Willard Robertson Movies

In this western based on a novel by Zane Grey, Buck Duane (George O'Brien) is a cowboy who is forced to kill a man in an act of self-defense; the same man also took the life of Buck's father. However, the law isn't so sure Buck's motivations were pure, and Buck is forced to leave town one step ahead of the peace officers. Buck gets a chance to prove his good intentions when he helps protect a rancher who is being harassed by a gang of thugs, and also rescues his lady love, Ruth (Lucille Brown), from the same outlaws. However, Buck's brave actions do not come without retaliation -- and they also attract the attention of Lola (Myrna Loy), one of the hombre's molls. The Last Of The Duanes was filmed before in 1924 (with Tom Mix in the lead), and the story would hit the screen again in 1941, starring George Montgomery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Murder, blackmail and honor are the principal plot motivations of Silence. Clive Brook stars as Jim Warren, a gentleman thief who is sent to prison on a murder charge. Only after scores of plot twists and setbacks is the truth revealed: Warren is taking the rap for his old friend Phil Powers (Willard Robertson), who'd apparently killed blackmailing Harry Silvers (John Wray) rather than reveal the fact that Powers' foster daughter Norma (Peggy Shannon) is really Warren's illegitimate offspring. In a final surprise, it turns out that Powers was innocent as well! To reveal the true identity of the murderer would be to spoil the ending so cleverly set up by co-director Max Mercin, who penned the play upon which Silence was based. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this actioner, a sleazy sea captain not only treats his crew terribly, he also steals a sailor's wife and child. He is so abusive to the woman that she dies. He then takes the child to raise as his own. In the end, the sailor from whom he stole secretly signs on board and exacts his revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Percy Crosby's popular newspaper comic strip Skippy comes to life in this 1931 film. Designed as a vehicle for Our Gang's Jackie Cooper -- then all of nine years old -- Skippy jettisons most of the trenchant cynicism of Crosby's creation (the strip was something of a 1930s Calvin and Hobbes) in favor of sentiment. Skippy, the son of the local health inspector (Willard Robertson) conspires with his best friend, Sooky (Robert Coogan), a poor kid, to raise enough money for a dog license. The mutt in question is eventually shot by the mean dogcatcher, and the effect on Skippy and Sooky (not to mention the audience) is devastating. The tragedy leads Skippy's dad to soften his disciplinarian stance and to draw closer to his son. Skippy was followed by an even more lachrymose sequel, Sooky, also released in 1931. Twenty-five years later, Jackie Cooper, by that time a prominent TV producer/director, tried to revive Skippy as a weekly series, with future My Three Sons co-star Stanley Livingston in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Upper Underworld, The Ruling Voice stars Walter Huston as a powerful underworld chieftain who covers his crooked activities in a cloak of respectability. Cold-blooded in all business matters, Huston cares only for the welfare of his beloved daughter Loretta Young, whom he has been careful to shield from his criminal cohorts. When she learns the truth, Young angrily walks out of her father's life, a blow compounded when his "trusted" henchman Dudley Digges betrays him. In a last-ditch effort at redemption, Huston puts his own life on the line to rescue his daughter from her rival-gangster kidnappers. The final shot in The Ruling Voice is a gem, with the newspaper bearing the headline of Huston's downfall being used to wrap a dead fish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Behind the Mask is a typically virile Jack Holt vehicle, with the hero at one point shooting himself in the arm to establish an alibi! Holt plays a federal agent named Hart who has himself planted in jail as a convict to get the goods on a drug syndicate. Befriending small-time gangster Henderson (Boris Karloff), Hart follows the trail of clues to unmask the head of the syndicate, who turns out to be the supposedly respectable Dr. Steiner (Edward Van Sloan). In the rip-roaring climax, Steiner prepares to perform an "operation" on Hart, gleefully informing his victim that his chances for recovery are next to nil. Because of the presence of Boris Karloff and Edward Van Sloan in the cast, Behind the Mask was included in Screen Gems' "Shock Theater" TV package, even though there's nothing really horrific in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A semi-sequel to Tom Mix's 1932 Destry Rides Again, Rider of Death Valley finds Mix protecting the gold-mine claim of little Edith Fellows. Fellows' father has met his end at the hands of villain Fred Kohler. Kohler confronts Mix in the wastes of Death Valley, hoping to leave Mix to perish beneath the merciless sun. In a climax reminiscent of Erich Von Stroheim's Greed, both men struggle over a half-empty canteen of water, as leading lady Lois Wilson looks on helplessly. Rider of Death Valley was the second of silent western hero Tom Mix's talking features for Universal, though it was released fourth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Warner Bros.' hard-hitting chain-gang movie was a faithful adaptation of the similarly titled autobiography of Robert Elliot Burns. Paul Muni plays World War I veteran James Allen, whose plans of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Flat broke, Allen is forced to pawn his war medals, which have become a glut on the market. When Allen is innocently involved in a restaurant holdup, the police don't buy his story that the robber (Preston S. Foster) had forced him to clean out the cash register, and Allen is sentenced to ten years on a chain gang. The brutal scenes that follow make the later chain-gang movie Cool Hand Luke (1967) look like a picnic in the country. Unable to stand any more, Allen escapes and heads to Chicago. Using an alias, he builds a new life for himself and within five years is the respected president of a bridge-building firm. His landlady (Glenda Farrell), learning about his past, forces Allen to marry her. When he falls in love with another girl (Helen Vinson) and asks for a divorce, his wife turns him over to the authorities. The real-life Robert Elliot Burns was still a fugitive when he wrote his exposé of the chain-gang system; the publication of Burns' book led to the abolishment of that system and an erasure of Burns' sentence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Inspired in part by the sensational Snyder-Gray murder case (which was also the source of The Postman Always Rings Twice), The Famous Ferguson Case casts an unflattering light on the journalist "feeding frenzy" attending such crimes. A wealthy banker named Ferguson is found murdered, and his bound-and-gagged wife (Vivienne Osborne) is rescued by the police. It appears at first that the murderer was an unknown burglar, but the cops think otherwise, hypothesizing that Mrs. Ferguson actually conspired with her lover Judd Brooks (Leon Waycoff, aka Leon Ames) to murder her husband. The small town where the murder occurred suddenly becomes the center of a media circus, with reporters from all over the country grasping and clawing for a "hot scoop." At first, hard-boiled girl reporter Maizie Dickson (Joan Blondell) is no better than the rest of the journalist jackals, but she soon becomes disillusioned at the manner in which the truth has been crushed to earth by her insensitive brethren. She also has her heart broken when her husband, likewise a reporter, uses his assignment as an excuse to sleep around. The relentless media blitz eventually drives Mrs. Ferguson (whose guilt or innocence is never completely established) to kill herself and also ruins the lives of everyone around her. Once considered a relic of its period, The Famous Ferguson Case grows more timely with each passing year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1932 Tom Mix western talkie Texas Bad Man has much in common with the sombre silent efforts by Mix's former rival William S. Hart. Lawman Mix deliberately cultivates a reputation as an outlaw in order to infiltrate a gang of thieves. What sets this one apart from most budget westerns of its period are the believable situations and three-dimensional characterizations. In particular, Willard Robertson as the head villain delivers a performance that under different circumstances might very well have earned him an Oscar nomination. Also worthy of praise is the cinematography, courtesy of longtime Tom Mix associate Daniel Clark. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The factual story of H.A.W. Tabor and "Baby Doe" was the inspiration of Silver Dollar. Edward G. Robinson plays the Tabor counterpart, a prospector who strikes it rich with a silver mine. Robinson establishes the city of Denver, strongarms his way into political power, buys every creature comfort he can get his hands on, and deserts his faithful wife (Aline McMahon) for a flashy younger woman (Bebe Daniels, playing the character based on Tabor's mistress "Baby Doe"). Robinson is ruined by the decline of the silver market, spending his last days in near-madness planning and dreaming for a return to his glory days. In real life, it was Baby Doe who went insane, living (and dying) in a tiny shack near the once-prosperous silver mine. Stodgily directed, Silver Dollar isn't nearly as surrealistic as the true story it's based on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Wyler directed this melodramatic story about a boy who, after growing up in the shadow of his father, learns the old man wasn't all he claimed to be. Tom Brown (played, as coincidence would have it, by an actor named Tom Brown) is a boy who has been struggling to help his mother keep body and soul together ever since the death of his father during World War I. The elder Brown died in combat when Tom was a baby, but her heroism earned him a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor, and in tribute to his father a local American Legion post presents Tom with a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Culver Military Academy; while Tom has his doubts about his future as a soldier, he certainly understands the value of an education and accepts. However, its not until after he's enrolled at Culver that Tom learns the truth about his father -- "Doc" Brown (H.B. Warner) fled in the midst of battle, exchanging his identification with a dead soldier, and has been living the life of a coward ever since. Will Tom be able to restore the good name of the Brown family? Andy Devine, Sidney Toler, Slim Summerville and a young Tyrone Power highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide