Harry L. Decker Movies
- 1940
Charles Starrett plays the title role in Stranger from Texas, but he's no stranger to the cliches inherent in the film's plotline. Things get under way when US marshal Tom (Starrett) finds himself in the midst of a range war. The villains are a band of rustlers who play both sides of the confrontation against one another, the better to move in and claim all the livestock. In time-honored fashion, the plot is resolved with a fistfight between Charles Starrett and his perennial screen foe Dick Curtis. Lorna Gray substitutes for Starrett's usual leading lady Iris Meredith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Bob Nolan, (more)
- 1939
No relation to the 1950 John Ford classic of the same name, Rio Grande is yet another rubber-stamp Charles Starrett western from the Columbia assembly line. The hero is a fellow named Houston (Starrett), who comes to the rescue when land-grabbing Barker (Dick Curtis) sets his sights on the ranch owned by heroine Jean (Ann Doran, subbing for usual Starrett leading lady Iris Meredith). After the usual complications, the story wraps up with still another battle royal between perennial screen scrappers Charles Starrett and Dick Curtis. Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers offer a pleasant rendition of their hit song "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds", easily the highlight of the film. Also on hand is Pat Brady, future comical sidekick for ex- Sons of the Pioneers lead vocalist Roy Rogers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Ann Doran, (more)
- 1939
One of the more original aspects of the Charles Starrett western Texas Stampede is that perennial Starrett-series villain Dick Curtis isn't in the film. Another is its lack of overt violence; even nominal heavy Wayne Cameron (Fred Kohler Jr.) isn't such a bad fellow, and ends up shaking hands with hero Tom Randall. Otherwise, the plot is the usual cattlemen vs. sheepherders affair, with hero Tom Randall (Starrett) trying to bring peace to the territory. Returnees from previous Starrett vehicles include heroine Iris Meredith, Hank Bell and Edmund Cobb. Texas Stampede was photographed by Lucien Ballard, who later lent his talents to such bigger-budgeted westerns as True Grit and Wild Bunch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, (more)
- 1939
Spoilers of the Range looks so much like the Charles Starrett westerns that preceded and followed it that only a close scrutiny would reveal the differences. Hero Jeff Strong (Starrett) comes to the rescue of a group of victimized ranchers. The villains are a gang of crooked gamblers, who demand a valuable dam as payment for a $50,000 debt. The ranchers hope to earn the money by getting their cattle to market on time, but head bad guy Cash Fenton (Kenneth MacDonald) and his flunkey Lobo (Dick Curtis) intend to prevent this. Complicating matters for our hero is the animosity of heroine Madge Patterson (Iris Meredith), who thinks that Jeff is in league with the crooks. The members of the Starrett stock company-Curtis, Meredith, Edward LeSaint and the Sons of the Pioneers-go through their customary paces with their customary efficiency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, (more)
- 1938
The locale may be South of Arizona, but the on-screen personnel in this Charles Starrett western is virtually the same as in all previous Starrett vehicles. The star plays rancher Clay Travers, who lives and works in an area plagued by perpetual dust storms. Because the local populace is forced to walk around with handkerchieves covering their faces, a gang of murderous outlaws is able to pull off their skullduggery in broad daylight. Travers vows to round up the bad guys, especially after they bump of the brother of his sweetheart Ann Madison (Iris Meredith). The supporting cast of South of Arizona includes the usual lineup of Starrett regulars, including heroine Meredith, singing sidekick Bob Nolan, villains Dick Curtis and Richard Fiske, and townsmen Edmund Cobb and Art Mix. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, (more)
- 1938
The locale is slightly different in the Charles Starrett western Call of the Rockies, but the familiar Starrett formula remains the same. Starrett plays Clint Buckley, who defends female rancher Ann Bradford (Iris Meredith) against mortgage-holding villain Matt Stark (Dick Curtis). The bad guy retaliates by framing Clint for murder, but our hero sets things right in a bone-shattering fistic battle royal. Donald "Slim" Grayson and the Sons of the Pioneers wander in and out of the action to render a trio of pleasant sagebrush ballads. In addition to Iris Meredith and Dick Curtis, Call of the Rockies features such Starrett-series perennials as Edward LeSaint, Edmund Cobb, and George Cheseboro. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Donald Grayson, (more)
- 1938
Whenever a Charles Starrett western flashed on the screen in the late 1930s, audiences could rest assured that the supporting cast would include Iris Meredith (heroine), Edward LeSaint (heroine's father), Dick Curtis (blackhearted villain) and Edmund Cobb, Art Mix and George Cheseboro (general hangers-on). All of these performers were in attendance in Starrett's 1938 vehicle Law of the Plains. Plot 24-B was trotted out on this occasion, wherein Starrett protects ranch-owner Meredith from a crooked cattle dealers. LeSaint comes into the story rather late, upon discovering that Meredith is (of course) his long-lost daughter. The film's biggest surprise is that the usually saintly LeSaint is the head of the villains, though he redeems himself by the fadeout. Musical interludes are provided by Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, (more)
- 1938
Charles Starrett plays two-fisted frontiersman Dart Collins in this slick Columbia "B" western. Collins wants to find out who's behind a series of gold-shipment robberies. So does heroine Judy Garfield (Iris Meredith), whose stage transport business faces foreclosure if the holdups continue. It comes as no surprise that the crimes are being orchestrated by the very people who want to force Judy out of business. Periodically interrupting the action are the musical interpolations of the Sons of the Pioneers. Outlaws of the Prairie established the Charles Starrett series' on-screen "family": hero Starrett, heroine Iris Meredith, patriarch Edward J. LeSaint, villains Dick Curtis and Norman Willis, and hangers-on Edmund Cobb, Art Mix and Hank Bell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Donald Grayson, (more)
- 1938
In this western a traveling gun ends up in a small town and rescues an important rancher. Out of gratitude the rancher hires him to protect his land and cattle from his violent rival. It is revealed that the gunman is the son of the ruthless rival; he therefore, loses his job and finds himself entangled in the midst of a range war. He must eventually face his father when the bad guy takes over the only trail to the market. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, (more)
- 1938
Cattle Raiders is a standard-issue Charles Starrett western, right down to the usual supporting players (Iris Meredith, Dick Curtis, Edward LeSaint et. al.) Once again, Starrett (this time going by the name of Tom Reynolds) is forced to clear himself of a murder charge. This he does in record time, with barely a scratch on his face or a wrinkle in his clothes. It is giving away absolutely nothing to reveal that the genuine killer is played by Dick Curtis, who spent most of the 1930s and 1940s duking it out with Starrett in one western after another. Between action highlights, Donald "Slim" Grayson and the Sons of the Pioneers offer several westernized tunes, including the amusingly wry "This Ain't the Same Old Range." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Donald Grayson, (more)
- 1937
In this western, a lawman tries to help prove that his friend did not commit murder. He rides in and saves his pal from a lynch mob. Soon afterward, the accused takes off and the sheriff loses both his job and his community's respect. He must now prove that he and his friend are innocent. He finds the real killer, a true psycho, and after a tremendous gun battle is able to bring the killer to justice, restore his own honor, and save his friend. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Barbara Weeks, (more)
- 1937
In an effort to compete with Republic's popular songfest Westerns, fours music numbers -- including Tumbling Tumbleweeds -- were added to The Old Wyoming Trail, an otherwise average Charles Starrett vehicle. No singer, Starrett left the vocalizing to his sidekick Donald Grayson and the popular Sons of the Pioneers. En route to purchase a herd of cattle, Bob Patterson (Starrett) and his sidekick Sandy (Grayson) get in the way of a scheme to defraud the local ranchers of their possessions. Aware of the coming railroad, the villains, Lafe Kinney (Guy Usher and Slade (Dick Curtis plot to take over Jeff Halliday's (Edward J. Le Saint) ranch. When Bob and Sandy get suspicious, the villains kidnap Halliday's daughter Elsie (Barbara Weeks). A posse is formed and in desperation, Slade demands that Bob meet him unarmed if Elsie is to be saved. In the ensuing shoot-out, Slade is killed and Bob is free to continue his romance with Elsie. Like many of the Starrett Westerns, The Old Wyoming Trail was filmed at the Andy Jauregui Ranch at Placerita Canyon, California, Jauregui himself appearing as a member of the posse. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Donald Grayson, (more)
- 1937
The Game That Kills is professional hockey, at least according to this Columbia "B"-picture. Charles Quigley stars as Ferguson, a rough-and-tumble hockey player who discovers that his chosen profession is nothing more than a racket, a plaything for game-fixing racketeers. When his brother is killed in a highly suspicious accident, Ferguson and team trainer Holland (J. Farrell McDonald) join forces to bring the killers to justice. Second-billed Rita Hayworth is decorative as Holland's daughter (and Ferguson's sweetheart, natch). The Game That Kills was the second of three hockey-themed films released in 1937, the others being Warner Bros.' King of Hockey and Universal's Idol of the Crowd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Quigley, Rita Hayworth, (more)
- 1937
Theatrical agents Russ Matthews (Ralph Bellamy) and Al Tinker (Robert Armstrong) try to make a quick buck by promoting bibuolous vaudeville fortune-teller Dr. Fothergill (Raymond Walburn) as a genuine prophet. Amazingly, Fothergill's predictions come true, and soon his advice is being solicited by such shady types as gangster boss Cronin (Ed Pawley). This not only threatens the future existence of Matthews and Tinker, but also puts a crimp in Matthews' romance with girl reporter Carol Wilson (Betty Furness). The vaudeville and radio background of It Can't Last Forever affords several opportunities to inject specialty acts into the storyline. Among these is a personable trio of juvenile singers called the Dandridge Sisters, featuring 14-year-old Dorothy Dandridge in one of her first screen roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Bellamy, Betty Furness, (more)
- 1937
In this exceptional western, a cowboy hero arrives home in time to see his brother shot by ruthless rustlers. The cowboy takes off after the murderers. He encounters a rustler who claims that he is paralyzed below the waist. Though the cowpoke is desperate for revenge he feels kind of funny about killing a cripple. He then get's involved with the outlaw's niece. Action and mayhem ensues but in the end justice prevails, and romance blooms. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Peggy Stratford, (more)
- 1936
In his second of an unprecedented 131 Westerns for Columbia Pictures, handsome Charles Starrett donned his trademark white Stetson to portray Ranny Maitland, a Texas Ranger whose father (Lafe Mckee) is feuding with his neighbor, Lockhart (Edward Le Saint. Pretending to be on Lockhart's side in the feud, Ranny goes to investigate. Old man Maitland, meanwhile, is murdered and Lockhart arrested. Evidence found in Maitland's safe points to ranch foremen Brophy (Wheeler Oakman and Gilman (Dick Botiller), foremen of the respective ranches, as the culprits but the documents also incriminates Lockhart's son Lafe (Charles Locher). Believing Lafe to be innocent, Ranny organizes a posse to capture the foremen and the film concludes in a gigantic (for Columbia Pictures) battle at Blockade Canyon. Handsome young Charles Locher, in one of his earliest featured roles, later changed his name to Jon Hall and starred in escapist melodramas at Universal. As she had in Starrett's first Western for Columbia, brunette Joan Perry once again played the heroine, this time the daughter of the opposing rancher. Perry later married her boss, feared (and foul-mouthed) Columbia studio czar Harry Cohn. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Joan Perry, (more)
- 1936
Young engineer Bob Sanderson (Lew Ayres) is in love with wealthy socialite Edith Stuart (Joan Perry), and the feeling is mutual. But Bob refuses to marry Edith until he can support her in the manner to which she is accustomed. He takes a job as a messenger boy with her father's telegraph service, only to get mixed up in a murder case. By the time Bob has deduced that the "murder" is a fraud, staged to cover up a bigger crime, he's forced to go to the rescue of Edith, who's been kidnapped by the villains. Considering that most of her screen roles were along the same lines as the helpless Edith Stuart, it's no wonder that actress Joan Perry retired from the screen when she married Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lew Ayres, Joan Perry, (more)
- 1935
Making his debut as Columbia Pictures' new cowboy hero -- replacing, incidentally, the aging Tim McCoy -- handsome Charles Starrett played Johnny Flagg, a roving cowboy who arrives in Oro Grande in the midst of a feud between ranchers and homesteader. Lead by the disreputable Bar Munro (Harry Woods), the ranchers are attempting to scare the settlers off valuable land leased from the government. Lovely Barbara McGrail, meanwhile, suspects Munro of murdering her father and enlists Johnny's help. When Cattlemen's Association foreman Harvey Campbell (Edward le saint) switches sides to support the settlers, Munro has him killed, framing Johnny for the crime.The latter, however, carries proof of his innocence and instead challenges Munro to a shootout. Munro draws but is too slow for Johnny who, victorious, asks for Barbara's hand in marriage. At 6"2' and sporting a white Steson, black shirt and flowing scarf -- a piece of silk reportedly "borrowed" from a nightgown Rita Hayworth had used in a film -- Starrett was an instant hit as a cowboy star and would go on to make an unprecedented 131 Westerns for Columbia, ending his long run with the studio with The Kid from Broken Gun in 1952. Starrett's first leading lady, Joan Perry, later married studio mogul Harry Cohn. Ostensibly based on a story by Peter B. Kyne, The Gallant Defender including two musical numbers -- Blue Skies Above and Covered Wagons -- written and performed by the Western music group The Sons of the Pioneers who, like Starrett, had recently signed with Columbia. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Joan Perry, (more)
- 1935
More a whodunit than a straight Western, this Tim McCoy series entry from Columbia featured a cowboy returning to his homestead to find his brother, the sheriff, killed and the family of his girl somehow involved. Dissatisfied with the investigation by newly appointed Sheriff Ludlow (Jack Clifford), Tim O'Neil (McCoy) discovers that Jed Harmon (Frank Sheridan), the father of Myra (Billie Seward), Tim's sweetheart, is being blackmailed by Kramer (Edward Earle). Ludlow, who is in cahoots with Kramer, arrests Jed but Tim helps the old man escape. Confessing in writing to an old crime, Jed is left alone when Tim is called out on an errand. Kramer enters the room and shoots Jed, making it look like a suicide. But Tim later demonstrates how Kramer could have left the body in a room bolted from the inside. There is a final confrontation between Tim and Kramer, which leaves the villain dead and Tim with a final resolution to avenge his brother's murder. As it turns out, Jed is still alive and proven innocent in the old charge of murder to which he earlier confessed. Tim McCoy's handsome sidekick in this and two subsequent Westerns, Robert Allen, would later star in his own B-Western series for Columbia. The Revenge Rider was remade by Columbia in 1938 as Riders of the Black River, a vehicle for McCoy's successor at the studio, Charles Starrett. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy
- 1929
Not a remake of the pre-1920 film of the same name, The Kid's Clever was Glenn Tryon's last silent vehicle; he would pursue a brief talkie acting career before going behind the cameras as a producer. On this occasion, Tryon plays Bugs Raymond, a would-be inventor who has developed a car that runs without gasoline or any other kind of fuel. Through the auspices of Ruth Decker (Kathryn Crawford), daughter of automobile magnate John Decker (Russell Simpson), Bugs is able to stage a demonstration of his invention. The test run goes disastrously wrong, but it turns out that this is the handiwork of Bug's crooked rival Ashton Steele (Lloyd Whitlock). Things are set aright when Bugs and Ruth virtually kidnap Decker and force him to take another test ride -- this one a smashing success. Black comedian Stepin Fetchit is seen in a tiny role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Simpson
- 1929
In this early sound drama, an ex-socialite is forced to get a job after hard times cause her to lose her fortune. In her new job she runs into many of her old pals, including her ex-boyfriend who is currently married. Later his wife is murdered and he begins to woo the girl. Though she secretly loves him, she rejects him and he marries another. She rejected him so she could testify on his behalf after he is accused of killing his first wife as she and he had been together when the tragedy occurred. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Boles, Huntly Gordon, (more)
- 1928
In this, at times, hilarious silent, romantic comedy, love blossoms after a posterhanger has an highway mishap with a Broadway star. Later the hard-working fellow finds out that someone has stolen the actress' jewels from her New York home. Still smitten, he heads for the Big Apple to get them back and win her affection. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Tryon, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
- 1926
Arguably the best of Charles Ray's four MGM vehicles, The Fire Brigade casts Ray as the youngest in a large and rambunctious family of Irish-American firemen. While his older siblings busy themselves with extinguishing blazes, Ray spends his time a-courting May McAvoy, the daughter of a wealthy absentee landlord. A crisis of conscience arises when McAvoy discovers that her father's tenements are dangerous fire-traps; she storms out of her family mansion to inform Ray of the facts before it's too late. The climax of The Fire Brigade is a spectacular conflagration, expertly blending authentic fire footage, double exposures, and flawless miniature work. As a bonus, the final scene boasts a bizarre vignette in which the ghosts of firemen killed in the line of duty urge Ray on to rescue the helpless tenement dwellers! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- May McAvoy, Charles Ray, (more)
- 1925
Veteran cowboy star Harry Carey starred in the title-role in this fine silent Western produced by Hunt Stromberg for Cecil B. DeMille's Producers Distributing Corp. When Silent Sanderson's brother (Gardner James) kills himself over the rejection of a woman, Silent blames Judith Benson (Trilby Clark) and leaves the family homestead to begin a new life in Alaska. He is later reunited with Judith Benson, only to discover that his brother didn't commit suicide at all but was murdered by the woman's jealous husband. The former manager of producer Thomas Ince, Hunt Stromberg would enjoy a 17 year stint as an associate producer with M-G-M, overseeing such classics as The Thin Man series and The Great Ziegfeld (1936). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Trilby Clark, (more)
- 1923
Charles Ray returns to playing a bashful rural boy in this character study, loosely based on the James Whitcomb Riley poem. He's John Middleton, who protests furiously when his mother (Edythe Chapman) tells him that she has adopted an orphan girl. But John grows to love Mary (Patsy Ruth Miller) -- in fact, he falls in love with her. On their way home from a dance, he proposes but she turns him down, explaining that she is already engaged to his rival, Willie Brown (Ramsey Wallace). The startled John loses control of the horses and is thrown out of the carriage. While going through a semi-conscious dream state, he has a pair of visions. In the first he embraces Mary so violently that he kills her. In the second, he shoots Willie and then himself. He awakens from these nightmares determined to overcome these inner demons. Although broken-hearted, he stays out of Mary and Willie's romance. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Ray, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
