts are astonishing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Beth Marion, (more)
John Wayne stars in this Western as a law student seeking revenge on the ruthless land baron who killed his parents; after he is thwarted in the courts, he chooses to explore frontier justice instead. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1936
Ken Maynard saves Geneva Mitchell from a runaway coach in the opening of this so-so Columbia western. The victim of a stage hold-up, Geneva is mighty grateful but her banker father (John Ince) is only too willing to believe uncouth Charles "Slim" Whitaker when he fingers Ken as the master-mind behind the latest outrage, a bank heist. Geneva, meanwhile, has recognized nasty Harry Woods) as the real culprit of both stage holdup and bank robbery and promptly gets herself kidnapped. With Ken behind bars, help is a bit slow in coming but the bad guys are corralled in due time and peace is finally restored to the town of Santana. Sidekick Guy Wilkerson takes time out to serenade a winsome Indian maiden -- three times! -- and even Maynard is allowed to warble a campfire tune or two, more's the pity. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Geneva Mitchell, (more)
In his second "Range Rider" music Western for poverty row newcomer Grand National, Tex Ritter played Tex Saunders, the troubadour brother of the sheriff (Forrest Taylor) of Rio Grande, Texas. When Tex and sidekick Chilo (Syd Saylor) on behalf of Laurie Hart (Eleanor Stewart) begin to look into what appears to be a gangster-style protection racket, saloon-owner Ike Travis (Warner Richmond) has the troubadour framed for killing bandit Red Dugan (James Mason). An angry populace demand an arrest and Tex is saved in the nick of time from being lynched. Outriding the posse, Tex manages the round up the racketeers, including the real killer.Headin' for the Rio Grande was filmed for around $8000 at Hollywood's Talisman studios and at the Monogram ranch near Placerita,, California. Ritter, who was under a personal contract to producer Edward Finney and not Grand National, earned a flat fee of $2000 for each of his Westerns. Reportedly, Ritter convinced Grand National to hire silent clown Snub Pollard for a small supporting role, having admired Pollard's silent slapstick comedies as a child in East Texas. Pollard would return in later films as Ritter's comic sidekick. In his first of 25 appearances opposite Ritter, veteran Bad Guy Charles King played one of the villain's henchmen. "I must have killed old Charlie King at least twenty times," Ritter would later reminisce. "Usually behind the same rock." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Eleanor Stewart, (more)
- 1936
Republic's The Lawless Nineties reteams the studio's up-and-coming cowboy star John Wayne with 19-year-old ingenue Ann Rutherford. Wayne plays John Tipton, who is determined to break up the corrupt Wyoming-territory political machine run by Charles K. Plummer (Harry Woods). What Tipton doesn't know is that Plummer is also the head of a night-riding vigilante army, bent on killing anyone who opposes his reign. Among Plummer's victims is newspaper editor Major Carter (George "Gabby" Hayes), but Carter's pretty daughter Janet (Rutherford) vows to carry on her dad's work. Amazingly, hero Tipton doesn't have to rely on his fists or fancy gunplay to rout the villains: this time around, Democracy itself saves the day. And in only 58 minutes! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Ann Rutherford, (more)
- 1936
Produced by low-budget company Supreme Pictures (which weren't), this middling B-western was saved somewhat by its personable star, the strapping former footballer Johnny Mack Brown. Mack plays Dan Doran, the rogue of the title, who rescues a pretty missionary, Tess (Phyllis Hume), from the ubiquitous runaway team. In town, Doran not only leaves the welfare of the girl to Stella, the saloon hostess (Lois January), but admits to having earlier robbed the stage. Sent up the river for 20 years, Dan makes the acquaintance of Jim Mitchell (George Ball), a fellow inmate, and the two make their escape together. Returning to the scene of the crime, Dan joins Jim's gang of stage robbers. The town's natty-looking banker, Lige Branscomb (Alden Chase aka Stephen Chase) is observed courting Tess, who now owns the Golden Nugget coffee shop. Dan, who is in reality an undercover G-man, has Stella rescue Tess from marrying the villainous Branscomb who, of course, is the secret leader of the gang of stage robbers. Leaving Tess to her coffee shop, Dan proposes to Stella, who accepts. Although already beginning to exhibit the middle-age spread that would mar his later appearances, Johnny Mack Brown once again proves that he was a better actor than most of his B- western rivals. The same cannot be said for Phyllis Hume, who plays the missionary girl with only one expression, bewilderment, and whose only film this seems to have been. Max Davidson, an old-fashioned "Dutch-style" comic who had been in films before Charles Chaplin and almost everyone else, appears briefly and for no apparent reason in order to perform a bit of timeworn shtick as a Jewish salesman. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Lois January, (more)
- 1935
Based on William Colt MacDonald's Law of the Forty-Fives, this ultra low-budget Beacon Western stars Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Al St. John as Tucson Smith and Stony Martin, a couple of drifters coming to the defense of elder rancher Hayden (Lafe McKee). Like their neighbors, the rancher and his pretty daughter, Jean (Molly O'Day), have been terrorized by a gang of land grabbers. Tucson and Stony quickly become suspicious of Hayden's attorney, Gordon Rentell (Ted Adams), who seems to know a great deal about the mysterious disappearance of British businessman Sir Henry Sheffield. When the latter (Broderick O'Farrell) is found imprisoned in Rentell's basement, the truth is revealed. Having learned that there is oil in the area, Rentell and his men have been systematically buying up land from their own victims. When the sheriff (Fred Burns) arrives to take Rentell and his men to jail, Tucson reveals that he has become a vigilante after his own father had been murdered. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Molly O'Day, (more)
- 1935
A young John Wayne is charged with building a road into the title valley in this routine Western from Monogram. The building project, however, is constantly interrupted by LeRoy Mason and his gang who wants the valley in general and its rich mines in particular free from outside interference. Wayne, who is aided in his quest by grizzled old mail carrier George Hayes (who had yet to earn his famous nickname of "Gabby"), manages not only to build the road but also capture the nasty Mason, a rival for the affections of bleach blonde postmistress Lucile Browne, and his cohort, paroled convict Buffalo Bill Jr. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, LeRoy Mason, (more)
- 1935
An apparently lost entry in the long-running Bob Steele Western series produced by A.W. Hackel, The Rider of the Law presented the diminutive Steele as an Arizona lawman trailing the Tolliver brothers, a gang of outlaws. Steele catches up with the brothers in Apache City, where they are blackmailing the local bank president. As he has done so many times before, our hero then engages in a bit of subterfuge by pretending to be an Easterner. Thus catching the Tollivers off guard, he manages to discover their mountain hideout and there is a final shootout. Like all of Steele's early Westerns for Hackel's Supreme Pictures, The Rider of the Law was directed by his real-life father, Robert North Bradbury. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
A streamlined, fast-paced silent B-Western, this Tom Tyler vehicle was one of several oaters featuring a very young, still brunette, Jean Arthur. She plays Eunice Morgan, the daughter of a businessman (Fred Gambold) who loses his Western ranch to an unscrupulous employer (LeRoy Mason). Unbeknownst to Morgan, there is oil on the property and it is up to ranch foreman Tyler to catch the villain before he can get the deed notarized. The stalwart Tyler does just that and wins the love of Arthur in return. Tyler's usual sidekick, juvenile actor Frankie Darro, was joined by Buck Black, a toothy ten-year old who had played a young Theodore Roosevelt in Lights of Old Broadway (1925). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Paradise Canyon is one of the most action-packed entries in John Wayne's "Lone Star" series. On the trail of a counterfeiting gang, undercover agent John Wyatt (Wayne) joins the traveling medicine show of Doc Carter (Earl Hodgins). For a while, it looks as though Doc is the leader of the gang, but when he and his daughter, Linda (Marion Burns), are kidnapped by the real villain, Wyatt realizes he's been riding the wrong trail. The last-minute rescue is almost as thrilling as the earlier scene in which Wyatt takes a high dive off a steep cliff into a river. Ace stuntmen Reed Howes and Yakima Canutt are prominent among the supporting players. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Marion Burns, (more)
The third entry in John Wayne's superior Lone Star series for producer Paul Malvern, The Lucky Texan features Wayne as Jerry Mason, a young college graduate who, along with old family friend Jake Benson (George Hayes), locates a secret gold field. Returning to town with their gold, the two friends make the mistake of trusting the local assayer (Lloyd Whitlock) and his equally crooked partner (Yakima Canutt). The villains take a shot at Jake and, believing they killed the old coot, blame young Jerry for the "murder." At his trial, Jerry is delighted to discover his "victim" among the spectators, dressed in a costume formerly used in a local presentation of Charley's Aunt. Usually playing villains in the Lone Star Westerns, George Hayes got an opportunity to practice his later popular Gabby character in this entry. The Lucky Texan also featured several fine examples of director Robert North Bradbury's famous "swish-pan" method, in which characters are brought from one place to another as the camera sweeps over the landscape in a blur. As always, Yakima Canutt doubled both Wayne, Hayes, and several of the villains. In fact, Canutt got to virtually chase himself in a gasoline-powered handcar in the film's exciting finale. In addition to Wayne, Hayes, Canutt, and Whitlock, the Malvern stock company players did their usual fine work, including Earl Dwire as an elderly sheriff, stunt man Ed Parker as the sheriff's crooked son, and Gordon de Main as the local banker. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Barbara Sheldon, (more)
