Charles "Slim" Whitaker Movies
Someone once called American supporting actor Charles "Slim" Whitaker a "no good yellow-bellied polecat," and that is as good a description as any for this paunchy, mustachioed gent, a former stage manager and stock company actor from Kansas City, MO. Whitaker's screen career was spent almost entirely in B-Westerns, where he would skulk around as lazy ranch hands, tobacco-chewing henchmen, Mexican "half-breeds," and even the occasional corrupt lawman. More versatile than most Western supporting players, Whitaker was adept at comedy as well, and was humorously billed "Slender" Whitaker in 1925's Border Intrigue, in which he played a comedic Mexican bandito. Whitaker, who made his screen bow around 1925, was busiest in the 1930s, appearing in over 25 films in 1935 alone! He continued in pictures through the late '40s, but spent his final years working as a short-order cook in a Hollywood coffee shop. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1932
In his fourth of six inexpensive Westerns for Allied Pictures in 1932, veteran cowboy ace Hoot Gibson played a foreman inheriting his place of employment along with the late owner's daughter (Marion Shilling). She finds him uncouth and not worth her while at first, but hatred of a common enemy, unscrupulous banker Robert Ellis, brings them together. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ethel Wales
- 1926
Mistaken for a missing heir, cowboy Wally Wales becomes the focal point in a bitter range feud. This well-made little silent western was produced at Fallbrook, California by genre specialist Lester F. Scott, Jr., whose Action Pictures supplied rural theaters with a seemingly endless string of economical westerns starring the likes of Wales, Buddy Roosevelt and Buffalo Bill, Jr. Scott's first western star, Wales was in reality Floyd T. Alperson of Sheridan, Wyoming, a former stage driver. The name "Wally Wales" was chosen by Scott in honor of the Prince of Wales, the British heir apparent. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
In his third Western for low-budget company Tiffany, Ken Maynard plays Ken Neville, a cowboy returning to the old homestead to find his father (Lafe McKee) and a fellow rancher (Robert Homans) killed. The dead neighbor's daughter, Mary Warner (Virginia Brown Faire), blames Ken, whom she believes to be the leader of a gang of rustlers. Overhearing a plot by Rance Collins (Frank Mayo) to rustle Mary's steers, Ken pretends to be looking to join the gang. Unfortunately, Ken's sidekick "Repeater" Simpson (Irving Bacon) unwittingly gives away his real identity and Rance has him locked up in a cabin. Aided by his wonder horse Tarzan, who breaks through a window, Ken makes his escape and is later able to round up the entire gang. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Virginia Brown Faire, (more)
- 1941
Tim Holt and sidekicks Ray Whitley and Emmett Lynn join an outlaw gang in this RKO Western filmed on-location at Victorville, CA, and at the Walker and Jauregui movie ranches. When their friend Pop Edwards is shot (in the back, no less) by Doc Randall (Robert Fiske) and his crew, Jeff (Holt), Smokey (Whitley), and Whopper (Lynn) take it upon themselves to avenge him. They do so by infiltrating the gang, and, in time, are awarded assistance by the sheriff (Hal Taliaferro) and café singer Mary Loring (Betty Jane Rhodes). The latter sings "My Grand Pap" and "Old Monterey Moon," both by Whitley and Fred Rose. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Ray Whitley, (more)
Monogram Pictures launched its lucrative "Rough Riders" western series with 1941's Arizona Bound. Producer Scott Dunlap hoped to attract new customers by teaming two of the most popular cowboy stars in the movies, Buck Jones and Tim McCoy, throwing in another old favorite, Raymond Hatton, as grizzled comedy relief (ironically, Hatton was actually younger than his two costars!) The first entry set the pattern of all the "Rough Riders" entries to follow: Apparently retired, gunslinger Buck Roberts (Buck Jones) is galvanized into action when an old friend asks him to help rid Mesa City of a scurrilous outlaw gang. Upon his arrival, Buck makes the acquaintance of local parson Tim McCall (McCoy) and itinerant ranchhand Sandy Hopkins (Hatton). It soon becomes obvious that Buck, Tim and Sandy have been working together all along, with Roberts doing most of the shootin' and fightin' while Tim and Sandy operate undercover and undetected. Their job finally done, our three heroes bid farewell to one another and go their separate ways, with the promise that they'll join up again whenever its becomes necessary. Though it seldom deviated from this basic formula, the "Rough Riders" series was a hit, and remained so until Buck Jones' untimely death in 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, (more)
In this western the three Range Busters go undercover, take on a gang of ruthless outlaws, and bring them to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 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
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 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)
Stodgily directed by actor Russell Hopton, this low-budget oil-drilling melodrama was one of three action-adventures teaming boy actor Frankie Darro with B-Western villain LeRoy Mason, the latter changing his billing to "Roy Mason" for the occasion. Young master Darro plays Clifford Riley, nicknamed "Fishtail," whose father Dan (Frank Shannon) is killed when a rival, J.G. Anderson (Berton Churchill), sabotages his oil well. Enter geologist Hank Langford (Mason), who persuades "Fishtail" to hold on to the potentially valuable well. In retaliation, Anderson has Hank abducted, but the young geologist manages to escape. Learning that Anderson is planning to blow up the Riley well with nitroglycerin, the hero arrives just in time to rescue "Fishtail," but Anderson is killed in the ensuing explosion. The blast also causes the well to come in and both Hank and "Fishtail" emerge from the wreckage as millionaires. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Darro, LeRoy Mason, (more)
- 1948
Eddie Dean and sidekick Roscoe Ates come to the aid of a young rancher in this low-budget singing Western from PRC. Discovering that Hadley (Steve Clark) hides a gold-encrusted cave on his property, villainous saloon owner Kirby (Terry Frost) kills the elderly rancher and seals the cave. But when he tries to force the Hadley heirs, Larry (Steve Drake) and Janet (Shirley Patterson), off their property, Kirby comes up against the forceful new Hadley foreman, Eddie Dean. The latter takes time out to warble his own and Dean Hal Blair's "Black Hills" and "Let's Go Sparkin'," while the Plainsmen and Ates take care of Pete Gates' comical "Punchinello." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Dean, The Plainsmen, (more)
- 1935
Former footballer Reb Russell stars in this very low-budget oater as Muley Benson, a young cowpoke unfairly accused of cattle rustling. After splitting the ear of his accuser, Flash Purdue (Kenneth MacDonald), Muley leaves the area only to be summoned five years later by lovely Sally Griswold (Mary Jane Carey). The Griswolds are being terrorized by a mystery man who, it turns out, is none other than Purdue seeking vengeance for the loss of his auricle. Filmed in 1934, Border Vengeance was produced by Willis Kent, an independent operator better known as a purveyor of cheap exploitation melodramas. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1937
An above-average "Hopalong Cassidy" series entry, Borderland has Hoppy (William Boyd) going undercover as a bandit in a tough Mexican border town in order to trap a notorious bandit known only as The Fox. Not even sidekicks Johnny Nelson (James Ellison) and Windy (George "Gabby" Hayes) are in on the scheme, concocted jointly by Mexican Army Colonel Gonzales (Trevor Bardette) and Texas Ranger Major Stafford (Earle Hodgins). Lodging with widowed Grace Rand (Nora Lane) and her small daughter, Molly (Charlene Wyatt), both of whom he abuses in order to protect his cover, Hoppy learns that The Fox (Stephen Morris aka Morris Ankrum) is himself performing a bit of masquerade, in this case as a halfwit known as Loco. Windy, however, innocently spills the beans and is promptly kidnapped along with Molly. Chased by Hoppy, who is himself tailed by the villain's henchmen, Gonzales' troops, and a wounded Johnny Nelson, The Fox (alias Loco) escapes to his secret hideaway, a cabin stocked with dynamite. There, Hoppy catches up with him and in an exciting finale keeps the master villain at bay until help arrives. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, James Ellison, (more)
- 1930
From Big 4 Film Corp., Breed of the West stars former silent cowboy Wally Wales, in his second talkie, as Wally Weldon, a young cowboy who encounters a lost youth searching for his father. Wally takes the boy, Jim Bradley (Buzz Barton), back to the ranch where the kid obtains the job of cook's helper. While performing his duties, Jim learns that his immediate boss (George Gerwing) and Longrope Wheeler (Robert Walker), the ranch foreman, are planning to rob their employer, Colonel Sterner (Lafe McKee). When Wally finds Jim wounded by one of Longrope's henchmen, the Colonel admits to his daughter, Betty (Virginia Brown Faire), that the child is her long-lost brother. There is a second attempt to rob Sterner but Wally forces the cook to confess and the evil Longrope is arrested by the sheriff (Hank Bell). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wally Wales, Buzz Barton, (more)
- 1926
Versatile silent screen comedian Milburn Morante directed this average Universal western starring Colorado-born Pete Morrison. Perhaps the studio's most authentic cowboy performer, Morrison never gained the popularity of Universal's top western hero, Hoot Gibson or the devoted following of Jack Hoxie. But he wasn't overly coy like Gibson or as bad an actor as Hoxie and it is surprising that he didn't do better. Bucking the Truth tells the usual western tale of a cowboy falsely accused of being an outlaw, who unravels a smuggling ring. Universal apparently believed in the film and surrounded Morrison with a top-notch supporting cast that included lovely Ione Reed as the usual damsel in distress, the always welcome "Slim" Whitaker as one of the bad guys, and a young cowboy from Montana, Curley Witzel, who was so convincing that the studio gave him a starring series of 2-reel westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brinsley Shaw, Bruce Gordon, (more)
- 1940
Cattle rancher George O'Brien, thinking that he's emptying his six shooters in the direction of rustlers, apparently kills one of his own ranchhands. To make amends, O'Brien joins up with the dead man's father in trying to corral the crooks. Turns out that O'Brien is innocent of the accidental killing, proof of which comes none too soon to patch up the relationship between George and the late ranchhand's sister (Virginia Vale). Bullet Code was one of the last of George O'Brien's budget westerns for RKO. He would soon gracefully hand over his holsters to new RKO cowboy Tim Holt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Virginia Vale, (more)
- 1941
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In this western, a mining engineer vengefully seeks out the claim jumpers that murdered his brother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1929
A late entry in First National's series of silent Ken Maynard Westerns, this film starred the athletic Maynard and his magnificent and increasingly popular horse "Tarzan" in a rousing rodeo adventure. Maynard played Cal Roberts, a young rodeo cowboy coming to the aid of a girl jockey (Gladys McConnell), whose father is facing bankruptcy. Cheyenne was scripted by the talented Marion Jackson, who also wrote some of rival Western star Fred Thomson's better vehicles. Warner Bros., who had absorbed First National (and its Burbank studio complex) in late 1928, later used the title Cheyenne for both a 1947 feature and the popular 1955-1963 television series starring Clint Walker. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Gladys McConnell, (more)
- 1935
Having allowed his name to be listed as "producer" of Gun Smoke, a low-budget Western actually produced by Willis Kent, rodeo star Montie Montana starred in this inexpensive oater, but without the phony producer credit. Originally intended for football star Reb Russell, Circle of Death featured Montana as Little Buffalo, an Indian whose sister, White Fawn (Princess Ah-Tee-Ha), is persecuted by the white settlers, in general, and crooked saloon keeper J.F. Henry (Henry Hall), in particular. Henry is out after Chief Standing Bear's secret gold, but the Indians find shelter at the ranch belonging to Bill Carr (John Ince). When Jerry Carr (Gaylord "Steve" Pendleton, here billed as "Jack Carson") sells the family's cattle to Henry, it is Little Buffalo and the Indians who bring the herd back. In gratitude, the Carrs help the tribe bring the villains to justice. Little Buffalo, meanwhile, has fallen in love with Mary Carr (Tove Lindan) and she with him. After Little Fawn reveals that Little Buffalo is really a white boy named Jim Little, the lone survivor of an Indian raid, the lovers are free to marry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Montie Montana, Tove Lindan, (more)
- 1939
Tim McCoy once again played Department of Justice agent "Lightning Bill" Carson in Code of the Cactus, and once again he infiltrates the outlaws by masquerading as a foreigner, this time a Mexican named Miguel. A gang of very modern rustlers using high-powered trucks and machine guns is terrorizing the local ranchers. Disguised as Miguel, Lightning Bill quickly learns that the rustlers are lead by Blackton (Forrest Taylor), a nasty meatpacking contractor, and with assistance from usual sidekick Magpie (Ben Corbett) and a new acquaintance, range detective Bob Swane (Dave "Tex" O-Brien), he manages to penetrate Blackton's barricade of piled-up trucks. McCoy made eight Westerns for low-budget producer Katzman's Victory Pictures before signing with newcomer PRC. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Ben Corbett, (more)
Gene Autry goes up against another "protection" racket in this tuneful series entry, which also features country & western singer Patsy Montana and the CBS-KMBC Texas Rangers. Doc Blair (Robert Barrat), a crooked veterinarian, is doing a good business terrorizing the local dairy farmers into paying for not having their deliveries destroyed -- until, that is, Gene and Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) move in. Blair, as it turns out, does not even shy away from murdering the local sheriff (William Farnum) and attempts to get his own stooge, Dave Haines (Buster Crabbe), elected in his stead. But Gene takes up the fight and wins the election. Now he only has to win over Haines' innocent sister, radio announcer Carol Haines (June Storey), whom Blair has used to relay coded messages to his henchmen over the air waves. Autry, Burnette, Patsy Montana, and the CBS-KMBC Texas Rangers perform "Colorado Sunset," "On the Merry Way Back Home," "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart," "Poor Little Doggie," "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere" and "Seven Years with the Wrong Woman," all by Con Conrad and L. Wolfe Gilbert. The Gene Autry debut of producer William Berke, Colorado Sunset was filmed on location at Keen Camp near Hemet, CA. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (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)
Ken Maynard's magnificent horse Tarzan took center-stage in this, perhaps the star's most flamboyant entry in the otherwise super low-budget KBS series. A wild stallion, Tarzan releases a group of horses corralled for slaughter by nasty Steve Frazer (Niles Welch), who is selling horseflesh to pet food manufacturers. When Frazer demands that the sheriff (Jack Rockwell) intervene, foreman Ken Benson (Maynard) convinces rancher Patricia Riley (Merna Kennedy) to help him prove Tarzan innocent. Dubious at first, Patricia finally comes around and together they get the goods on Frazer, who is eventually killed by a vengeful Tarzan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Merna Kennedy, (more)
- 1935
In the fourth of 18 inexpensive Tom Tyler Westerns produced by Reliable Pictures and filmed on location in Newhall, California, Tom and his sidekick, Windy (Ben Corbett), are hired by John Baker's Bar X Ranch. Baker (Lafe McKee) offers a $1,000 reward to anyone who can capture "The Phantom," a wild stallion suspected of chasing a herd of mares through a hole in the Bar X fence. The real horse thief, however, is Bar X's unscrupulous neighbor, Mack Larkin (Dick Alexander), who is in cahoots with Baker's crooked foreman, Bert (Charles "Slim" Whitaker). Tom befriends "The Phantom" and is determined to prove the horse innocent. Despite the skepticism of Baker's pretty daughter, Helen (Alice Dahl), Tom and Windy set out to prove Larkin's guilt. Although sharing the same character name, "Windy," the rustic Corbett had little else in common with George Hayes (later nicknamed "Gabby"), the quintessential comic sidekick of "Hopalong Cassidy" series fame. A holdover from the silent era, Corbett was woefully unfunny and an amateurish actor to boot. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1926
A gang of counterfeiters are using the mountain division of the Pacific Coast Railroad for their nefarious purpose in this rare surviving railroad melodrama starring the queen of the genre, Helen Holmes. She plays Helen Wainwright, the innocent ticket clerk in Middletown, where the agent, George Harvey (William Lowery), is working for the gang. Learning that a package containing 30,000 dollars is on its way from San Fernando to the National Bank in Garden City, Harvey deftly exchanges it with one containing counterfeit bills. Helen learns that Harvey is trying to reach a Mr. George Smith at the Adams Hotel, and she decides to masquerade as Smith. Dressed in clothes belonging to undercover policeman Jack McDermott (Henry Victor), the plucky ticket clerk manages to get the package containing the real money away from Harvey but is later cornered in Middletown's power station. When the counterfeiters escape by train, Helen uses Morse code to alert railroad superintendent Steele (Clyde McAfee) and soon the heroes are in hot pursuit on a light engine. Helen makes a daring transfer from one speeding train to the other and the counterfeiters are arrested. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
