Ray "Crash" Corrigan Movies

One of the best of the medium-budgeted science fiction flicks of the 1950s, It! The Terror from Beyond Space is set in "the future" (1973, to be exact). An rescue ship travels out to Mars to retrieve the only survivor of a space probe that has experienced some sort of cataclysm. That survivor, Col Ed Carruthers (Marshall Thompson) is accused of murdering his fellow crewmen. But Ed claims that the killer was a Martian monster, and hopes to prove his assertions by signing up for a second journey to the Red Planet. Before long, the crew members of this second expedition are being systematically killed off, and it looks as though Ed is up to his old tricks. As it turns out, however, Ed was telling the truth: there is a monster on board, the savage descendant of the once-mighty Martian civilization, who snuck on board when an irresponsible crew member left the door open. The monster stays alive by absorbing the vital body fluids of its victims-and there seems to be no way to stop this parasitic creature! If the plot of It! The Terror from Beyond Space seems vaguely familiar, it is because it was one of the primary inspirations for the 1979 sci-fi classic Alien. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rory Calhoun both starred in and put up the money for the Columbia oater The Domino Kid. As the title character, Calhoun's mission in life is to rid the earth of the five outlaws who destroyed his ranch and killed his father. Before the film is ten minutes old, the Domino Kid has killed four of the five miscreants. Before he can mete out retribution to the fifth man, however, Domino must contend with cattle baron Wade Harrington (Andrew Duggan)--not to mention a few romantic entanglements with winsome Barbara Ellison (Kristine Miller) and tempestuous Rosita (Yvette Dugay). Had not Rory Calhoun committed himself to the TV western The Texan, The Domino Kid would have presaged a series of economical western vehicles for Columbia. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Killer Ape is one of the most violent entries in Columbia's "Jungle Jim" series. In this outing, Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) finds out that members of the Wazuli tribe are selling animals to white hunters. These animals are in turn used for illegal research in a scheme to create drugs for bacterial warfare. Before Jim can foil the villains' plans, he must first clear himself of a murder charge. The film's title derives from the tribesmen's habit of wearing ape costumes to scare away outsiders. As usual, many of the film's best scenes go to Tamba the Chimp, who gets even more screen time than leading lady Carol Thurston. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in eye-pleasing Trucolor, Republic's Trail of Robin Hood is one of the most entertaining and likable of Roy Rogers' starring films. Roy comes to the rescue of veteran cowboy star Jack Holt (playing himself) when the latter's Christmas-tree business is jeopardized by greedy rivals. With the aid of several other western stars, Roy thwarts main bad guy Clifton Young and allows misguided lumber baron Emory Parnell to see the error of his ways (it helps that Parnell's pretty daughter Penny Edwards is on Rogers' side). The film's best scene is the climactic rally of Republic's top cowboy heroes. After Rex Allen, Allan "Rocky" Lane, Monte Hale, Tom Tyler, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Kermit Maynard, Tom Keene and William Farnum have ridden up and taken their bows, in gallops veteran western "heavy" George Cheseboro, who also wants to help Jack Holt but is shunned by the others. Cheseboro wins them over by explaining "After 20 years of being beaten up by Holt, he's reformed me." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"An All-Star Cast" (well, that's what the credits say) helps bring a confusing tale of shenanigans in the jungle to the screen in this low-budget adventure saga, which has become a cult favorite. Steve Collins (Ray "Crash" Corrigan") is an explorer who stumbles injured and exhausted into Morgan's Trading Post, an oasis of civilization in the African jungle, and tells a strange tale of what he's seen over the past few days. Collins encountered Bradford, a fellow explorer who had run afoul of angry natives and was being held captive when they discovered a beautiful woman and her son, who were left stranded years ago by a death in their touring party. The young boy has developed an ability to communicate telepathically with the beasts of the jungle, and through them may be able to lead Bradford to the location of a long-lost treasure. Meanwhile, everyone lives in fear of the White Gorilla, an albino ape who has been shunned by the other creatures of the jungle and now regards every living thing as his enemy, in particularly an especially savage black gorilla. The majority of the jungle footage in The White Gorilla was taken from a silent serial, Perils Of The Jungle, which was shot in 1927; this helps to explain why Collins narrates the action, why many of the characters never actually meet on screen, and why the action frequently and abruptly speeds up or slows down. Ray "Crash" Corrigan donned an ape suit to play the White Gorilla, as well as portraying Collins. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Columbia Pictures, as usual, cast a lesser-known player -- in this case the handsome but rather stolid Robert Lowery -- in the starring role of The Monster and the Ape, a rough-and-tumble serial released in 15 chapters. Lowery played Ken Morgan, an agent for a company manufacturing the newly invented Metalogen, a metal that can render a robot invincible. An evil professor attempts to steal the metal, using a trained gorilla as his weapon. Not one of the studio's better chapterplays -- to put it mildly -- The Monster and the Ape stayed mercifully forgotten until reappearing on early-morning television in the late '60s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

The Range Busters bust the range once more in Monogram's Land of Hunted Men. This time around, the star trio consists of Ray "Crash" Corrigan (returning to the Range Busters series after a brief hiatus), Dennis Moore and Max Terhune. The villains, led by good old Charles King, are terrorizing a small town, setting up an "outlaw's hideaway" for themselves. Their reign lasts about 58 minutes of screen time. Best to revel in the ridin' and shootin' in Land of Hunted Men and ignore the alleged comedy relief of black actor Fred "Snowflake" Toones. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the tradition of Cowboy Commandos, the Range Busters (Ray Corrigan, Dennis Moore, and Max Terhune) take on Black Market Rustlers in this wartime western. The film's villains busy themselves by stealing cattle, then selling the meat on the black market for ridiculously exorbitant prices. The Cattlemen's Association hire our three heroes to put an end to this. It takes them only 54 minutes to do so, but it's a really tough 54 minutes. Featured in the cast was Evelyn Finley, one of the few western heroines who could really ride a horse-and ride it quite well at that. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this western the three Range Busters go undercover, take on a gang of ruthless outlaws, and bring them to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A remake of the 1927 horror melodrama The Wizard (which, alas, no longer exists), 20th Century-Fox's Dr. Renault's Secrets packs a real wallop in its brisk 58-minute running time. The scene is a remote French village, where the murder of drunken tourist Austin (Jack Norton) coincides with the arrival of young doctor Larry Forbes (John Sheppard, aka Sheppard Strudwick). It develops that Sheppard is the house guest of the outwardly benign Dr. Renault (George Zucco), who lives with his pretty niece Madeline (Lynne Roberts) and his bizarre manservant Noel (J. Carroll Naish), who possesses more than a few apelike tendencies. Several more murders occur, and the clues point in a number of directions. Upon learning Dr. Renault's secret -- which is something straight out of H. G. Well's The Island of Dr. Moreau -- the audience is able to discern the killer's identity. Alas, it may be too late for heroine Madeline, at present being kidnapped by a local hooligan (Mike Mazurki) and thus apparently at the mercy of the rampaging murderer. Dr. Renault's Secret was frequently shipped out on a double bill with Fox's other 1942 horror piece, The Undying Monster. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"The Range Busters" -- "Crash" (Ray "Crash" Corrigan), Dusty (John "Dusty" King), and "Alibi" (Max Terhune) -- go up against yet another licentious saloon owner in this Western series entry from Monogram. As it turns out, the saloon proprietor, Brand Bolton (John Merton), is actually in the employ of Sundance's corrupt mayor (Budd Buster), who dabbles in a bit of stage robbing on the side. Lawman "Crash" Corrigan, who is thought by everyone to have been killed by a local thug, The Maverick (Glenn Strange), is actually very much alive and manages to collect enough evidence to not only prosecute Bolton but also go after the mayor. But first he and "Dusty" must free disgruntled saloon girl May Meadows (Jean Brooks) and "Alibi," who have been kidnapped. Leading lady Brooks later played Kim Hunter's mysterious sister in the Val Lewton thriller The Seventh Victim (1943). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Like the first entry in the "Range Busters" series, the 1941-42 season opener Saddle Mountain Roundup was as much a whodunit as a western. This time, the murder victim is irascible rancher Magpie Harper (John Elliot). Arriving too late to save Harper from his fate, heroes Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King and Max "Alibi" Terhune commit themselves to solving the murder. The identity of the killer is tipped off by the actor's prominence in the screen credits (at this time, he was usually cast in uncredited bit roles). Fairly well directed and acted, Saddle Mountain Roundup is compromised a bit by the surprising shoddy editing of Ray Claire. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi