John Russell Movies

Phar Lap, the legendary New Zealand-bred racing horse, is as well-known today for his mysterious death as for his fabulous accomplishments in life. Beginning at the end, the film flashes back to the day that Phar Lap, despite his lack of pedigree, is purchased on impulse by trainer Harry Telford (Martin Vaughan). Phar Lap loses his first races, but Telford's faith in the animal is unshakable. Suddenly the horse becomes a winner, thanks to the love and diligence of stableboy Tommy Woodcock (Tom Burlinson). American-promoter Dave Davis (Ron Leibman) arranges for Phar Lap to be entered in several top races, where his "long shot" status results in heavy losses for the professional gamblers. Just after winning an important race in Mexico, Phar Lap collapse and dies; though the film never comes out and says as much, it is assumed that the horse was "murdered" by the gambling interests. The film is based on a book by Michael Wilkinson. The real-life Tommy Woodcock appears in the film as an elderly trainer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blood Legacy was also released as Legacy of Blood (as was a like-titled, though dissimilar, 1978 film). Looking older than dirt, John Carradine plays a crotchety millionaire who wills his fortune to his estranged children. There is, of course, a proviso. The kids, all grown up and none too savory, must spend a week in Carradine's estate. Naturally, this leads to a lot of petty spitefulness...which in turn leads to murder. Jeff Morrow and Faith Domergue, who in happier times co-starred in This Island Earth, show up as two of the heirs, as do 1950s favorites Merry Anders and Dick Davalos (James Dean's brother in East of Eden). Rudolfo Acosta is top-billed as a local sheriff who must contend with seven days' worth of carnage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Lake (Raymond St. Jacques) is an escaped black convict imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit. Leslie Whitlock (Kevin McCarthy) offers James money to kill his wife, Ellen (Dana Wynter). He declines and tries to look up his old flame Lily (Barbara McNair), but discovers his own brother is now married to the sultry nightclub singer. James returns to Leslie, and the trio travel towards a mountain retreat. James and Ellen escape and try to find the murderer who had framed James years before. He experiences prejudices from police and civilian alike before the trail leads to the dead girl's stepfather. Due to the constant sexual and racial overtones this film is considered an exploitation feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

An insane, renegade cavalryman leads his vicious band of outlaws into a series of brutal raids against settlers and local Indians in this western. Fortunately, a former gunslinger and a brave Indian agent ride up to save the imperiled pioneers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jim Walker Rory Calhoun is a hero who fights Indians and crooks who plan a series of stagecoach robberies in this routine western. He defends the honor of a woman (Corinne Calvet) wrongly accused of having a bad reputation. Johnny Mack Brown plays the local Sheriff Ben Hall, with Lon Chaney, Jr. as the friendly stagecoach driver Charlie Russell. Watch for DeForest Kelley in a pre-Star Trek role as a crazed gunman. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Set in Texas during the late 1860s, Rio Bravo is a story of men (and women) and a town under siege. Presidio County Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) is holding Joe Burdette (Claude Akins), a worthless, drunken thug, for the murder of an unarmed man in a fight in a saloon -- the problem is that Joe is the brother of wealthy land baron Nathan Burdette (John Russell), who owns a big chunk of the county and can buy all the hired guns he doesn't already have working for him. Burdette's men cut the town off to prevent Chance from getting Joe into more secure surroundings, and then the hired guns come in, waiting around for their chance to break him out of jail. Chance has to wait for the United States marshal to show up, in six days, his only help from Stumpy (Walter Brennan), a toothless, cantankerous old deputy with a bad leg who guards the jail, and Dude (Dean Martin), his former deputy, who's spent the last two years stumbling around in a drunken stupor over a woman that left him. Chance's friend, trail boss Pat Wheeler (Ward Bond), arrives at the outset of the siege and tries to help, offering the services of himself and his drovers as deputies, which Chance turns down, saying they're not professionals and would be too worried about their families to be good at anything except being targets for Burdette's men; but Chance does try to enlist the services of Wheeler's newest employee, a callow-looking young gunman named Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson), who politely turns him down, saying he prefers to mind his own business. In the midst of all of this tension, Feathers (Angie Dickinson), a dance hall entertainer, arrives in town and nearly gets locked up by Chance for cheating at cards, until he finds out that he was wrong and that she's not guilty -- this starts a verbal duel between the two of them that grows more sexually intense as the movie progresses and she finds herself in the middle of Chance's fight. Wheeler is murdered by one of Burgette's hired guns who is, in turn, killed by Dude in an intense confrontation in a saloon. Colorado throws in with Chance after his boss is killed and picks up some of the slack left by Dude, who isn't quite over his need for a drink or the shakes that come with trying to stop. Chance and Burdette keep raising the ante on each other, Chance, Dude, and Colorado killing enough of the rancher's men that he's got to double what he's paying to make it worth the risk, and the undertaker (Joseph Shimada) gets plenty of business from Burdette before the two sides arrive at a stalemate -- Burdette is holding Dude and will release him in exchange for Joe. This leads to the final, bloody confrontation between Chance and Burdette, where the wagons brought to town by the murdered Wheeler play an unexpected and essential role in tipping the balance. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this western, an embittered cavalry sergeant must take over his regiment after their commanding officer is killed during an ambush. To save them, he leads the troop through Apache territory because it is the quickest way to reach the fort. The members of the regiment do not trust their new leader's reasoning. They suspect he is taking them through the restricted territory so that he can get revenge upon the Apaches who killed his wife and kids several years ago. The troop find themselves suffering a series of increasingly deadly attacks. Many die, until the soldiers, believing that the sergeant has lost his mind, rebel and kill him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this reworking of the earlier episode "The Jeweled Gun", attractive widow Margaret Ross (Catherine McLeod) asks Bret (James Garner) to provide protection while she heads to a Montana bank, there to deposit a large sum of money. Margaret claims to be worried that the men who killed her husband will try to steal the cash. In the course of the journey, Bret discovers that Margaret's money is counterfeit and her story is probably bogus--a disturbing realization, especially since he has fallen in love with her. Featured in the cast is Luis Delgado, the brother-in-law of Maverick producer-creator Roy Huggins and a semi-regular as Officer Billings on James Garner's later TV series The Rockford Files. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's called The Dalton Girls because there aren't any Dalton Boys left. After all the members of the notorious Dalton outlaw gang have been killed or arrested, their sisters decide to pick up where the boys left off. Led by Holly Dalton (Merry Anders), who since killing a man in self-defense has been outside the law, the girls terrorize Colorado territory with their criminal raids. The other members of the gang are Rose, Columbine and Marigold Dalton, played by B-picture perennials Lisa Davis, Penny Edwards, Sue George. In true Hollywood Chauvinist fashion, the Dalton girls are trailed by a bunch of matrimony-minded men; refreshingly, however, the ladies remain true to their heritage to the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This "modern" western stars Rod Cameron as opportunistic Korean war veteran Tully Gibbs. Posing as a friend of the late son of mine owner Kevin Russel (Chill Wills), Tully intends to work the mine for all it's worth and then pull out. By and by, Tully slowly turns honest, but the same cannot be said of rival miner Ben Hodes (John Russell). Coming clean with Russell, Tully takes it upon himself to protect the mine from Hodes' evil schemes. The feminine angle is provided by Joan Leslie as Sarah Moffit, the sweetheart of Russel's deceased son, who eventually finds happiness in Tully's arms. Of interest are two supporting players, Jim Davis and Kristine Miller; both were concurrently starring on the weekly TV series Stories of the Century. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Gwen Bristow, Jubilee Trail is a sprawling, all-star western from the Republic Studio mills. Despite is vaunted budget, the plot is strictly B-picture material. Ambitious California landowner Charles Hale (Ray Middleton) hopes to add to his riches by marrying off his brother Oliver (John Russell) to a wealthy Spanish family. But when Oliver weds a gal named Garnet (Joan Leslie) instead, Charles vows revenge against the new bride. Later, Oliver is killed, leaving Garnet to raise their baby alone. Charles intends to claim the baby for himself, but Garnet, who has subsequently fallen in love with John Ives (Forrest Tucker), isn't about to let that happen. Top-billed Vera Ralston plays saloon-hall chirp Florinda, a Woman With a Past who is peripherally involved in the plot proper, while Richard Webb, TV's "Captain Midnight", fills the obligatory "disgruntled suitor" role. The film is stolen hands down by Pat O'Brien as a drunken doctor who serves as last-minute problem-solver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide