Denver Pyle Movies
Had he been born a decade earlier, American actor Denver Pyle might well have joined the ranks of western-movie comedy sidekicks. Instead, Pyle, a Colorado farm boy, opted for studying law, working his way through school by playing drums in a dance band. Suddenly one day, Pyle became disenchanted with law and returned to his family farm, with nary an idea what he wanted to do with his life. Working in the oil fields of Oklahoma, he moved on to the shrimp boats of Galveston, Texas. A short stint as a page at NBC radio studios in 1940 didn't immediately lead to a showbiz career, as it has for so many others; instead, Pyle was inspired to perform by a mute oilfield coworker who was able to convey his thought with body language. Studying under such masters as Michael Chekhov and Maria Ouspenskaya, Pyle was able to achieve small movie and TV roles. He worked frequently on the western series of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry; not yet bearded and grizzled, Pyle was often seen as deputies, farmers and cattle rustlers. When his hair turned prematurely grey in his early '30s, Pyle graduated to banker, sheriff and judge roles in theatrical westerns -- though never of the comic variety. He also was a regular on two TV series, Code 3 (1956) and Tammy (1966). But his real breakthrough role didn't happen until 1967, when Pyle was cast as the taciturn sheriff in Bonnie and Clyde who is kidnapped and humilated by the robbers -- and then shows up at the end of the film to supervise the bloody machine-gun deaths of B&C. This virtually nonspeaking role won worldwide fame for Pyle, as well as verbal and physical assalts from the LA hippie community who regarded Bonnie and Clyde as folk heroes! From this point forward, Denver Pyle's billing, roles and salary were vastly improved -- and his screen image was softened and humanized by a full, bushy beard. Returning to TV, Pyle played the star's father on The Doris Day Show (1968-73); was Mad Jack, the costar/narrator of Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1978-80); and best of all, spent six years (1979-85) as Uncle Jesse Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard. Looking stockier but otherwise unchanged, Denver Pyle was briefly seen in the 1994 hit Maverick, playing an elegantly dishonest cardshark who jauntily doffs his hat as he's dumped off of a riverboat. Pyle died of lung cancer at Burbank's Providence St. Joseph Medical Center at age 77. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1947
It's nice to see perennial supporting player (and future TV sportscaster) Richard Lane in a full-fledged leading role, even in an inconsequential "B" like Columbia's Devil Ship. Lane plays a tuna-boat skipper whose business is in the dumpster. To pad his income, he agrees to ship convicts to Alcatraz Island. You don't need a crystal ball to predict what happens next. The Devil Ship was produced by Martin E. Mooney, a real-life ex-jailbird who put together several low-budget prison pictures in the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Lane, Louise Campbell, (more)
- 1947
Where the North Begins was one of a quartet of 45-minute adventure yarns produced by the Screen Guild in the late 1940s. All four films starred Russell Hayden as Canadian Mountie "Lucky" Sanderson, and all four had nearly identical supporting casts. This time around, Lucky and an undercover officer (Steve Bailey) try to put an end to the smuggling activities of the villain (Tristam Coffin). Evidently, Where the North Begins was intended as a companion feature to its immediate follow-up, Trail of the Mounties. There's also some evidence that these two films were originally one single, longer film, reedited to conform to the then-prevalent Double Feature policy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1947
In this drama, a soldier's widow, whose husband died a hero in WW II, begins a quest to find the five men whose lives were saved when her husband sacrificed his own life by taking the brunt of a hand grenade blast. Her search begins two years after the war's end, and is an attempt to see if the men were worthy of her husband's death. En route she is slightly hurt in a minor accident and becomes hysterically paralyzed and unable to walk. One of the soldiers she was looking for tries to help her overcome her hysteria by using hypnosis. While she sleeps, he allows her to "talk" to all the soldiers involved in the incident. In this way, she is able to accept her husband's death. Seeing that the hypnotist is himself filled with guilt about the death, she in turn hypnotizes him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Melvyn Douglas, (more)
- 1948
This prison drama is told via flashback and follows a group of prisoners bound for Alcatraz. En route, the group plans their escape. One of the convicts is innocent and ends up falling in love with a pretty passenger. Later romance really blooms after his name is cleared, but the other would-be escapees all die trying to break out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Janet Martin, (more)
- 1948
In a season that also saw him as The Denver Kid (1948) and The Sheriff of Wichita, Republic's Allan Lane, still carrying the nickname of "Rocky," became marshal of the title's rough-and-tumble Texas location. Marshal Lane comes to the aid of a group of stagecoach passengers stranded at the spooky Halfway House after driver Ben Dolan (Roy Barcroft crashed the stage in an attempt to outrun a masked gunman. Prospector Nugget Clark (Eddy Waller) realizes that the Halfway House may not be your average hostelry when the night clerk (Denver Pyle) keeps up a lengthy conversation with a non-existent porter named George. After discovering the body of fellow passenger Hiram Short (Charles Williams), Marshal Lane and Nugget become even more mystified when the manager of the place, Welsh (Trevor Bardette), announces that he employs no night clerk and that the only guest in residence is cranky Mrs. Pettigrew (Minerva Urecal). Yet another stranded passenger, Underwood (Tom Chatterton), has vanished into thin air, his room now used for storage. Dolan, the stage driver, also meets with sudden death and the missing Underwood's pretty daughter Marjorie (Mildred Coles) informs Lane that her father was carrying $50,000 on his person, money earmarked for buying a ranch. Arriving to the inn late at night, Marjorie is also served by the spooky night clerk, who offers to take her to see her father. The plot thickens and Marshal Lane realizes that Underwood has been kidnapped for his money. After all the mysterious goings-on have been unmakes as fake, the murder/kidnapper is caught in a dramatic chase between stagecoaches, a chase that ends in a raging river. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Lane, Eddy Waller, (more)
- 1949
Flame of Youth was a modest juvenile-delinquent drama from the Republic Studio mills. With too much time on their hands, a bunch of high school kids set up a lucrative automobile accessory business. Bypassing more honest methods, the group steals the accessories and sells them at cut-rate prices. The kids soon learn the error of their ways when a gang of big-time hoodlums muscle into their racket. Tucked away among the supporting players in young, callow, clean-shaven Denver Pyle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Fuller, Ray McDonald, (more)
- 1949
Red Canyon was one of several medium-budget, Technicolor westerns turned out by Universal-International between 1949 and 1959. Howard Duff plays wandering cowpoke Lin Sloane, who spends most of the film trying to capture a fabled wild stallion. While thus occupied, he finds time to romance Lucy Bostel (Ann Blyth), daughter of the region's most influential horsebreeder (George Brent). Conflicts arise when Lucy intends to race the captured stallion, much to the dismay of her father; there's also a major brouhaha involving Sloane's disreputable family heritage. Red Canyon was adapted by Maurice Geraghty from a rugged novel by Zane Grey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Blyth, Howard Duff, (more)
Gene Autry plays a dual role in the above-average Columbia oater Rim of the Canyon. Our hero plays "himself" and his own father, a famed sheriff. Twenty years ago, Autry Sr. threw a trio of outlaws (Walter Sande, Jock Mahoney and Francis McDonald) into jail for stealing a large sum of money. When the crooks escape and head for the hidden loot, it's up to Autry Jr. to track them down. Unlike previous Columbia Autrys, Rim of the Canyon downplays the musical element in favor of fast, sometimes violent action. Even Autry's faithful horse Champion gets in on the act by trampling one of the crooks. Autry's leading lady this time out is Nan Leslie, later a busy TV character actress; another future TV favorite, Alan Hale Jr., essays a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Nan Leslie, (more)
- 1949
No relation to the 1970s TV series of the same name, Republic's Streets of San Francisco stars Hollywood veterans Robert Armstrong and Mae Clarke. Armstrong plays Willard Logan, a tough Frisco detective who is forced to killer a gangster leader. Logan takes pity on the gangster's orphaned son Frankie (Gary Gray), despite the fact that the boy despises all cops with a passion. Gradually, Frankie responds to the kindnesses extended by Logan and his wife Hazel (Mae Clarke). Sentiment gives way to melodrama in the final reel, when Frankie is kidnapped by his father's mob and nearly strong-armed into a life of crime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Armstrong, Mae Clarke, (more)
When Lizabeth Scott's Jane Greer husband Arthur Kennedy accidentally gets his mitts on $60,000 in stolen money, she insists that he keep the dough rather than turn it over to the authorities. Two-bit private eye Dan Duryea catches on to Scott's subterfuge, and demands that she turn the cash over to him. Scott persuades Duryea to split the money with her--then, determining that Kennedy might be too honest for everyone's own good, she murders her husband. To cover her tracks, Scott reports her husband as missing. This brings in yet another fly in the ointment: Don DeFore, the brother of Scott's first husband, who died under mysterious circumstances. The already knotted webs of intrigue become even more tangled before Scott's ironic comeuppance. Too Late for Tears was scripted by Roy Huggins, who later produced such TV detective series as The Rockford Files. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, (more)
- 1949
Western star William Elliot always insisted that his idol was silent-film cowboy William S. Hart. Elliot's Hellfire, then, can be seen as his tribute to the 1916 Bill Hart classic Hell's Hinges. Elliot plays a hard-bitten frontier gambler whose life is saved by a preacher. When the preacher dies as a result, Elliot vows to mend his ways. He becomes a minister himself, planning to finish constructing a church that his predecessor had started. To finance this project, he hopes to collect the reward on female outlaw Marie Windsor. She resists all attempts to bring her to justice, but after a climactic shoot-out with the rest of the criminal element in town, the wounded Windsor repents her sins and agrees to turn herself in. Hellfire was written by Dorrell and Stuart E. McGowan, who later collaborated on the long-running TV anthology Death Valley Days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Wild Bill" Elliott, Marie Windsor, (more)
Glenn Ford is top-billed in Man From Colorado, though he's anything but a hero. Ford plays a seriously disturbed Civil War vet who kills because he enjoys killing. William Holden, Ford's army buddy, tries to stem Ford's homicidal tendencies. When Ford is appointed the "hanging" judge of a Colorado town, Holden signs on as his deputy. The final break between the two onetime friends comes when Holden casts his lot with a group of disgruntled miners whom Ford has disenfranchised. A fistfight in a burning building brings the no-nonsense Man From Colorado to a brutal conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, William Holden, (more)
- 1950
William Eythe is the Customs Agent in this brisk Columbia programmer. The plot finds Bert Stewart (Eythe) stationed in China, where he goes undercover to join a gang of dope smugglers. His plan is to stop the wholesale stealing of valuable streptomycin, which the crooks are peddling to drug addicts. Marjorie Reynolds will surprise fans of her work in TV's The Life of Riley with her portrayal of the gang-leader's moll. Another TV favorite, Jim Backus, co-stars as one of the good guys. Customs Agent makes no demands upon the intellect but does succeed as slam-bang entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Eythe, Marjorie Reynolds, (more)
Striking while the iron was hot, actor/producer Mikel Conrad registered the title The Flying Saucer for copyright not long after UFOs were allegedly spotted in Washington State. Filmed on location in Alaska, Flying Saucer stars Conrad (who also co-wrote) as a secret agent, dispatched by the government to find out whether or not the UFO reports constitute a threat against American defenses. He goes on a "pub crawl" in Alaska, looking for eyewitnesses to the flying-saucer phenomenon. After a series of slow-moving complications, the agent rounds up a group of Russian spies who've been using the saucer for evil purposes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mikel Conrad, Pat Garrison, (more)
- 1950
Breaking from the Republic tradition, cowboy star Monte Hale does not play a character named Monte Hale in The Old Frontier. Instead, Hale is cast as town marshal Barney Regan. It is Barney's formidable task to round up a gang of bank robbers and expose the "Mr. Big" behind all the robberies. Some novelty value is provided by comical sidekick Paul Hurst, here cast as a seafaring man named Skipper Horton, who insists upon imposing his nautical vernacular on every frontiersman he meets. The villainy is in the capable (if unwashed) hands of Tristam Coffin and William Haade. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monte Hale, Paul Hurst, (more)
- 1950
Tim Holt and Richard Martin, RKO's resident western good guys, are back in Dynamite Pass. Usually cast as cowpunchers, Holt and Martin are construction workers Ross and Chito this time out. Someone is trying to prevent honest road builder Dan (Regis Toomey) from completing his job, and that someone is his unscrupulous rival Thurber (John Dehner), the owner of a profitable toll road. Had Thurber waited a few years, he could have found a job on the Pennsylvania turnpike. As it stands, however, Ross and Chito must stop Thurber before he destroys the road project permanently. Dynamite Pass is distinguished by better-than-usual performances from all concerned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Lynne Roberts, (more)
- 1950
The federal agent "at large" in this Republic programmer is played by Kent Taylor. On the trail of gold smugglers in Mexico, Matt Reedy (Taylor) crosses the path of hard-boiled lady criminal Solitare (Dorothy Patrick). Her criminal tendencies softened by romance, Solitare decides to work with Reedy instead of against him. The gang's modus operandi is an ingenious one; equally clever are the means by which they are brought to justice. Second-billed Robert Rockwell delivers one of his better performances as a dedicated archaeologist, while veteran character actor Frank Puglia enjoys one of his largest screen roles as a reluctant outlaw. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Patrick, Robert Rockwell, (more)
- 1951
Allan "Rocky" Lane takes on a crooked landowner in Republic's Rough Riders of Durango. The villain intends to drive several ranchers into bankruptcy so he can snatch up their property at dirt-cheap prices. The ranchers fight back by scraping up $40,000 to clear all their debts. When the money is stolen, Lane is called in to retrieve the cash and collar the crooks. As was customary in the Allan "Rocky" Lane vehicles, Lane's horse Black Jack is afforded second billing in Rough Riders of Durango, while nominal leading lady Aline Towne is billed fourth. Even farther down the cast list is future Dukes of Hazzard co-star Denver Pyle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Lane, Walter S. Baldwin, (more)
- 1951
An all-supporting-player cast graces the Republic actioner Million Dollar Pursuit. Top billing goes to Penny Edwards as nightclub chanteuse Bonnie Laverne, but the film's leading character is small-time crook Monte Norris, played by Norman Budd. Planning a major heist, Norris gets in over his head when he enlists the aid of more experienced criminals, headed by cabaret owner Carlo Petrov (Grant Withers). So fascinating are the villainous characters in Million Dollar Pursuit that nominal good guy Lt. Whitcomb (Steve Flagg) seems downright intrusive. The film was an early TV arrival, where it has shown up with startling frequency on the nation's many Late Late Shows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Edwards, Grant Withers, (more)
- 1951
Hills of Utah casts Gene Autry as a frontier doctor with a predilection for singing. A recent med-school graduate, Autry sets up practice in the midst of a long-standing feud between cattlemen and miners. While patching up the participants of the feud, Gene searches every nook and cranny for the man who murdered his father. Along the way, our hero is himself wrongly accused of murder, but of course the actual culprit is the same villain he's been looking for. Autry's usual leading lady Gail Davis must have been busy elsewhere, inasmuch as Elaine Riley fulfills the heroine duties this time out. For no real reason other than to satiate the demands of his fans, Gene Autry renders his top 10 hit "Peter Cottontail" halfway through the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1951
Judy Canova continues to bring home the box-office bacon for Republic Pictures in Oklahoma Annie. Judy plays Judy, Queen of the Cowgirls, a backwoods shopkeeper who falls in love with new sheriff Dan Fraser (John Russell). In order to stay in close proximity with the handsome lawkeeper, Judy performs an act of courage which earns her a deputy's badge. Working together, Judy and Dan do their best to rid their community of corrupt politicians, beginning with their assault on a local gambling den. When Dan is kidnapped by the bad guys, Judy rallies all the womenfolk in town and heads to the rescue. Even nonfans of Judy Canova will enjoy this rambunctious musical comedy, with the star functioning full-force on all eight cylinders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Canova, John Russell, (more)
- 1952
As other "B"-western series kept dropping like flies in 1952, Johnny Mack Brown kept grinding 'em out for Monogram. In Man From Black Hills, Johnny tries to help locate his saddle pal Jim Fallan's (James Ellison) long-lost father. Arriving in a small mining town, Johnny and Jim discover that Jim's father has established a financial empire--and that a local opportunist (Randy Brooks) has capitalized on this by claiming to be the old man's son. A few fistfights and gun battles later, things are set aright. Man From Black Hills was directed by Thomas Carr, who went on to a prolific career on episodic television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, James Ellison, (more)
- 1952
Johnny Mack Brown was a bit on the chunky side by the time he starred in Canyon Ambush, though his excess poundage never impedes his performance. This time Brown comes to the rescue of imperiled Phyllis Coates (who'd just spent 26 weeks as Lois Lane on the TV series Superman). The bad guys just plain haven't got a chance against the slow-talking, fast-triggered Mr. Brown from Alabama. Brown's Monogram westerns of the early 1950s were hampered by severe economical limitations, and Canyon Ambush is hardly an exception. The film manages to coast on the sheer star power of its veteran leading man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Cowboy hero Wild Bill Elliot (whose trademark was wearing his six-shooters backwards in his holsters) stars in this oater. After his brother is murdered by crooked cattlemen, Elliot is determined to bring honest business to the plains of North Dakota, and he pioneers the use of barbed wire to fence in his property. The supporting cast includes Phyllis Coates, Jack Ingram, Denver Pyle, and Fuzzy Knight. This 1952 feature is not to be confused with 1996 crime comedy of the same name, which gave new life to the expression "You betcha!" ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this "Wild Bill Elliot" western, Elliot and two other lawmen (Myron Healey and Robert Bray) are assigned to take three outlaws to prison. Along the way, they agree to escort Phyllis Coates and her grandmother Florence Lake through Indian territory. Everyone's safety is threatened when one of the deputies (Healey) casts his lot with the criminals. Maverick was the first of three serendipitous collaborations between star Elliot and director Thomas Carr. Incidentally, Carr had just finished directing leading lady Phyllis Coates in several episodes of the Superman TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Wild Bill" Elliott, Myron Healey, (more)
