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- 1933
This dark, brooding ancestor to Hang 'Em High features Buck Jones as a happy-go-lucky cowpoke who is duped by a gang of rustlers into "guarding" their camp. When the camp is raided, Jones is caught and savagely branded by a group of heavy-handed lawmen in spite of his protests of innocence. Jones survives the ordeal and seeks revenge. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Weeks, (more)
- 1933
Columbia's Buck Jones western series was winding down when Unknown Valley was released in mid-1934. Jones plays Bob Gordon, who rides into an isolated desert community populated by thieves, layabouts and losers. Here he searches for his long-lost father, and it is this story angle that provides the film's suspense. Though there's plenty of physical action in the form of chases and beatings, not one gun is fired, which may well have been a first at Columbia. Cecilia Parker plays the heroine rescued from a forced marriage by the hero, while Ward Bond plays a significant supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Cecilia Parker, (more)
- 1933
On the outs at Paramount, musical comedy star Nancy Carroll was "punished" by being sent to Columbia for the lachrymose Child of Manhattan. Carroll plays a dance-hall girl who falls hard for wealthy John Boles. Marriage is out of the question until she becomes pregnant. After losing her baby, Carroll divorces Boles and runs off with Charles Jones (better known as cowboy star Buck Jones). As the plot would have it, this convinces Boles that Carroll is not the golddigger she appears to be. Child of Manhattan was based on a Preston Sturges play, but most of the wittier and more pungent lines were lost in translation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, John Boles, (more)
- 1933
In this unusual Western, Buck Jones is not only branded for being a "squaw stealer" (i.e. rapist) but his prey is a woman vigilante attempting to establish a republic in Kansas. The woman, Joan Randall (Shirley Grey), is determined to reclaim land she believes was stolen by the U.S. government. Unbeknownst to Joan, however, her second-in-command, one Colonel Jedcott (Robert Ellis), is an unscrupulous charlatan merely out to enrich himself. When a town is ruthlessly pillaged by a gang of the colonel's henchmen, U.S. Army commander Frank Hawthorne (Charles Hill Mailes) assigns the case to his best operative, Jeff Connors (Jones). When Jeff discovers that outlaw Chet Dawson (Frank Lackteen) is scheduled to meet with Joan, our hero arranges to appear in his stead, and although he doesn't agree with the girl's position, he develops a fondness for her that ultimately turns to love. Dawson unhappily turns up at the absolute worst moment and Jeff and Joan are forced to flee. She is eventually put on trial and sentenced to hang but Jeff manages to obtain a last minute pardon from the governor. But will he arrive in time to save the woman he loves? ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1933
Columbia's The Thrill Hunter is more of straight action film than a western, though leading man Buck Jones still wears his traditional cowboy garb. Jones plays a small-town spinner of tall tales who claims to be a top-notch stuntman. He's forced to put up or shut up when a movie company, filming an adventure flick, shows up in town. Offering his services as a stunt double, Jones passes muster as a racecar driver, but he loses his job when he cracks up an airplane. Our hero redeems himself by catching a bunch of criminals who aren't play-acting. Dorothy Revier, allegedly the girlfriend of Columbia Pictures chieftain Harry Cohn, is the incongruously glamorous heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Dorothy Revier, (more)
- 1933
The first of five Western serials Buck Jones was to make for Universal, this film was based on a story by Peter B. Kyne, Oh, Promise Me!. Jones, who was doubled in this serial by Cliff Lyons, is hired to look into a series of cattle rustlings, quickly discovering that the leader of the rustlers is the Mulford ranch foreman Rance Radigan (Walter Miller) and that the gang uses the notorious Ghost City as their hideout. Unfortunately, Mary Gray (Madge Bellamy) and her grandfather (Tom RÃcketts), a prospector, have discovered a secret gold strike underneath one of the town's empty stores. If that didn't complicate matters enough, a mysterious gun man suddenly appears, threatening both Buck and the outlaws. A major Fox star of the '20s, Madge Bellamy found her career plummeting at the changeover to sound. Spending the remainder of her screen career at dreaded Poverty Row, Bellamy is today best remembered for co-starring with Bela Lugosi in the ultra-cheap White Zombie (1932). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1933
Yankee Buck Jones turns into a south-of-the-border Robin Hood in this fine, if flawed, Western from Columbia Pictures. Arriving with a shipment of food for the starving peons of La Loma, CA, Santa Fe Stewart (Jones) finds himself falsely accused of murdering local businessman Don Marco Ramirez (Emile Chautard) and stealing his valuable cargo. The Yankee Bandit, however, manages to escape from jail and embarks on a quest to defeat local mayor Don Alberto (George Humbert) and his brother Commandante Emilio (Luis Alberni), who have been starving the populace in order to take over their valuable land. With the assistance of Juan (Charles Stevens), whose young son was killed by the Commandante, the hero does his best to feed the hungry and soon discovers a surprising ally in a rich stranger. The latter is revealed to be the governor of California, traveling to La Loma to investigate the uprising. When the dust settles, the governor appoints Juan the new mayor of La Loma and Santa Fe its new commandant. To make sure the Yankee will remain in town, the governor gives the blessing for a union with lovely Dolores Ramirez (Helen Mack). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Helen Mack, (more)
- 1932
In this western a falsely accused convict is paroled. He goes home and finds himself ostracized by his neighbors who believe he killed a detective. The detective had been looking for a rustler. Only two people, a little boy, and his ex-girlfriend, believe the parolee is telling the truth. The ex-con goes looking for and finds the real killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Loretta Sayers, (more)
- 1932
Buck Jones took a break from his cowboy duties to play a speedway driver in this highly implausible but fast-paced action melodrama from Columbia Pictures. Jones plays Bill Toomey, a mechanic promising a fatally injured driver (Pat O'Malley) to care for his crippled son Buddy (Mickey Rooney). Through his girlfriend, automobile manufacturing heiress Peggy Preston (Loretta Sayers, Bill becomes a driver himself and is the favorite to win a $5000 purse, enough money to pay for an operation that will enable Buddy to walk. But the race is sabotaged by Tom Carlis (Wallace MacDonald), Old Man Preston's (William Walling) crooked business manager, who is secretly working for the competition. Bill is framed for the accident but nevertheless manages to secure a job as a policeman. In that capacity, he is able to track down the real culprits behind the fix, win the Big Race and help restore Buddy to perfect health. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace MacDonald
- 1932
In this western, a Pony Express rider believes himself to be a Native American. The trouble begins when an Anglo outlaw begins stealing the fastest horses from the organization. The outlaw then blames the local Indians for the thefts. The gallant young rider learns of the scheme and rounds up the real culprits. Along the way he learns that he is really a white man who had been abducted and raised by the Indians. He is pretty happy because now he is free to marry the white woman he loves. The racist attitudes in this film are a reflection of its time, 1932, and of the whims of the powerful Hays Office, which censored all Hollywood films. As Hays considered miscegenation (the so-called mixing of races) immoral, the hero had to become a white man to marry a white woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Weeks, (more)
- 1932
A highly unusual Buck Jones Western, South of the Rio Grande featured the spectacle of Jones playing a Mexican Rurales officer named Carlos. Returning to the family hacienda, Carlos discovers that his weak-willed brother, Juan (Paul Fix), has lost everything to a scheming vixen, Consuella (Mona Maris). Deeply ashamed, Juan kills Consuella's partner, Andres (Charles Requa), before taking his own life. When one of his fellow officers, Ramon (George J. Lewis), becomes involved in a similar situation, Carlos remembers his own tragedy and decides to help the youngster. Ramon, it turns out, is also under the spell of Consuella, who now works for the evil Stark (Philo McCullough). Disguised as a peon, Carlos infiltrates Stark's lair, learning that the villain has found oil deposits on Ramon's family land. Unmasked by Consuella, Carlos is rescued in the nick of time by his fellow Rurales. Paul Fix, a busy supporting player in Westerns for six decades, had played a similar role in Jones' earlier The Avenger (1931) and a party scene was lifted from another prior Jones Western, Men Without Law (1930). Both Jones and fellow Columbia cowboy Tim McCoy enjoyed playing Mexican characters -- or gringos masquerading as such -- but as opposed to McCoy, Jones' phony accent left a lot to be desired. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mona Maris, Philo McCullough, (more)
- 1932
Filmed in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs, CA, this Buck Jones series entry was publicized as the first talkie "of consequence" with a Mountie background. Jones played Tom McKenna, a disgraced Royal Canadian Mountie who turns highway robber to pay off his gambling debt. He joins a gang of outlaws led by Morgan (Niles Welch) and to prove his loyalty is assigned to rob a safe belonging to the father (Ralph Lewis) of his former girlfriend, Shirley (Greta Grandstedt). The safe, however, is empty and Tom is chastised by Shirley. Still on probation with the gang, Tom performs lookout duty while the bandits attack the Limited express train. The gang is ambushed by the Mounties and Tom is revealed to have been working undercover all along. With Morgan and his henchman, Pierre (Mitchell Lewis), safely behind bars, Tom is promoted to inspector and reunited with a relieved Shirley. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Flavin, Walter McGrail, (more)
- 1932
An average Buck Jones oater from Columbia Pictures, Forbidden Trail featured a girl newspaper publisher, Mary Middleton (Barbara Weeks), forced into writing sympathetic editorials about corrupt political boss "Cash" Karger (Wallis Clark). A former ranch foreman, Tom Devlin (Jones) rescues the girl and her mother (Mary Carr) from a fire set by Karger but is then framed in the murder of a rustler (Albert J. Smith). Aided by his horse, Silver, Tom breaks out of jail and collects enough evidence to bring Karger and his gang to justice. Studio records list Forbidden Trail as a 1932 release but the film was not widely distributed until 1933 and didn't open in New York until November of 1936. By then, Jones had left Columbia in favor of Universal. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Weeks, (more)
- 1932
In this western, a Chicago slicker begins grabbing land and using it to scam city dwellers by selling it first to locals, and then, once it is developed by selling it again to city folk desiring to come West. Naturally there are conflicts when the owners meet up. Fortunately, the town sheriff gets wise to the scam, settles it all, and stops the slicker. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Robert Ellis, (more)
- 1932
In his first Western for 1932, Buck Jones went mostly for laughs playing a former Texas ranger inheriting an Arizona ranch together with an uppity girl (Lina Basquette). The will stipulates that neither may sell without the other's consent but Lina is inclined to take an offer from smooth-talking Easterner Alan Roscoe. Jones, however, refuses to sell and the stage is set for a battle of the sexes. But there is silver in them there hills, which the Easterner has known all along. Tired of waiting for a mutual decision, Roscoe and his chief henchman, Wallace MacDonald, kidnap the girl but she is saved in the nick of time by Jones. Have the former combatants fallen in love along the way? Why, of course they have. Lina Basquette married the third of her nine husbands on the set of this film and Jones threw her a party that by all accounts was more entertaining than the film itself. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Simpson, Otto Hoffman, (more)
- 1932
More a romantic melodrama than a true Western, this Buck Jones vehicle from Columbia starred Jones as Buck Randall, a carefree cowboy whose popularity with the local saloon girls becomes the talk of the town. The new marshal, Joseph Slyde (Russell Simpson), gets on Buck's bad side by enforcing a "no gun" rule. Buck returns the favor by falling in love with the marshal's mistreated wife, Mary (Mary Doran), and she asks her husband for a divorce so she can marry Buck. After helping Mary escape a lecherous deputy, Frame (Walter Miller), Buck hears a shot and returns to find Frame dead and Mary holding a smoking gun. Marshal Slyde enters and accuses Buck of the crime. Convicted of murder in Slyde's kangaroo court, Buck is saved from being lynched by a more level-headed judge (Robert Mckenzie). As it turns out, Slyde is the real killer and Buck is free to pursue a life with Mary. A former Ziegfeld girl, blond Mary Doran was one of Hollywood's better "other women." She left films in 1937 to marry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1931
Every so often, western star Buck Jones got it in his head that he could play a Mexican, and never mind that his accent wouldn't have convinced a prairie dog. In The Avenger, Jones plays a man determined to track down the three men who lynched his brother. As "The Black Shadow," our hero robs the rich, gives to the poor, and romances heroine Dorothy Revier. By film's end, he has not only accomplished his various goals, but has earned a full pardon. As for Jones's overall performance, "B"-western historian Don Miller summed it up beautifully when he wrote "When Buck had to passionately proclaim Mi Amore, as he did to Dorothy Revier in The Avenger, the jig was up." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Dorothy Revier, (more)
- 1931
A well-paced early sound Western, Border Law features Buck Jones) as Jim Houston, a Texas Ranger going undercover as a bandit, "The Tonto Kid," in order to infiltrate the gang that caused the death of his brother (Don Chapman). In the Mexican town of Alemeda, Jim, as "The Tonto Kid," saves saloon belle Tonita (Lupita Tovar) from the unwanted attentions of Dave (Louis Hickus), a member of Shag Smith's gang. Shag (James Mason) is so impressed with "The Kid" that he invites him to join the gang. Jim accepts, provided that Shag accompanies the gang during a raid on the bank in Eureka. Eureka, of course, is prepared for the invasion and Jim finally avenges his brother's death. Border Law was unofficially remade by Ken Maynard as Whistlin' Dan (1932) and officially by Jones himself as The Fighting Ranger (1934). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Rice
- 1931
After unsuccessfully impersonating a Mexican in his previous The Avenger, cowboy star Buck Jones returned to form in The Texas Ranger. Jones plays the title character, who on this occasion has been assigned to bring lady bandit Carmelita Geraghty to justice. Upon learning that the heroine turned to a life of crime because she was falsely accused of murder, Jones sets about to find the real killer. Briefly posing as an outlaw, our hero infiltrates Geraghty's outlaw gang, ultimately exposing the Benedict Arnold who framed her. A few clever directorial touches aside, Texas Ranger is a traditional Jones vehicle, but that's what the fans craved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Carmelita Geraghty, (more)
- 1931
Buck Jones falls in love with the sister of the outlaw he has just killed in this superior B-Western from independent producer Sol Lesser. Jones plays Bob Terry, the sheriff of Red River, a town bedeviled by a series of holdups. Bob suspects that the local saloon proprietor, Flash Halloway (Robert Ellis), is behind the crimes but doesn't have enough evidence to arrest him. Instead, he corners gang member Jack Smight (Paul Fix) in a shootout, but Smight dies before he can reveal the identity of his boss. Jack's sister Mary (Loretta Sayers) arrives the very next day and Bob immediately falls in love with the pretty girl, who is unaware of her brother's criminal lifestyle. When circumstantial evidence found at yet another holdup implicates Flash, the latter tells Mary that Bob killed her brother. Angered at this betrayal, Mary agrees to marry the smooth-talking saloon owner. In retaliation, the fiery Tiana (Nena Quartero), Flash's former girlfriend, informs Bob of a scheme to steal a shipment of gold bullion and after hunting down Flash and his gang, Bob finally tells Mary the truth about her brother and they embrace. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Loretta Sayers, (more)
- 1931
In this western, the leader of an outlaw band gets conned on a steamship voyage. To get revenge he holds the con man's fearless sister hostage in the mining town he calls home base. The two fall in love. Another band of desperados attacks the town. A shoot-out ensues and only the gang leader and the girl survive. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Bedford, (more)
- 1931
Buck Jones is supported by a very young John Wayne in this fine Western from his early years at Columbia Pictures. They play stepbrothers involved in a feud between the Turners and the Waltons. Clint Turner (Wayne) is forbidden to visit Judy Walton (Susan Fleming) by her father, John (Edward J. LeSaint). He does so anyway and is conveniently blamed for old man Walton's murder. Forced to arrest his stepbrother, Sheriff Buck Gordon (Jones) decides to investigate the real reason for the feud. After being shot and wounded by a mysterious figure, Buck discovers that a cattle rustler, Vandall (Harry Woods), is stirring up the bad blood between the families for his own nefarious purposes. When Vandall is proven guilty of Walton's murder, the feud comes to a peaceful end and Clint and Judy are reunited. While Wayne disliked working with Tim McCoy, another Columbia Western star, he came to admire the amiable Jones, a friendship that lasted until Jones' death. Range Feud was unofficially remade by Jones as The Red Rider (1934), a 15-chapter Universal serial featuring Grant Withers as the stepbrother falsely accused of murder. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, John Wayne, (more)
- 1931
A fine early sound Western, this Buck Jones series entry from his Columbia period told the well-known story of a feud between cattle barons and sheep men. When Mart Denton (Charles Morton), son of a wealthy cattle man, kills a homesteader during a quarrel, Sheriff Larry Williams (Jones) faces a difficult dilemma. The sheriff is not only Mart's best friend but also engaged to the young man's sister, June (Miriam Seegar). But the law is the law and Mart is arrested. The angry cattlemen help the youngster escape and Larry is wounded. The escaped prisoner, however, is later killed by his own father (Erville Alderson) who mistakes him for one of the sheepherders. This final tragedy helps bring the old feud to a peaceful conclusion. Although the story was hardly new, The Dawn Trail was told forthrightly by veteran director W. Christy Cabanne who stretched realism over romance. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erville Alderson, Miriam Seegar, (more)
- 1931
On his way to claim an inheritance, Tom, aka Cuthbert Chauncey Dale (Buck Jones), and his pal "Swede" (John Oscar) witness a stagecoach hold-up. The lone gunman escapes but leaves the loot behind and Chauncey and "Swede" soon find themselves arrested for the crime. They manage to escape, however, and later befriends the gunman, Starrett (Wallace MacDonald), whom Tom invites to work on his inherited ranch. Along with a dilapidated ranch house, the property also contains a strip of land separating the wealthy Preston spread from an especially rich pasture. After quarreling with supercilious Lou Preston (Ethel Kenyon), Tom chases her off his property, but Joe Moore (Albert J. Smith), the Preston foreman who is in love with Lou, mistakes the scene for a lovers' tiff. When Tom mortgages his ranch in order to buy cattle, Moore has his buddy Bill Saunders (Robert Kortman) "sell" him cattle stolen from the Preston herd. Believing the newcomer to be a common rustler, an angry Lou gives Tom 24 hours to leave or else! Just then, Sheriff Mac (Philo McCullough arrives to arrest Tom for the stagecoach robbery. Everything is ironed out, however, when a witness to the robbery identifies Starrett, who is killed in a gunfight with Moore. A recalcitrant Lou apologizes to Tom and they embrace. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Ethel Kenyon, (more)
- 1930
Buck Jones' first sound western, The Lone Rider, was not a rousing success. The former Fox star had left that studio at the changeover to sound in favor of touring with a circus. The tour proved a major flop, and the show closed after playing only forty-one stands. Returning to Hollywood, Jones was essentially starting all over in the film industry and could only command a $300 salary for The Lone Rider. Stardom would return with later series entries, but at the time the actor had good reasons to be worried. The producer of Jones' comeback western was Sol Lesser whose Beverly Productions released through Columbia. Jones played The Hell's River Kid, an outlaw mistaken for a hero during a stagecoach hold-up. He becomes the leader of a vigilante group while keeping his past life a secret; until, that is, the chief outlaw (Harry Woods), begins to dig up the truth. Jones, however, heroically defeats the gang and his past is forgiven. Despite the lukewarm reception, this film was remade by Jones in 1934, as The Man Trailer, and again in 1939, as The Thundering West, a vehicle for Columbia's newest western star, Charles Starrett. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Vera Reynolds, (more)
