Johnny Mack Brown Movies

Johnny Mack Brown's first starring western for 1950 is cut from the same cloth as his 1949 releases. Brown's principal antagonist this time is the town boss (Hugh Prosser), an outlaw who has killed the community's leading citizen. The dead man's grown children (Jane Adams and Riley Hill) want to investigate the killing, but the outlaw puts a stop to this by hiring a dance-hall dame (Constance Worth) to pose as the kids' long-lost mother. Johnny isn't fooled by this subterfuge, nor is his comic sidekick (Max Terhune). Once the plot has been established, Western Renegades adheres strictly to formula -- right down to Johnny Mack Brown's relinquishing the film's romantic-lead responsibilities to the younger, thinner Steve Clark. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

By the time Law of the West came out in 1949, Monogram's Johnny Mack Brown westerns were beginning to all look alike. Here as elsewhere, Brown plays a marshal who comes to the rescue of the Downtrodden. This time, it's a group of ranchers who are being victimized by a crooked real estate agent. One novel twist finds Brown's comic sidekick Max Terhune coming to the rescue by utilizing his skills as a ventriloquist. Bill Kennedy is the villain, Gerry Patterson the heroine, and western stalwarts Marshall Reed, Kenne Duncan and Bud Osborne go through their usual bad-guy motions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown's Trails End was barely distinguishable from his other Monogram releases of 1949. In fact, more than one reviewer noted that even the background music was the same as in previous Brown vehicles. Once again, Johnny and his saddle pal Alibi (Max Terhune) ride into a frontier town where lawlessness reigns unchecked. Once again, Johnny rescues the leading lady (Kay Morley) from greedy villains. And once again, the aging, increasingly portly Brown relinquishes the romantic responsibilities to a younger, leaner man, in this instance Douglas Evans. Max Terhune's routines with his dummy Elmer and the spirited villainy of Myron Healey briefly lift Trails End from the norm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A rather corpulent Johnny Mack Brown more than fills the title role of Frontier Agent. Once more, Brown plays a government man, sent to the badlands to round up an elusive outlaw gang. And once more, he is aided and abetted by Raymond Hatton, an old codger who has a lot more on the ball than people suspect. Director Lambert Hillyer keeps things moving even when nothing much is happening. Though it usually adheres to The Expected, Frontier Agent has a few offbeat touches, just to keep the non-western fans awake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a hero prevents a stagecoach robbery and wins the respect and confidence of a mine owner and a pretty woman who is going west to see her sister. Two outlaws next try to jump the miner's claim. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sheriff of Medicine Bow is one of the slower-moving Johnny Mack Brown westerns for Monogram. Once, again, Brown is teamed with Raymond Hatton, but something new has been added. Max Terhune plays Hatton's comic foil, travelling under the same character name-"Alibi"-that he used when costarring in Monogram's "Range Busters" series. Terhune's bucolic routines did little to enliven the proceedings, but at least his presence injected some novelty value in the fading Brown series. Two films later, Raymond Hatton had left the fold, and Johnny Mack Brown was reteamed with Max Terhune for an additional three entries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown stars in this above-average B-Western from Monogram, penned under the pseudonym of Jess Bowers by veteran genre specialist Adele Buffington. Mack Brown plays Johnny Murdoch, a drifter arriving in Gold Flats in search of his prospector father. From old-timer Dusty Hanover (Raymond Hatton), Johnny learns that Old Man Murdoch was murdered for his claim by Rex Hillman (Holly Bane), a hireling of Carter Morgan (Bill Kennedy). The latter proves to be a representative of Brandon Enterprises, a company that is grubstaking local prospectors in order to appropriate their claims when they suddenly, and mysteriously, expire. But Dusty is in possession of an old poster that proves Marc Brandon (Steve Darrell), the owner of the crooked company, to be a wanted outlaw. When Johnny accuses Brandon of killing both his father and fellow prospector Matt Cramer (Ted Adams), the elderly outlaw takes his own life. Rumors of a valuable strike at Dead Man's Basin start a gold rush and Morgan uses this opportunity to rid himself of the prospectors by having them attacked by henchmen masquerading as Indians. The entire wagon train is wiped out, except for Matt Cramer's widow, Mary (Virginia Carroll); her son, Bud (Lanny Rees); and Brandon's willful daughter, Marcia (Virginia Belmont). They are all rescued in the nick of time by Johnny and Dusty. It all comes down to a brutal fistfight between Morgan and Johnny, with the latter emerging the victor. With peace and tranquility restored, Johnny asks Marcia to marry him. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown comes to the aid of a beleaguered female freight line operator in this standard Monogram oater directed by veteran Lambert Hillyer. Having saved his old friend Faro Jenkins (Raymond Hatton) and young Dave Porter (Robert Winkler) from marauding outlaws, Ranger Johnny Hudson (Mack Brown) learns that the attack may be part of a concerted effort by bandits to drive Dave's sister Peggy (Virginia Belmont) out of the freight business. Unbeknownst to Johnny and the Porters, the crimes are committed on behalf of local banker Gordon Gregg (William H. Ruhl), who wants to bankrupt the freight business in order to take over the valuable Porter ranch. Taking umbrage to Johnny's interference, Gregg orders his henchman Collins (Carl Mathews) to kill the ranger but he misses his mark. Tracking the unfortunate Collins to the gang's hideout, Johnny and Faro are taken prisoners but the former manages to cut his ties with a piece of broken glass. The gang is rounded up and sent to jail, but a desperate Gregg manages to free his henchmen after killing the trusting sheriff (I. Stanford Jolley). After discovering the murder weapon, a knife, Johnny orders every man in town to be fingerprinted, realizing full well that the culprit will attempt to steal the evidence. Hiding in the sheriff's office, Johnny and Faro catch Lem (Ted Adams) in the act but, the suspect is killed by Gregg, who explains that Lem had threatened his life. Sent on a wild goose chase by Gregg, Johnny and Faro manage to turn the tables and capture the entire gang, Johnny killing Gregg in self-defense. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Trailing Danger is one of Johnny Mack Brown's cookie-cutter Monogram westerns. Once again, Brown is teamed with grizzled Raymond Hatton. Once again, he plays his cards close to his chest throughout most of the film. And once again, he springs into action in reel six, trouncing the villains whom he's been cagily avoiding in the previous reels. Both Brown and director Lambert Hillyer were definitely in a rut by 1947, though Trailing Danger performed quite well at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown goes up against a female boss villain in this unusual Western from Monogram. Hired to look into dirty dealings in the town of Medicine Flats, Johnny learns that Kansas City Kate (Christine McIntyre), the owner of the Golden Spur Saloon, has been waging a war against local prospectors, one of whom is found murdered. Not appreciating Johnny's interference, Kate has her henchman Cameo (Tristram Coffin) take a shot at him and when that fails, hires a notorious gunslinger, the Cherokee Kid (I. Stanford Jolley). Needless to say, the latter is equally unsuccessful and after a final confrontation Johnny is able to arrest both Kansas City Kate and her few surviving henchmen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

One film critic compared Monogram's eight Johnny Mack Brown westerns of 1947 to strawberries: it was up to the viewer sort out which were good, and which were bad. Law Comes to Gunsight is a little of both. Brown arrives in the town of, yes, Gunsight, in the company of saddle pal Raymond Hatton. Like a new broom, Brown sweeps clean, going after the town's corrupt element. Several singing sidekicks had been tried out in previous Johnny Mack Brown films, with little success. In Law Comes to Gunsight, the warbler "du jour" is radio crooner Lanny Rees. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In one of his better Monogram Westerns, Johnny Mack Brown goes up against a crooked saloon owner with more than one murder on his conscience. Steve Corbin (Tristram Coffin) and his gang of cutthroats are terrorizing the townspeople of Rimrock, who in self-defense hire Johnny Macklin (Mack Brown) as new town marshal. Corbin, meanwhile, kills a miner for his claim and threatens the local newspaper editor, Diane Foster (Reno Browne), who happens to be the daughter of Macklin's deputy, Idaho Jim Foster (Raymond Hatton). When a compromised jury returns a not guilty verdict, Macklin has Corbin transferred to the county seat but the villain manages to escape after killing a couple of witnesses. Naturally, the hero quickly hunts him down, restoring peace and tranquility to Rimrock. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown stars in the formula oater Shadows on the Range. The film was made at a time when Monogram was experimenting with the notion of passing Brown off as a singing cowboy. While his voice is dubbed, he's definitely handling all the action sequences himself, and that's what the fans really wanted. Brown's usual cohort Raymond Hatton is on hand, as ever. Shadows on the Range is not the best of the Monogram Johnny Mack Browns, but it's also far from the worst. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide