Robert J. Wilke Movies
Robert J. Wilke's first taste of popularity came while he was performing with a high-dive act at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. Encouraged to give Hollywood a try, Wilke entered films as a stunt man and bit player in 1936. He spent most of his movie career in Westerns like High Noon (1952), Arrowhead (1953), The Lone Ranger (1955), and The Magnificent Seven (1960), generally playing bad-guy roles which required both menace and physical dexterity. In 1965, Robert J. Wilke was seen on a weekly basis as Sheriff Sam Corbett on the TV sagebrusher The Legend of Jesse James. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1947
Charles Starrett once more assumes the guise of the Robin Hood-like Durango Kid in Last Days of Boot Hill. The star is cast as US marshal Steve Waring, assigned to locate $100,000 in missing gold and round up the thieves. Much of the story takes place in flashback, permitting cost-conscious Columbia Pictures to sneak in several stock shots from earlier "Durango Kid" entries (notably Both Barrels Blazing). This moneysaving device worked well enough for Columbia to extend the practice to the studio's 2-reel comedies, which explains why so many of the Three Stooges shorts of the early 1950s look alike. For the record, Last Days of Boot Hill comes to a climax as Steve Waring, aka the Durango Kid, gallops to the rescue of pretty rancher Paula Thorpe (Virginia Hunter). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
Smugglers are working the border between Mexico and California in this action-filled and, of course, tuneful Gene Autry Western. Autry, sidekick Sterling Holloway, and the Cass County Boys get involved with fiery Elena Del Rio (Adele Mara), a singer in the local cantina who alternately throws knives at them and helps catch a gang of jewel smugglers taking advantage of local refugees. Chasing in and out of Joshua Tree National Monument, our heroes go up against a couple of supposedly law-abiding citizens, a peon (Martin Garralaga) who isn't what he pretends to be, and the local rural residents. Happily, everyone takes time out from the mayhem to perform Jack Elliott's "Twilight on the Rio Grande" and "The Pretty Knife Grinder," Smiley Burnette's "It's My Lazy Day" and "Great Grand Dad," Nat Simon and Charles Tobias' "The Old Lamplighter" and a couple of other selections. In addition to Joshua Tree National Monument, Twilight on the Rio Grande was filmed at Victorville, CA. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Sterling Holloway, (more)
- 1947
In this western, a marshal goes undercover to stop a brutal gang of crooks from continuing to terrorize local ranchers. After infiltrating the gang, he discovers that the perpetrator is the owner of the town saloon where his ex-girlfriend works. Unfortunately, the marshal gets discovered and framed for murder. Fortunately, he escapes from prison, rounds up a vigilante posse and gets rid of the outlaws. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Margaret Lindsay, (more)
- 1946
Lesley Selander directs the urban goings-on in Traffic in Crime with the same breeziness he brought to his Republic westerns. Kane Richmond stars as police undercover agent Sam Wire, who charms his way into the confidence of two rival gambling rings. Playing one group against the other, Wire manages to undermine both operations, but in the Eleventh Hour he is nearly caught in his own trap. In one of her final leading roles, Anne Nagel is charming as heroine Ann Marlowe, though she is handily upstaged by resident "bad girl" Adele Mara. As head villain Tip Hogan, Roy Barcroft once again proves himself one of the most indipensable stock players on the Republic lot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kane Richmond, Adele Mara, (more)
In this western, a dreamy young woman, tired of her boring life and job travels to an abandoned town where her grandmother had been a notorious dancehall queen. There she imagines scenes from her illustrious grandma's life. The dream takes up most of the picture and during it, the gal meets many fascinating characters. One of those characters is a clean-cut, handsome cowboy. Romance ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1945
The first of actor Sunset Carson and director Thomas Carr's collaborations, Santa Fe Saddlemates is about a U.S. marshal (Carson) attempting to break a diamond smuggling ring at the U.S./Mexican border. Accompanied by a female reporter (Linda Stirling), Carson has to pose as a bandit in order to infiltrate the criminals' inner-circle. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
The Man From Oklahoma is set during a 20th century renactment of the 19th century Oklahoma land rush, but if patrons wanted to assume that the film had something to do with the Broadway musical hit Oklahoma!, that was certainly their privilege. Roy Rogers is on hand to help Peggy Lane (Dale Evans) stake her rightful land claim, despite the machinations of the villains. This time, Roy's comical sidekick Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes) gets to have a romantic entanglement of his own, in the ample form of Peggy's self-style duenna Grandma Lane (Maude Eburne). The musical portion of the program includes several juke-box hits along with the usual quota of cowboy ballads and hillbilly novelty songs. As was customary in the Roy Rogers vehicles of the era, action takes a back seat to music in Man From Oklahoma. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1944
There's oil in them thar' hills and an unscrupulous oil company scout attempts to drive the settlers off their newly valuable land in this typical Red Ryder Western starring "the Peaceable Man" (William Elliott). Oil company representative Walter Garfield (LeRoy Mason) and his equally nefarious associate, Ace Hanlon (Glenn Strange), manage to drive several ranchers away, but obstinate rancher Ben Taylor (Jack Kirk) is killed right in front of his daughter, Ann (Linda Stirling). When Red Ryder (Elliott), Ann's neighbor, becomes too nosy, Garfield sends for an old associate, gambler Johnny Bennett (aka the San Antonio Kid) (Duncan Renaldo), and charges him with killing the pesky rancher. The Kid is saved by Red when his horse bolts and they become friends. Although shocked that the newcomer is a notorious gambler, Red's aunt, the Duchess (Alice Fleming), hires him as a ranch hand and Johnny reveals Garfield's nefarious plan. Working together, Red and Johnny manage to trap Garfield and his henchmen and after a dramatic shootout, Red chases the villains to their hideout. A fight breaks out and a pool of oil is set on fire. Garfield is killed in the subsequent blaze and Hanlon is brought to justice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Wild Bill" Elliott, Bobby Blake, (more)
- 1944
In his third western for Republic Pictures, Allan Lane plays Tex Jordan, a cattle rancher en route to sell his stock to cattle baron Jack Hatfield (Roy Barcroft). But in the town of Sundown, our hero finds that the omnipotent Hatfield has been squeezing the small ranchers in general and Tex's friend Andy Craig (Jack Kirk) in particular. Andy, who threatens to blow the whistle on Hatfield's unfair business practices, is shot by persons unknown and Tex promises his dying friend to care for a young daughter, Little Jo (Twinkle Watts). Appealing the case to the governor (Herbert Rawlinson), Tex is made a special investigator but due to a lack of physical evidence, Hatfield continues his reign of terror almost unopposed. Until, that is, Tex and sidekick Chihuahua (Duncan Renaldo) concoct a plan to trap the evil empire builder. Sheriff of Sundown reunited Allan Lane with Linda Stirling, his co-star in the contemporary Republic serial The Tiger Woman (1944). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1944
This "Red Ryder" entry stars Gordon "Wild Bill" Elliot as Ryder. The heroine (Linda Stirling) is having troubles with the freight company that she owns. Time and again, her coaches are beset by hooded thieves. With Red Ryder on the job, the robbers haven't got a chance, but they put up a fight anyway. Featured in the cast are series stalwarts Bobby Blake as Little Beaver ("You betchum, Red Ryder") and Alice Fleming as The Duchess. Director Wallace Grissell maintains his usual standard of nonstop action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1944
The Yellow Rose of Texas is, at least in the case of this Roy Rogers vehicle, both the title of a song and the name of a fancy showboat. Rogers plays a frontier insurance investigator who is assigned to locate a company payroll stolen several years earlier. Working undercover, Roy poses as a singer on the aforementioned "Yellow Rose of Texas." The showboat's owner, Betty Weston (Dale Evans), is the daughter of the man who was arrested for the robbery. She's convinced that her dad is innocent, and Roy proves that she's right by capturing the genuine culprit. Running seven reels as opposed to the usual six, The Yellow Rose of Texas was marketed as a "special" by canny Republic Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, (more)
- 1944
In this convoluted western, a sickly cowboy sidekick gets into a terrible fix when he is mistaken for a notorious bank robber and tossed in the clink. There is a huge bounty on the villain's head, and the sheriff happily anticipates the arrival of that bounty on the next stage, unaware that the real crook is waiting in ambush to steal the money. Meanwhile the sidekick's heroic compadre convinces the sheriff that he has the wrong man. Unfortunately, the robbery takes place before they can free the sidekick. The sheriff and the hero ride off to capture the crook. Unfortunately, by this time, the villain has snuck into the jail and has exchanged places with his doppleganger so when the sheriff and the hero bring the outlaw into prison they once again have the wrong man. The hero is then left to try to figure out which of the look-a-likes is really his partner and save him before hanging day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The United States Air Force dropping bombs on decent, taxpaying ranchers is perhaps not your standard B-Western theme but that is exactly what happens in In Old Monterey. It's 1939 and war is breaking out in Europe. Fearing a possible invasion, the air force feels the urgent need to test its weaponry but the locals, lead by Gabby Whittaker (George "Gabby" Hayes), refuse to relocate and the government dispatches army attaché Gene Autry to contribute his special blend of musical persuasion. The patriotic populace is one thing, however, but Gene and sidekick Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) must also contend with greedy borax mining magnate Stevenson (Jonathan Hale) and his foreman Gilman (William Hall, who have a vested interest in keeping things exactly as they are. In the end, the villains are willing to commit murder to keep the military from taking over. Gene, Smiley and a hayseed congregation calling itself The Hoosier Hot Shots perform "It Happened in Monterey", "Born to the Saddle", "Little Pardner", "My Buddy", "The Vacant Chair", "It Looks Like Rain" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" in this uneven music Western/propaganda film restored by Gene Autry Entertainment in 2001. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
