Oliver Drake Movies

In this crime adventure, a young woman carrying an important paper finds herself pursued by three crooks who chase her into the desert. She is saved by a helpful stranger. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Dragoon Wells Massacre is a topnotch western from the Allied Artists factory. Barry Sullivan stars as wanted killer Link Ferris, who at the beginning of the film is arrested by marshal Bill Haney (Trevor Bardette). Dennis O'Keefe co-stars as Cavalry officer Matt Riordan, assigned to escort Ferris to prison through hostile Indian country. It comes to pass that hero and villain -- and their respective entourages -- are forced to rely upon each other to survive an Apache attack (led by western-flick veteran John War Eagle) at Dragoon Wells. Mona Freeman and Katy Jurado offer interesting performances within their stock heroine requirements, while Sebastian Cabot is sublimely cast as a shifty trader. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Criminal Arnold Woodman (Herburt Vigran) and his two confederates planet 20,000 dollars in stolen money on Inspector Henderson (Robert Shayne), then threaten to accuse him of taking a bribe unless he does what they tell him. Playing for time, Henderson agrees to follow orders, which does not sit well with his reporter friend Clark Kent (George Reeves). Nor do things bode well for Kent's alter ego Superman, who has been targeted for extinction by Woodman through the deployment of a sure-fire doomsday weapon (well, it seemed like it was sure-fire on the drawing board, anyway!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this late entry in Monogram's Jimmy Wakely series of musical Westerns, Wakely and sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor) come to the aid of Reno Browne, whose brother, Steven (Riley Hill), is convicted and sentenced to death for killing an enemy of their later father. Wakely and Cannonball, who has enrolled in a detective correspondence course, do a bit of investigating and are soon on the track of the real killer, Carson (Dennis Moore), the leader of a gang smuggling ore from Mexico. Although ostensibly a Jimmy Wakely vehicle, Across the Rio Grande became something of a showcase for supporting actors Riley Hill and Dub Taylor. The latter made much of his mail-order detective schtick, to the point of firing a bullet into a recently acquired "bulletproof" vest. The bullet, alas, was not deflected by the vest but by Cannonball's correspondence-manual. Across the Rio Grande marked the screen debut of radio songstress Polly Bergen, who appeared as a cantina singer under her real name Polly Burgin. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Film historian Leonard Maltin has labelled this final entry in Monogram's "Charlie Chan" series as "embarrassing," but it's not quite as bad as its reputation would indicate. True, star Roland Winters steadfastly refuses to take his characterization of Charlie Chan seriously, but that's part of the fun. Much of the action takes place on an airliner, where someone has drugged the passengers and crew and killed a courier who was carrying a quarter of a million dollars. The suspect list is a dream-come-true for movie buffs, populated with such reliable supporting players as Iris Adrian, Eleana Verdugo, Tim Ryan, Milburn Stone, Lyle Talbot, Paul Maxey and John Eldredge. Noel Neill, everyone's favorite Lois Lane, is also on hand as a stewardess. And of course, Charlie Chan is aided and abetted by Number One Son Lee Chan (Keye Luke) and pop-eyed chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). Though out of favor with dyed-in-the-wool Charlie Chan fans, Sky Dragon opened to good business and better-than-average reviews. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In his second-to-last Monogram Western, country & western singer Jimmy Wakely does hardly any singing at all as he and sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor) attempt to catch the villain who caused the death of 16-year-old Perry Andrews (Buddy Swan), a student at the Sheriff's Association School. Perry was shot by Marshal Jim Braden (Jack Ingram), who mistook him for a murderous claim jumper. Due to young Perry's suspected involvement in a crime, the foundation supporting his school is threatening to withdraw all funding. To save the school, Wakely and Cannonball tracks down the claim jumper (Nolan Leary) by pretending to be outlaws themselves. A clean-cut veteran of Gene Autry's radio show, Wakely became Monogram's best bid in the Singing Cowboy sweepstakes. His series ran from 1944 to 1949, almost exclusively in the hinterlands. By that late date, B-Westerns were facing stiff competition from television and Wakely left to form his own record label. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

"Suggested" by James Oliver Curwood's novel The Gold Hunters, this low-budget Monogram release was the first film in a series of seven "Northwest" adventures to team former Universal cowboy Kirby Grant and a beautiful white malamute named Chinook. Grant played Bob McDonald, a mountie shot in the leg during a confrontation with a gang of bank robbers. One of the robbers, Jim Blaine (Bill Edwards), was forced into participating by his prospector father Matt (Guy Beach) and is now being held hostage by the gang. With his dying breath, Matt besieges Bob to rescue his son but the injured mountie instead sends his faithful dog, Chinook. The clever pooch manages to free Jim and Bob is nursed back to health by Marie LaRue (Suzanne Dalbert), the daughter of the saloon owner (Dan Seymour). Admitting to holding the loot from the bank heist, Jim then explains that the money was actually owed his father and that banker Dawson (William Forrest) is after the Blaine gold mine. With Chinook's help, Bob, Jim and the Larues set a trap for the villain,, who is consequently caught red-handed attempting to free his henchmen from the local jail. Although famed pulp-writer Curwood's name appears prominently in the credits, B-movie veteran Oliver Drake later admitted that it was he, not Curwood, who conjured up the story. No different from a host of low-budget Westerns despite its potentially colorful locale, Trail of the Yukon was directed by the prolific William Beaudine under the pseudonym of "William X. Crowley." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Filmed in 16 mm Kodachrome and produced by Gower Gulch company Yucca Pictures Corp., this no-budget Western featured former Republic star Sunset Carson as a rancher who comes across a wayward youngster, the Kansas Kid (Al Terry), about to drink from a poisoned spring. Unbeknownst to Sunset, the Kid is actually Bob Ward (misspelled "Wade" in the film's credits!), and he is carrying a letter implicating Carson in the death of his father. While attempting to discover the truth, Bob Ward proves himself a born prize-fighter, besting Sunset's crooked partner, Sam Webster (Bob Cason), in the ring. As it turns out, the Kid is in possession of yet another, unopened, letter that exonerates Sunset in the father's death, shifting instead the blame to Webster and his henchman, Murdock (Stephen Keyes). Produced and directed by Oliver Drake, Sunset Carson Rides Again was one of four Yucca Westerns Carson did at the tail end of his career. As film historian Don Miller so succinctly put it, "Yucca indeed!" ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

His Pony Express job having come to an end due to the new telegraph, rider Sunset Carson joins telegraph operator Martha Taylor (Pat Starling) and her brother, Tom (Al Terry), who are being terrorized by a competitor in this ultra low-budget effort from Walt Mattox' Yucca Pictures Corp. As it turns out, Martha's superintendent, Dawson (Stephen Keyes), is in cahoots with Spade Gilbert (Pat Gleason), a local rancher conspiring to reroute the telegraph line through his own property. When Martha's crew run out of poles, Sunset and Tom ride to protect a new shipment from Gilbert's henchmen, Trigger (Lee Roberts) and Pete (Forrest Matthews). Defeating the outlaws and returning with the shipment, Sunset warns Martha that she is harboring a traitor and that Dawson is the most obvious candidate. A search of Gilbert's ranch reveals the rancher's plans to take over the contract and that Dawson and his men are about to attack the work site. Riding hell bent for leather, Sunset and Tom arrive just in time to defeat the Dawson gang and reveal the foreman as a murderer. Filmed in 16 mm Kodachrome color at least a year prior to its April 1948 release, Deadline was the third of four low-budget Westerns that Carson would make for Yucca. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Chan must find out who has been killing people over rare antiques. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Produced in Kernville, California, this typical Jimmy Wakely singing Western from Monogram had the former radio troubadour settling a range feud between his uncle and boss (Budd Buster) and a homesteader (songwriter Jack Baxley) by proving that both were the victims of their crooked foremen (Zon Murray and Bob Duncan). Patricia Starling, who also appeared opposite Roy Rogers and Sunset Carson, added a bit of romance to the proceedings, which also benefitted from Wakely's warbling of the old standard Whoppi Ti Yi Yo and his own The Lonesome Trail. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In his final starring Western for PRC, Bob Steele plays Jim Brandon who is imprisoned for a bank robbery and murder he didn't commit. Returning home on parole, Jim is ostracized by all and sundry, except Sheriff Warner (Steve Clark) and Betty Morgan (Ellen Hall), both of whom believe in his innocence. Aided by ranch cook Utah McGirk (Syd Saylor), Jim begins an investigation into the killing of his ranch partner and manages to find the murderer by using a new French discovery, ballistics. In between the fightin' and shootin', Don Weston performs his own "Trying to Forget" and "End of Rainbow Trail." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

All-American singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely went below the border in this musical Western from the assembly line at Monogram, performing such ditties as Adios Mariquita Linda, Rose of the Rancho, the inevitable La Cucaracha, and his own title tune. As always, Jimmy Wakely plays himself, this time heading for Don Roberto Lopez's (Julian Rivero) ranch to track down a missing gold shipment. En route, he encounters the notorious Texas Kid (Brad Slaven), who steals his clothes along with a letter of introduction and later commits a murder in his name. Dressed in The Kid's outfit, Wakely, meanwhile, pretends to join the gang suspected of stealing the gold and is eventually able to unmask their mysterious leader (Forrest Matthews). Leading lady Dolores Castelli, as Don Roberto's niece, warbles a special rendition of Jarebe Tapatio (aka Mexican Hat Dance), and Wakely's sidekick, Lee "Lasses" White, takes a more active part in the action than usual. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi