B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason Movies

Fed up with her doctor husband's ceaseless charity work, Mary Harris (June Clyde) leaves her Midwest "tank town" in favor of Big City excitement in this low-budget drama from Hollywood's sole woman producer at the time, Fanchon Royer. Boarding with her sophisticated friend, Milly (Noel Francis), Mary begins an affair with Sidney Fletcher (Ralf Harolde), the owner of the dress shop where both girls model. Meanwhile, back in Mary's hometown, Ted Harris (George J. Lewis) saves the life of a pillar of society, and, as a reward, is made head of the local hospital. Mary, who believes Fletcher will marry her, demands a divorce from Ted. Fletcher reneges on his promises and instead offers Mary a check for 10,000 dollars, the "usual amount," as he calls it. A struggle ensues, during which the bounder is shot. Realizing that Mary will be charged with first-degree murder if Fletcher dies, Ted volunteers to operate on his former rival, whose life is saved in the nick of time. Reunited with the husband who always loved her, Mary happily returns to her old vocation as his nurse. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A wife is on trial for murdering her husband's former spouse in this inexpensive melodrama from low-budget Mayfair Pictures Corp. In flashback, it is shown that Joan Armstrong (Helen Chandler), an unemployed stenographer, is hired to act as corespondent for architect John Thurman (Leon Waycoff, aka Leon Ames) in his divorce from Eloise Thurman (Charlotte Merriam), a callous woman who cares more for her pet Pekinese than her husband and who is granted a huge settlement. Joan goes to work for John, with whom she has fallen in love, and they eventually marry and have a son. Several unfortunate events bankrupt John and he is on his way to purchase medicine for his dying son with his last 20 dollar bill when stopped by a process server acting on behalf of Eloise. Little John Jr. dies and when Joan learns that the 20 dollars earmarked for medicine instead went to pay the first Mrs. Thurman's veterinarian bills, she becomes temporarily insane and kills the greedy woman. Back in the courtroom, a weeping jury returns a verdict of "not guilty" and Joan and John are reunited. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, a cowboy and his sidekick save a woman and her ranch from greedy badguys. The trouble really begins when the varmints kill the sidekick. Gunplay ensues until the villains are vanquished. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this newspaper drama, a cub reporter is puzzled when he is consistently scooped out of big crime stories by a rival. His nose for news tells him something is amiss, so he and his gal begin investigating. When he witnesses a bank-robbery that was reported before it happened, he figures out that the rival publisher and his ace reporter are part of a major crime ring. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Set in India, Arabia, and Darkest Africa, this 12-chapter Mascot Pictures serial had been created for Harry Carey and Edwina Booth, the stars of MGM's highly anticipated Trader Horn (1930). That film, however, needed quite a bit of re-tooling and producer Nat Levine had to settle for lesser names Walter Miller and Nora Lane. A top serial leading man of the 1920s, Miller played a soldier of fortune, falsely accused of murder, who tracks the real killer to the jungles of Africa. Once there, he aligns himself with a young girl (Lane), whose brother (Carroll Nye) has stumbled on a secret diamond mine. Boris Karloff, in his fourth and last serial for Mascot, played one of the villain's henchmen. In the serial's second chapter, "Man-Eaters," the future Frankenstein monster flings poor Carroll Nye into a pit containing -- of all things -- the first and only African tiger. The redoubtable Nye survives not only this surprising encounter, but is also confronted with a bizarre half-man, half-beast creature named Bimi and played by Cyril McLaglen, brother of Victor. Containing one of the more eclectic casts in any serial, King of the Wild also featured the delightful Mischa Auer as an escaped lunatic, Laurel and Hardy regular Dorothy Christy as a society dame, veteran action star Tom Santschi as the killer, and real-life explorer/actor Albert DeWinton. In a case of life imitating art, DeWinton disappeared and apparently perished during an expedition to the Amazon River shortly after finishing this serial. King of the Wild was filmed at Yuma, AZ, and Bronson Caverns (the future "Bat-Cave") in Los Angeles' Griffith Park. A seven-reel feature version was released under the title Bimi. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The star of the 12-episode Mascot serial The Galloping Ghost can be only one man: legendary college football star (Red Grange). Cast as the star gridiron attraction at mythical Clay College, Red is thrown off the team in disgrace when he attempts to cover for his pal Buddy (Francis X. Bushman Jr.), who has accepted a bribe to throw the Big Game. Thus, Grange is obliged to spend the serial's remaining 11 episodes to clear himself and to find out who is the "brains" of the gambling ring. Can there be any doubt as to the outcome? Evidently, there was some doubt in 1931, since Galloping Ghost proved to be one of Mascot's most profitable chapter plays. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rex Lease, Tiffany Studios' all-purpose leading man, heads the cast of Troopers Three. Eddie Haskins (Lease) and his buddies Bugs (Roscoe Karns) and Sunny (Slim Summerville) are washed-up vaudevillians who decide to join the Cavalry, if only for three square meals a day. Once they've filled their bellies, they attempt to bid farewell to the Army, only to learn that they've signed up for a three-year hitch -- and this contract is non-negotiable. For the rest of the film, Eddie romances Dorothy (Dorothy Gulliver), the daughter of his bombastic sergeant, while his pals get mixed up in the usual slapstick situations. Our hero finally proves he is a hero through his courageous behavior during a devastating fire. Troopers Three is distinguished by Rex Lease's expert horsemanship, which would serve him well when he briefly became a cowboy star in the mid-1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in the majestic high desert country near Lone Pine, California, this early sound Western starred Hoot Gibson as a rodeo cowboy hunting down the villain who killed the brother of young Buddy Hunter. Along with sidekick Pee Wee Holmes, Gibson infiltrates the notorious Pecos gang to get close to the killer, Indian Joe (Pete Morrison). As it turns out, Indian Joe is in the employ of nasty Philo McCullough, who kidnaps both Holmes and young Hunter. There's a rodeo to lighten up the dour proceedings (which Gibson of course wins) and a final ride to the rescue. According to reviewers, both leading lady Helen Wright and McCullough had a hard time emoting in front of the dreaded microphone. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The audience got two Universal stars for the price of one with this rousing Western: Hoot Gibson and Fred Gilman. The two popular celluloid cowboys played brothers, one a lawman Gibson, the other a rancher Gilman fighting a gang of horse thieves hired by greedy neighbor Captain C.E. Anderson. Arriving from the East, Gibson goes undercover as a ranch hand, deliberately earning a reputation as a coward. Under this convenient guise, the lawman manages to bring the villain and his men to justice, helped in no small way by brother Gilman, Anderson's innocent niece (Dorothy Gulliver) and a local judge (Andrew Waldron). A vivacious WAMPAS Baby Star of 1928, Dorothy Gulliver gave up her screen career in the early 1940s only to make a spectacular comeback as a bored hausfrau picking up young lovers in John Cassavetes' fascinating Faces (1968). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Universal star Hoot Gibson usually did better with sly humor than out-and-out sagebrush melodrama. In this comedy-western, based on the life of Henry Irving Dodge, the veteran performer kept his tongue firmly planted in his cheek as he goes up against a town run by such women as newly elected sheriff, Carrie Patience (Rosa Gore in a character obviously lampooning temperance movement leader Carrie A. Nation). Hoping to restore some masculinity to the sheriff's office, Gibson stages a series of fake hold-ups but is soon upstaged by a real crook (Joe Rickson, who kidnaps the hero's girlfriend (Georgia Hale of The Gold Rush fame). Veteran comics Heinie Conklin (in blackface, no less!) and George Ovey add their patented slapstick to the already raucous goings-on in this silent Western directed by action specialist B. Reeves Eason. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Denver Dude is Rodeo Randall, played by the eternally likeable Hoot Gibson. At first just another cowpoke, Rodeo begins dressing up and taking baths for the sake of pretty Patricia Lamar (Blanche Mehaffey). But when danger threatens, our hero reverts to buckskin and a ten-gallon hat, which of course was all that Gibson's fans could ask for. Glenn Tryon, soon to become a popular leading man in his own right, scores a comic bull's eye as Rodeo's foppish rival for Patricia's affections. Others in the cast include Slim Summerville as a perennially drunken ranch hand, and slimy Bob McKim as the all-purpose villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Arriving in the small town of Toptown to participate in the local rodeo, Buck Sims (Hoot Gibson) meets lovely Pony Blenning (Ethlyne Clair), who, with her crippled father (Charles Sellon), operates a merry-go-round. Pony's regular suitor, town bully Pinto Pete (William Dunn), attempts to warn off the newcomer, but is beaten in the ensuing fight. Pony's father is suddenly found shot and Buck is arrested. The Blennings, however, refuse to prosecute and Buck is free to win the Big Race, beating Pete once again. Pete then kidnaps Pony with Buck in hot pursuit. The final battle takes place in a canoe, where Buck finally manages to rescue Pony. Universal's highest paid Western star and a special favorite of studio owner Carl Laemmle, Hoot Gibson was at the top of his game in 1927. Directed by action expert B. Reeves Eason, Painted Ponies benefitted from the typical Gibson mix of rustic humor and hard riding. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide