Budd Buster Movies

In his final Western for Poverty Row's Metropolitan Pictures, Bob Steele played Bob Hall, a lawman looking into a series of cattle rustlings. The leader of the rustlers, rancher Farley (Ted Adams), hires killer Pete Childers (George Cheseboro) to impersonate a deputy sheriff and gain Sheriff Hall's confidence. The ploy fails and after freeing lovely Helen Jones (Louise Stanley) and her wayward brother, Fred (Kenne Duncan), Sheriff Hall rounds up the gang. Metropolitan Pictures was so ramshackle an outfit that Bob Steele's next employer, the otherwise ill-reputed PRC, seemed almost luxurious in comparison. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Long before the character was appropriated by Buster Crabbe, "Lightning" Bill Carson was played by Tim McCoy in a series of low-budget westerns produced by Sam Katzman. One of the last of these was Straight Shooter, filmed in the late 1930s but unreleased until 1940. This time, Carson (McCoy) goes after a ruthless outlaw gang which has stolen government bonds. Though the odds are against him, Carson gets his man-er, men. Slowly the pace of Straight Shooter to walk is the questionable comedy relief of Ben "Magpie" Corbett. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the sixth of eight Renfrew of the Royal Mounted "Northwesterns," mounties Renfrew (James Newill) and Kelly (Dave O'Brien) come across the body of a murdered prospector, Jim Smithers (Budd Buster). The dead man's cabin has been tossed, it turns out, and when his alcoholic brother (Al St. John) is found dead as well -- a none too convincing suicide -- Renfrew begins to suspect that the deaths may be connected to a counterfeit ring operating from a general store on the Yukon. In addition to Betty Laidlaw and Robert Lively's signature tune "Mounted Men," James Newill performs Vick Knight, Johnny Lange, and Lew Porter's "Ah, Here's Romance" and "Down the Yukon Trail." Murder on the Yukon was based on characters created in 1931 by Laurie York Erskine. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

No sooner had the second of Monogram's "Range Riders" westerns hit the screens than the third entry, West of Pinto Basin, was prepared for release. Once again, the Range Riders are portrayed by Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King and Max "Alibi" Terhune, who this time are hot on the trail of a stagecoach holdup gang. Outlaw leader Harvey (Tris Coffin) is able to monitor the routes taken by the local stage line thanks to a "fifth columnist" named Summers (Phil Dunham), an outwardly honest bank employee. The three heroes take jobs as stagecoach drivers to bring the villains out into the open. The romantic interest is handled by Gwen Gaze, previously a minor-league serial heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The second entry in RKO Radio's "Dr. Christian" series, Courageous Dr. Christian was like the first inspired by the popular radio weekly. In this one, kindly general practioner Dr. Christian (Jean Hersholt) tends to the needs of a group of indigents, living in squalor in the town's shanty district. The local "landed gentry" is indifferent to the plight of the squatters, until an outbreak of spinal meningitis threatens the entire community. On a lighter note, Dr. Christian spends a good portion of his screen time fending off the romantic overtures of wealthy dowager Mrs. Stewart (Vera Lewis). Like the others in the "Christian" series, Courageous Dr. Christian is currently available from a wide variety of public-domain video sources. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first of eight Bob Steele Westerns from Gower Gulch producer Harry S. Webb's Metropolitan Pictures Corp., Feud of the Range had been filmed as The Kanab Kid in Kanab, UT, in the fall of 1938. An ignominious beginning of an justly infamous series, the Western starred the diminutive Steele as a cowboy returning to the old homestead along with his pal, Happy (Budd Buster). They arrive in the middle of a range war that ultimately separates father and son. But as Bob quickly learns, the troubles are caused by greedy Clyde Barton (Jack Ingram), who is hoping to drive the local ranchers off their valuable land. A rough hewn affair that depended too much on stock footage, Feud of the Range was further handicapped by the amateurish performance of its nominal leading lady, former child actress Gertrude Messinger, who, for most of the duration, had eyes only for villain Jack Ingram. The series proved the nadir for the veteran Steele, who next starred for yet another Poverty Row company, the much derided PRC. Coming from Metropolitan, however, even PRC was actually a step up. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Veteran character star Charles B. Middleton ("Ming the Merciless") escapes from a penitentiary after 15 years of imprisonment swearing vengeance on his former partner (Miles Mander) in this action adventure serial efficiently directed by the team of William Witney and John English. Kidnapping his former partner, Granville (Mander), Prisoner 39013 (Middleton) assumes the man's identity and sets out to destroy his various enterprises. At one of these, the Granville Amusement Pier, three athletes known as The Daredevils of the Red Circle swear vengeance when Prisoner 39013 blows up the pier, thereby killing the kid brother (Robert Winkler) of one of them. They align themselves with Granville's granddaughter (Carole Landis) and with a mysterious benefactor known only as The Red Circle. After 12 exciting chapters, the heroes finally destroy Prisoner 39013, leaving Gene Townley (Charles Quigley) and Miss Granville to plan their future together. A typically well-made Republic cliffhanger, Daredevils of the Red Circle starred not one but three heroes: Quigley, a former Columbia contract player, Herman Brix, who later changed his name to Bruce Bennett and enjoyed a modest leading man career at Warners, and stunt-man David Sharpe. Just starting out in films, leading lady Carole Landis was picked by none other than D.W. Griffith to star in One Million B.C. (1940), which earned her a studio contract with 20th Century Fox. Better known for her off-screen escapades, Landis, sadly, committed suicide in 1948. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Forever keeping apace of current headlines, Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" series came up with the 1939 entry Wyoming Outlaw. The story is based on a true incident, wherein a disgruntled young lawbreaker took refuge in the mountains of Wyoming, successfully eluding a large posse for several days. The press had a field day with the story, labelling the fugitive a "Modern Robin Hood" - at least until he was shot down by a well-armed waiter. The movie version of this incident finds hotheaded Will Parker (Donald Barry), the son of recently fired highway worker Luke Parker (Charles Middleton), thrown into jail for violating the local game laws. Busting out, Parker scurries to the hills, hotly pursued by our heroes Stony Brooke (John Wayne), Tucson Smith (Ray Corrigan) and Rusty Joslin (Raymond Hatton). Not altogether unsympathetic to Parker, the Mesquiteers set about to capture the film's real villain, corrupt politician Balsinger (Leroy Mason), after the fugitive meets his fate at the hands of gun-toting gas-station attendant Newt (David Sharpe). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

At the end of his long association with Hal Roach, comedian Stan Laurel produced three singing Westerns featuring operatic baritone Fred Scott. The second of the three, Knight of the Plains featured such songs as Paradise Valley (the film's working title), by Lew Porter and Harry Tobias, and When We Heard the Music Play Home Sweet Home, by Porter and L. Wolfe Gilbert, as well as the expected comedy routines of the redoubtable Al St. John. In between the songs and comedy, Scott portrayed rancher Fred "Melody" Brent, whose neighbors, the Rands, are in trouble with a gang of land grabbers out to acquire an old Spanish grant. After the usual sagebrush derring-do and a bit of romance with lovely Gale Rand (Marion Weldon, Scott and his sidekick Fuzzy (St. John) can deliver the bad Guys to Sheriff Steve Clark, happy with the knowledge that they have prevented a range war. Scott was to make thirteen singing Westerns for various low-budget producers, all of them released by Spectrum Pictures. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this actioner, a hardened cowboy decides to stop studying law and become a Texas state trooper instead. At the governor's request he then impersonates an outlaw to trick a band of bandits. Once he gains their trust, he and his assistant organize a trooper raid to stop the outlaws. The good guys literally duke it out in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this western, a good-guy must halt a battle between cattle ranchers and settlers. An outlaw exploits the feud by working on both sides and then buying up all of the land for peanuts as the two factions murder each other. The hero soon figures out the outlaw's scheme and brings him to justice via a showdown. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The first of six Ken Maynard Westerns produced on the cheap by the Alexander brothers, Max and Arthur, Whirlwind Horseman awarded Ken one of filmdom's least memorable sidekicks, Bill Griffith. En route to their friend Cherokee Jake's (Budd Buster) gold mine, Ken and Happy Holmes are waylaid by Peggy Radford (Joan Barclay), who is in trouble with a gang of cattle rustlers. Ken kills one of the bandits during an attack on the Radford ranch only to discover that the snakeskin the dead man was wearing belongs to Cherokee. At one point, Ken suspects Peggy's father (Joseph W. Girard) of being the secret leader of the rustlers, but further investigation reveals him to be Banker Harper (Kenneth Harlan), who wanted to buy up cheaply the land surrounding Cherokee's mine. The Whirlwind Horseman was memorable to Maynard only because he had battled a furious cold all through the filming. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi