Al St. John Movies
Gawky, loose-limbed Al St. John performed from childhood with his family in vaudeville and burlesque around his home state of California, perfecting an athletic bicycle act that would stand him in good stead for the remainder of his career. Despite his parents' misgivings about "the flickers," St. John was persuaded to enter films by the success of his uncle, Mack Sennett star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. St. John became a "Keystone Kop" in that famous congregation's very first film, The Bangville Police (1913), supported Charles Chaplin and Marie Dressler in the feature comedy Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), and then followed Arbuckle to Comique, where he and the young Buster Keaton functioned as "second bananas" to the hefty star. On his own, St. John starred in Educational comedies (one, The Iron Mule [1925], directed by his now disgraced uncle under the pseudonym of William Goodrich), all along developing his patented rube personality complete with oversized overalls and porkpie hat.St. John himself later claimed that a deal with the Fox company went sour and that he suddenly found himself more or less blacklisted by the major studios. He did appear in one of Roscoe Arbuckle's comeback shorts, Buzzin' Around (1933), but by the mid-'30s he seemed all washed up. To keep food (and, it was rumored, quite a bit of spirits) on the table, St. John switched gears and began pursuing a career in independently produced B-Westerns. He played a variety of characters, both major and minor, before almost accidentally stumbling over the particular role that would sustain him for the rest of his career and make him perhaps the favorite sidekick among kids -- that of the limber, baggy-pants braggart Fuzzy Q. Jones.
Poverty Row company Spectrum had originally intended for Melody of the Plains (1937) to co-star singer Fred Scott with Fuzzy Knight but he proved unavailable and the script was simply never changed. St. John became so popular in the role that, by 1940, he was playing Fuzzy in no less than three Western series simultaneously, PRC's Billy the Kid and Lone Rider programmers and Republic Pictures' Don "Red" Barry vehicles. He remained with the Billy the Kid/Billy Carson Westerns when star Bob Steele was replaced by Larry "Buster" Crabbe and was still Fuzzy Q. Jones in 1947 when Crabbe left in favor of Humphrey Bogart-lookalike Al "Lash" LaRue. In quite a few of these downright poverty-stricken potboilers, St. John provided the only glimmer of entertainment. As LaRue often remarked, "Fuzzy could stumble over a match stick and spend 15 exciting minutes looking for the match." In other words, kids didn't really go to see a Buster Crabbe or Lash LaRue Western, they went to see Fuzzy.
Al St. John was unique among B-Western sidekicks in that he actually carried his films rather than the easily disposable leading men. Both Crabbe and LaRue were well aware of that and remained steadfast in their praise for the diminutive performer. When the LaRue era finally ended with a short-lived television series, Lash of the West (1953), St. John returned to the boards and continued making personal appearances until his death from a heart attack. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1936
The second of six generally well-made Rex Bell Westerns produced on the cheap by Gower Gulch company Colony Pictures, West of Nevada starred the personable Bell -- husband of silent star Clara Bow -- as Jim Lloyd, a young drifter coming to the aid of an embattled prospector. The latter, Milt Haldain (Steve Clark), is assisting an Indian tribe mine their gold when he is attacked by Slade Sangree (Frank McCarroll) and his gang. Sangree, as Jim discovers, is actually working for bank manager Steven Cutting (Forrest Taylor), who needs the gold to cover his debts. Cutting frames Jim in a rustling scheme, but Jim proves to be the son of a senator assigned to investigate Cutting's dirty dealings. In real life, Rex Bell spent his post-Hollywood career not "West of Nevada" but in Nevada proper, where he was twice elected lieutenant governor. All but one of the Bell Colony Westerns were directed by Robert F. Hill, who also supplied screenplays under the pseudonym of "Rock Hawtrey." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rex Bell, Joan Barclay, (more)
- 1936
Trail Dust was the eighth entry in the 66-film "Hopalong Cassidy" series. William Boyd, of course, is Hoppy, while his sidekicks Johnny and Windy are portrayed respectively by James Ellison and Gabby Hayes. This time the story is motivated by a huge cattle drive, some of which is lifted from such silent epics as North of 36, but much of which was specially staged for this film. The villains are members of a cattlemen's cartel who conspire to kill off the herds of their less-prosperous competitors. But Hoppy and his chums deliver the cows and bulls on time, and even round up the baddies for the benefit of The Law. At 77 minutes, Trail Dust was the longest "Hopalong Cassidy" to date -- but it would soon be eclipsed by the 82-minute Borderland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, James Ellison, (more)
- 1936
The seventh of the "Hopalong Cassidy" westerns, Hopalong Cassidy Returns stars, as always, William Boyd as the black-stetsoned hero. This one is a surprisingly sadistic item, in which a mysterious predator forces various ranchers off their land through rather direct means. In the opening scene, a wheelchair-bound victim is roped and dragged to his death! Hopalong Cassidy discovers that the instigator of these attacks is a woman, played by one-time silent star Evelyn Brent. She is killed in an appropriately gruesome manner by her disgruntled henchman--whereupon upstanding Mr. Cassidy shoots the killer twice at point blank range. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
A homicidal hunchback known as The Fiend is stalking a theater company in this ultra low-budget whodunit ostensibly based on a short story The Great Mono Miracle by Peter B. Kyne. Looking into the mysterious goings-on, Reporter Frank Gordon (Lloyd Hughes) joins drama editor Jean Monroe (June Collyer) and intrepid, but bumbling, photographer Elmer (Al St. John) in an attempt to flush out the murderer. One of the actors, Reardon (Jack Mulhall), makes himself the prime suspect by behaving highly suspicious, but he, too, is murdered. The Fiend, as Elmer learns the hard way, is someone else entirely, someone who holds a deep-rooted grudge against the company. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Molly O'Day, (more)
- 1935
This Zane Grey adaptation stars Dean Jagger as Adam and Gail Patrick as Ruth, two rugged individuals heading to gold country by riverboat. The couple's burgeoning romance is interrupted when Adam inadvertently gets involved in a murder. On the lam from the authorities, he links up with grizzled old prospector Dismukes (Edward Ellis), the titular wasteland wanderer. In typical Zane Grey fashion, hero and heroine are ultimately reunited by a series of convenient coincidences -- but there's still villainous Big Ben (Buster Crabbe) to contend with. Hefty vaudeville headliner Trixie Friganza also shows up in a choice supporting role. Previously filmed by Paramount in 1924 (in Technicolor, no less), Wanderer of the Wasteland was remade by RKO Radio in 1945. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dean Jagger, Gail Patrick, (more)
- 1935
In this comedy, a waitress at a local lunch counter inadvertently foils a bank robbery and finds herself turned into a national heroine by an eager-beaver reporter. Unfortunately, her sudden notoriety causes gangsters to abduct her. The plucky waitress not only manages to talk them into returning her, she also convinces them to go straight. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- ZaSu Pitts, Hugh O'Connell, (more)
- 1934
Wisecracking Public Stenographer Ann McNair (Lola Lane) spends most of her time fending off the Roamin' Fingers and Rushin' Hands of her employers. En route to another job, Ann's car stalls on a lonely stretch of road. She is rescued by handsome Jim Martin (William Collier Jr.), who at first behaves as boorishly as all the other men in Ann's life. Eventually, however, Jim falls genuinely in love with Ann, permitting her at long last to drop her hard-boiled veneer. Esther Muir, best remembered as the "wallpapered woman" in the Marx Bros.' A Day at the Races, steals the show as the heroine's best pal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lola Lane, William Collier, Jr., (more)
A very young John Wayne is atypically cast as a randy playboy in His Private Secretary. Much to the dismay of his businessman father, Dick Wallace (Wayne) prefers a life of wine, women and more women to honest work. The elder Wallace demands that Dick take a job as his company's collection manager, and it is in this capacity that our hero heads to the small town of Somerville to collect a debt. Here he meets pretty Marion (Evelyn Knapp), the granddaughter of the man from whom Dick must extract overdue payments. Immediately putting the moves on Marion, Dick is rebuffed with a slap and several harsh words -- and for the first time in his life, the prodigal son is really in love! Inevitably, Marion ends up working as a secretary for Dick's dad, driving the poor boy crazy in his efforts to make up for his previous boorish behavior. Excerpts from His Private Secretary have frequently shown up in TV documentaries about John Wayne, as "proof" of his inability to act in his pre-John Ford years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evelyn Knapp, John Wayne, (more)
- 1933
- NR
In the first of his 16 Westerns for Monogram, John Wayne plays Singin' Sandy Saunders, a drifter who witnesses what he at first believes to be a stage robbery. In reality, the "road agent" is a girl, Fay Denton (Cecilia Parker), and she is "stealing" her own money in order to prevent a phony stage holdup further down the road. As Fay's father, Charlie "Dad" Denton (George Hayes), explains, the culprit behind a rash of pretend stage holdups committed by two bumbling drivers (Al St. John and Heinie Conklin) is James Kincaid (Forrest Taylor), who is also forcing the local farmers off their lands by demanding an outrageous price for his water. When Sandy appears on the horizon, Kincaid engages a notorious gunman, Slip Morgan (Earl Dwire), but Sandy disarms the bandit for good by shooting him through both wrists. Much to Fay's disgust, Kincaid quickly hires the newcomer, now known as "the most notorious outlaw since Billy the Kid," and Saunders suggests that they dynamite Dad Denton's well, the only other available source of water in the area. It is all a ruse, of course, and Sandy soon reveals himself to be a government agent in disguise. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Cecilia Parker, (more)
- 1932
Aging has-been silent star Henry B. Walthall plays an aging has-been silent star in this low-budget drama from Monogram Pictures. D.W. Griffith's erstwhile "Little Colonel" is Nathaniel Barry, a once admired actor now facing a magistrate (Edmund Breese) on a charge of drunken disorder. Barry's young son Junior (Leon Barry) steps in and convinces the judge that Nat has a job waiting for him. But the old actor's fondness for the bottle once again makes him unemployable and he is soon reduced to playing Abraham Lincoln in a traveling sideshow. Junior, meanwhile, lands the starring role in a film called "Father and Son" and convinces the studio owner (Lionel Belmore) to cast Nat in the other title role. The veteran star delivers a moving performance before dying in his son's arms right on the set. Perhaps because of Walthall's reputation, Police Court was reviewed by the staid New York Times (as Fame Street), an honor not awarded many Poverty Row productions. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henry B. Walthall, Leon Janney, (more)
- 1932
In his third of six low-budget Westerns for Poverty Row company Sono Art-World Wide, diminutive cowboy ace Bob Steele was once again directed by his real-life father, Robert North Bradbury. Steele plays Bob Houston, a young man returning from college only to find that the father (Horace B. Carpenter) of his girlfriend, Barbara (Gertrude Messenger), has been killed by prison escapee "Hashknife" Brooks (George "Gabby" Hayes). Bob joins the rangers in their search for the killer and, with the assistance of his Apache friends, manages to track down the evil Hashknife. Greg Whitespear, who played Steele's Native American friend, was an Apache Indian hired by producer Trem Carr as a location scout and casting director. The villain's chief henchman, Gomez, was also played by a non-actor, José Dominguez, a noted Mexican vaquero. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- George "Gabby" Hayes
- 1932
In this western, a man is accused of murder even though there is no body to prove that a killing has occurred. They look and look, but the corpse has disappeared. Only one woman knows the truth, and she's not telling. Fortunately, the accused uncovers her wicked plot and clears his name. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nadine Dore
- 1931
The ubiquitous Robert North Bradbury directed this low-budget Bob Custer Western, with his trademark "swish-pan" technique very much in evidence. Custer plays Bob Brent, a sheriff's deputy suspecting that his future father-in-law, Dan Farrell (J.P. McGowan), may actually be the notorious "Polka-Dot" bandit. He isn't, of course, a fact that becomes increasingly clear after the arrival of one Buck Brokaw (Edward Hearn) and his female accomplice Roxie (Eve Humes). Slowing the already lethargic pace even further, saloon girl Jane Crowley performs an especially woeful rendition of Paul Dresser's famous "On the Banks of the Wabash." Watch for future Western sidekick Al St. John as a barfly. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Doris Phillips, Edward Hearn, (more)
- 1931
In the South Seas, half-caste Ilanu (Raquel Torres) refuses to marry Kahea (Donald Reed), as she loves Jimmy Bradford (Ben Lyon), heir to an American fortune; her grandfather warns her that her own mother's marriage to a white man was so unhappy that she'd leaped into a volcano. Despite misgivings over her race, and lingering feelings for his previous fiancee Elaine (Marian Douglas), Jimmy does marry Ilanu and takes her to San Francisco with him. His father (Robert Edeson) and sister Winnie (Thelma Todd) are shocked by Ilanu's apparent vulgarity, but Jimmy remains loyal to Ilanu, even though this means they return to her island, penniless. ~ Bill Warren, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ben Lyon, Raquel Torres, (more)
- 1931
In its last production days, Tiffany studios was home for many a "B" western series. One such starred Bob Steele, usually cast as a young cowboy searching for the murderer of his father. In At the Ridge, however, Steele and his sidekick Al St. John are occupied with protecting a herd of horses from murderous rustlers. The leader of the bad guys turns out to be an undercover US marshal, thus preventing Steele and John from ending up laced with lead. The "good bad man" in At the Ridge was played by Al Jennings, a real-life outlaw who reformed after a prison term and went into movies as an actor, producer and director. His life story was somewhat romanticized in 1951's Al Jennings of Oklahoma, which starred Dan Duryea. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this western, an orphan who is discovered alone in the desert is raised by a kindly family. The only dark spot in their lives comes from a long-standing feud with another family, something that eventually comes to an end when the orphan grows up and falls in love with the enemy family's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, Clark Gable, (more)
- 1930
The fourth of eight westerns made by diminutive Bob Steele for poverty row's Tiffany Productions, The Land of Missing Men is a sturdy little oater which contains a hair-rising scene where Steele and sidekick Al St. John enter a saloon littered with corpses! The remainder of the film is not quite as gruesome, but is instead a lively affair about a cowboy falsely accused of terrorizing a ranching community. Steele, of course, is innocent of all charges but has to prove it the hard way, by catching the real villain, the town's newly elected sheriff (Edward Dunn). The creepy saloon scene remains the film's center piece, however, what with a tinny player piano droning out the tune "After the Ball" over and over as Steele and St. John examine the bodies and the one man left alive (Emilio Fernandez). The scene precedes a similar but much more famous sequence in John Wayne's Randy Rides Alone (1934) but is actually better staged here. Real-life outlaw Al Jennings plays a retiring lawman in this film, but the real surprise is the appearance of Mexican-born Fernandez, who later became one his country's best known directors. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Steele
- 1930
Even allowing for the comparative freedom of the pre-Production Code years, 1930's Hell Harbor was pretty strong meat for its time. The story is set on a remote Caribbean island, entirely populated by descendants of Sir Henry Morgan's pirate crew. Morgan's brutish great-great-grandson Henry Morgan (Gibson Gowland) intends to shower himself with gold and to that end forces his daughter Anita (Lupe Velez) into a marriage with despicable moneylender Joseph Horngold (Jean Hersholt). Coming to Anita's rescue is shipwrecked American sailor Bob Wade (John Holland), whose presence sparks an unchecked riot on the island. The film's most chilling scene finds Morgan. Director Henry King also produced the film through his own Inspiration Pictures Corporation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Jean Hersholt, (more)
Disguising himself as a bandit, diminutive cowboy star Bob Steele infiltrates the gang who abducted his father, the sheriff. The second of eight Steele Westerns produced by Trem Carr for Tiffany release, this minor Western included three songs crooned by a star not necessarily known for any great vocal abilities. With non-vocalists like Steele and fellow Tiffany star Ken Maynard constantly warbling by the camp fire, it is a wonder that their Westerns remained the floundering company's only real moneymakers. The singing cowboy vogue had come to an end by 1931 and (thankfully, some say) was not revived until the emergence in the mid-'30s of radio crooner Gene Autry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1929
In spite of its unbelievable storyline, She Goes to War manages to sustain interest from first reel to last. During WWI, spoiled socialite Joan Morant (Eleanor Boardman) heads to France, hoping to be reunited with her soldier sweetheart Reggie (Edmund Burns). Her presence is resented by Reggie's CO, Lieutenant Tom Pike (John Holland), who endeavors to prove to the heroine that social standing means nothing in the face of war. When Reggie turns coward and refuses to march into battle, the newly-responsible Joan, hoping to save Reggie's honor, dons a uniform and marches off in his place! Through a bizarre turn of events, Joan ends up saving the lives of everyone else in the regiment. Currently available from several public-domain videocassette sources, She Goes to War is worth seeing if only for its brief talkie sequences, in which the voice of actress Alma Rubens (cast as ukelele-plucking Rosie Cohen) was heard for the first and only time; within two years, Rubens would be dead, having lost her ongoing battle with drug addiction. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eleanor Boardman, John Holland, (more)
- 1929
A vaudevillian working in a third-rate burlesque show suffers marital turmoil when success swells his head in this silent back-stage melodrama. He celebrates his stardom with a few drinks. Unfortunately, this leads to alcoholism and carousing with other women causing his wife to eventually leave him and find happiness with another. Meanwhile, the vaudevillian teeters on the brink of alcoholic ruin. Fortunately, just before he tumbles into an eternal bottomless pit of hopelessness, she returns to save him and marital bliss resumes. One of the dance scenes was filmed in early two-tone Technicolor. The film was later remade as Swing High, Swing Low (1937) and as When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948). ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Hal Skelly, (more)
- 1928
Rival telephone companies race to complete a line between Cheyenne, Wyoming and Rawhide in this lively Tom Mix Western directed by the star's brother-in-law, Eugene Forde. The foreman of one of the competing companies hires Mix to keep an eye out for sabotage from their rival. Mix swings into action when the foreman's daughter (Caryl Lincoln) gets herself kidnapped; at one point, the athletic hero hooks under a runaway wagon in order to evade his pursuers. Miss Lincoln is rescued and her father can claim victory for his company. Reviewers of the day praised Caryl Lincoln, a 1929 Wampas Baby Star and Barbara Stanwyck's sister-in-law, for her spirited portrayal of a Western heroine. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Mix, Caryl Lincoln, (more)
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