Western Round Up: “B” Movie Sampler – Vol.2

Western Summary: “B” Movie Sampler – Volume 2

Last summer I shared a series of short reviews of “B” westerns that I saw while traveling.

I went on another road trip earlier this month and again watched several short westerns in the evenings thanks to my portable DVD player.

Taken together, the movies I’ve seen make up a nice cross section of the “B” westerns released between the early ’30s and early ’40s.

It is interesting to note that although each of these films has a different cowboy star, only two directors and two cinematographers worked on the film quartet discussed below. And quite amusingly, George “Gabby” Hayes appeared in every single one of those movies!

Here is a selection of this year’s holiday viewings:

Hidden Valley (Robert N Bradbury1932)

I chose this short 57 minute Monogram western because I like Bob Steele and knew the movie was full of well known Lone Pine locations filmed by Archie Stout. The film even reveals that Lone Pine’s Dow Villa Hotel doubles as a courthouse, and when Steele’s character escapes through a window, LONE PINE (all but the “e”) can be seen on the side of the building.

The plot is a nonsense about Bob (Steele) working as a guide for a man who has a map to a hidden valley of treasure and when the man is murdered, Bob gets arrested and convicted convicted of murder.

Of course he didn’t, and what follows is one of the crazier “B” westerns I’ve ever seen. The film is set in what I call “Roy Rogers Land” with a mix of cowboys on horseback, cars, telephones and utility poles – but what makes it really unique is that the film features a Goodyear airship! I was amazed as Bob was rescued from the airship at various points and parachuted out.

There are some excellent stunts, but the acting is consistently flat — though the airship pilot’s deadpan acting pushes the film almost into the “so bad it’s good” realm. Steele and his father, the director (Bradbury), have made many better “B” westerns, but this one will still be remembered thanks to the airship over the Alabama Hills.

heart of the west (Howard Bretherton, 1936)

In this fourth film in the Hopalong Cassidy series, Hoppy (William Boyd) and Johnny (James “Jimmy” Ellison) are on their way to take a job as a hiker driver for rancher John Trumbull (Sidney Blackmer, misspelled Sydney in the credits).

Along the way, they save Windy’s (George “Gabby” Hayes) life. When Hoppy and Johnny arrive at their destination, they discover Trumbull is trying to put Windy’s boss Jordan (Charles Martin) out of business, so they switch sides and work for Jordan instead. It doesn’t hurt that Johnny is attracted to Jordan’s beautiful sister, Sally (Lynn Gabriel).

This short 63-minute film has no special features and is marred by the handsome Gabriel, who sounds more like Minnie Mouse. Sometimes it’s a bit too quaint; When Blackmer threatens Sally, he comes across as the villain in some old-fashioned melodrama.

Still, it’s well produced as most of Archie Stout’s scenes were shot outdoors in Sonora and Kernville. It’s a pleasant hour and more; If you like Hopalong Cassidy movies like me then this is for you.

rider of fate (Robert N Bradbury, 1933)

This was the first of 16 Lone Star Westerns John Wayne directed for Monogram. Directed by Robert N. Bradbury, father of Wayne’s friend Bob Steele; Steele’s twin brother, Bill Bradbury, dubbed Wayne’s vocals. Bradbury doesn’t sound like Wayne, but he has a beautiful voice.

Wayne plays “Singin’ Sandy” Saunders, who rides into a town in the midst of a water war and land fraud led by James Kincaid (Forrest Taylor). Saunders is helpful to the pawns, and while his undercover work among the villains will eventually lead others to jump to conclusions, no one will be very surprised when he ultimately turns out to be a federal agent.

Wayne is engaged throughout, even as he struggles with the apparent mis-syncing of his vocals; He also bravely survives a very strange gun showdown that he tackles… singing?! One can see that working on so many of these types of films, including portraying a singing firefight, would be a great training ground for the actor.

Cecilia Parker, the future sister of Andy Hardy at MGM, is an appealing leading lady, and there’s some outstanding stunt work by Yakima Canutt to prepare for stagecoach (1939). I find that some horse stunts are worrying and make you wonder if the animals were okay afterward.

It’s an entertaining little 53 minute film directed like the above westerns by Archie Stout. This time the film’s locations were the Jauregui and Carr Ranches in Newhall, California.

Supporting cast included Gabby Hayes, Al St. John and Earl Dwire.

Bordertown Gun Fighters (Howard Bretherton, 1943)

This might have been my favorite of the week. Bill Elliott plays an undercover federal agent – a topic of this week! – tries to bring down Cameo Kirby (Ian Keith), who runs a fraudulent lottery in El Paso.

In a surprising cast, Harry Woods plays a federal marshal who works with Bill; Most of Woods’ “B” Western roles were villains, so it was quite refreshing to see him alongside Bill. The scene where he saves Bill and an unsuspecting Gabby Hayes from a sheriff in league with the bad guy was pretty funny.

Beautiful Anne Jeffreys, who starred in eight Elliott films, plays cameo’s innocent niece and even gets to sing “Camptown Races.”

And look closely at a messenger delivering a delivery to Woods – it’s a very young Ben Johnson!

This one has a good story and progresses fairly well over the course of its 56 minutes. It was filmed by Jack Marta. Locations included Iverson Ranch, which I wrote about here last year.

Neither of these films had a nice DVD release, although it’s worth noting that the ClassicFlix label is working to restore and release Hopalong Cassidy films later in 2023. The films I wrote about above can be found in various places, including on the public domain DVD Label Alpha or on YouTube.

Finally, I’d like to say that this month I’m celebrating my 5th year as a writer on the Western RoundUp column, which is hard to believe! Thank you Classic Movie Hub for giving me the opportunity to share so much about a genre I love and thank you to everyone who reads and comments!

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– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub

Laura can be found on her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she has written about films since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film buff, Laura loves classics like Disney, film noir, musicals and westerns. She regularly reports on classic film festivals in Southern California. Laura will be writing about all things western at the Western RoundUp for CMH.