Jim Martin Movies

This cliché-ridden car-racing feature doesn't even get off the blocks. The unshaven villains have greasy hair and black T-shirts, while the clean-shaven good guys are blonde and sport light-colored action wear. Andrea (Marla Heasley) invents a revolutionary new car engine and goes to the Charlotte Motor Speedway to try it out. She meets driver Al Pagura (Joseph Bottoms), and the two fall in and out of love. George Kennedy plays the heavy, and somewhere an underdeveloped plot about racetrack corruption appears. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

An Arkansas woman (Glynnis O'Connor) decides to journey to California to rescue her son from her ex-husband (Don Johnson). While there, she meets a down-and-out rock star (Burton Cummings, from the Guess Who), and the couple's relationship inspires the confidence both of them need. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Inside Canada started life as a local Winnipeg music-and-comedy series. Debuting July 16, 1973, the series originally yielded three episodes which were designed as a "pilot" to interest other CBC affiliates. Interest there was, and Inside Canada quickly became a network effort, remaining such until its final telecast on October 5, 1974. Among the series' regulars were several cast members of the Canadian company of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris; initially signed on as guest stars, these performers scored so highly with viewers that they were invited to stay on a weekly basis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Not so much produced as stitched together, The Black Lash was ostensibly a sequel, with plenty of stock footage, to Frontier Revenge (1948). Duce Rago (Ray Bennett), whom Marshal (Al "Lash" LaRue) had shipped off to prison in the earlier adventure, is back but his stagecoach and train robberies leave a bit to be desired due to the stupidity of the hired help. Lawyer Bill Leonard (Byron Keith) suggests that they get some "heavy artillery," meaning good ol' Lash, who apparently was so disgusted with Rago only receiving a slap on the wrist for his previous crimes that he abandoned law enforcement for good. Naturally, our black-clad hero is working undercover with Cattlemen's Association agent Lem Woodruff (Kermit Maynard) and this time he manages to send Duce up the river for more than six months. Bennett, Sarah Padden, and Jim Bannon all repeated their roles from the earlier film; actually, the latter was apparently unavailable and a double was rather noticeably employed in all the new footage. Leading lady Peggy Stewart was also back, but her character had changed from an undercover agent in Frontier Revenge to a villainess in the return engagement. (Both Stewart and Ray Bennett visibly age from one scene to another.) Walter Greene's intrusive score is kept at a high pitch throughout even though not much is happening onscreen and the film's running time is stretched to an interminable length with seemingly endless chases on horseback, a sure sign of economy in scripting and execution. The fact that producers Ron Ormond and June Carr (Mrs. Ormond) stretched the Lash LaRue series well beyond the saturation point can only be explained by the popularity of LaRue's sidekick, Al St. John, whose Fuzzy Q. Jones character proved a perennial favorite with the small fry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Colorado Ranger was the third in Lippert Studio's six-film "Four Star Western" series. All six entries were filmed simultaneously within the same month, and all starred Russell "Lucky" Hayden, James "Shamock" Ellison, Raymond Hatton, Fuzzy Knight, and Betty (later Julie) Adams. In this installment, "Shamrock" takes on the outlaw gang that kidnapped his father. "Lucky" tags along to give his pal a hand. The dialogue sounds as if it was being made up as the film went along, which may very well have been the case. Colorado Ranger was released to television as The Last Bullet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Marshal of Heldorado is one of six "Four-Star" westerns produced and released by Lippert Pictures in 1950. If these six films tend to look alike, it isn't surprising. All six were filmed at the same time within a space of four weeks, and all starred Russell "Lucky" Hayden, Jimmy "Shamrock" Ellison, Raymond Hatton, Fuzzy Knight and Betty (later Julie) Adams. In this outing, Shamrock and Lucky come to the aid of a banker (Hatton) with an unsavory past. A gang of crooks has been blackmailing the banker into cooperating with their robbery schemes, but Our Heroes scotch this little racket in record time. Marshal of Heldorado was released to television as Blazing Guns. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The plot for this Western involves the wives and girlfriends of the Dalton gang, who decide to carry on the gang's criminal activities after the menfolk were either gunned down or locked up. Old-time B-Western star Lash LaRue shows up to take care of them. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Crooked River is another of Lippert Studio's "Four Star" western series. These six films were shot back-to-back in the space of a month; all were directed by Thomas Carr, and all starred Russell "Lucky" Hayden, Jimmy "Shamrock" Ellison, Raymond Hatton, Fuzzy Knight and Betty (later Julie) Adams. This time, Shamrock hopes to avenge the murder of his parents. The clue to the killer's identity is a ring, stolen from Shamrock's father. Director Thomas Carr was later a leading light of TV's Superman. Crooked River was released to television as The Last Bullet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Produced on the cheap by Ron Ormond and his wife, June Carr, this Western was one of ten to star Lash LaRue and Al St. John, formerly of PRC. They are assigned to catch a gang of outlaws working out of Rhyolite, a town run by Duce Rago (Ray Bennett), who is posing as a legitimate businessman. With the help of an elderly widow, Mrs. Owens (Sarah Padden), and a female undercover agent (Peggy Stewart), Lash and Fuzzy manage to infiltrate the gang and bring Rago and his henchman, Brant (former Western star Jim Bannon), to justice. The Ormonds produced a quite unnecessary sequel to this Western, The Black Lash (1952), which contained sequences lifted in their entirety from Frontier Revenge. A former serial queen at Republic Pictures, Peggy Stewart was a fine actress who deserved better than what the Ormonds had to offer. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this western, two cowboys are framed as cattle rustlers and tossed in the pokey. Later, honest ranchers spring them and together they ride out against the rustlers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Four Jills in a Jeep is the (mostly) true story of a four-girl USO team, entertaining American troops overseas. Kay Francis, Martha Raye, Carole Landis and Mitzi Mayfair play "themselves," recreating their recent whirlwind tour of Europe and North Africa. This wisp of a plot takes a back seat to the musical numbers performed by the four stars, by Dick Haymes in his screen debut as a singing GI, and by guest stars Alice Faye, Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda. Phil Silvers, George Jessel, and Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra also pop up to do their usual. Very much a time capsule of the War years, Four Jills in a Jeep was later adapted into a best-selling book, ostensibly written by costar Carole Landis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi