Luana Walters Movies

The lovely assistant of an evil hypnotist has no idea that she is the descendant of a horrifying prehistoric sea monster she is mesmerized by her boss. When the monster comes forth, she goes on a killing spree. A promoter learns about the hypnotist's shenanigans and figures a way to cash in on the death and destruction. Meanwhile, each time the assistant is hypnotized and the monster emerges, she is able to better control it. The monster costume was created by master make-up artist Paul Blaisdell and is considered one of his best. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Captain Midnight is a 15-episode serial based on the radio adventure series of the same name. Captain Albright (Dave O'Brien), an ace aviator better known as Captain Midnight, is assigned to neutralize the evil enemy scientist Ivan Shark (James Craven), who is merrily bombing major American cities. Shark is after a new range finder invented by an altruistic scientist (Bryant Washburn). The scientist of course has a beautiful daughter (Dorothy Short, then Mrs. Dave O'Brien) who seemingly can't mail a letter without being kidnapped. With Captain America on the case, Ivan Shark finds his best laid schemes going "agley", and once more the world is made safe for Democracy and Ovaltine. Like many wartime Columbia serials, Captain America is hilariously and endearingly overdirected by former Laurel and Hardy associate James W. Horne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite the typical Monogram drawbacks -- murky photography, stolid staging, ramshackle sets -- The Corpse Vanishes remains one of the more deliciously outrageous horror exercises of the 1940s. Bela Lugosi, as hammy as ever, stars as Dr. Lorenz, a European horticulturist whose octogenarian wife (Elizabeth Russell) needs fluids from the glands of young virgins to remain forever young and beautiful. Jumping to conclusions, the insane medico's rationale seems to be that the best place to find a virgin is at the altar. Consequently, seven young women are in short order poisoned by a mysterious orchid just before their "I do's" and brought in a catatonic state to Dr. Lorenz' mansion in Brookdale. Cub reporter Pat Hunter (Luana Walters) is on to the scheme and visits the Lorenz estate under the pretense of researching an article on orchids. With a typical sound-stage storm brewing up, she agrees to spend the night, and what a night it proves to be. Not only is poor Pat awakened by a visit from Dr. Lorenz' slobbering, hunchbacked helper, Angel (Frank Moran, who stalks her while eating a drumstick), the reporter is also slapped in the face by the disagreeable countess, snubbed by a nasty dwarf (Angelo Rossitto), and nearly suffers the same fate as the poor brides when rescued in the nick of time by an enraged housekeeper (Minerva Urecal) and her boyfriend, Dr. Foster (Tristram Coffin). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Monogram's "Rough Riders" rolled along smoothly with the 1942 entry Down Texas Way. Once again, the star trio consists of Buck Jones as Buck Roberts, Tim McCoy as Tim McCall, and Raymond Hatton as Sandy Hopkins. The plot, as always, finds Buck, Tim and Sandy cast as undercover US Marshals who pretend to be strangers to one another for the purpose of confounding the villains. This time, Sandy is framed for murder by a gang of frontier racketeers who hope to take over a small town as their headquarters. Working separately (and ostensibly on the wrong side of the law), Buck and Tim rescue Sandy from a lynch mob and foil the crooks' dastardly schemes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

It's Wild Bill Elliot as Wild Bill Hickok in the Columbia B-western Lone Star Vigilantes. This time out, Elliot is teamed with singing cowboy Tex Ritter, while comedy relief is provided by diminutive stuntman Frank Mitchell. Returning from Civil War duty, Hickok, Tex Martin (Ritter) and Cannonball (Mitchell) find that their Texas home town is under the rule of Colonel Monroe (Forrest Taylor), a bush-league dictator with his own police force. In true Hitlerian fashion, Monroe extorts huge sums of money from the populace, terrorizing them into silence. Our three heroes set about to put an end to Monroe's regime, with time out for Tex Ritter's musical interludes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The taciturn William Elliott stars in this above-average entry in Columbia's "Wild Bill Hickock" B-Western series. Returning to town with Larry Armstrong (Richard Fiske), an old friend he has just saved from a lynch mob, Hickock learns that Mitch Carew (Dick Curtis), a prison parolee, has killed Dan Woodworth (John Dilson), and is now attempting to buy Woodworth's store as a front for his nefarious schemes. Larry, who is embittered about the low wages being paid by the area's ranchers, opts to join Carew's gang of thugs. Wild Bill, meanwhile, is courting Woodworth's Eastern-bred niece Ann (Luana Walters), but the girl scoffs at his old-fashioned western ways. Alarmed that Larry has been involved in a stage robbery, Bill arranges to meet his old friend. Their rendezvous turns hostile and as Wild Bill is about to leave, Stringer (Leroy Mason), one of Mitch's stooges, takes a shot at him. Returning fire, Bill accidentally shoots and kills Larry. Blaming himself for the death of his friend, Bill vows to bring Mitch to justice. But when Ann once again denounces her suitor's western code of ethics, Bill offers to give up his guns and become "a peaceful man." When he learns that Mitch is waiting for him, our hero straps on his guns once again and goes to meet his destiny. A shootout in the street finally ends Mitch's reign of terror. Realizing that he will never be able to forsake the code of the west, Bill bids Ann a fond farewell and leaves town. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A saboteur who tampered with an experimental aeronautics device is pursued by a man and his dog in this tale of adventure and intrigue from director Raymond K. Johnson. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The dangers of the dread venereal disease syphilis are depicted in this earnest drama from the 1940s. The story centers upon an intrepid health commissioner who is out to get rid of the tawdry hookers responsible for spreading the disease. He is assisted by a reporter. In a different subplot a young philanderer contracts the disease and gives it to his pregnant wife. Later a rotten doctor claims that he is cured, but it is not so and the young man returns, picks a fight, and accidentally kills the doctor. Later the young fellow is persuaded into giving his reasons for the killing; he does, and his name is cleared. At the same time, the reporter and health commissioner have fallen in love, and the town council finally gives the go ahead for the commissioner to clean up the streets. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Like its predecessor The Man From Tumbleweeds, the 1940 Bill Elliot western The Return of Wild Bill was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, whose innovative choice of camera angles was always well worth watching. Returning to his home town after a long absence, Wild Bill Saunders (Elliot) discovers that his father has been mortally wounded by a gang of frontier hooligans. Adding intrigue to the proceedings is the fact that Katie Kilgore (Luana Anders), one of the film's two leading ladies (the other is Iris Meredith), is the sister of outlaw leader Matt Kilgore (George Lloyd). Seemingly a mere villainess, Katie reveals that she's a lot more complex than anyone imagines, carefully tipping off the honest cattlemen in the district whenever her brother goes on a rampage. Her curious predilection for working both sides of the fence costs Katie her life at fadeout time, but she remains in the memory far longer than any of the film's other plot contrivances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Every time that sinister Oriental megalomaniac Dr. Fu Manchu is ready to kill, sounds of strange drums can be heard coming from -- well, nowhere really. In 1939, Republic Pictures purchased the rights to the first six of British pulp fiction writer Sax Rohmer's popular "Fu Manchu" stories. The result became the studio's second longest action serial and one of its most enduringly popular. The head of a sinister conglomeration known as the Si-Fan, Dr. Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon) goes in search of the Sacred Scepter of Genghis Khan, with which he hopes to rule all the tribes of the Orient and evict the foreign infidels. Helping the good doctor is Fah-Lo-Suee (Gloria Franklin), his Eurasian daughter, and a seemingly unlimited supply of Dacoits, henchmen turned into slaves by having undergone frontal lobotomies. Dr. Fu Manchu is, as always, opposed by Sir Neyland Smith (William Royle) of the British Foreign Office. This time, however, Sir Neyland is not only aided by his very own "Dr. Watson," Dr. Petrie (Olaf Hytten), but also by a young American, Allan Parker (Robert Kellard), whose father (George Cleveland) had become yet another of Fu Manchu's many victims. Complicating the search is the attractive presence of Mary Randolph (Luana Walters) who, like most of her ilk, has a tendency to get herself into serious trouble at the most inopportune moments. Although the Oriental fiend appears all-powerful at times, Sir Neyland and his friends once again save the free world from enslavement -- although it takes them 15 chapters to do so. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In emulation of Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" western series, Monogram launched its own three-star sagebrush property, "The Range Busters"-which was also the name of the first film in the series. Former Mesquiteers Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune comprised two-thirds of the Range Busters, with John "Dusty" King completing the trio. The initial entry was as much a whodunit as a western, with the heroic triumvirate trying to ascertain the identity of The Phantom, a mysterious murderer. The revelation of the culprit will be a surprise to anyone who hasn't caught on to the clues planted in Reel One. Boasting good performances and well-chosen, unfamiliar outdoor locations, The Range Busters was an auspicious start to one of Monogram's most lucrative series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide