Joe Yrigoyen Movies

The beloved novel by Anthony Hope is shown here in its sixth film adaptation. In this story, Peter Sellers is Rudolf IV, the reigning monarch of the tiny nation of Ruritania. One day, while flying in a hot air balloon, a champagne cork sends him plummeting to his death. The rightful heir, who is to be crowned Rudolf V (also Peter Sellers), is kidnapped by Duke Michael (Jeremy Kemp), who is next in line for the throne. Luckily, the good guys find Syd (Peter Sellers once again), a London taxi-driver who closely resembles the kidnapped heir. While impersonating the monarch-to-be, Syd falls in love with the prince's fiancee Princess Flavia (Lynne Frederick). Neither a box-office nor a critical success, this amiable 1979 swashbuckler nonetheless features fine performances by Peter Sellers, who died in 1980. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Henry Hathaway directs the 1965 psychological Western The Sons of Katie Elder. Four sons reunite in their Texas hometown to attend their mother's funeral. John (John Wayne) is the gunfighter, Tom (Dean Martin) is the gambler, Matt (Earl Holliman) is the quiet one, and Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) is the youngest. They soon learn that their father gambled away the family ranch, leading to his own murder. The brothers decide to find their father's killer and get back the ranch, even though they are discouraged to do so by local Sheriff Billy Wilson (Paul Fix). When the sheriff turns up dead, the Elder boys are blamed for the murder. Deputy Sheriff Ben Latta (Jeremy Slate) joins forces with the only witnesses of the murder: Morgan Hastings (James Gregory) and his son Dave (Dennis Hopper). A gunfight breaks out between the Hastings gang and the Elder gang. After his brother Matt is killed, John decides to settle the ranch dispute in a court of law with a judge (Sheldon Allman). However, Tom decides to take matters into his own hands by kidnapping Dave. After the final climactic gunfight, John and the wounded Bud retreat to a rooming house owned by Mary Gordon (Martha Hyer). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Unique among Bonanza episodes, "The Companeros" does not feature any of the series' top-billed stars, but instead focuses exclusively on Ben Cartwright's nephew Will, played by Guy Williams. Guest-star Frank Silvera is cast as freedom fighter Mateo Ibara, who hopes to enlist his old friend Will's support in helping Benito Juarez assume the presidency of Mexico. Despite his fondness for Ibara and his wife Carla (Faith Domergue), Will finds himself questioning Mateo's true motives. Anthony Carbone, a familiar face in many an American-International movie epic, is here seen as Vincente. First telecast on April 19, 1964, "The Companeros" was written by Ken Pettus. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though the title suggests that this film is a musical romance built around the song hit of the same name, Second Time Around is actually a comedy western. Debbie Reynolds plays a young widow who in 1912 moves with her children to a wild and wooly Arizona town. At first having trouble coming to grips with frontier life, Reynolds adjusts quite well--to the extent that she is appointed sheriff. She is courted by Andy Griffith and Steve Forrest, both of whom ride to the rescue when Reynolds bites off more than she can chew and she is captured by outlaws. Sheriff Reynolds marries Forrest, while Griffith, presumably, moves on to a new job in Mayberry. The big selling angle of Second Time Around was a very brief farcical scene involving Debbie Reynolds and a bathtub, which ended up plastered all over the advertising material for this film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Kingston Trio's hit song with the lyrics "hang down your head Tom Dooley, hang down your head and cry..." may have been the inspiration for this well-wrought drama, but the film stands on its own. Three Confederate soldiers learn too late that the stagecoach they just attacked, killing two Union soldiers, was off-limits because the Civil War was over. Killing the former enemy after peace has been declared is considered murder, so the three young men decide to head for refuge further south. One of the three, Tom Dooley (Michael Landon) takes a detour to find his Northern sweetheart and marry her before escaping. That, it turns out, was a fatal mistake and the beginning of a folk hero and a folk song. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This 1959 version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, which had already seen screen versions in 1907 and 1926, went on to win 11 Academy Awards. Adapted by Karl Tunberg and a raft of uncredited writers including Gore Vidal and Maxwell Anderson, the film once more recounts the tale of Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who lives in Judea with his family during the time that Jesus Christ was becoming known for his "radical" teachings. Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) is now an ambitious Roman tribune; when Ben-Hur refuses to help Messala round up local dissidents on behalf of the emperor, Messala pounces on the first opportunity to exact revenge on his onetime friend. Tried on a trumped-up charge of attempting to kill the provincial governor (whose head was accidentally hit by a falling tile), Ben-Hur is condemned to the Roman galleys, while his mother (Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) are imprisoned. But during a sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of commander Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who, in gratitude, adopts Ben-Hur as his son and gives him full control over his stable of racing horses. Ben-Hur never gives up trying to find his family or exact revenge on Messala. At crucial junctures in his life, he also crosses the path of Jesus, and each time he benefits from it. The highlight of the film's 212 minutes is its now-legendary chariot race, staged largely by stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Ben-Hur's Oscar haul included Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary William Wyler, Best Actor for Heston, and Best Supporting Actor for Welsh actor Hugh Griffith as an Arab sheik. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

All suspense in The Woman They Almost Lynched would seem to be dissipated by title, but director Allan Dwan holds the viewers spellbound throughout. Part of the tension arises from fact that there are two leading female characters: Kate Quantrill (Audrey Totter), wife of infamous Confederate raider Quantrill (Brian Donlevy), and Sally Maris (Joan Leslie), virginal sister of Kate's ex-lover, saloonkeeper Bitteroot Bill (Reed Hadley). Sally herself falls in love with Lance Horton (John Lund), ostensibly a mine foreman but actually a Southern spy. Rest assured that one of the two ladies is going to wind up with a noose around her neck for keeping "bad" company -- and that the other will somehow come to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Republic's Trucolor "special" Susanna Pass stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, King and Queen of the West. Rogers plays "himself," while Evans is cast as female doctor Kay Parker. The villains this time around are trying to force a fish hatchery owner out of business so they can drill for underwater oil. The film's action content never impedes its musical highlights (and vice versa); among the vocal contributors are Estrelita Rodriguez (who figures prominently in one of the cliff-hanging action setpieces) and Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. Susanna Pass represented the on-screen reteaming of Rogers and Evans, after several attempts by Republic to link up their Number One cowboy star with other leading ladies. Surprising, Rogers isn't teamed with a comical sidekick, though Estrelita Rodriguez is admittedly pretty funny as a flirtatious senorita. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Saddle Pals hits a new low for Gene Autry's postwar Republic westerns, containing literally no action at all. Autry is drawn into the plot when he's given power of attorney in a property settlement involving his old pal (Sterling Holloway) and a gang of land swindlers. The pal then goes on an extended vacation, leaving Autry to sort things out. Though he doesn't display the business acumen that would eventually transform him into a real-life billionaire, Autry does manage to figure out that the swindlers are up to something dishonest. One of the more curious aspects of the film is the casting of traditional comedy-relief actor Sterling Holloway as the plot catalyst; he looks almost as uncomfortable as Autry. Fortunately, Autry's movie career would take an upswing the following year when he switched his base of operations from Republic to Columbia. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Gene Autry stars in this vintage musical Western that pits a group of poor but honest cattle ranchers against two-faced real estate speculators when it's learned that there may be a gold mine on the ranch. Gene sings four original songs, including "Love Burning Love," "I'm Beginning to Care," and "Goodbye, Pinto," while his sidekick Smiley Burnette gets to croon the deathless "She Works Third Tub at the Laundry." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Former pony express riders John Blair (John Wayne) and Larry Adams (Lane Chandler) don't buy the Brooklyn Bridge in this Republic Western, but the two greenhorns instead purchase a dilapidated stage line to a ghost town. While the unscrupulous seller, "Honest Cal" Drake (Douglas Cosgrove), count his loot, John and Larry learn that Crescent City is inhabited by Rocky (Lew Kelly), who claims to be mayor, postmaster, and sheriff, and Dr. William Forsythe (Sam Flint), a fellow victim of the duplicitous Drake. But despite its current condition, Crescent City has rich potential, especially if the newcomers can obtain a $25,000 government mail subsidy, the winner of which will be determined by a stagecoach race between nearby Buchanan City and Sacramento. Winds of the Wasteland was filmed on location in the Sierra Mountains and in the Sacramento Valley. Watch for future Universal star Jon Hall as one of John Wayne's pony express colleagues. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi