Jack Randall Movies

In this his penultimate Western for low-budget company Monogram, Jack Randall assumed the identity of a murdered ranger in order to track down the killer. In the lawless town of Brimstone, the citizens are being terrorized by a gang of outlaws headed by Mason (Tom London), who, to no one's great surprise, proves to be the very man Jack has been trailing. The relieved citizens of Brimstone then elect Jack as their new sheriff. The murdered ranger's sister was played by Margaret Roach, the 19-year-old daughter of comedy producer Hal Roach. Ernie Adams replaced Glenn Strange (who himself had replaced Frank Yaconelli) as Randall's sidekick, Manny, and Nelson McDowell provided additional comic relief as Brimstone's busy undertaker. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Having explored the old wheeze about the young man searching for his brother's killer and the one about the cowboy impersonating an outlaw, Robert Emmett Tansey, the producer/writer of Monogram's Jack Randall Westerns, turned to the ever popular "brothers separated during an attack of their wagon train" story. Fortunately, this time around director Spencer Gordon Bennet and his cast traveled to picturesque Lone Pine, CA, and Across the Plains emerged as one of Randall's better vehicles. After a gang of outlaws attack their wagon train, Little Jack (Buddy Cox) is adopted by a roving band of Indians while Little Jimmy (Texi-Ray Cox) is abducted by the outlaws. Years later, the adult Jack (now Jack Randall) and Jimmy (Dennis Moore) meet again but on opposing sides of the law regarding a shipment of gold. Ignorant of the fact that they are brothers, Jack and Jimmy are about to square off when Buckskin (Hal Price), the old wagon master, brings their true relationship to light. Jimmy, now an outlaw known as the Kansas Kid, discovers that a member of his gang, Buff (Robert Card), is the villain who murdered their parents. Mortally wounded in the ensuing battle, Jimmy, alias the Kid, meets his maker with the knowledge that the death of his parents has been avenged at last. Jack, meanwhile, proposes to Mary Masters (Joyce Bryant), the daughter of the stage line owner. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The first of 22 inexpensive Westerns starring Jack Randall (aka Addison Randall and Allan Byron), Riders of the Dawn is yet another in a long series of oaters featuring a lawman masquerading as an outlaw. This time around, the lawman is Jack Preston (Randall), a singing marshal searching for the gang that has been terrorizing the good folks of Green Valley. Posing as Two-Gun Gardner, Preston tracks down the villainous Danti (Warner Richmond) and his gang of stage robbers. The brother (some say half-brother) of B-Western star Robert Livingston, Jack Randall was Poverty Row company Monogram's first entry in the singing cowboy sweepstakes. When the studio acquired Tex Ritter in 1940, the Randall vehicles became straight Westerns playing the lower half of double bills. Better known for his offscreen escapades (which included marrying the same woman, actress Louise Stanley, twice), Randall changed his name to Allan Byron in 1943. He was Addison Randall once again when killed performing a riding stunt for the 1945 serial The Royal Mounted Rides Again. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Wandering around in the darkness, an amnesiac (Walter Abel) can't shake the feeling that he's murdered someone. When it develops that a prominent (if somewhat shifty) theatrical producer has been killed, our hero thinks that he's guilty. But unemployed actress Marie Smith (Margot Grahame) isn't completely convinced, so she helps him reconstruct the clues and -- hopefully -- track down the real killer. Walter Abel and Margot Grahame are more felicitously teamed here than they'd been as D'Artagnan and Milady de Winter in the previous season's Three Musketeers. Based on a novel by Gelett Burgess, Two in the Dark was remade in 1945 as Two O'Clock Courage (the book's original title). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide