Buck Jones Movies
Born in Indiana, Charles "Buck" Jones was raised in Montana, where he trained himself to be an expert rider and roper. After serving in the U.S. Cavalry, he joined the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show as a trick rider, and later performed with the Ringling Bros. circus. Entering films as a stunt double in 1917, he was promoted to his own starring series at Fox Studios two years later. Appearing onscreen with his horse Silver, Jones quickly became one of the most popular Western stars of the 1920s. When Westerns went into a brief eclipse in the early talkie era, he was "demoted" to low-budget Columbia Pictures, where he continued appearing in high-grossing horse operas and occasional "straight" dramatic films until 1936. He then spent a few seasons at Universal as star, producer, and occasional director. At the peak of his popularity in the 1930s, when his Buck Jones Rangers club boasted five million youthful members, at one point he was receiving more fan mail than Clark Gable. When his career began slipping again in 1940, he signed with Monogram, where he co-starred with Tim McCoy and Raymond Hatton in the money-spinning Rough Riders series. On November 30, 1942, Jones was guest of honor at a party given by his producer/manager Scott R. Dunlap at the Cocoanut Grove night club in Boston when a fire broke out in the kitchen. According to some reports, Jones attempted to escape along with all the others when the fire spread to the main room; other sources claim that he valiantly insisted upon reentering the blazing inferno to rescue the guests still trapped inside. Whatever the circumstances, the end result was the same: Jones perished in the Cocoanut Grove fire along with nearly 500 others. Married to the same woman for 27 years, Buck Jones was the father of a daughter named Maxine, who married actor Noah Beery Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1920
Buck Jones played a cowboy helping a pretty ranch owner getting rid of both cattle rustlers and an unwanted suitor in this average silent oater. Under contract to William Fox, Jones had earlier appeared on stage along with diminutive comedian Gilbert "Pee Wee" Holmes, Carl "Taterbug" Simpson, and Riley "Banty" Caldwell. The four constituted a singing group, "The Tom Mix Quartet," and accompanied screenings of Fox westerns starring Tom Mix, the studio's prime asset. Happily, Jones didn't remain a singer for long but was elevated to western stardom with this film as his first vehicle. In the beginning seen mainly as a substitute if Mix should suddenly quit, Jones was quite a fine actor in his own right, and his films quickly gained a substantive following. In the 1920s, however, he always toiled in the shadow of the great Mix. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1920
This picture was a departure, both for star Buck Jones and director John Ford (in those days known as Jack Ford). Instead of a manly Western, the focus here is on simple character study, even if it does end with a flurry of action. Bim (Jones) is the town ne'er-do'well, but he proves to be of some worth when he befriends a scruffy 13-year-old youngster Bill (George Stone), who has been thrown off a freight train. Teacher Mary Bruce (Helen Ferguson) takes note of the affection Bim shows towards the boy and insists that Bill be sent to school. Bim is also an admirer of Mary's, but she already has a sweetheart, the shifty Harvey Cahill (William Buckly). Harvey, the cashier at the express office, has come up short at work, so he asks Mary to loan him the school memorial fund. She does, but the school committee asks for the money before Mary can replace it. To save her Bim gets the money back and makes it look like he took it in the first place. Then Bill is virtually held captive by a couple who believe he is the missing son of a rich family. Bim exposes a gang of robbers and becomes a hero. In addition he finds the real missing boy and his parents give him -- and Bill -- the ten thousand dollar reward. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1920
After being away for several years, Chick Crandall (cowboy star Buck Jones) returns to his ranch in Arizona to find that the foreman, Sam Curtis (Al Fremont), has been rustling cattle. Because of a mix up, Crandall winds up exchanging clothes with Harold Montague (Ernest Shields), a tenderfoot from the East. So the hero heads for his own ranch disguised as the Easterner and surprises the cowboys with his roping and riding prowess. Curtis and his men decide it would be best to get rid of this guy, but of course Crandall overcomes them and brings them to justice -- along with saving the requisite pretty girl, Barbara Hampton (Patsey deForest). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
Filmed in late 1920 and released in early '21, The Big Punch was director John Ford's second film for Fox. Buck Jones starred as a divinity student jailed for a crime actually committed by his outlaw brother (Jack Curtis). Upon his release, Jones is befriended by Salvation Army girl Barbara Bedford and together the two manage to convert the lawless brother. Ford directed this and the earlier Jones vehicle Just Pals (1920) concurrently before returning to his home studio, Universal. When that company's Carl Laemmle fired cowboy actor Harry Carey, Ford left for good, returning to Fox, for whom he would direct such future successes as The Iron Horse (1924), The Grapes of Wrath (1939), and My Darling Clementine (1946). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Bedford, (more)
- 1921
In somewhat of a departure from his usual fare, Western star Buck Jones played a Scottish coal miner-turned-Northwest Mounted Police Officer in this silent outdoors melodrama. Jock MacTier (Jones) loves Margaret MacPherson (Helene Rosson), but she ups and marries mining pay master Arthur Whitman (William Lawrence). After nobly saving his rival's life in a mine flood, MacTier makes the aforementioned change of occupation. In the Canadian Northwest, he makes the acquaintance of lovely Lenore De Marney (Beatrice Burnham), whose father is having trouble with a gang of thieves. In one of those coincidences only found in cheap melodrama, the leader of the gang is none other than Whitman, MacTier's old nemesis, who has already abandoned his wife. MacTier beats Whitman once and for all and earns the love of Lenore. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1921
Duke Travis (Buck Jones) is the new foreman on a ranch run by pretty Bess Lynne (Ruth Renick) and her brother (William Buckley). Trouble begins with the arrival of a pair of crooked cattle buyers (Arthur Carewe and James Farley) and soon our hero is robbed and left for dead in the desert. Bess, assuming her handsome foreman really is dead, allows herself to be wooed by one of the crooks and is on her way to the altar when Duke, having fortuitously stumbled upon a stray horse in the wilderness, gallops up to save her from a fate worse than death. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Ruth Renick, (more)
- 1921
Played mostly for laughs, this silent Buck Jones Western featured the star as "The Mediator," a drifter who manages to restore peace both within a family and between miners and their powerful employer. Buck nurses a wounded Bill Higgins (Norman Selby) back to health before returning him to the ill-named Peaceful Valley and his harridan of a wife (Frances Hatton). The local miners, meanwhile, are suffering under a dictatorial foreman (G. Raymond Nye) who, with Buck's intervention, is removed by company president Herschel Mayall. The dismissed Nye takes his revenge by inducing the workers to strike, but Buck, "The Mediator" and the newly elected foreman, prevents disaster by unmasking his predecessor as a thief. As a reward for his "mediation," Buck wins the love of Maggie, the waitress (Helen Ferguson). As always, Hollywood screenwriters took the position that bad working conditions were the fault of crooked mid-level management and not the company owners. Selby was better known as Kid McCoy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1921
Silent screen Western hero Buck Jones starred in this average assembly-line oater as a young rancher searching for the villain who murdered his father and ran off with his sister. The villain (James Farley), a notorious gambler, has changed his name to elude the law, but Jones is not fooled for long and catches up with the criminal before he can destroy yet another damsel in distress (Beatrice Burnham). Playing the wayward sister in this film, Helene Rosson was out of a British show business family that included directors Arthur and Richard Rosson and cinematographer Hal Rosson. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Beatrice Burnham, (more)
- 1921
A small Western community is terrorized by an unscrupulous empire-builder (G. Raymond Nye) in this early Buck Jones Western directed by character actor Bernard J. Durning. Town bully Bill Terry is buying up the surrounding land but is turned down by stubborn old rancher Joe Blake (Herschel Mayall). When Bill's fiancée Doris Lane (Helen Ferguson) gets wind of a cruel scheme to frame Blake for cattle rustling, she switches sides and joins Blake's son (Jones) in his fight against the villain. In retaliation, Terry has his chief henchman Wolf Gary (Norman Selby aka Kid McCoy) abduct the girl, but the villains are defeated in a climactic gun battle. Director Durning, the husband of actress Shirley Mason, died suddenly of typhoid fever in 1923 at the young age of 23. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1922
Western star Buck Jones is a foreman who catches a gang of cattle rustlers in this standard silent oater. Steel Brannon (Jones) is engaged to ranch owner Betty Lawson (Helen Ferguson). A visitor from the East, Josephine Hamilton (Ruth Renick), foolishly falls for Les Artwell (Jack Rollins), who is a member of "Satan" Latimer's (Maurice B. Flynn) outlaw gang. Latimer kidnaps Josephine, but Brannon and Betty are hot on the trail. A furious fight ensues in which the outlaw is thrown off a cliff into the river below. Betty, who was afraid that her foreman had fallen for her vampish friend, is reassured in the obligatory happy ending. The only unusual aspect of this very average Jones western is the appearance of Maurice "Lefty" Flynn, later a western star in his own right, as the villain. Leading lady Ferguson retired from acting at the changeover to sound and later became a powerful Hollywood publicist. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1922
A drifter, Racey Dawson (Buck Jones) falls for pretty Molly Dale (Eileen Percy), the daughter of alcoholic rancher Henry Dale (Robert Daly) but is soon falsely accused of murdering the old man. The real killer, however, proves to be McFluke (G. Raymond Nye), a powerful rancher who covets the valuable Dale property. The most unusual aspect of this average silent western is the casting of popular comedienne Mae Busch as a dance-hall girl holding the key to solving the murder. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1922
About the only thing that separated this Northwoods drama from the other several dozen that were released during 1922 was that this one took place in the summer, hence there are no snow scenes. Oddly, while the heroine wears lightweight dresses, all the men sport knitted caps and heavy jackets, as if they're waiting for a wayward snowstorm. Buck Jones -- still being billed as Charles Jones -- takes a break from his usual Western fare here, but this picture certainly didn't do his career any good. It's so loaded with clichés that when one of the opening title cards reads, "a tale of love and duty in the Northwest," the whole audience probably could fill in the details for themselves: Trooper O'Neil (Jones) is out to get his man -- in this case, whoever murdered Jacob Dell. He poses as a trapper and heads for Saskatchewan country, where he meets and falls in love with Marie (Beatrice Burnham). Dell had ruined Marie's sister Celeste, so the suspects boil down to either her brother Paul (Jack Rollens) or Celeste's suitor, Pierre (Francis McDonald). But then evidence indicates that the killer would have a wound on the right side -- which Marie does. Torn between "love and duty," O'Neil chooses duty and arrests his sweetheart. But the real killer, Black Flood (Claude Payton) tries to murder O'Neil, and falls off a cliff in the ensuing chase. With his last gasps, he reveals that he did in Dell, so the very understanding Marie is reunited with her Mountie. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Beatrice Burnham, (more)
- 1922
Pioneering film producer William Fox turned Jackson Gregory's 1919 Wild West story The Bells of San Juan into a strong silent vehicle for relative newcomer Buck Jones. Jones plays Rod Norton, a lawman searching for his father's killer. Norton suspects saloon owner Jim Garson (Claude Payton) but is lacking evidence. Garson's henchmen, the Rickard brothers, kidnap Norton's sweetheart Dorothy (Fritzi Brunette), hoping to lure the sheriff into a trap. Norton saves the girl, but a head injury turns the lawman into a bank robber. An operation returns him to sanity, however, and he brings the murderer and his helpers to justice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1922
Western ace Buck Jones had one of his best early roles in this well-mounted silent action melodrama directed by Bernard J. Durning. Jones played Stanley Carson, a cowboy who, while visiting the Deep South, gets in trouble with a gang of crooked gamblers led by Carl Baldwin (Adolphe Menjou in a rare Western role) and the brother (James Mason) of his girlfriend. When the gamblers abduct Virginia (Eileen Percy), Carson takes up the pursuit by boat, train, mail truck, and racecar. The girl and her kidnappers are holed up in a swank hotel which catches on fire. The irrepressible Carson not only manages to rescue Virginia but an entire family trapped by the flames. The Fast Mail was based on an unpublished play by Lincoln J. Carter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Eileen Percy, (more)
- 1922
In this silent Western "whodunit," a very young Buck Jones stars as Conroy Daley, a young man whose uncle offers him a job on his ranch. When Con arrives, he learns that the uncle (Charles French) has been murdered. Not only that, but a mysterious stranger (Otto Matiesen) is impersonating Con. The accused murderer, Bud Moore (Harold Miller), has disappeared and Con, keeping his real identity a secret, joins forces with Moore's innocent sister, Della (Renée Adorée). The uncle, as it turns out, is not dead at all but has been abducted by ranch foreman John Hampton (Philo McCullough), who wants the ranch for himself. This convoluted Western, whose working title was "Vamoose," had two directors: Scott R. Dunlap and C.R. Wallace, often an indication of a troubled production. Leading lady Adorée later became a major star at MGM as John Gilbert's French girlfriend in The Big Parade (1925). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Renée Adorée, (more)
- 1923
Billed "Charles Jones" for the occasion, Fox cowboy Buck Jones found himself on Broadway in this silent melodrama. He played Bill Moreland, a cowboy who befriends a stranded chorus girl, Janet Ainslee (Fritzi Brunette). Bill sells his prize dogs to pay Janet's way back to New York and, in love with the girl, follows her to Manhattan where he obtains a job as a construction worker. When Janet finds herself in the clutches of a typically lecherous theatrical producer (James Mason), the cowboy comes to her rescue once again and easily persuades her to return with him to the West. Almost every silent screen cowboy landed on Broadway at one time or another (or at least in unfamiliar surroundings in the big city), including William Fairbanks (Broadway Buckaroo, 1921), Hoot Gibson (Broadway or Bust, 1924), and Tom Mix (The Big Diamond Robbery, 1929). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Fritzi Brunette, (more)
- 1923
Fox Western star Buck Jones enjoyed a change of pace in this boxing melodrama directed by a young William Wellman. Returning from the war, Dan O'Hara discovers that his wife has left him for another man. To find a new purpose in life, Big Dan turns his home into a gym for street boys, where he teaches them how to box. He later falls in love with pretty Dora Allen (Marian Nixon), but a jealous woman (Jacqueline Gadsden) is only too happy to inform Dora of Big Dan's marital status. Fortunately, the errant wife obligingly dies in a sanitarium, leaving Dan and Dora free to marry. Big Dan successfully mixed action with sentiment, leaving the comic relief to veteran comedian Monte Collins and African-American actress Mattie Peters, the latter portraying a no-nonsense factotum named Ophelia. Hired originally to keep the studio's reigning cowboy star Tom Mix in line, Buck Jones proved to be no mere copy and quickly found his own audience. Unlike Tom Mix, Jones would regularly be cast in non-Westerns, but his bread-and-butter remained sagebrush tales. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eileen O'Malley, Buck Jones, (more)
- 1923
Even though this Western used the convenient "dream" premise, it still managed to please audiences. Cowboy Tod Musgrave (Charles Jones, who hadn't yet added "Buck" to his stage name) and his pal Del Hawkins (Maurice Flynn) steal a ride on a train after being kicked out of a saloon. The conductor (George Siegmann) throws them off when he discovers they have no tickets, and the two men swear revenge. While waiting on a station bench for the train to return, Musgrave and Hawkins both fall asleep. The train arrives and Musgrave and Hawkins board it. As Musgrave is giving the conductor a sound thrashing, Hawkins robs the train. When Musgrave protests, Hawkins knocks him unconscious and plants some of the money on him. As a result, Musgrave is arrested as the thief and sentenced to prison. He proves to be a model inmate, helping to quell a riot, which earns him the admiration of Dorothy Owen, who is friends with the warden's daughter (Ruth Clifford). Through reading a newspaper, Musgrave finds out that Hawkins has bought a ranch and is engaged to Dorothy. He escapes from prison to warn Dorothy of Hawkins' true nature. She goes with him to a mountain cabin and Hawkins follows. The three of them are then buried in an avalanche. Hawkins confesses, and when the sheriff (Charles K. French) digs them out, Musgrave makes him go to prison in his place. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Maurice B. Flynn, (more)
- 1923
This stereotypical rural tale wastes the talents of Charles "Buck" Jones, who was far better off in Westerns, where he would eventually earn his fame. Here he is Andy Hanks, an itinerant fix-it man who comes to town with his horse and dog as his only pals. He falls in love with Angela Trent (Ruth Dwyer), a young woman with an air of mystery about her. The village miser, Seth Poggins (Frank Weed), wants her for his wife, and she does her best to avoid his pestering. When a man is seen entering Angela's home late one night, the whole town is scandalized. It turns out that Angela has a husband, and he burns down the library. Hanks is blamed for the crime and he is beaten when he refuses to confess. Eventually his innocence is established and the husband dies when he sinks into a bed of quicksand. Hanks saves Angela from the further attentions of Poggins by marrying her himself. This picture was one of the lesser directorial efforts early on in the career of William Wellman. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Weed, Ruth Dwyer, (more)
- 1923
In this simple little romantic drama, Charles "Buck" Jones plays fireman Andy McGee. McGee becomes a fireman over the protests of his mother (Lucy Beaumont), who doesn't want to see her son sacrifice his life the way his father did. When she dies, McGee adopts little Elizabeth Stevens (Eileen O'Malley), who takes care of him instead of vice versa. Along the way he meets Agnes Evans, a chorus girl (Marian Nixon), and falls in love. He finds out she is married to a worthless alcoholic, and he sadly has to write her off. When the home in which she lives catches fire, he comes to the rescue and saves her. Then he finds out that her husband -- who had locked her in her room -- is still inside. McGee does his duty and goes back for the husband. His heroic attempt to rescue the man, however, is in vain. The death of Agnes' nasty husband paves the way for her relationship with McGee. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1924
Fox's also-ran cowboy star Buck Jones played a prospector falsely accused of murder in this silent Western, which benefitted from an above average supporting cast. Along with a fellow inmate, Jones escapes from prison. Hiding out with his newfound buddy's sister (Evelyn Brent), Jones manages not only to clear his own name but also to obtain a pardon from the governor for his friend. Playing the hero's young sidekick was William Haines (then spelling his last name "Haynes"), a perky young actor who made quite a name for himself in light comedy roles at MGM in the late 1920s. Haines retired from acting soon after the changeover to sound, becoming instead Hollywood's most fashionable interior designer. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Evelyn Brent, (more)
- 1924
This is a rather confusing silent Western melodrama in which Jack Mills (Buck Jones) comes to the aid of a friend, Bud Loupel (William Scott), who has robbed a bank to keep up his house payments. Idiotically, Jack helps his friend by holding up the very same bank, pretending to steal the money his friend had already taken. But Bud gets into a shooting fight with the bank president and, on his deathbed, confesses his guilt. Despite the far-fetched, downright silly plot, the trade magazine Variety claimed the film was "probably the best release Jones has had to date." Rhody Hathaway, the father of director Henry Hathaway, played the heroine's father. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Betty Bouton, (more)
- 1924
Although cowboy star Buck Jones plays a prizefighter in this drama, he's only getting in the ring to pay for a ranch -- which gives it just enough Western atmosphere to satisfy Jones' regular fans. Perry Blair (Jones) starts off as a sparring partner for a fighter, but when he knocks the guy down, manager Charles Dunham (Ben Deeley) immediately sees his potential. He takes Blair to New York, where he meets pretty Cecil Manners (Peggy Shaw). Blair finds out that his next fight is fixed and he pulls out. When Dunham spreads a rumor that he is yellow, Blair decides to return west. Because of a misunderstanding, Cecil refuses to accompany him. Dunham finds a new fighter, and Blair's friend Jack Hamilton (Edward Hearn) arranges a winner-take-all fight. Things look bleak for Blair in the ring until he lands a haymaker on his opponent. He then saves Cecil from Dunham's advances and collects his prize -- and the girl. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Peggy Shaw, (more)
- 1924
Cowboy Buck Saxon (Buck Jones) is falsely accused of attempting to murder his rival in love (Jack McDonald) and is on the run from the law. He is hired incognito by a travelling circus and works there as a trick rider. On the job, Saxon falls for the show's blond high-wire artist, Bird Taylor (Marian Nixon). They marry, despite the objections from a lovesick animal trainer, and Buck later gets the chance to clear himself of attempted murder. Fox was grooming lovely Marian Nixon for top stardom and almost succeeded. In the end, the attempt was defeated by subpar material and Nixon never enjoyed the success of another Fox starlet, Janet Gaynor. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones
- 1924
The Fox company's number two cowboy star (Tom Mix was, of course, top of the heap) Buck Jones starred as a cowboy who comes to the aid of a friend (Ben Hendricks, Jr.) falsely accused of murder. As always, Buck prevails, clears the friend, and wins the girl (Dolores Rousse). Jones sandwiched this commonplace western (based on the prolific Max Brand) between several modern-dress vehicles in which he joined a circus (Circus Cowboy (1924)) and entered a boxing ring (Winner Take All (1924). He was always more believable in western garb, however, and would cease experimenting with straight dramatics in the early 1930s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Delores Rousse, (more)
