Eddy Waller Movies

Despite its title and its potent lineup of cowboy talent, RKO Radio's The Law West of Tombstone is more comedy than western. The characters are all based on famous frontier characters, with names changed to protect the producers. Harry Carey is cast against type as a blowhard Judge Roy Bean clone, whose bravado masks the heart of a coward. With the help of Billy the Kid rip-off Tim Holt, Carey fends off a gang that closely resembles the Clantons. Holt ends up in the arms of Jean Rouverol, a busy ingenue of the 1930s who later became a prolific children's story writer. Law West of Tombstone was directed by onetime movie leading man Glenn Tryon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this episode of the western series, the Mesquitters try to stop a ring of silk thieves while dealing with a shady medicine show man and his kids. One of his offspring is a beautiful young woman. The Mesquiteers must hurry to find the thieves as they too are suspects. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Supporting actor Scott Kolk was elevated to playing the title role in this Graustarkian spy thriller, serialized in 12 chapters by Universal. Reportedly based on characters created by Dashiell Hammett, the serial featured an American secret agent assigned to recover the crown jewels of Belgravia. Agent X-9 is assisted in his quest by Shara Graustark (Jean Rogers) and opposed by a master criminal known as Blackstone (Henry Brandon). A Universal contract player, Scott Kolk had played Leer, one of the young German soldiers-turned-cannon fodder in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), but stardom had eluded him. A name change to Scott Colton didn't do the trick either, and he left films in 1938. Leading lady Jean Rogers, on the other hand, had played Dale Arden in Flash Gordon (1936) and has become a serial icon. Universal used the title Secret Agent X-9 again in 1945, but with a different setting and plot. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Small Town Boy was the 33rd release from the burgeoning "B"-picture factory of Grand National Pictures. Stuart Erwin plays the title character, a milquetoast named Henry, who's brimming with good ideas but lacks the confidence to express them. All this changes when he finds a thousand-dollar bill on the sidewalk. Emboldened by his sudden wealth, Henry becomes a veritable dynamo of energy -- and, to some, a major pain in the neck. Joyce Compton, usually consigned to dumb-blonde support, is a most-appealing heroine. Small Town Boy is based on a short story by Manuel Komroff, also titled The Thousand Dollar Bill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Poppy is the film version of the Dorothy Donnelly musical comedy which made W.C. Fields a Broadway star back in 1923 (an earlier, less-faithful version, also starring Fields and retitled Sally of the Sawdust, was directed by D. W. Griffith in 1926). The Great Man is cast as Professor Eustace McGargle, a small-time carnival confidence trickster. Accompanied by his adopted daughter Poppy (Rochelle Hudson), McGargle joins a travelling sideshow, fleecing as many of the local yokels as time will permit. During one stopover, Poppy falls in love with Billy Farnsworth (Richard Cromwell), the son of the town's mayor (Granville Bates), while McGargle pitches woo at the faded but alluring Countess de Puizzi (Catherine Doucet). When he finds out that the "Countess" is a phony claimant to the valuable Putnam estate, McGargle conspires with local lawyer Whiffen (Lynne Overman) to pass off Poppy as the genuine, long-lost heir. As it turns out, Poppy really is the heir, a felicitous turn of events which enables McGargle to avoid being tarred and feathered by the angry townsfolk. Finishing Poppy on schedule was quite a trial for W.C. Fields, who, in addition to breaking a vertebra while filming a chase sequence, further damaged his spine in a household accident. As a result, he could barely stand up during shooting, and many of his scenes had to be completed by a stunt double. One would never know that Fields was in excruciating pain throughout the film, however: Comedy-wise, he's at the top of his form, especially when he sells a "talking dog" to a gullible rube and finagles a free lunch from an equally dense hot-dog vendor. Poppy is also the film in which Fields imparts a sage bit of advice to his screen daughter: "Never give a sucker an even break." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bing Crosby's only western (outside of the 1966 version of Stagecoach), Rhythm on the Range stars Crosby as a casual cowpoke on his way back to the Wide Open Spaces after an eastern visit. He meets a young train stowaway (Frances Farmer), whom he regards as a hoydenish vagabond until learning that she's the owner of the ranch where he works. Farmer resists Crosby's charms until he rescues her from a gang of rustlers. Among the supporting cast is Mischa Auer, Bob "Bazooka" Burns, and, in her film debut, 19-year-old Martha Raye. The film also introduces the song hit "I'm an Old Cowhand", which is sung at one point or another by everyone in the cast, including Russian-born Mischa Auer. Rhythm on the Range was remade in 1956 as Pardners, with a few minor alterations--notably the casting of Jerry Lewis in the Frances Farmer role! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide