Eddy Waller Movies

Columbia's Colorado Uprising was neither expensive enough to qualify as an "A" picture nor inexpensive enough to qualify as a "B." It was simply a "programmer," and as such was eminently suitable for solo playdates or double-feature berths. George Montgomery stars as cavalry captain McCloud, whose job it is to keep the peace between Indians and Whites. McCloud's efforts are undermined by gold speculators Alsop (Hugh Sanders) and Taggert (Douglas Kennedy), whose underhanded activities foment the Indian uprising of the title. Placed under house arrest by Indian-hating Major Stark (Robert Shayne), McCloud escapes, racing against time to mollify Geronimo (Miguel Inclan) and prevent an all-out massacre. Indian Uprising was one of several economical Columbia films produced by Edward Small, who'd been one of the founders of the studio back in the mid-1920s before striking out on his own as an "independent." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston give standout performances in this dark, psychological western, which Martin Scorsese has compared to the work of Dostoevsky. T.C. Jeffords (Huston) is a cunning and highly successful ranch owner who has announced his engagement to a wealthy socialite, Flo Burnett (Judith Anderson). This news is not warmly received by his daughter Vance (Stanwyck); she had a romance of her own with gambler Rip Darrow (Wendell Corey) foiled by her father, and Vance does not care for her light-headed stepmother-to-be. Vance is driven into a violent rage by T.C.'s Machiavellian actions, and when he kills a good friend of Vance's (a ranch hand he believes was helping Mexicans squat on his land), she swears revenge on her father and joins forces with Darrow to see that violent justice is done. The Furies proved to be Walter Huston's last film; he died within a few months of its release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Curtain Call at Cactus Creek is an agreeable combination of the western, comedy and musical genres. Donald O'Connor plays Edward Timmons, a mild-mannered stagehand for a travelling repertory troupe. Edward is in love with ingenue Julie Martin (Gale Storm), but there's no love lost between Edward and the troupe's hammy leading man Tracy Holland (Vincent Price). Things begin percolating when Edward gets mixed up in the activities of infamous outlaw Rimrock (Walter Brennan). Even allowing for the considerable singing and dancing skills of Donald O'Connor and Gale Storm, the film's best musical number is rendered by Eve Arden, cast as an over-the-hill soubrette who happens to be the heroine's mother (and never mind that she was only ten years older than Gale Storm!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lawman Allan “Rocky” Lane is mistaken for a hired killer in this average western from Republic Pictures. Assuming the identity of his captive, Clune (Stuart Randall), when the latter is killed by mistake by fellow outlaw Murray (John Cason), Rocky learns that Murray’s cohort Leo Straykin (Roy Barcroft) has killed a rancher named Reynolds and is planning on robbing Josh Taylor (Forrest Taylor) and then sell him the dead man’s property. But Taylor arrives with his lawyer, Parradine (John Eldredge), and a surveyor, Bob Bennett (George Nader), one of whom is rumored to be Straykins’ boss. Playing along and keeping his cover despite unwanted interference from Nugget Clark (Eddy Waller), an old-timer he has befriended along the way, Rocky learns that not only is Parradine Straykin’s boss but young Bennett is actually Jack Reynolds, the vengeful son of the murdered rancher. The plot thickens with the arrival of Jack’s pretty wife Carol (Claudia Barrett) but Rocky and Nugget eventually bring the villains to justice. Rustler’s on Horeback marked the screen debut of 1950s matinee idol George Nader. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Frisco Tornado stars Allan "Rocky" Lane in his usual guise as a U.S. marshal. The lawman's target this time is a dishonest insurance company which offers protection against bandit raids. Thing of it is, the insurance folks are themselves orchestrating these raids. Eddy Waller once again supplies comedy relief, while Blackjack the horse once again provides locomotion. Allan Lane's leading lady is Martha Hyer, still serving her apprenticeship for the stardom that would be hers within a few short years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Father is a Bachelor is a pleasant throwback to the "rural" comedies of the 1930s. William Holden plays Johnny Rutledge, a philosophical hobo to whom fishing is the only reason for living. Rutledge is forced to take a few jolts of responsibility when he crosses the path of five orphans. The kids decide to "adopt" Johnny and find him a bride--preferably small-town girl Prudence Millett (Colleen Gray). Charles Winninger steals the film from everyone--even those five urchins--as a medicine-show charlatan named Professor Mordecai Ford. One of the children is played by Billy Gray, of Father Knows Best fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Allan "Rocky" Lane and his faithful steed Black Jack star in Vigilante Hideout. The plot revolves around a bitter struggle over water rights. Eccentric inventor Nugget Clark (Eddy Waller) tries to help his drought-ridden neighbors by blasting for water, while a $25,000 nest egg rests in the bank for the purpose of building an aqueduct. The villains decide to rob the bank while Nugget is setting off his charges. Once "Rocky" Lane gives chase, however, the bad guys haven't got a chance. Roy Barcroft, who must have taken his meals and slept at Republic Studios, is one of the heavies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Covered Wagon Raid stars Allan "Rocky" Lane as a frontier insurance investigator named...Allan "Rocky" Lane. The story concerns a gang of hijackers who've been bushwhacking and murdering wagon train passengers. Someone has been tipping the gang off as to the locations and routes of the wagon trains--but who? That's what Rocky has to find out, and he's got quite a list of suspects to choose from. Halfway down the cast list as "Susie" is little Sherry Jackson, who later played Danny Thomas' daughter Terry on TV's Make Room for Daddy. There's hardly a dull moment in this 60-minute sagebrusher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Plot number 6259A -- mistaken identity -- is trotted out for the Republic sagebrusher Powder River Rustlers. Allan "Rocky" Lane stars as a wandering cavalier who stumbles across a scheme to defraud an entire village. A stranger has arrived in town, claiming to be a railroad agent who has been assigned to collect $50,000 to finance a new train line. Lane knows that the stranger is a fraud, but he bides his time, hoping to capture the stranger's boss and to rescue the real agent. That Powder River Rustlers will contain a plenitude of action is tipped off by the fact that several smaller roles are filled by well-known Hollywood stunt doubles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Republic's well-produced Allan "Rocky" Lane western series was a favorite of fans and critics alike. The series maintained its high batting average with its first 1949 entry, Death Valley Gunfighter. The storyline gets under way when thieves conspire to appropriate a silver mine owned by comedy relief Nugget Clark Eddy Waller. Though he could benefit from some legal help, Nugget doesn't trust lawmen. Thus, do-gooder Lane is forced to protect Nugget without the old man's knowledge. Death Valley Gunfighter culminates in the sort of outsized slugfest for which Republic was justly famous. TV's future "Annie Oakley" Gail Davis co-stars as the love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Allan "Rocky" Lane finds himself linked up with an unexpected ally in Wyoming Bandit. That ally is none other than the title character, a hard-bitten outlaw named Wyoming Dan (Trevor Bardette). The bad guy has briefly turned "good" in hopes that Lane will help him find his son's murderer. To do this, Lane must also alter his personality and pose as a deadly gunman. The pivotal scene finds Dan and Lane in the villain's lair, facing a daunting array of firearms. Wyoming Bandit is one of a handful of Republic "B" westerns with no leading lady whatsoever. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The rubber-stamp quality of Allan "Rocky" Lane's Republic westerns continued to manifest itself in Bandit King of Texas. Lane plays an honest cowboy who has seemingly fallen in with an outlaw gang. It comes as no surprise when Lane turns out to be working undercover to bring the gang to justice. As with his earlier films, the whole story is wrapped up in a brisk 60 minutes. One of the pleasanter aspects of Allan Lane's vehicles was their depiction of the villains as fairly normal human beings: in this case, Jim Nolan is the wicked but essentially believable heavy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Allan "Rocky" Lane western offers nothing new under the sun. Lane's fans expected nonstop action, and that's what they got. Our hero is called upon to halt a series of gold-shipment robberies. Someone is supplying the crooks with routing information, enabling them to await the arrival of the stagecoaches, guns in hand. The audience is on to the identity of the "mystery villain" long before Lane, but being able to second-guess the hero was part of the fun back in 1949. Without giving anything away, note that the supporting cast of Navajo Trail Raiders includes Eddy Waller as a coach driver, Barbara Bestar as Waller's pretty daughter, Hal Landon as Barbara's beau, and Robert Emmet Keane as a crusading journalist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide