Eleanor Stewart Movies

An above-average entry in the long-running Hopalong Cassidy Western series, the enigmatically titled Mystery Man opens with Hoppy (William Boyd), California Carlson (Andy Clyde), Jimmy Rogers, and the Bar 20 cowboys driving a herd of cattle to the Circle J. Ranch, whose owner, Tom Hanlon (Bob Burns), is to pay cash on delivery. In the town of Holbrook, however, the Bar 20 crew interrupts a bank robbery committed by the notorious Trilling gang whose boss (Don Costello) remains a mystery man. Not even the shrewd Hoppy is able to detect anything wrong with the inquisitive dude, who commends him for foiling the robbery. The dude, alias Trilling, manages to spring his henchmen from jail and then concocts a plan to steal the Bar 20 cattle en route to the Circle J. Despite strong resistance from Hoppy and his friends, Trilling does manage to drive the cattle to the Circle J where he presents himself as Hoppy. The real Hopalong Cassidy, meanwhile, is imprisoned by Sheriff Newhall (Taylor Homes), who accuses him of being Trilling. But the sheriff's daughter, Diane (Eleanor Stewart), who once rescued Jimmy from a would-be killer, knows otherwise and manages to free the Bar 20 cowboys. With the sheriff's posse hot on their trail and Diane acting as a decoy, Hoppy and his men force the Trilling gang into a box canyon and a final shootout. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This rambling historical drama covers 109 years in the life of one woman. Encased in convincing old-age makeup, Barbara Stanwyck reminisces on her experiences in the American West. As a young woman, she is squired by gambler Brian Donlevy, but her heart belongs to dreamer Joel McCrea. She chooses McCrea, and the first years of their marriage are poor but happy. Then McCrea strikes oil, becoming one of his state's richest men. With Stanwyck at his side, McCrea climbs up the ladder of success all the way to the political arena--while Donlevy lurks in the background in hopes of reclaiming his girl. The Great Man's Lady is a surprisingly sedate vehicle for both Stanwyck and action director William A. Wellman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director William "One Take" Beaudine puts his all-character-actor cast through their paces in Men of San Quentin. J. Anthony Hughes plays a prison guard who tries to put new reforms into effect when he becomes a warden. Naturally, Hughes' efforts are undercut by a handful of hardbitten cons and jealous fellow guards. His efforts pay off when Hughes is able to quell a prison riot. Men of San Quentin was produced and cowritten by Martin Mooney, a former newspaperman who'd actually "done time" behind bars; its opening theme music was performed by the San Quentin orchestra! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For his first feature-film appearance in two years, comedian Bert Wheeler (of Wheeler & Woolsey fame) teamed up with bandleader Phil Regan. The story gets under way when a quartet of vaudevillians-Bill Stevens (Regan), Stu Grant (Wheeler) and Norma and Mildred Jennings (Constance Moore, Lillian Cornell) show up in Vegas with nary a cent between them. Norma manages to win big at a gambling joint, whereupon the money is put in Stu's care. Alas, Stu makes a beeline to the gaming tables, where he manages to lose all. The winsome foursome is saved from utter ruin by a real estate operator who happens to be the father of one of the protagonists. Even Bert Wheeler admitted that Las Vegas Nights was a bomb, noting on "a picture like that can come back and haunt you." Still, it holds some historical value as the film that introduced Frank Sinatra, here appearing as the uncredited vocalist for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Riders of the Timberline was the 38th entry in the "Hopalong Cassidy" western series. To keep things from getting stale, star William Boyd and producer Harry Sherman began plunking Hoppy into non-western environs in the early 1940s (including, at one point, the Arabian desert!) Timberline takes place in the Great North Woods, where Cassidy and his cohorts Brad King and Andy Clyde help a campful of lumberjacks. There was plenty of opportunity for the usual riding and gunplay, but this time around the bad guys were dressed in furs and hipboots rather than buckskin. The direction of Riders of the Timberline was in the expert hands of western maestro Lesley Selander. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Producer Harry Sherman once again brought the "Hopalong Cassidy" unit to picturesque Lone Pine, CA, and the result was yet another tidy little sagebrush oater about the search for a missing gold mine. California Carlson (Andy Clyde) learns that his only remaining relative, Ben Pendleton (Britt Wood), may have struck gold just prior to being murdered in his isolated cabin. But when California and his two friends, Hoppy (William Boyd) and Lucky (Russell Hayden), arrive to learn more about the claim, they find the place already occupied by Trudy (Eleanor Stewart), Ben's niece. The old prospector's murderer, gambler Ace Gibson (Morris Ankrum), befriends Trudy and persuades her that the newcomers are outlaws out to jump the claim. Of course, the smooth-talking heavy has no idea who he is up against and is soundly beaten in a final confrontation with Hoppy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Given the omnipresence of the Motion Picture Production Code in 1940, the second film version of Robert E. Sherwood's Waterloo Bridge would have to be laundered and softened to pass muster. In the original, made in 1931, the heroine is nothing more or less than a streetwalker, patrolling London's Waterloo Bridge during World War I in hopes of picking up the occasional soldier. She falls in love with one of her clients, a young officer from an aristocratic family. Gently informed by the young man's mother that any marriage would be absolutely impossible, the streetwalker tearfully agrees, letting her beau down gently before ending her own life by walking directly into the path of an enemy bomb. In the remake, told in flashback as a means of "distancing" the audience from what few unsavory story elements were left, the heroine, Vivien Leigh, starts out as a virginal ballerina. Robert Taylor, a British officer from a wealthy family, falls in love with Vivien and brings her home to his folks. This time around, Taylor's uncle (C. Aubrey Smith), impressed by Vivien's sincerity, reluctantly agrees to the upcoming marriage. When Taylor marches off to war, Vivien abandons an important dance recital to bid her fiance goodbye, losing her job as a result. Later, she is led to believe that Taylor has been killed in battle. Thus impoverished and aggrieved, she is given a motivation for turning to prostitution, a plot element deemed unecessary in the original-which indeed it was. Now the stage is set for her final sacrifice, though the suicidal elements are carefully weeded out. Waterloo Bridge was remade for a second time in 1956 as Gaby, with Leslie Caron and John Kerr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The United States Marine Corps. became the focus of this typical Republic Pictures serial directed by two of the best in the business, William Witney and John English. The villain was yet another cloaked figure -- this time an inventor whose contribution to mankind was a weapon capable of discharging huge amounts of electricity from an airplane -- known only as "The Lightning." A group of alarmed scientists attempt to develop a countermeasure to the diabolical machine, and the government assigns a couple of marine lieutenants (Lee Powell and Herman Brix) to track down the master criminal. Both relative newcomers, Powell and Brix also co-starred in the year's most popular serial, The Lone Ranger. The former, sadly, lost his life in World War II, while Brix later signed with Warner Bros. and became a well-known second-lead under the name Bruce Bennett. To keep the audience guessing, Witney and English cast Lester Dorr as "The Lightning" when in costume and had Edwin Stanley furnishing his voice. Hugh Sothern played the villain's alter ego, the seemingly upstanding Ben Warfield. Fighting Devil Dogs was also released in an edited feature version, The Torpedo of Doom. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Filmed on location at Lake Los Angeles, CA, this minor Monogram Western starred Jack Randall (aka Addison Randall and Allan Byron), the lesser-known brother of B-Western star Robert Livingston. Randall played Jack Wood, who, while looking for his brother's murderer, hooks up with the Mexicali Kid (Wesley Barry), a stage robber. Although Jack convinces the Kid to give up his loot, the two are forced to flee Payson City. They take refuge at the ranch belonging to Jean Carter (Eleanor Stewart), only to encounter a gang of rustlers. Jack cozies up to the gang who is headed by the foreman Gorson (William von Brincken). Agreeing to impersonate the long-lost heir to the ranch, Jack discovers that Gorson is the man who killed his brother. The Kid is mortally wounded in the ensuing melee but Gorson and his men are brought to justice by Jack, who has been working for the Payson City sheriff all along. A discovery of silent screen director Marshall Neilan, freckled Wesley Barry enjoyed some success as a juvenile actor during the 1920s; Barry's appeal was fleeting, however, and by the 1930s he had joined the ranks of supporting actors. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Tom Keene, formerly George Duryea and latterly Richard Powers, made his final starring appearance in the Monogram western The Painted Trail. Keene is cast as a former federal agent who is drawn out of retirement to stem the activities of smugglers Boss (Leroy Mason) and Driscoll (Walter Long). Disguising himself as an outlaw, our hero gains the confidence of the two desperadoes, only to be found out at the least appropriate time. Rest assured that Keene saves the day and manages to march ingenue Ann (Eleanore Stewart) to the altar. Painted Trail wraps things up with a spectacular shootout, with the hero on one side of the Mexican border,and the villains on the other. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Three Mesquiteers are back for more action in this well-photographed Republic western. This time, heroes Stoney Brooke (Bob Livingston), Tucson Smith (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune) find themselves in a middle of a range war between cattlemen and sheepmen. The villains have the local constabulary in their pocket, and they intend to get what they want with a passel of forged land deeds and phony mortgages. The two chief heavies are played by Harry Woods and John Merton, and two meaner cusses never existed. An outsized gun battle brings this Mesquiteers entry to a rousing conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A disgruntled ranger quits his job after a crooked state's attorney manages to get a case of murder thrown out of court in this standard Bob Steele western released by Republic Pictures. But as Dan Larsen (Steele) soon learns, there is more to the murder suspect, Wally Smeed (Ernie Adams), than meets the eye and together they go after the state's attorney, Kemper Mills (John Merton), who has quite a few interesting secrets of his own. Like so many of his westerns, The Gun Ranger was directed by Steele's real-life father, Robert North Bradbury. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A courageous Texas Ranger leaves his job to mediate a violent, long-standing dispute between his family and that of his sweetheart. When, his investigations reveal that there is a third party of troublemakers involved, he gallops off to stop them and restore the peace. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide