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
- 1941
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The Saturday matinee crowd got two cowboy stars for the price of one in this lavishly budgeted western serial starring former singing cowboy Dick Foran and Buck Jones. The latter contributed deadpan humor to the proceedings, making Jones perhaps the highest paid B-western comedy relief in history. The two heroes defend the Death Valley borax miners from an outlaw gang headed by Wolf Reade. An extraordinarily strong cast -- for a serial, at least -- supported the stars, headed by Charles Bickford as Reade, Leo Carillo, Lon Chaney, Jr., and silent screen star Monte Blue. Leading lady Jeanne Kelly later changed her name to Jean Brooks and starred in the atmospheric RKO thriller The Seventh Victim (1943). Universal claimed to have spent $1 million on this serial and made sure to get their money's worth by endlessly recycling the action footage in serials and B-westerns for years to come. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Tim Holt is, of course, a true red-blooded cowboy in this overly tuneful RKO Western and only pretends to be the title character in order to locate a kidnapped engraver. The latter (Byron Foulger) is forced by a crooked dude ranch owner (Eddie Kane) to print counterfeit money but a couple of bills find their way to the government offices in Reno. Tim isn't the only ranch guest operating under a disguise, however, the engraver's pretty daughter (Marjorie Reynolds) is also present and manages to get herself into plenty of trouble. As always, Holt is joined by sidekicks Lee "Lasses" White and Ray Whitley, the latter performing his own and Fred Rose's title tune as well as "Silver Rio," "End of the Canyon Trail," and "Echo Singing in the Wild Wind." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Marjorie Reynolds, (more)
Part of the "Range Buster" series of westerns, this film follows the adventures of a couple of former criminals (Ray Corrigan and John King) as they give up their thieving ways and take on the responsibilities of deputies. When a group of outlaws, headed by a man known as "The Whip," begins to hassle the locals, it is up to Corrigan and King to track them down and bring them to justice. This film features some musical numbers, including "Riding Along," "My Little Prairie Annie," and "Chisholm Trail." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Max "Alibi" Terhune, (more)
- 1941
In this crime drama set on the seedy waterfront of San Francisco, a longshoreman studies in his spare time to become an aircraft mechanic. He is also in love with a barmaid who works at her father's saloon. One day at the bar, the longshoreman gets into a fight with a man who is later found dead. Naturally, the longshoreman becomes the prime suspect and is arrested. There are two men who can prove him innocent, but they are in league with the real killer, a fugitive from Alcatraz. Meanwhile, a priest, a drunk, and the girl's father try to prove that the longshoreman is innocent by finding the fugitive's wife. The barmaid and the trampy wife then get in a big fight. In the end, the priest and the fugitive wrestle it out and the thief gets his just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burgess Meredith, Irene Hervey, (more)
- 1941
In this western, the good-guy battles his bad-guy double and his band of outlaws to protect a purty gal's ranch. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The "Rough Riders"-Buck Jones, Tim McCoy and Raymond Hatton-are back in the saddle in Forbidden Trails. As was customary, the stars play three wildly diverse types who are apparently strangers to one another when the film begins. In this instance, Buck Roberts (Jones) is a dude gambler, Tim McCall (McCoy) is head driver for a stagecoach line, and Sandy Hopkins (Hatton) is a desert rat who's apparently in cahoots with a pair of escaped outlaws. By Reel Four, however, it is obvious that Buck, Tim and Sandy are secretly working together to thwart the villains. In the film's most exciting scene, Buck is trapped in a burning shack while a contingent of well-armed bandits block his escape. Future "Three Stooges" heroine Christine McIntyre is the leading lady on this occasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, (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)
- 1941
Tim Holt is mistaken for a notorious gunslinger in this average Western, which RKO filmed at Kanab, UT, in tandem with the star's previous effort, the much better Wagon Train. Believed by everyone to be Deuce Mallory, a gunman hired to kill local prospector Caleb Winters (Paul Scardon), The Fargo Kid (Holt) decides to play out the charade in order to trap Nick Kane (Cy Kendall), the corrupt businessman who had ordered the hit in the first place. Things get a bit dicey when the real Deuce Mallory (Paul Fix) rides into town but aided by sidekicks Johnny (Ray Whitley) and Whopper (Emmett Lynn), The Kid manages to prevent the murder, and, in return, earns the love and respect from everyone, including the prospector's pretty daughter, Jennie (Jane Drummond). Ray Whitley performs his own and Fred Rose's "Crazy Ole Trails Ahead" and "Twilight on the Prairie" in this remake of the 1932 Tom Keene oater The Cheyenne Kid, which itself was a talkie version of a 1928 Bob Steele silent, Man in the Rough. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Ray Whitley, (more)
- 1941
A superior B-Western in every way, this Hopalong Cassidy series entry features an especially compelling performance by former silent screen star Evelyn Brent. Along with his sidekicks, Lucky (Russell Hayden) and California (Andy Clyde), Hoppy (William Boyd) is searching for the gang that killed a couple of Bar-20 cowboys and rustled their steers. The trail leads to Gunsight, a lawless city lorded over by the proprietress of the Paradise Saloon, Belle Langtry (Brent). Although she falls in love with Hoppy, Belle, who has at least one murder on her conscience, refuses to mend her evil ways. Steadfastly refusing to fall for the lady's undoubted charms, Hoppy instead has a trick or two up his sleeve, and the villains are soon fighting among themselves with the mayor's teenage daughter (Bernice Kay) caught in the crossfire. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, Russell Hayden, (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 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
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)
- 1941
In one of his best early Westerns, Tim Holt avenges the accidental shooting of his father by robbing the Cedar Fork bank, who owes him 20,000 dollars. With his uncle Red Haggerty (Morris Ankrum) and old friend, Whopper (Lee White), in tow, Tim then plans to take on the bank in Remington. The Haggerty gang, however, arrives just in time to see the bank getting robbed by a gang controlled by saloon owner Joel Nebitt (Roy Barcroft) and Tim and Whopper instead join the sheriff's posse. The grateful citizenry elects Tim marshal and with the help of Red, the youngster manages to clean up the lawless town. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Ray Whitley, (more)
- 1941
The cast and crew of Paramount's "Hopalong Cassidy" Westerns returned once again to Lone Pine's famous Alabama Hills for this above-average entry in the long-running series. Ma Woods (Sarah Padden) is about to lose her ranch due to the machinations of the not so neighborly George Davidson (Stanley Andrews), who refuses access to the only water in the vicinity. But unbeknownst to both Ma and the always law-abiding Davidson someone else is stoking the fires of the feud for his own greedy reasons. But who? Robbed en route to Ma Woods' Colorado ranch, Hoppy (William Boyd), Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden) and California Carlson (Andy Clyde) manage to settle matters between Davidson and Mrs. Woods but the money to buy the Ma's cattle seems to have vanished. According to some sources In Old Colorado was co-written by co-star Russell Hayden. The Western marked the debut under that moniker of leading lady Margaret Hayes, who had previously been billed Dana Dale. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, Russell Hayden, (more)
The Range Riders - Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King and Max "Albi" Terhune-ride the range once more in Monogram's Kid's Last Ride. Sent to a wide-open town to stem the activities of the local criminal element, our three heroes almost immediately get mixed up in a deadly feud between local land barons Harmon (Al Bridge) and Bart (Glenn Strange). The Range Riders patch things up by deflecting Harmon's son Jimmy (Edwin Brian) from a life of crime, thereby also expediting the romance between Jimmy and Bart's daughter Sally (Luana Walters). Then, almost as an afterthought, the do-gooding trio trounces the villains. Like most of the The Range Riders' entries, Kid's Last Ride was cheap but profitable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Max "Alibi" Terhune, (more)
- 1941
A remake of the 1933 RKO western of the same name, Come on, Danger! stars Tim Holt in the role originally essayed by Tom Keene. Holt goes after a gang of rustlers, commandeered by an attractive young woman (Julie Haydon in the original, Frances Neal in the remake). The girl has been accused of murder, but the actual culprit is the miscreant who drove the girl into a life of crime in the first place. Leading lady Frances Neal displayed an embryonic star quality in this film, but she retired shortly afterward to marry Van Heflin. Come on Danger was a bit longer than the 1933 version, principally because of the three songs warbled by supporting actor Ray Whitley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Frances Neal, (more)
- 1940
A wedding ceremony is rudely interrupted by a bank robbery next door, the bridegroom is shot and the best man is accused of being the culprit. All this takes place during the first five minutes of Triple Justice, George O'Brien's final western for RKO. Brad Henderson (O'Brien) is innocent, of course, but is forced to clear his good name and reputation by tracking down not only the three real bank robbers but also their secret boss, Deputy Sheriff Harry Woods). Along the way, Brad falls in love with lovely (Virginia Vale), the sister of neophyte outlaw Bud McTaggart), and finds himself the center of attention of three equally charming senoritas, (The Lindemann Sisters, who perform a couple of standard Mexican ballads. Miss Vale) also takes time out for a song, Fred Ross and Ray Whitley's "Lonely Rio. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Virginia Vale, (more)
- 1940
Retired frontier postal inspector Dan Clark (George O'Brien) is summoned back to active duty when the stagecoach line owned by heroine Crinnie (Virginia Vale) is targetted by outlaws. The perpetrator of this outrage is Crinnie's own uncle (Carl Stockdale), in cahoots with her principal rival Dude Elliot (Roy Barcroft). Travelling incognito, Clark takes a job as stagecoach driver in hopes of bringing the criminals out in the open. Stage to Chino represented the directorial debut of Edward Killy, one of the most prolific members of RKO Radio's assistant-director staff. At the time of its release, much was made of the fact that the film featured several former silent-film luminaries in the supporting cast, including Elmo "Tarzan" Lincoln, Billy Franey and Bruce Mitchell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Virginia Vale, (more)
- 1940
In this Mexican adventure, a daring man robs a stage coach. During the robbery, his mask slips off when he steals a kiss. Though the woman he affronted saw his face, she refuses to identify him. Later the two get together to cheat a Mexican woman out of her wealth by having the Kid impersonate her son. In this capacity, the Kid begins to really care about the old woman and decides to remain with her and be a son she can be proud of. He then dumps his conniving girlfriend in favor of the old woman's adopted daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tito Guizar, Alan Mowbray, (more)
Set in the years leading up to the Civil War and its outbreak, Dark Command tells a fictionalized version of the story of William Clarke Quantrill, the schoolteacher-turned-renegade, whose raids -- ostensibly on behalf of the Confederacy -- turned Kansas into a charnel house. John Wayne plays Bob Setton, a young Texan who arrives in Lawrence, KS, in 1859 on his way west, partnered with George "Gabby" Hayes. He meets Marie McCloud (Claire Trevor) and her younger brother, Fletch (Roy Rogers), and takes a liking to them, especially Marie. His only competition for her is William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon), the local schoolteacher, who has big ambitions in life. He is nominated for town marshal and seems a shoo-in, especially as his only rival is Bob Setton, who admits he knows nothing about the law and can't even read, but Setton wins with his honest, unpretentious speech. At the time, Kansas is riven by strife, as settlers from the North opposed to slavery and those from the South supporting it pour into the territory, and Setton has his hands full. His most difficult personal moment comes when he must arrest Fletch for shooting an anti-slavery farmer (Trevor Bardette) to death. Cantrell leads a campaign of terror against the jury, however, which finds the young man not guilty just as the Civil War breaks out. In the months that follow, Setton and his posse go after the raiders who are stealing and destroying huge amounts of property in Kansas on behalf of the Confederacy. He suspects Cantrell is their leader, but can't prove it, and has to tread carefully. As the raids worsen, and the war drags on -- even Marie's pro-Confederacy banker father is murdered during a run on his bank -- their conflict comes to a violent end as Cantrell launches an attack on Lawrence, vowing to destroy the town, with only Bob Setton and Cantrell's own mother (Marjorie Main) standing in his way. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Trevor, John Wayne, (more)
- 1940
In addition to being a fine Western in its own right, this film served to introduce perhaps Hollywood's oddest romantic couple: the gruff but lovable Wallace Beery and the tart but lovable Marjorie Main. Beery plays "Reb" Harkness who, with his Mexican pal Pete (Leo Carrillo), is almost caught red-handed attempting to rob a train carrying General Custer (Paul Kelly) and the cavalry. Double-crossed by his partner and with the cavalry in hot pursuit, Reb escapes to Wyoming where he finds shelter on a ranch belonging to orphaned Lucy Kinkaid (Anne Rutherford) and her kid brother Jimmy (Bobs Watson). The local ranchers are battling an unscrupulous empire builder, Buckley (Joseph Calleia), and Reb is involuntarily dragged into the feud. When plain-speaking blacksmith Mehitabel (Marjorie Main) loses her brother to Buckley's bullets, Reb takes matters into his own hands, and with the help of Custer's men, he manages to end Buckley's reign of terror. Casting plain-looking, twangy Marjorie Main as Beery's leading lady was a stroke of genius. The two actors complimented each other to the nth degree, and Main was seen as a worthy replacement of the late Marie Dressler. As a result, the former stage actress (Dead End) was put under a seven-year contract by MGM, who co-starred her with Beery in Barnacle Bill (1941), The Bugle Sounds (1941), Jackass Mail (1942), Rationing (1944), and Bad Bascomb (1946). Wyoming, which also benefitted from fine performances by Henry Travers as a sly sheriff and Stanley Fields as Buckley's chief henchman, was filmed on location at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the Grand Tetons National Park by a director, Richard Thorpe, who had worked in the Western field since the silent days. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo, (more)
- 1940
Jack Randall, a truly minor singing cowboy, stars in this low-budget oater from Metropolitan Pictures. Jack Rowan (Randall) discovers that his newly purchased land is being used as a pipeline to smuggle cattle across the border from Mexico. Caught in the act, so to speak, one of the rustlers, Taylor (George Cheseboro), names Jack as his boss but pretty shopkeeper, Carole Howard (Louise Stanley), manages to warn the innocent ranger who flees along with faithful ranch hand Manny (Glenn Strange). Trailing Taylor to his hideout, Jack and Manny finally force the rustler to reveal his true boss, cattle dealer Frank Stone (Steve Clark). Randall and leading lady Louise Stanley were husband-and-wife at the time. The former performs "Carol, Pride of the Valley." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louise Stanley, Frank LaRue, (more)
- 1940
In his first starring Western for RKO, young Tim Holt must not only carry on his father's freight business but also hunt down his murderer. A certain Matt Gardner (Cliff Clark) wants to corner the freight business to Pecos and persuades young Zack Sibley's wagon master (Wade Crosby) to switch sides. Zack also earns the enmity of Gardner's son Coe (Malcolm McTaggart), who takes umbrage to the youngster's flirtation with pretty Helen Lee (Martha O'Driscoll). It all comes to a head during a food shortage in Pecos, a near-disaster that persuades the wagon master to switch sides once again. When the dust settles, Zack learns that old man Gardner is actually Carl Anderson, the man who murdered his father. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Martha O'Driscoll, (more)
- 1940
The best thing about the Jack Randall Western Pioneer Days is its short-and-sweet running time, a brisk 50 minutes. Randall plays Dunham, a wandering cavalier who comes to the aid of frontier heiress Mary (June Wilkins). The girl's legacy is half-ownership of a prosperous saloon, the other half controlled by hissable villain Slater (Ted Adams). With the help of no less than two comic sidekicks (Frank Yaconelli and Nelson McDowell), Dunham cuts the villain down to size. Surprisingly, the film's funniest performance is delivered by frog-faced Western heavy Rychard Cramer, here cast as a bartender who fancies himself a cardsharp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Wilkins, Frank Yaconelli, (more)
- 1940
Monogram's answer to Republic's Gene Autry, Tex Ritter was never successful in his choice of sidekicks. In Pals of the Silver Sage he had to contend with bucolic Slim Andrews, who at least was a personal friend if no bargain in the comedy department. But this time he was also saddled with one Sugar Dawn, a very resistible child actress who would reappear in The Golden Trail) (not to mention haunt Tom Keene in no less than five consecutive oaters). Ritter, Andrews and little Miss Dawn filmed Pals of the Silver Sage in picturesque Tejon Ranch near Lebec, California, but that was the really the Western's only recommendation. Orphaned Sugar Dawn is in danger of losing her ranch unless she can make the deadline for a cattle delivery. But foreman Jeff (Dawn?) (Carleton Young), who is also the girl's cousin, is in the employ of nefarious neighbor Vic Insley (Glenn Strange). Enter Tex Wright (Ritter) and his sidekick Cactus (Andrews) who concoct a scheme to trap the villains. Tex is mistaken for a rustler along the way but everything is cleared up within the allotted 52 minutes. Ritter sang Prairie Fairy Tale by Johnny Lange and Lew Porter but otherwise kept the warbling to a minimum. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Sugar Dawn, (more)
