George "Slim" Summerville Movies

Texas Ranger Leo Carrillo falls for dance hall girl Dorothy Burgess who is wanted for murder. Burgess won't let her lover bring her to justice and kills herself by diving into a cattle stampede. ~ All Movie Guide

In this drama, a married couple who own a speakeasy aspire to go legitimate and open a gas station; unfortunately, they are perennially broke because the husband is addicted to gambling on the horses. Their situation makes them easy marks for a racketeer who uses the couple as a front. Fortunately, the couple overcome their weaknesses, save the needed money, and achieve their humble dream. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This first of four film versions of the Ben Hecht/Charlrd MacArthur Broadway hit stars Adolphe Menjou as explosive Chicago newspaper-editor Walter Burns and Pat O'Brien as his star reporter Hildy Johnson. Hildy is on the verge of getting married and retiring from Burns' dirty little tabloid, but he agrees to cover one last story: the politically motivated execution of convicted cop killer Earl Williams (George E. Stone). Thanks to the stupidity of the police, Williams manages to escape, and Johnson hides the wounded fugitive in a rolltop desk in the prison pressroom. Burns enters the scene, senses a swell story (and also a means of keeping Johnson on his payroll), and conspires with Johnson to keep Williams out of sight until they can secure an exclusive interview. Burns will do anything to keep Johnson on the scene, including having the reporter's future mother-in-law kidnapped. Complicating matters are Johnson's fiancée Peggy (Mary Brian), Williams' girlfriend Molly Malloy (Mae Clarke), and the corrupt mayor (James Gordon) and sheriff (Clarence C. Wilson), who have railroaded Williams to the death house in order to win votes and are now trying to suppress the news that the governor has commuted Williams' sentence. The Front Page was remade by Howard Hawks in 1939 as His Girl Friday, with the symbiotic relationship between Burns and Johnson changed to a sexual one by transforming Hildy Johnson into a woman (played by Rosalind Russell) with Cary Grant as her old flame Walter. It was again remade by Billy Wilder in 1974 with Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Carol Burnett, and a young Susan Sarandon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rex Lease, Tiffany Studios' all-purpose leading man, heads the cast of Troopers Three. Eddie Haskins (Lease) and his buddies Bugs (Roscoe Karns) and Sunny (Slim Summerville) are washed-up vaudevillians who decide to join the Cavalry, if only for three square meals a day. Once they've filled their bellies, they attempt to bid farewell to the Army, only to learn that they've signed up for a three-year hitch -- and this contract is non-negotiable. For the rest of the film, Eddie romances Dorothy (Dorothy Gulliver), the daughter of his bombastic sergeant, while his pals get mixed up in the usual slapstick situations. Our hero finally proves he is a hero through his courageous behavior during a devastating fire. Troopers Three is distinguished by Rex Lease's expert horsemanship, which would serve him well when he briefly became a cowboy star in the mid-1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Journeyman director Richard Thorpe (who later helmed Elvis Presley features) directed this bizarre early talkie western which incorporated comedy musical numbers (vampish Nita Martan sings Crying Blues and A Man Like That) into a standard western plot dealing with rustlers and revenge. Joining up with a travelling medicine show, Westerner Clay Conning (Kenneth Harlan) tries to help his fellow troupers protect themselves against the villains. He also champions the cause of heroine Mary (Dorothy Gulliver), who is likewise being victimized by the baddies. Thrown into jail on a trumped-up charge, Conning escapes to see that justice is done. Screenwriters Bennett Cohen and James Aubrey threw in a stranded theatrical troupe to provide the vaudeville routines. Leading man Kenneth Harlan was the husband of actress Marie Prevost. Harlan's days as a star were numbered, but he continued in character roles for another decade and a half. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This third film version of Rex Beach's rugged Yukon novel The Spoilers was also the first talkie adaptation. This time, Gary Cooper and William "Stage" Boyd are cast as gold prospector Glennister and crooked Alaska politician McNamara. In partnership with Dextry (James Kirkwood), Glennister is the proud owner of the Midas gold mine, but McNamara and the corrupt Judge Stillman (Lloyd Ingraham) conspire to gain control of the mine, using legal but highly unethical maneuvers. Preparing to shoot each other full of holes, Glennister and McNamara are temporarily dissuaded by Glenister's sweetheart Helen (Kay Johnson), who suggests that the courts handle the dispute. But saloon owner Cherry Malotte (Betty Compson), jealous of Helen, lies to Glennister, telling him that Helen and McNamara are conspiring to cheat him again. Matters come to a head when Glennister and McNamara settle their differences with a spectacular fistfight. During filming of The Spoilers, the stars of the 1914 version William Farnum and Tom Santschi showed up frequently on the set, ostensibly to serve as "technical advisers" for the climactic set-to (one suspects that their advice was merely for the benefit of the Paramount publicity department). The Rex Beach story would be filmed again in 1942 with John Wayne and Randolph Scott, and yet again in 1955 with Jeff Chandler and Rory Calhoun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sometimes all it takes to save a marriage is a good pop, right in the kisser or so this family drama seems to imply. The story focuses on a troubled married couple. At first the wife turns to a therapist, but she finds herself paying a lot of money for nothing. In desperation, she decides to pack up the children and move out. Her husband tries to persuade her to comeback, but she refuses. He then punches her in the face. This seems to do the trick, and she comes home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a young man slated to inherit a big fortune is conned into dressing up as Napoleon by his aunt and uncle who tell him he is to attend a costume ball. Instead, they take him to an asylum and have him committed. Fortunately, he, a nurse, and several inmates manage to escape and return to his home where he manages to get rid of his troublesome relatives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

One of Hoot Gibson's final silent westerns (and a sequel to the popular Chip of the Flying U (1926)), King of the Rodeo presented the canny star as a rodeo champion from Montana getting himself ready for the big Chicago meet. There are, of course, a couple of bad guys to be dealt with along the way (including Monte Montague, here playing a character aptly named Weasel) and at one point, Gibson chases one of them through the traffic-jammed streets of Chicago. With the hayseed Slim Summerville and veteran slapstick comic Harry Todd to take care of the laughs and character actress Bodil Rosing as Gibson's devoted ma, wringing out a tear or two, a good time was had by all. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a producer reopens a theater where five years before, a lead actor was killed on stage during a performance. The murder remained unsolved. To solve the mystery, the producer stages the same play with the same cast. As the play is performed, the same series of events occurs and the lead actor vanishes. It is eventually discovered that a masked stage manager is behind the it all. He has set up the whole thing to force stockholders to withdraw from the production. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Denver Dude is Rodeo Randall, played by the eternally likeable Hoot Gibson. At first just another cowpoke, Rodeo begins dressing up and taking baths for the sake of pretty Patricia Lamar (Blanche Mehaffey). But when danger threatens, our hero reverts to buckskin and a ten-gallon hat, which of course was all that Gibson's fans could ask for. Glenn Tryon, soon to become a popular leading man in his own right, scores a comic bull's eye as Rodeo's foppish rival for Patricia's affections. Others in the cast include Slim Summerville as a perennially drunken ranch hand, and slimy Bob McKim as the all-purpose villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Arriving in the small town of Toptown to participate in the local rodeo, Buck Sims (Hoot Gibson) meets lovely Pony Blenning (Ethlyne Clair), who, with her crippled father (Charles Sellon), operates a merry-go-round. Pony's regular suitor, town bully Pinto Pete (William Dunn), attempts to warn off the newcomer, but is beaten in the ensuing fight. Pony's father is suddenly found shot and Buck is arrested. The Blennings, however, refuse to prosecute and Buck is free to win the Big Race, beating Pete once again. Pete then kidnaps Pony with Buck in hot pursuit. The final battle takes place in a canoe, where Buck finally manages to rescue Pony. Universal's highest paid Western star and a special favorite of studio owner Carl Laemmle, Hoot Gibson was at the top of his game in 1927. Directed by action expert B. Reeves Eason, Painted Ponies benefitted from the typical Gibson mix of rustic humor and hard riding. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Though Will Rogers was still packing 'em in on Broadway, he was considered a Hollywood has-been when he starred in the independently produced A Texas Steer. Rogers also wrote the screenplay of this "topical comedy," in which he plays Texas rancher Maverick Brander, who is maneuvered into politics by his status-seeking wife Ma (Louise Fazenda). Unfortunately, Maverick finds himself at the mercy of a trio of corrupt political hacks who want our hero to use his influence to push through a piece of questionable legislation. The opponents of the bill contrive to abduct Maverick, but he escapes in time to strike a blow for honesty in Washington. The level of humor in the film can be gauged by such character names as "Bossy Brander," "Dixie Style" and "Fairleigh Bright." A Texas Steer had its moments, but Will Rogers would have to wait until talkies arrived to fully blossom as a film star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide