Lambert Hillyer Movies

Singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely was in his final year of movie stardom when Gun Runner was released by Monogram. Wakely has more action than songs this time out, as he searches for an old pal who has gone sour and is selling guns to the Indians. The pathos of this situation is counterpointed by the pig-bladder comedy of Dub "Cannonball" Taylor. The leading-lady lineup is an interesting one: co-starring with Wakely are Noel Neill, the future Lois Lane on TV's Superman, and Mae Clarke, she of the "grapefruit massage" in 1931's Public Enemy. The comparatively sympathetic villain is portrayed by real-life sharpshooting champ Kenne Duncan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Monogram's Whip Wilson western series occasionally produced a better-than-average entry. In Range Land, Wilson and saddle pal Andy Clyde try to get the goods on a gang of stagecoach bandits. The robberies are being staged by a "solid citizen" who hopes to accumulate a fortune in gold bars. Whip goes undercover, joins the gang, has a few close shaves, and collars the crooks. And, in keeping with his screen nickname, Wilson wields a mean bullwhip whenever the occasion arises. One of the villains is played by Leonard Penn, the father of actors Sean and Christopher Penn. ~ 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

"Some were good, some were bad, and all looked pretty much alike." This was "B"-western historian Don Miller's assessment of Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram westerns of the 1940s. One of the better look-alikes was Crossed Trails, in which Brown champions the cause of pretty ranch owner Maggie (Lynne Carver). The villains (Douglas Evans and Steve Clark) hope to control the local water rights by laying claim to Maggie's property. They further this cause by framing Maggie's guardian Bodie (Raymond Hatton) for murder. But our hero manages to rescue the damsel, clear the falsely accused Bodie, and round up the crooks seemingly in one fell swoop. ~ 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

The baby sitter is none other than veteran Hollywood tough guy Tom Neal. A private detective, Neal is hired to keep an eye on the child of married couple George Meeker and Rebel Randall. Actually, Meeker and Randall are jewel thieves, and their "baby" is their stolen loot. Neal eventually catches on when he realizes that this is the quietest child on earth. Running a scant 41 minutes, Case of the Baby Sitter was designed to be shown in tandem with another Screen Guild Productions "briefie," The Hat Box Mystery: the films were shot back to back, with Tom Neal and Pamela Blake starring in both. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In early 1947, Screen Guild Productions experimented with a new format: a 90-minute double feature package, consisting of two simultaneously-filmed 45-minute mysteries. As it turned out, The Hat Box Mystery and The Case of the Baby Sitter were released separately, within two weeks of one another. Both films starred Tom Neal as a private detective named Russ and Pamela Blake as his secretary Susan, both were cowritten by Carl K. Hittelman, and both were directed by the prolific Lambert Hillyer. In Hat Box Mystery, Russ comes to Susan's rescue when she's accused of murdering one of their clients. Per the title, the main clue is a sawed-off shotgun, hidden in a hatbox-a gimmick reportedly inspired by a real-life murder case. Allen Jenkins provides some laughs as a near-illiterate goofball inappropriately named Harvard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide