Hal Price Movies
Sometimes he was Hal Price, other times he was Harry Price. Sometimes (in fact, much of the time) he wasn't billed at all. Whatever the case, Hal Price was one of the more ubiquitous performers in the field of B-Westerns and serials. He was the bald, mustachioed frontiersman who usually said something like, "We got a nice, quiet town here, stranger...and we aim to keep it that way." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1942
When the order of the Western frontier is threatened by bandits, cowboys are the only measure of justice in the area. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1942
Fugitive Nazis threaten to take over the Wyoming range in this Three Mesqueteers outing, which also warns about the danger of blithely assuming that every German-American is a fifth columnist. Which is exactly what rancher Clem Parker (Hal Price) does when learning that a couple of escaped Axis war criminals may be heading towards the local valley. Clem immediately presupposes that German expatriate Dr. Heinrich Steiner (Edward Van Sloan) and his lovely daughter Laura (Anna Marie Stewart) still pledge allegiance to the Vaterland although the good doctor has dedicated his work to helping the Allied course. In the end, it takes the Mesqueteers -- Tucson Smith (Bob Steele), Stony Brooke (Tom Tyler) and Lullaby Joslin (Jimmie Dodd) -- to settle matters once and for all. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Also known as The Singing Hills, this Gene Autry western boasts a screenplay cowritten by Jesse Lasky Jr. Gene and his saddle pal Smiley Burnette ride into town and sing a few songs. They make the acquaintance of heiress Virginia Grey, who wants to divest herself of her land holdings. Villain George Meeker hopes that she'll do this so he can charge inordinately high prices for grazing lands. Autry fixes everything, then he sings a few more songs. Director Lew Landers keeps things moving apace between the musical interludes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1941
One of silent serial queen Pearl White's best efforts, The Iron Claw was remade by Columbia Pictures starring brunette Joyce Bryant as the imperiled heroine. Bryant, alas, was no Pearl White, and needed a strong male lead in order to defeat that master criminal, the Iron Claw. She found him in handsome Charles Quigley, an Academy of Dramatic Art alumni whom the studio was grooming as an action lead. The story line is a bit less confusing this time around; Bryant is the heir to a fortune, which the Iron Claw also desires. Quigley plays Bob Lane, an enterprising reporter who saves the damsel-in-distress over and over again through the serial's 15 chapters. Among the many and various villains skulking about, Forrest Taylor, as Anton, was at his menacing best in The Iron Claw. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1941
First filmed in 1916, Peter B. Kyne's novel Parson of Panamint provided an excellent showcase for Charles Ruggles in this 1941 remake. As he looks over the dusty, deserted remains of the western "boom town" of Panamint, grizzled old prospector Chuckawalla Bill Redfield (Ruggles) recalls the town's glory days. Looming large in Chuckawalla's reminiscences is the day that young and apparently mild-mannerd minister Philip Pharo (Phillip Terry) rode into town. In his own gentle but forceful fashion, Pharo managed to bring the town's lawless element into line, mollify the local bluenoses, and win the heart of likeable dance-hall girl Mary Mallory (Ellen Drew). The highlight of a film is a tense murder trial, brought about by the killing of gambling boss and all-around villain Bob Deming (Joseph Schildkraut). Almost as easy-going as its protagonist, Parson of Panamint is a most unusual western; if it doesn't completely come off, at least it deserves an E for Effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Ellen Drew, (more)
- 1941
Guess what happens in the PRC western The Lone Rider Ambushed? Yes, he does get ambushed, but that's not all. Posing as his lookalike, an imprisoned crook, Tom Cameron (George Houston), aka The Lone Rider, tries to track down a gang of bank robbers. This he does on behalf of an innocent teller, falsely accused of complicity in a recent holdup. Before the film's 6 reels have expended themselves, scores of bad guys lie dead, thanks to a posse led by comedy sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John). When the comedy relief does better than the hero, it's time to call it a day, which the "Lone Rider" series finally did in mid-1942. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Houston, Maxine Leslie, (more)
Opera star-cum-cowboy hero George Houston stars in PRC's The Lone Rider Fights Back. Appropriately enough, Houston disguises himself as a musician to get the goods on a gang of terrorists. The principal villain hopes to scare the local miners off their land, so he can move in and clean up. Suffice it to say he doesn't succeed. Al St. John, everybody's comedy sidekick, adds a few choice chuckles to the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Billy the Kid is played by Bob Steele in this PRC sagebrusher, while his "fighting pals" are Al "Fuzzy" St. John and Carleton Young. Billy and his buddies arrive in the town of Paradise, which fails to live up to its name. The villain is a local banker (Edward Peil Sr.), who of course is also the secret mastermind behind all criminal activities. Billy sizes up the situation and settles matters with a combination of fists and shootin' irons. Before emerging on screen as Billy the Kid's Fighting Pals, the film was briefly titled Billy the Kid Trails West, then Trigger Pals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Phyllis Adair, (more)
- 1941
In this Gene Autry Western, the valley is threatened by a weed capable of poisoning the cattle. When burning the range proves ineffectual, the local banker, Stacy Bromfield (Frank M. Thomas), sends for a government inspector in desperation. The inspector, played by Autry, quickly suggests spraying the area with a chemical. But the head of the cattlemen's organization, George Larrabee (Robert Homans), foolishly ignores the advice and almost suffers unimaginable consequences when his henchman Frenchy (Hugh Prosser) shoots down a crop duster. Autry, Smiley Burnette, and leading lady Fay McKenzie take time out from battling range weed to warble "Be Honest With Me," "I'll Be True While You're Gone," "Ridin' the Range," "Heebie Jeebie Blues," and the title tune. Sierra Sue was restored in 2001 by Gene Autry Entertainment. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1941
Previously filmed with Mabel Normand in 1920, the old Rose Melville stage property Sis Hopkins was trotted out in 1941 for Republic's newest star, raucous cornpone comedienne Judy Canova. Sporting pigtails and dressed like a potato sack, Sis Hopkins (Canova) shows up at the doorstep of her snooty rich relations in the Big City after her family farm burns down. Though she immediately ingratiates herself to her uncle, bathroom-appliance mogul Horace Hopkins (Charles Butterworth), Sis runs afoul of her bitchy, beautiful cousin Carol (played by a pre-stardom Susan Hayward). Determined to humiliate our heroine and send her packing, Carol arranges for Sis to partipate in a sorority-initiation striptease. Fortunately, Sis wins out in the finale, while Carol must endure such indignities as a well-aimed pan of water and a misplaced bathroom plunger. As a bonus, Sis wins the heart of college bandleader Jeff Farnsworth (Bob Crosby). Adding to the general merriment of Sis Hopkins is Jerry Colonna as a zany college professor. Judy Canova sings several of her patented country-western ditties, then surprises her fans with a "straight"operatic rendition from La Traviata. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Canova, Charles Butterworth, (more)
This campy, entertaining cheapie from PRC Pictures features Bela Lugosi as a chemist who plots an elaborate revenge scheme on his business partners, whom he feels have cheated him out of his share. To this end he develops a mutant breed of vicious, oversized bats and trains several of this breed to home in on a special chemical which he then blends with shaving lotion. Presenting gifts of the lotion to his partners as a peace offering (and browbeating them into splashing it on themselves while in his presence), he subsequently unleashes his monstrous pets to tear them to pieces. Believe it or not, this was one of PRC's more successful horror programmers, spawning a the sequel Devil Bat's Daughter. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, (more)
Tex Ritter's penultimate Western for Monogram -- and his second-to-last as a solo star -- Ridin' the Cherokee Trail featured no less than 13 musical numbers, several composed by Ritter and his sidekick Arkansas Slim Andrews. Surrounding all this warbling, screenwriter Edmond Kelso and director Spencer Gordon Bennet crafted a fine little story of a couple of Texas Rangers crossing into the lawless Cherokee Strip despite the fact that they lack jurisdiction. The area is terrorized by a gang of outlaws lead by Bradley Craven (Forrest Taylor, who consistently prevents the citizenry to hold an election to join the Union. Tex and Slim join the forces of rancher Wyatt (Fred Burns and his daughter Ruth (Betty Miles) and after several skirmishes -- during which Tex briefly goes undercover as an outlaw -- Craven and his gang are defeated. In gratitude, the citizenry elects Tex to hoist the first Union flag. In the music numbers, Ritter and Andrews were accompanied by The Tennessee Ramblers, a hayseed singing group popular with rural audiences. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Slim Andrews, (more)
- 1941
Secrets of the Wasteland is a lesser "Hopalong Cassidy" western, with talk taking precedence over action. This time, Hoppy (William Boyd) and his pals Johnny (Brad King) and California (Andy Clyde) head out on an archeological expedition. While encamped in the San Fernando Valley, our heroes come to the aid of a group of Chinese settlers who are being victimized by land-usurper Salter (Douglas Fowley)and his minions.. As a nod to timeliness, the head of the Chinese colony, May Soong (Soo Young), is obviously based on modern-day China's Mme. Chiang Kai-Shek, while the treacherous Salter is most Hitlerian in his gestures and attitudes. Outside of these calculated anachronisms, Secrets of the Wasteland is nothing special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad King, Andy Clyde, (more)
- 1941
The Three Mesquiteers are back in Republic's Gangs of Sonora. The story is set in Wyoming, just before statehood was bestowed upon the territory. Town boss Sam Treadwell (Robert Frazer) doesn't want his little fiefdom to enter the Union, and does everything he can to prevent this eventuality, including the murder of the local newspaper editor. The dead man's cudgel is taken up by his fearless wife Kansas Kate Connor (Helen MacKeller), but her crusading efforts are undercut by her own son (Bud McTaggart), who is in league with Treadwell. This is the dilemma which Mesquiteers Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Tucson Smith (Bob Steele) and Lullaby Joslin (Rufe Davis) must solve in 56 minutes flat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Bob Steele, (more)
- 1941
PRC's "Billy the Kid" series had two different stars over a six-year period. Bob Steele plays the title role in 1941's Billy the Kid in Santa Fe. Framed on a murder charge, Billy heads to guess what New Mexico town. Here he teams with the brother of the murder victim to extract a confession from the real killer. This 66-minute sagebrusher was the sixth of PRC's "Billy the Kid" entries; in late 1941, Bob Steele would be succeeded in the starring role by Buster Crabbe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Buster Crabbe is a doctor, accompanying a shipment of fever serum to a remote jungle village. The ship is torpedoed by a U-Boat. Crabbe and his girlfriend Sheila D'Arcy are marooned on a small island. When D'Arcy falls ill to jungle fever, Crabbe heroically dives into the ocean to retrieve the serum. Its adventure quotient aside, Jungle Man has all the production expertise of an 8-millimeter home movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Officially a Charles Starrett western, Riders of the Badlands divides its running time fairly evenly between Starrett and second-billed Russell Hayden. The plot concerns a Texas Ranger named Collins (Starrett) and his lookalike, notorious outlaw Langdon (also Starrett). When his wife is killed by Langdon's minions, Barton (Hayden) vows to avenge her death. He mistakenly arrests Collins and sentences the lawman to hang, but our hero manages to escape in time and bring the genuine Langdon to justice. Cliff Edwards costars as a singing dentist (!) who tries but fails to provide an alibi for the hapless Collins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Russell Hayden, (more)
The "Rough Riders"-Buck Jones, Tim McCoy and Raymond Hatton-are back in the saddle in Forbidden Trails. As was customary, the stars play three wildly diverse types who are apparently strangers to one another when the film begins. In this instance, Buck Roberts (Jones) is a dude gambler, Tim McCall (McCoy) is head driver for a stagecoach line, and Sandy Hopkins (Hatton) is a desert rat who's apparently in cahoots with a pair of escaped outlaws. By Reel Four, however, it is obvious that Buck, Tim and Sandy are secretly working together to thwart the villains. In the film's most exciting scene, Buck is trapped in a burning shack while a contingent of well-armed bandits block his escape. Future "Three Stooges" heroine Christine McIntyre is the leading lady on this occasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, (more)
- 1940
After several dismal Westerns, Tex Ritter found a winner in Arizona Frontier, which was filmed in glorious locations near Prescott, Arizona. Ritter played Tex Whitedeer, a white boy reared by the Indian Grey Cloud (real-life native American sports legend Jim Thorpe). Tex's ancestry becomes an issue when as an agent for the government he is charged with deciding where the East and West branches of the railroad shall meet. Joe Lane's (Hal Price) freight company is being raided by what appears to be Indians, but Tex suspects the criminals to be white men in disguise. He is soon falsely accused by a rival army lieutenant (John Merton) of leading the marauders himself. Further investigation, however, discloses that the raiders are indeed a gang of white villains headed by Graham (Tristram Coffin), who is ultimately caught by Ritter and Grey Cloud's Indian braves. Despite his fame as an athlete, Jim Thorpe was sadly misused by Hollywood who usually saw him only in stereotypical terms. Thorpe's personal friendship with Ritter landed him the role of Grey Cloud in Arizona Frontier and he gave what was perhaps his best performance. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
"Exploitation" king Willis Kent was both producer and director of the deathless cautionary fable Mad Youth. Because she doesn't have proper parental supervision, heroine Mary Ainslee falls in with an unsavory crowd and ends up working in a clip joint.Things come to a sorry pass when both Ainslee and her "playgirl" mother Betty Compson find themselves both in love with the same oily gigolo (Willy Castello). As often happened in films of this nature, all action stops dead in its tracks half-way through the proceedings for a series of risible production numbers, staged in this instance at the La Golondrina Café in Los Angeles. The most talented of the bunch is tap-dancer Betty Atkinson, who also figures peripherally in the plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Ainslee, Betty Compson, (more)
- 1940
This upbeat domestic drama chronicles the struggles of a newlywed couple as they try to keep their marital status secret from their boss (company police forbids marriages between co-workers), cope with money issues and the wife's pregnancy. Real woes begins when the boss finds out about their union and fires the woman. Unable to pay their bills, the couple lose their furniture. Desperate for money, the husband gets involved with loan sharks. When his boss finds out about that, he fires him too. Despite their terrible troubles, the young couple remain steadfast in their love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lana Turner, John Shelton, (more)
- 1940
Yet another fast-paced western featuring the "Three Mesqueteers," pulp writer William Colt McDonald's trio of sagebrush heroes, Lone Star Raiders finds Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Tucson Smith (Bob Steele) and Lullaby Joslin (Rufe Davis) defending elderly rancher "Granny" Phelps (Sarah Padden) from greedy neighbor Henry Martin (George Douglas). Engaging in a bit of sabotage, the latter is hoping that "Granny" will lose a potentially valuable contract to supply horses for the cavalry. Wise to Martin's evil machinations, the Mesqueteers, aided by ranch foreman Cameron (John Elliott) and his daughter Linda (June Johnson), prevent the poisoning of the water trough. But our heroes soon find themselves falsely accused of killing Cameron and are thus prevented from participating in the Big Race that may determine "Granny's" future. The old lady, however, manages to break the trio out of jail in the nick of time and Cameron's real killer, Mason henchman Dixon (John Merton), is apprehended. Stony wins the race and "Granny" is rescued from financial ruin. Helmed by George Sherman, one of the best directors in the business, Lone Star Raiders moves at a typically fast clip and is constantly entertaining despite an overabundance of stock footage from earlier, more luxurious "Three Mesqueteers" entries. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Bob Steele, (more)
- 1940
After a couple of Westerns with barely any singing, former radio crooner Tex Ritter was back to form in this his fifth Monogram oater of 1940. Apart from his own and Frank Harbord's Gold Is Where You Find It, Ritter also performed Donohue's Done It Again, by Jack Frost and Johnny Lange and Lew Porter's They're Hanging Pappy in the Morning. Tex and bucolic sidekick Slim Andrews are prospectors in Boom Town, a community terrorized by a band of claim jumpers known as "The Ceegaret Gang" due to their practice of leaving the intended victim with a death threat written on cigarette paper. When Tex and Slim strike pay dirt, the former is falsely accused of being the leader of the gang. The real criminals plan to blow up the jail, but Tex and Slim escape. Seeking shelter in a cave, they discover Rawls (Forrest taylor), the only man alive able to identify the leader of the gang. Returning to town, Tex is reveals that the culprit is Prader (Stanley Price), a particularly unpleasant specimen who is in cahoots with the local county clerk. Little Sugar Dawn, a precocious child actress who had helped ruin Ritter's previous Pals of the Silver Stage with her sugary presence, returned for an encore in The Golden Trail, but her screen time was mercifully brief. (Rival Western hero Tom Keene was not so lucky; the irritating child would appear in no less than five of his Monogram oaters 1941-1942.) ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Slim Andrews, (more)
- 1940
Frontier Crusader was Tim McCoy's first western vehicle for the newly-formed Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). The star plays Trigger Jim Rand, an itinerant peacekeeper who springs into action when a gang of thieves steals the payroll money from a local mining company. The theft was actually a subterfuge, to throw the miners off the trail so that the outlaws can plunder a heretofore unknown vein of gold ore. A subplot concerns a travelling show troupe, headed by high-kicking dancer Jenny Mason (Dorothy Short). Neither Jenny nor "Trigger Jim" benefit from the film's substandard cinematography, a trademark of sorts of the PRC output. Despite the murky camerawork, however, Fronter Crusader delivers the goods action-wise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Dorothy Short, (more)
- 1940
The first of eight Tim McCoy Westerns for ultra low-budget Producers' Distributing Corp./Producers Releasing Corp., Texas Renegades features the veteran star as "Silent" Tim Smith, "the greatest lawman of them all." When the good folks of Rawhide find themselves terrorized by a mysterious gang of outlaws, leading citizen Jim Bates (Lee Prather) suggests the forming of a vigilante committee. Bates, however, is opposed by pretty rancher Ruth Brand (Nora Lane) and her foreman, Bill Willis (Kenne Duncan), who secretly sends for Silent and his sidekick, Noisy (Harry Harvey). Hoping to reveal the identity of the brain behind the terror, Silent arrives in the disguise of Lefty Higgins, a notorious outlaw, but things get complicated when the real Higgins (Earl Gunn) suddenly shows up. His cover blown, Silent has a hard time convincing Ruth of his true intentions, but manages in the end to unmask Bates as the secret leader of the outlaws. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
