Jon Hall Movies
Athletic leading man Jon Hall felt safe when, late in his career, he played fast and loose with the facts concerning his early life -- including his actual date of birth. That's because until 1937, there was no Jon Hall, at least not officially. When he began his film career, he was billed as Charles Locher (notably in 1935's Charlie Chan in Shanghai) then went by the named of Lloyd Crane. With his starring role as a persecuted native boy in John Ford's The Hurricane (1937), the actor became Jon Hall for keeps. During the 1940s, Hall co-starred with the exotic Maria Montez in a series of nonsensical but very popular Technicolor costume pictures at Universal, bearing such titles as Arabian Nights (1942) and White Savage (1943). With his beefcake physique beefing up where it shouldn't by the early 1950s, Hall turned to television, where he starred in the well-circulated syndicated series Ramar of the Jungle from 1952 through 1954. He then left acting cold for several years to become an accomplished manufacturer of photographic equipment, making an excellent living renting out his underwater cameras to various Hollywood producers. He returned to films as the star and director of The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965), which not surprisingly was more entertaining in its underwater scenes than when it bobbed to the surface. He also kept busy as owner-manager of a small flying school. Hall was married four times; his second wife was singer Frances Langford, and his third and fourth was actress Raquel Torres. In 1979, suffering from terminal bladder cancer and not wishing to be a further burden on his relatives, Jon Hall shot himself in his sister's North Hollywood home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1950
In On the Isle of Samoa, beefcake star Jon Hall plays Kenneth Crandall, an unsavory gambler who absconds with his partner's money in a stolen plane. He crashes on an unchartered island, where he comes across a tribe of English-speaking natives, benevolently overseen by selfless missionary Peter Appleton (Raymond Greenleaf). The hard-bitten Crandall comes around to Appleton's way of thinking after a near-cataclysmic volcanic eruption, realizing at long last that money isn't everything. It helps, of course, that native girl Moana (Susan Cabot) has fallen in love with Crandall in the meantime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Susan Cabot, (more)
- 1949
Quickie producer Sam Katzman gathered together a few leftover costumes, sets and props from past Columbia "A" pictures, and the result was The Mutineers. First Mate Nick Shaw (Jon Hall) stumbles across the murdered body of his captain (Lyle Talbot). The evidence indicates that the culprits are members of a vicious counterfeiting ring. Shaw's situation becomes precarious when it develops that practically every passenger aboard his ship is in cahoots with his gang. Future "Superman" George Reeves turns in an effectively villainous characterization, while Adele Jergens goes through her usual paces as a "bad" girl who may not be as bad as she seems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adele Jergens, George Reeves, (more)
- 1949
Based on a novel by Charles Huckelmann, Deputy Marshal was a "special" by the standards of cost-conscious Screen Guild productions. The film stars Jon Hall and Frances Langford, who were Mr. and Mrs. at the time. Hall plays the title character, aka Ed Garry, while Langford essays the role of Janet Masters, a Wyoming ranchowner threatened by land thieves. While Garry does the dirty work so far as keeping the villains at bay, Janet gets to sing a couple of pleasant songs. Deputy Marshal was promoted on its novelty value; the film was photographed by Carl Berger with the Garutso Balanced Lens, a deep-focus apparatus that simulated a 3-D effect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Frances Langford, (more)
- 1949
Eight-year-old Beau Bridges essayed his first leading role in Zamba. Bridges plays a young boy who, with his mother (June Vincent), is stranded in the middle of the African jungle. Through circumstances beyond their control, mother and son are separated. She manages to reach civilization and organize a searching party for her son. Meanwhile, the boy is adopted by a friendly gorilla named Zamba (actually veteran stuntman Ray Corrigan in an ape suit). Comedy relief is provided by George O'Hanlon, taking a break from his "Joe McDoakes" short subjects. One wonders if clips from Zamba will resurface when Beau Bridges receives his AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2019. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Vincent, Jane Nigh, (more)
- 1948
The daring Robin Hood and his loyal Merry Men attempt to save Maid Marian and her brother from the evil clutches of the Sheriff of Nottingham in this adventure aimed at younger audiences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Patricia Morison, (more)
- 1947
Jon Hall, Universal's beefcake kid, usually comported himself in South Seas or Arabian nights outfits. In Michigan Kid (based on a novel by Rex Beach), he's decked out in ten-gallon hat, levis and six-guns. Hall and his cohort Andy Devine are among the many characters searching for a treasure stolen during a stagecoach holdup. Our hero also tries to protect lovely ranch owner Rita Johnson from the clutches of crooked politicians. Since most of Hollywood's Technicolor cameras were busy at 20th Century-Fox, Michigan Kid was lensed in the red and blue hues of Cinecolor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Victor McLaglen, (more)
- 1947
In this western, a marshal goes undercover to stop a brutal gang of crooks from continuing to terrorize local ranchers. After infiltrating the gang, he discovers that the perpetrator is the owner of the town saloon where his ex-girlfriend works. Unfortunately, the marshal gets discovered and framed for murder. Fortunately, he escapes from prison, rounds up a vigilante posse and gets rid of the outlaws. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Margaret Lindsay, (more)
- 1947
Columbia's Last of the Redmen is actually the first color film version of James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans. Jon Hall stars as 18th century frontier scout Hawkeye, assigned to escort the offspring of British general Munro (Guy Hedlund) through treacherous Indian country in upstate New York. Along the way, a romance develops between Hawkeye and Alice Monro (Evelyn Ankers), while Alice's sister Cora (Julie Bishop) enters into an ill-fated relationship with Hawkeye's loyal Huron companion Magua (Buster Crabbe). Ric Vallin is evil personified as the treacherous Mohican warrior Uncas, and Michael O'Shea is seen as the equally odious Major Heyward. Diminishing the verbosity of the Cooper novel, Last of the Redmen concentrates on action and suspense. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Michael O'Shea, (more)
- 1946
The titular valley is the locale for an inordinate amount of double-crosses and betrayals. Young prospector Carroll Nye thinks he's doing a good deed when he rescues heroine Rada Rae, whom he finds wandering aimlessly in the desert. Little does Nye realize that Rae is in cahoots with claim-jumping Raymond Wells, who intends to get his hands on a valuable gold mine, the location of which is known only by our hero. Upon realizing he's been duped, Nye begins to punch out the girl (a startling scene!), but comes to regret his rash behavior when it develops that Rae has been forced to betray him under threat of death. By film's end, however, it is the villainous Wells who suffers the most. Death Valley was remade, scene-for-scene, in 1946, with Helen Gilbert and Nat Pendleton in the main roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1945
In 1912, John Bunny and Flora Finch starred in the one-reel farce The New Secretary, wherein Bunny's wife hires a homely stenographer to keep her hubby from straying. 33 years later, this old chestnut was reheated for The Men in Her Diary. The cute-as-a-button Peggy Ryan "dresses down" to portray the unattractive secretary--who, unfortunately for her boss, keeps a diary of her imagined love affairs. Everything runs according to expectation in this lively Universal second feature. Men in Her Diary was written by the "odd couple" team of playwright F. Hugh Herbert and Three Stooges gagman Ellwood Ullman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Ryan, Louise Allbritton, (more)
- 1945
In another of her series of romantic desert adventures, popular actress Maria Montez is this time Naila, the newly crowned queen of an ancient Egyptian land. Her father the king has just been assassinated and she intends to make those responsible pay for their crime. She sets out into the desert to find the killer herself -- little does Naila know that her "loyal" assistant Horadef (George Zucco) may be working against her, for he has designs on the throne for himself. John Hall plays a secondary role as Merab, an adventurer who shows up in the titular region with his comic-relief pal Nebka (Andy Devine), and the two help Naila, totally unaware that she is the queen. The romantic lead this time out is Herua (Turhan Bey), a rebel leader opposed to the despotic Horadef. The villain has Naila under his evil influence, but this state of affairs comes to an end when she falls in love with the charismatic rebel. The climax, wherein Horadef and his invading hordes are caught in a cleverly rigged death trap, is the film's highlight. As usual, Maria Montez plays her rather ridiculous role in Sudan with the determined seriousness of a Lady Macbeth, which only adds to the giddy fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Montez, Turhan Bey, (more)
- 1944
On the eve of her wedding to Ramu (Jon Hall), the beautiful Tollea (Maria Montez) is spirited away from her tranquil South Sea island to the mysterious, forbidden place of her birth, Cobra Island. Ramu follows and, with help from his young-but-not-too-bright friend Kado (Sabu) and their chimp Coco, manages to land on the island and avoid capture, which would mean death. It turns out that Tollea is the rightful high priestess of Cobra Island, the first born of two twin daughters of the earlier priestess. Tollea was not immune to the venom of the king cobra, however, so she was spirited away from the island as an infant to avoid her unnecessary death. Now her grandmother, the Queen (Mary Nash), has secured her return. Tollea's twin sister, Naja (also played by Montez), has turned cruel, greedy, and ambitious, and is killing, torturing, and tormenting her people and perverting their religion; Naja must be deposed, hopefully before the volcano on the far side of the island registers too loud an objection to her blasphemies. But Naja -- who is wanton enough to want Ramu for her own pleasure -- and her confederate, the evil, ambitious Martok (Edgar Barrier), don't plan on leaving quietly.
Meanwhile, Ramu has to keep himself and Kado alive and decide if he's willing to give up the woman that he loves so that she can save her people; Tollea must choose between love and duty, fate and her birthright. One of the most ridiculously and unselfconsciously campy costume adventure movies of its era, Cobra Woman was apparently a lot of fun to work on and a relief from the reality of the Second World War for audiences in 1944. The script, co-authored by Richard Brooks a long time before he wrote The Brick Foxhole, much less directed Blackboard Jungle or made In Cold Blood or Lord Jim, is incredibly sloppy, the mix of harem dancers and ridiculous prop snakes is bizarre, and some of the worst choreography of its era doesn't help -- and yet it all hangs together, somehow, as entertainment. Director Robert Siodmak reportedly liked it, and as a refugee from the Nazis, working on it still beat the fate he'd fled in Germany. The movie is also alleged to be the primary inspiration for Jack Smith's Flaming Creatures -- which starred female impersonator Mario Montez -- and looking at it in the 21st century, one wonders if it was ever seen by Edward D. Wood Jr.; not only does the production sort of anticipate (albeit on a much higher level and budget) his work in the adventure genre, but the script seems to contain the essence of inept moments that he would elevate to an art of sorts. And one can just imagine Wood, as a young marine recruit, watching Cobra Woman eagerly and "learning" all the wrong lessons from its writing and production. But, like the best of Wood's movies -- only more so -- Cobra Woman is still great fun of the "guilty pleasure" sort. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Meanwhile, Ramu has to keep himself and Kado alive and decide if he's willing to give up the woman that he loves so that she can save her people; Tollea must choose between love and duty, fate and her birthright. One of the most ridiculously and unselfconsciously campy costume adventure movies of its era, Cobra Woman was apparently a lot of fun to work on and a relief from the reality of the Second World War for audiences in 1944. The script, co-authored by Richard Brooks a long time before he wrote The Brick Foxhole, much less directed Blackboard Jungle or made In Cold Blood or Lord Jim, is incredibly sloppy, the mix of harem dancers and ridiculous prop snakes is bizarre, and some of the worst choreography of its era doesn't help -- and yet it all hangs together, somehow, as entertainment. Director Robert Siodmak reportedly liked it, and as a refugee from the Nazis, working on it still beat the fate he'd fled in Germany. The movie is also alleged to be the primary inspiration for Jack Smith's Flaming Creatures -- which starred female impersonator Mario Montez -- and looking at it in the 21st century, one wonders if it was ever seen by Edward D. Wood Jr.; not only does the production sort of anticipate (albeit on a much higher level and budget) his work in the adventure genre, but the script seems to contain the essence of inept moments that he would elevate to an art of sorts. And one can just imagine Wood, as a young marine recruit, watching Cobra Woman eagerly and "learning" all the wrong lessons from its writing and production. But, like the best of Wood's movies -- only more so -- Cobra Woman is still great fun of the "guilty pleasure" sort. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Montez, Jon Hall, (more)
- 1944
The fifth in the Invisible Man series stars Jon Hall as Robert Griffin, a convict who takes the invisibility serum and then goes on a crime spree. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Alan Curtis, (more)
- 1944
In this swashbuckler, a princess is raised by gypsies and becomes their queen. The trouble really begins when a count is murdered and the evil, ambitious baron who really did it blames the crime on the gypsies. The baron's messenger knows the truth and tries to prove it. When he notices that the gypsy queen is wearing a pendant bearing the slain count's crest, he reveals her true identity--the count's estranged sister and heir to the throne. The messenger then accuses the baron of the death. The baron has him thrown into the same dungeon as the gypsies and together they team up and escape. Meanwhile the gypsy girl, who has finally promised to marry the wicked baron in exchange for her clan's freedom, is kidnapped by the baron. The gallant messenger rescues her, kills the baron, and gets to marry the young queen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Montez, Jon Hall, (more)
- 1944
Louise Allbritton, a talented but neglected film star of the 1940s, plays the oldest sister in a large motherless family. Papa (Edward Everett Horton) is an erstwhile inventor working on a collapsible life raft, which Allbritton tries to promote to a handsome financier (Jon Hall) who mistrusts women. It isn't hard to guess who will fall in love with who in this one, but the true appeal of this film lies in the performance of Louise Allbritton, who directly and indirectly encourages all with whom she comes in contact to break the shackles of tradition and normality and to follow the dictates of the Heart. The most famous sequence in San Diego I Love You concerns cynical bus driver Buster Keaton, who thanks to Allbritton's influence decides to break loose from his tiresome routine and takes his delighted passengers on an impromptu bus trip to the moonlit seashore. At the end of this enchanting vignette, Buster Keaton the actor drops his own deadpan "tradition" and breaks out in a warm smile! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Louise Allbritton, (more)
- 1944
Freely adapted from a successful Broadway musical by Moss Hart, this story stars Ginger Rogers as Liza Elliott, the editor of a popular fashion magazine. Despite her beauty, wealth, and success in business, Liza is unhappy and out of sorts. And while three men are vying for her affections -- advertising director Charley Johnson (Ray Milland), newly single Kendall Nesbitt (Warner Baxter), and youthful and handsome Randy Curtis (Jon Hall) -- Liza has been unlucky in love, and she feels that she's come to the end of her emotional rope. She begins seeing Dr. Brooks (Barry Sullivan) in hopes of resolving her emotional crises and finding happiness, and her self-searching explorations of her past take the form of a handful of musical numbers. While the stage version of Lady in the Dark featured songs written by the estimable team of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, several of them were replaced for this screen adaptation; "The Saga of Jenny", "One Life to Love", and "Girl of the Moment" were the most notable among the Weill/Gershwin tunes that survived the editing process. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, (more)
The general perception of the Technicolor costume adventure movies that Maria Montez and Jon Hall made for Universal in the early 1940's is that they were pure escapist entertainment, intended to make people forget for an hour or so about the Second World War and the general world situation. And generally that is true about them -- they were mostly no "about" much more than having fun for 90 minutes or so amid pretty sets with lots of action and some pretty women in exotic outfits. But watching Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, one has to wonder if even here the screenwriter, Edmund L. Hartmann, was able to totally get away from the day-to-day reality around him. The opening Mongol invasion of Bagdad and the murder of the old Caliph (Moroni Olsen) while trying to set up a government-in-exile without thinking of the German and Japanese conquests and occupations of various nations that would have been going on at the time; additionally, the fact that the old Caliph is murdered with the help of a traitor in his own noble ranks -- a "quisling" in the term coined during World War II -- wouldn't have been missed by audiences at the time. Further, the screenplay very specifically paints the forty thieves as heroes who have gone from being criminals to an active resistance force against the occupying Mongols -- indeed, at the denouement, their invasion of the palace is greeted as a day of liberation by the people of Bagdad. The movie walks a strange tightrope, casting about veiled topical references of that sort, even as is otherwise sufficiently tongue-in-cheek to cast Andy Devine as a desert bandit. Obviously, Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves was sold as -- and mostly intended as -- light entertainment, but just below that glitzy Technicolor surface were some fascinating allusions to the real world. None of this stops Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves from being immense fun -- it is, even if the "fun" isn't totally escapist in nature -- and it's great to look at as well, even 60 years on; Universal has apparently kept preservation-quality source materials on this and Hall and Montez's other Technicolor costume romps. And this particular entry in that group of movies also contains one very instructive clue to the morays and censorship of the time in one scene, in which the hero meets the heroine bathing at an oasis -- the makers seem to have been forced to insert a particular shot that is there for no other reason then to make it clear that she is not totally naked when he sees her. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Maria Montez, (more)
- 1943
This frothy fantasy adventure centers upon the exotic romance between a shark fisherman (the sharks he captured are used for the manufacture of vitamin A) and the beautiful princess of Temple Island. They meet when the fisherman asks a young boy with royal connections to introduce him to the princess so he can ask for permission to fish the teeming waters near the island. The boy introduces the hunter to the girl and love immediately blossoms until he makes his request. She believes that he is really only looking for a way to steal the treasure located in the temple pool, and she banishes him. The boy has other plans for them though. At the same time, a crooked treasure-seeking trader conspires to get the booty for himself.. A major confrontation between good guys and bad eventually ensues with wild accusations flying like palm fronds in a hurricane. The shark hunter is accused of murder and imprisoned. Once again, the brave boy comes to his rescue and together they set out to prove his innocence. The story reaches its climax at the great temple that gave the island its name. A terrible earthquake ensures that the villains get their due. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Maria Montez, (more)
- 1942
Universal's "Invisible Man" series does its bit for the war effort in this slyly tongue-in-cheek action melodrama. Jon Hall stars as Frank Raymond, grandson of the man who invented the invisibility formula several pictures back. When Nazi agents try to coerce the secret formula out of Raymond, he eludes them by becoming transparent himself. Shortly afterward, the US government parachutes Raymond behind enemy lines, reasoning that an invisible counterespionage agent would be an invaluable tool in defeating the Axis. He is aided and abetted by the beautiful Maria Sorenson (Ilona Massey), who may or may not be in league with villains Helser (J. Edward Bromberg in a scene-stealing turn), Stauffer (Cedric Hardwicke) and Japanese spy Ikito (Peter Lorre). As was always the case in Universal's mid-1940s fantasies, David Horsley's special effects work in Invisible Agent is absolutely first-rate, with some truly eye-popping moments. Incidentally, this is the film in which an elderly victim of Nazi persecution moans "I can't sign? I can't sign? You have broken my fingers!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ilona Massey, Jon Hall, (more)
- 1942
With America's Air Force not completely mobilized in mid-1942, Universal paid tribute to those foresighted Yankee flyboys who joined England's Royal Air Force before America's entry into WW2 in Eagle Squadron. Robert Stack stars as Chuck Brewer, one of several US flyers participating in RAF bombing raids of Germany. The film stresses the importance of hands-across-the-sea teamwork in this massive undertaking, concluding with Brewer leading his British compatriots on a Commando raid behind enemy lines, the better to capture a revolutionary new Nazi war plane. Every so often, the story slows to a walk as Brewer romances British lass Anne Partridge, played by the unfortunate Diana Barrymore in her last truly important screen role. Producer Walter Wanger made special arrangements with the British government to incorporate several exciting shots of authentic air battles in the film's 108 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stack, Diana Barrymore, (more)
In a harem in a Middle Eastern palace, the guardian leads the women he protects in telling the tale of Halroun-Al-Raschid (Jon Hall), the Caliph of Bagdad, who found himself an enemy close to home in the form of his half-brother Kamar (Leif Erickson), who was ineligible for the throne because of his mother's having been a slave. Halroun and his followers initially put down Kamar's attempt at usurpation, until Halroun's ambitious vizier Nadan (Edgar Barrier) changes sides. In the confusion of the ensuing battle, Halroun is wounded -- spotted by the young acrobat Ali (Sabu), he is sheltered by a group of traveling players led by Ahmad (Billy Gilbert), whose ranks also include a player and storyteller (and, if he is to be believed, former sailor) named Sinbad (Shemp Howard) and a man named Aladdin (John Qualen) who is searching for a magic lamp -- and a dancer named Scheherazade (Maria Montez), who had beguiled Kamar and welcomes his ascent to the throne, because she has been told that she is destined to marry a king. She loves the wounded man in her care, whose identity she doesn't know, but is intent on marrying Kamar, now that he is Caliph. But her plans are thwarted by Nadan, who wants no competition from her in his sway over Kamar, and has arranged to have her killed; but when an avaricious officer (Turhan Bey)instead sells her and the entire performing troup to a dishonest slave trader (Thomas Gomez). From that moment, complications ensue for all concerned, as the new Caliph goes after his beloved, the deposed king Halroun tries to protect her and regain his throne, and Nadan hopes to come out sitting on the throne himself. Treachery and narrow escapes, and even a few thwarted plans ensue on all sides as the hero Haroun has to watch out for Scheherazade and himself from several sides at once, all while keeping his identity from her. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Hall, Maria Montez, (more)
- 1942
When two young island-dwelling people fall for each other, their rival parents do not embrace the romance with welcomed arms as one family is content with a simple and lazy life and the other is just the opposite. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Laughton, Jon Hall, (more)
- 1941
The South Seas romance is set on the scenic island of Tahiti where the island chief betroths his son to a woman and then ships him to the US to attend Harvard. During the return voyage the lad is befriended by the ship's captain who also protects the beautiful girl the boy meets, but doesn't know he is supposed to marry. The two end up falling in love, even though the young man has sworn not to marry the girl his father picked out for him 15 years before. Meanwhile another jealous girl interferes with the romance as does another chieftain who wants the betrothed girl for himself and so tries to kill the young man. The whole mess is later resolved by a tremendous volcanic eruption which destroys the island and leaves the girl standing alone on a rocky peak staring at the blood red sun slowly sinking beneath the horizon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Lamour, Jon Hall, (more)
- 1940
Beefcake star Jon Hall shows off his sleek physique in the exotic melodrama South of Pago Pago. The son of an island chieftan, young Kehane (Hall) defiantly opposes the efforts by crooked pearl hunter Bucko Larson (Victor McLaglen) to invade his domain. Larson and his minions hope to dissuade our hero by introducing him to seductive Ruby (Frances Farmer), who lures Kehane away from his childhood sweetheart Malia (Olympe Bradna). But Ruby turns honest at the last moment, saving Kehane's life at the expense of her own. Originally released by United Artists, this Edward Small production later made the revival-house rounds through the distribution channels of PRC Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor McLaglen, Jon Hall, (more)
- 1940
- NR
This typically economical Edward Small historical drama stars Jon Hall as legendary frontiersman Kit Carson. Wasting no time, the film gets off to an exciting start as Carson and his two saddle pals (Ward Bond and Harold Huber) are attacked by Indians. They manage to escape unscatched and make their way to Fort Bridger, where Captain John "Frontier" Fremont (Dana Andrews) hires Carson to guide a wagon train westward. The plot thickens when both Carson and Fremont fall in love with pretty Dolores Murphy (Lynn Bari), but all misunderstandings and rivalries are forgotten when the two heroes fight shoulder to shoulder against another Indian attack. Despite obvious budgetary limitations, the battle scenes are well staged by serial veteran George B. Seitz. Originally distributed by United Artists, Kit Carson was later reissued by minor-league PRC Pictures, which is why the film is currently in Public Domain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
