Glenn Strange Movies
A New Mexican of Native American extraction, actor Glenn Strange held down several rough-and-tumble jobs, from deputy sheriff to rodeo rider, before settling on a singing career. He made his radio bow on Los Angeles station KNX (the CBS-owned affiliate) as a member of the Arizona Wranglers singing group. Thanks to his husky physique and plug-ugly features, Strange had no trouble finding work as a stuntman/villain in western films and serials. He also displayed a flair for comedy as the sidekick to singing cowboy Dick Foran in a series of B-sagebrushers of the late '30s. During the war years, Strange became something of a bargain-basement Lon Chaney Jr., playing homicidal halfwits in a handful of horror pictures made at PRC and other low-budget studios. These appearances led to his being cast as the Frankenstein monster in the 1944 Universal programmer House of Frankenstein; he was coached in this role by the "creature" from the original 1931 Frankenstein, Boris Karloff. Given very little to do in House of Frankenstein and the 1945 sequel House of Dracula other than stalk around with arms outstretched at fadeout time, Strange brought none of the depth and pathos to the role that distinguished Karloff's appearances. Strange was shown to better advantage in his last appearance as The Monster in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) where he convincingly menaced the eternally frightened Lou Costello and even indulged in a couple of time-honored "scare" routines, while still remaining in character (Some scenes had to be reshot because Strange couldn't stop laughing at Costello's antics; towards the end of shooting, Strange broke his ankle and had to be replaced in a few shots by Lon Chaney Jr., who was costarring in the film as the Wolf Man). Though typecast as heavies in both movies and television -- he played the hissable Butch Cavendish in the Lone Ranger TV pilot -- Strange was well known throughout Hollywood as a genuine nice guy and solid family man. Glenn Strange's last engagement of note was his 11-year run (1962-73) as Sam, the Long Branch bartender on TV's Gunsmoke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1932
In his fourth of six inexpensive Westerns for Allied Pictures in 1932, veteran cowboy ace Hoot Gibson played a foreman inheriting his place of employment along with the late owner's daughter (Marion Shilling). She finds him uncouth and not worth her while at first, but hatred of a common enemy, unscrupulous banker Robert Ellis, brings them together. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ethel Wales
- 1937
In this western, a citified writer of pulp westerns decides to head into the West to experience it first hand. Unfortunately, he finds himself entangled with an outlaw and then falsely accused of murder. Fortunately, the greenhorn is saved from hanging by a brave hero. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack LaRue, Virginia Carroll, (more)
- 1948
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It seems that Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), in league with a beautiful but diabolical lady scientist (Lenore Aubert), needs a "simple, pliable" brain with which to reactivate Frankenstein's creature (Glenn Strange). The "ideal" brain belongs to the hapless Lou Costello, whom the lady doctor woos to gain his confidence and lure him to the operating table. Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.), better known as the Wolf Man, arrives on the scene to warn Costello and his pal Bud Abbott of Dracula's nefarious schemes. Throughout the film, the timorous Costello witnesses the nocturnal rituals of Dracula and the Monster, but can't convince the ever-doubting Abbott--until the wild climax in Dracula's castle, where the comedians are pursued by all three of the film's monstrosities. As a bonus, the Invisible Man (voiced by an unbilled Vincent Price) shows up for "all the excitement." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
- 1939
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
- Starring:
- Jack Randall, Frank Yaconelli, (more)
- 1943
- NR
Action in the North Atlantic is solid wartime propaganda with a rather endearing inner lining of left-wing politics, courtesy (no doubt) of scenarist John Howard Lawson, who based his screenplay on a novel by maritime specialist Guy Gilpatric. While running war goods to America's Russian allies, a merchant marine ship captained by Raymond Massey is torpedoed. The courage of Massey and his first mate Humphrey Bogart serves as an inspiration to the survivors, who manage to navigate their tiny lifeboat to America, where they are lauded as heroes. After only the briefest of compassionate leaves (Massey is reunited with wife Ruth Gordon, while Bogart strikes up a relationship with Julie Bishop), the crew is assigned a new Liberty Ship. Despite fears of being torpedoed again, Massey, Bogart, and the other men successfully bring their cargo to Russia, shooting down several German planes in the process. As the Americans are cheered on by the smiling, well-fed Russian seamen and peasants, Action in the North Atlantic fades out, with the voice of Franklin D. Roosevelt (actually radio announcer Art Gilmore) heard on the soundtrack encouraging a "United Nations" allegiance against the axis. The supporting cast of Action in the North Atlantic includes a young newcomer by the name of Bernard Zanville, whose billing was changed to "Dane Clark" upon the film's release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey, (more)
- 1937
In the South Seas, Seaman Duke (John Wayne) boards a whaler, and asks the owner, Capt. Drew (Montague Love) and his daughter Janet (Diana Gibson) to look after the pearls he's gathered. Drew, who's dying, persuades Duke to marry Janet to prevent her from marrying crewman Rand (Moroni Olsen), who's thereafter suspicious of Duke. When the crew learns Duke knows where more pearls are, they want to go after them, but Duke sides with Janet, who's after whales, though he's still opposed by Rand. Eventually, incited by Blackie (Maurice Black), the crew mutinies, forcing Rand and Duke to work together. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Diana Gibson, (more)
- 1959
Bob Hope plays a 19th-century insurance agent whose miserable sales record prompts his boss to send him out West, where he can (supposedly) do little harm. Hope manages to sell a $100,000 life insurance policy--to outlaw Jesse James (Wendell Corey), one of the worst "risks" in history! In his efforts to get the policy back, Hope finds himself being mistaken for Jesse, which is all part of the outlaw's plan to get Hope killed and thereby collect the policy money himself. But with the help of beauteous Rhonda Fleming (the essentially honest beneficiary to Jesse's policy), Hope gains a reputation as a lightning-fast gunslinger. In the inevitable shoot-out with the James gang, Hope is helped out by several famous Westerners, including Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, James "Maverick" Garner, and even Tonto (Jay Silverheels). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, (more)
- 1941
Arizona Cyclone is usually cited as the best of Johnny Mack Brown's Universal western series, if only because of the inventive direction of Joseph H. Lewis. Brown is cast as Tom, owner of a wagon-freight line who business is coveted by crooked banker Quirt (Dick Curtis). The villain will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and this includes ordering the murder of lovable old freight-liner Randolph (Herbert Rawlinson). Lacking enough evidence to prove Quirt's guilt, Tom bides his time until the inevitable showdown. Director Lewis' penchant from innovative camera angles is especially evident during the climactic gunfight sequence, a model of its kind and one from which Lewis himself borrowed in his much-later western classic Terror in a Texas Town. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, (more)
- 1937
In his third starring Western, former radio singer Tex Ritter played a minstrel performer turned tax collector! During a performance at the Tombstone, Arizona, opera house, Tex Malinson (Ritter) courageously goes up against Harry Price (Forrest Taylor) and his henchmen, who refuse to pay the price of admission. The local sheriff (Budd Buster) is so impressed that he suggests Malinson for the job of tax collector. Price, needless to say, is a major tax offender but Tex and sidekick "Grass" Hopper (Syd Saylor) manage to "convince" him to do his civic duty. In between collecting taxes from town bullies, Ritter performed his own Tombstone, Arizona and High, Wide and Handsome, as well as If Love Were Mine by Frank Sanucci. Salty Holmes, known as "The Harmonica Maestro," performed his specialty of playing two harmonicas at the same time: one with his mouth, the other with his nose, and former Broadway luminary Ethelind Terry played one of Ritter's fellow minstrels. The erstwhile operetta diva's first film since the disastrous Lord Byron of Broadway (1930), it was also to be her last. Producer Edward F. Finney headed a trek to Wilcox, Arizona, for a few scenes, but most of Arizona Days was made at the Brandeis and Garner Ranches in Chatsworth, California. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Ethelind Terry, (more)
- 1939
This formula western stars George O'Brien as a member of the Arizona Rangers, a quasi-vigilante society aimed at ridding the west of lawlessness. O'Brien is assigned to infiltrate a criminal gang in Arizona. For duty's sake, O'Brien must alienate himself with his sweetheart (Laraine Johnson, later known as Laraine Day) and pose as a ruthless bandit. The hero comes awfully close to meeting his doom before the crooks are roped and hog-tied. Arizona Legion represented the 60th screen appearance of veteran action star George O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Carlyle Moore, Jr., (more)
- 1943
When cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown left Universal for Monogram, he also left one last western, Arizona Trail, unfilmed. Thus it was that veteran sagebrusher Tex Ritter, originally cast in a secondary role, was promoted to the lead-his first such at a major studio in several years. Ritter and Dennis Moore play the sons of Erville Anderson, who is slickered out of his land by villainous Jack Ingram. Janet Shaw, who elsewhere on the Universal lot was playing the slatternly waitress in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, is seen as Ritter's leading lady. Arizona Trails also features comical sidekick Fuzzy Knight, who knows how to wield a six-gun when the need arises. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter
- 1936
The opening sequence of this Ken Maynard Western is spectacular: Attempting to save heroine Beth Marion from the ubiquitous runaway horse, the hero makes a death-defying, head-first plunge on horseback into the Kern River far below. The stunt was performed by Maynard's unfairly neglected double, Cliff Lyons, who would marry Marion two years later. As for Maynard himself, the veteran cowboy star didn't do much action-wise in Avenging Waters, spending instead an inordinate amount of time playing his mouth organ and making romantic chit-chat with Marion. The story is the old one about the fencing off of the once free range. Ken and his top hand, Slivers (Wally Wales, aka Hal Taliaferro), are delivering a herd of cattle to rancher Charles Mortimer (John Elliott) when they have a run-in with Marve Slater (Ward Bond). The latter is demanding that Mortimer remove his new fences or else. The "or else" proves to be damming up the river and leaving Mortimer without water for his cattle. Ken takes umbrage to this kind of vigilantism but is overpowered by Slater's henchmen, Hoppy (Tom London) and Jake (Glenn Strange). A rain storm causes the dam to burst and the waters rush toward the shack where Ken is held prisoner. He is saved in the nick of time by his clever palomino, Tarzan, while Slater is left to drown in his own flood. Maynard's legendary ornery temper caused all kinds of delays on this inexpensive Western and the veteran star was getting a bit paunchy to boot. Director Spencer Gordon Bennet was forced to use rear-projection in a scene where Maynard desperately attempts to grab hold of Tarzan, one of the very few instances that this technique was used in a B-Western. The grand finale, the flooding of the valley, was done using a model built to scale and is not bad for this kind of low-budget fare. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
Set on the Mexican border in 1850, Bad Men of the Border was the first of seven Universal Westerns starring handsome Kirby Grant, a former singer from Montana who had earlier acted under the name Robert Stanton. The series, Universal's last attempt at competing with Republic Pictures' many streamlined B-Westerns, also featured the bucolic Fuzzy Knight as Grant's sidekick. Grant and Knight are undercover U.S. marshals tracking down a gang of counterfeiters. To their surprise, they are soon assisted by a beautiful Mexican dancehall performer, Dolores Mendoza (Armida), who proves to be an undercover agent as well, in her case for the Mexican rurales headed by Captain Garcia (Francis McDonald). After much riding and shooting, the leaders of the ring -- ex-convict turned cantina owner Bart Breslow (John Eldredge) on the Mexican side and saloon owner Ace Morgan (Edward M. Howard) in Texas -- are captured in their underground hideout. In between the action, Armida found time to perform "And Then I Got Married," by Everett Carter and Milton Rosen, and "I Would Love You," by Jack Brooks and Rosen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1942
A courageous cowboy dons the guise of a Texas Ranger to keep murderous cattle rustlers from harming a beautiful young woman, the daughter of the dead lawman whose clothes he wears. This western follows his adventures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1946
Gilbert Roland dominates the action in a colorful performance as the bandit hero the Cisco Kid, this time up against a surprisingly vicious plot by a local doctor to steal land from the local peasants and small ranchers by poisoning them to drive them off, and then reselling the property to absentee European landlords. He finds an unexpected ally in Jeanne DuBois (Ramsay Ames), who starts out as part of the plot but is turned around by Roland's charm and charisma after a few fireworks. The direction is uneven, with William Nigh not quite able to make the flatter parts of the script as entertaining or smooth as they ought to be. Evidently, the producers knew they were in trouble with this downbeat script and took steps to rescue the picture. Seeing the sparks fly in the scenes in the first third of the picture, in which Ames is disguised as a man (which evokes echoes -- albeit very distant -- of Shakespeare's As You Like It) and verbally jousts with Roland, more material was written on the spot for the two of them, depicting a competition that becomes much more heated when her gender is revealed. By her own account, Nigh and Ames were friends, and she was a good sport on this shoot whatever they had her doing, and it's a pity they didn't go further with the rivalry between Roland's and Ames' characters, who might've been the Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones of their era. Roland also wrote some of his own dialogue and poetry for this effort, which seems very hackneyed today, but played just fine for audiences in 1946. (Note: In early TV prints of Beauty And The Bandit, all references to the Cisco Kid and O. Henry in the credits were blacked out, and mentions of the Cisco Kid and "Cisco" in the dialogue awkwardly dubbed over as "Chico" -- one suspects this was because the exclusive TV rights to the Cisco Kid had been sold to another producer for the TV series starring Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1942
Here's another entry in PRC's long-running "Billy the Kid" series, again starring Buster Crabbe as Billy Carson and Al St. John as his comic sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones. In this outing, a bandit posing as Billy manages to pin several crimes on Our Hero. Cleverly eluding the law (never mind the film's title), Billy endeavors to track down his impostor and put him behind bars. The plot is resolved by a typical PRC fistfight, which as usual is more energetic than expert. Young Anne Jeffreys, a starlet on the threshold of bigger things, is definitely an improvement over the standard western ingenue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe
- 1941
Buster Crabbe makes his first appearance as frontier do-gooder Billy Carson in PRC's Billy the Kid Wanted. The film also marked the first teaming of Crabbe with ineluctable comedy sidekick Al St. John. Like the previous "Billy the Kid" oaters with Bob Steele, this one begins with Billy and Fuzzy being accused of a crime they didn't commit. Together with fellow fugitive Jeff (Dave O'Brien), our heroes seek refuge with a group of sympathetic ranchers. From this vantage point, Billy is able to plan his strategy to expose land-grabber Saunders (Charles King) as the genuine culprit. Though shabbily produced, Billy the Kid Wanted coasted by on the star power of Crabbe and St. John. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Dave "Tex" O'Brien, (more)
- 1941
Billy the Kid is played by Bob Steele in this PRC sagebrusher, while his "fighting pals" are Al "Fuzzy" St. John and Carleton Young. Billy and his buddies arrive in the town of Paradise, which fails to live up to its name. The villain is a local banker (Edward Peil Sr.), who of course is also the secret mastermind behind all criminal activities. Billy sizes up the situation and settles matters with a combination of fists and shootin' irons. Before emerging on screen as Billy the Kid's Fighting Pals, the film was briefly titled Billy the Kid Trails West, then Trigger Pals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Phyllis Adair, (more)
- 1941
Buster Crabbe is Billy Carson and Al St. John is Fuzzy Q. Jones in this formula PRC western. Riding into a wide-open town, Billy, Fuzzy and their saddle pal Jeff (Carleton Young) befriend crusading newspaper editor Dan (John Elliott). The villains have run out of methods to intimidate Dan into silence, so they resort to the old reliable ploy of kidnapping the editor's pretty daughter Betty (Joan Barclay). It must then follow that Billy, Fuzzy and Jeff all gallop to Betty's rescue. With Glenn Strange and Charles King in the cast, there's absolutely no mystery concerning the identity of the "bad guys". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Carleton Young, (more)
- 1943
In the tradition of Cowboy Commandos, the Range Busters (Ray Corrigan, Dennis Moore, and Max Terhune) take on Black Market Rustlers in this wartime western. The film's villains busy themselves by stealing cattle, then selling the meat on the black market for ridiculously exorbitant prices. The Cattlemen's Association hire our three heroes to put an end to this. It takes them only 54 minutes to do so, but it's a really tough 54 minutes. Featured in the cast was Evelyn Finley, one of the few western heroines who could really ride a horse-and ride it quite well at that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Dennis Moore, (more)
- 1937
Another good entry in Warner Bros' Dick Foran western series, Blazing Sixes casts Foran as Red, an undercover federal agent. Sent Westward to break up a gang of stage robbers, Red poses as a bandit himself, whereupon he robs the robbers! Impressed by his nerve, outlaw chief Jim Hess (John Merton) invites Red to join the gang, which fits right into our hero's plan to bore from within. Fortunately for the film, he doesn't bore from without. Like most of the Foran vehicles, Blazing Sixes was directed by Noel Smith, a graduate of the Warners editing staff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Foran, Helen Valkis, (more)
- 1939
Too many of Gene Autry's Republic western sacrificed action in favor of music. A notable exception to this syndrome is Blue Montana Skies, directed by a fast-action maestro B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason. The up-to-date plotline finds Autry battling a gang of fur smugglers operating on the Montana-Canada border. When his business partner Steve (Tully Marshall) is murdered by the crooks, cattleman Autry follows the clues to a ranch owned by Dorothy (June Storey). Unbeknownst to the heroine, the murderers, led by Hendricks (Harry Woods), are working as her ranchhands. By the time she finds this out, it looks like she's next in line for extinction-but not if our hero has anything to say about it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1942
"The Range Busters" -- "Crash" (Ray "Crash" Corrigan), Dusty (John "Dusty" King), and "Alibi" (Max Terhune) -- go up against yet another licentious saloon owner in this Western series entry from Monogram. As it turns out, the saloon proprietor, Brand Bolton (John Merton), is actually in the employ of Sundance's corrupt mayor (Budd Buster), who dabbles in a bit of stage robbing on the side. Lawman "Crash" Corrigan, who is thought by everyone to have been killed by a local thug, The Maverick (Glenn Strange), is actually very much alive and manages to collect enough evidence to not only prosecute Bolton but also go after the mayor. But first he and "Dusty" must free disgruntled saloon girl May Meadows (Jean Brooks) and "Alibi," who have been kidnapped. Leading lady Brooks later played Kim Hunter's mysterious sister in the Val Lewton thriller The Seventh Victim (1943). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1931
A well-paced early sound Western, Border Law features Buck Jones) as Jim Houston, a Texas Ranger going undercover as a bandit, "The Tonto Kid," in order to infiltrate the gang that caused the death of his brother (Don Chapman). In the Mexican town of Alemeda, Jim, as "The Tonto Kid," saves saloon belle Tonita (Lupita Tovar) from the unwanted attentions of Dave (Louis Hickus), a member of Shag Smith's gang. Shag (James Mason) is so impressed with "The Kid" that he invites him to join the gang. Jim accepts, provided that Shag accompanies the gang during a raid on the bank in Eureka. Eureka, of course, is prepared for the invasion and Jim finally avenges his brother's death. Border Law was unofficially remade by Ken Maynard as Whistlin' Dan (1932) and officially by Jones himself as The Fighting Ranger (1934). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Rice
