Roy Butler Movies

In this western, a young man infiltrates a vicious gang of bank robbers in order to capture his father's killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this western, Wild Bill and his assistant, try to learn why a young med school graduate is being spurned by the members of his own Native American tribe. The heroes learn that the clan's medicine man is a phony in cahoots with a corrupt Indian agent and that these two are working for a wicked rancher who has been polluting the local drinking water with his illegal irrigation project. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Johnny Mack Brown stars as Dusty Gardner, spokesmen for a group of hard-working cattlemen. As Gardner and his compatriots guide their livestock down the titular trail, the villains try to make certain that the cattle will never reach the market. Heading the bad guys is a bad girl, one Belle Turner (Mady Correll). She intends to cut off the cattle's water supply, then move in and hijack the thirsty bovines. But Dusty and his saddle pal Montana Smith (Tex Ritter) ain't a-gonna let that happen. The Old Chisholm Trail was one of the last Johnny Mack Brown vehicles for Universal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Republic's ongoing professional association with the celebrated "Ice-Capades" skating show yielded a number of flashy but forgettable musicals, including 1942's Ice-Capades Revue. Though a plot is hardly necessary, the story concerns New England farm gal Ann (Ellen Drew), whose already-mounting debts are escalated when she inherits a near-bankrupt ice show. Her efforts to revivify this operation are regularly thwarted by a conniving promoter named Duke Baldwin (Harold Huber), who has already tied up all the best arenas for his own skating spectacular. But Baldwin's second-in-command Jeff (Richard Denning) falls in love with Ann and vows to see to it that her show will be staged, come heck or high water. Jerry Colonna goes through his customary zaniness as an eccentric would-be backer who turns out to be a phony, while Barbara Jo Allen again trots out her dizzy "Vera Vague" characterization. Foremost among the skating acts in Ice-Capades Revue is Vera Hruba Ralston, who'd later be elevated to leading-lady status at Republic by her ardent admirer (and future husband), studio president Herbert J. Yates. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Music, gangster melodrama, and snappy newspaper comedy is blended into the usual Western shenanigans in this unusual Gene Autry vehicle filmed on-location at the Russell Ranch near Agoura Hills, CA. Autry, as always, plays himself, a singing star, with Smiley Burnette and Joe Strauch Jr. as sidekicks Frog and Tadpole Millhouse. The trio is visiting Pop Harrison's (Forrest Taylor) Wyoming dude ranch, where Pop's wastrel son, Tex (James Seay), is in trouble with the law. Tex is involved with one Mr. Crowley (George Gordon), who really a gangster named Luigi. Recognized by newspaper reporters Clem (Fay McKenzie) and Hack (Chick Chandler), Crowley and his men indulges in a bit of skullduggery and are the obvious suspects when Pop Harrison is shot. But as Gene discovers, the gangsters are merely red herrings, the real culprit being a person much closer to home. In between detective work and romancing the girl reporter, Autry finds time enough to warble six songs, including Irving Berlin's then very topical "Any Bonds Today?," the official anthem of U.S. Defense Bond campaign. Despite good performances by Fay McKenzie, the daughter of veteran B-Western personality Robert McKenzie, and the always welcome Chick Chandler, Home in Wyomin' was not wholly appreciated by Autry's legion of fans who wanted their star straight up. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Having previously portrayed Wild Bill Hickok on screen, cowboy hero Bill Elliot impersonates another famed frontiersman in The Return of Daniel Boone. Somehow finding himself in the 19th century west, Daniel Boone takes on a pair of clever crooks, one of whom (Walter Soderling) serves as mayor of a small prairie town. The despicable duo has been growing wealthy by imposing huge taxes on the local populace, but Boone ain't a-gonna stand for that much longer. The more amusing than usual comedy-relief subplot involves a pair of pretty twin girls, who manage to drive Boone's sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor) plumb loco. Director Lambert Hillyer, whose career in westerns extended all the way back to the William S. Hart days, wraps everything up in a tight 60 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi