Fred Burns Movies

In this western, a stagecoach driver learns that his little brother is working for a corrupt, rival stage line. The good brother does all he can to save the bad one from a life of crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two wild western towns battle it out for the position of county seat. Fortunately, Red Ryder and his little side-kick are around to restore the peace. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Set during the "man"power shortage of WW II, this low-budget western tells the story of a group of cowgirls hired by the government to stop rustlers from stealing a government contracted-ranchers' cattle. The brave ladies of the group call themselves the Women's Army of the Plains and run themselves as a military unit, using walkie-talkies to talk to cowboys so they can stop impending thefts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Not quite as exciting as it should be, Stardust on the Sage is still a serviceable Gene Autry vehicle. This time, Gene is teamed up with young Jeff Drew (Bill Henry), who tries to sell mining stock to the local cattlemen. Meanwhile, villain Pearson (Emmet Vogan) plots to steal the mine from Gene and Jeff, using a veritable battalion of muscular hooligans. The finale is a kaleidescope of fistfights, gunfire and dynamite blasts-and none too soon, given the slow-moving passages which preceded it. The female contingent in Stardust on the Sage is handled by former child star Edith Fellows and serial heroine Louise Currie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roy Rogers saves the day for the ranchers of Cherokee City in this fast-paced comedy-Western directed and produced by Joseph Kane. Roy and no less than three sidekicks -- Smiley Burnette, George "Gabby" Hayes and Bob Nolan of the music group The Sons of the Pioneers -- attempt to persuade eccentric river-boat owner Col. Silas Popen (Walter Catlett) to service Cherokee City. The surrounding ranchers would otherwise be forced to ship their cattle with crooked trucking company operator Ross Lambert (Edmund MacDonald). Aware of the colonel's phobia of anything Western, Lambert and his henchmen (William Haade and Hal Taliaferro) stage typical Wild West brawls, helped inadvertently by Roy's well-meaning sidekicks. Burnette, whom Rogers inherited from draftee Gene Autry, and Hayes perform their usual routines but the comedic highlights are provided by flibbertigibbet Catlett and blustery Paul Harvey, the latter playing B-Western history's perhaps most incompetent Cattlemen's Association president. Ruth Terry makes a spirited heroine as the colonel's daughter but the great African-American actor Leigh Whipper is sadly wasted in a stereotypical "comic" servant role. A proposed action scene in which Lambert and his men start a fire using gasoline was rewritten in order to avoid reminding theater-goers of the war-time rationing. In most prints seen today, Rogers' musical numbers have been cut, making Heart of the West a fast-paced hour or so of nearly non-stop action and comedy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, Roy plays both the villain and the hero. As the bad-guy, he heads a ring of rustlers. The trouble begins when the gang runs across good-Roy and mistake him for their wicked leader. Good-Roy plays along so he can bring the gang to justice. Unfortunately, bad-Roy shows up and mayhem ensues. Fortunately good-Roy prevails and justice is served, but not before he sings a few cowboy songs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In 1939's Days of Jesse James, the title character was played by Don "Red" Barry, with official star Roy Rogers carrying the brunt of the plotline. Two years later, Rogers was cast as ol' Jesse himself in Republic's Jesse James at Bay. Since Jesse is herein depicted as a "good guy", whose train-robbery rampage is motivated by the chicanery of a crooked railroad executive, someone else would have to handle the film's villainy. That someone was also Roy Rogers, cast as Jesse's lookalike, a local outlaw named Clint Burns. Typical of the anachronisms festooning the script of Jesse James at Bay is the presence of not one but two female newspaper reporters, played by Gale Storm and Sally Payne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as The Singing Hills, this Gene Autry western boasts a screenplay cowritten by Jesse Lasky Jr. Gene and his saddle pal Smiley Burnette ride into town and sing a few songs. They make the acquaintance of heiress Virginia Grey, who wants to divest herself of her land holdings. Villain George Meeker hopes that she'll do this so he can charge inordinately high prices for grazing lands. Autry fixes everything, then he sings a few more songs. Director Lew Landers keeps things moving apace between the musical interludes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A mystery man works behind the scenes in this tuneful Roy Rogers western in which the local theatre owner attempts to ruin the honest businessmen of Deadwood. Even the sheriff, Jordan (Monte Blue), answers to nasty Jake Marvel (Ralf Harolde), whose reign of terror forces the decent people to become outlaws themselves. Enter Bill Brady, aka Brett Starr (Rogers), a sharpshooter with Professor Mortimer "Gabby" Blackstone's (George "Gabby" Hayes) traveling medicine show. Although a fugitive from justice, Bill comes to the aid of the beleaguered citizens, discovering along the way that a trusted friend isn't quite who he claims to be. Roy sings his own and Fred Rose's "Sundown on the Rangeland", Rose and Ray Whitley's "The call of the Dusty Trail" and Jule Styne and Sol Meyer's "Joe O'Grady". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Like 1940's Melody Ranch, the 1941 Gene Autry vehicle Down Mexico Way was designed as a "special", to be promoted separately from Autry's regular B-western series as an A-picture attraction. The story gets under way when a pair of con artists, Gibson (Sidney Blackmer) and Allen (Joe Sawyer), breeze into the town of Sage City claiming to be movie producers. The two scoundrels promise to film a movie in the little burg on the condition that the townsfolk pony up the necessary production fees. When Gene Autry and his sidekick Frog (Smiley Burnette) catch up with Gibson and Allen, the two huckster head across the border into Mexico-a big mistake, since reformed bandit Pancho Grande (Harold Huber) and his amigos don't cotton to being swindled. In addition to the expected musical interludes from Gene Autry, Down Mexico Way includes several Latino numbers, courtesy of the Herrera Sisters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, Rogers and his sidekick Gabby get into all kinds of trouble when they ride into Tombstone and find themselves mistaken for the hired gun and his assistant. The gunslinger was engaged to work for the mayor and for a time Rogers goes along with it. When he discovers that the mayor is a bonafide crook, the "gunslinger" becomes the new sheriff. When the real gunman finally moseys into town, a showdown ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In Old Cheyenne is where the viewer can find Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes this time out. Rogers is cast as frontier journalist Steve Blane, determined to print the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in his weekly rag. But when Steve inaugurates a series of articles about alleged bandit Arapahoe Brown (Hayes), he finds he's been misled: Arapahoe is innocent of the crimes attributed to him. The instigator of this outrage is town boss Sam Drummond (George Rosener), who hopes to use Brown as a scapegoat for his own misdeeds. Steve manages to show Drummond up as the no-good he is, pausing every so often to serenade heroine Dolores Casino (Joan Woodbury) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide