
Frontier Agent (1948)
Johnny Mack Brown is sent to the badlands to round up an elusive outlaw gang.
Johnny Mack Brown is sent to the badlands to round up an elusive outlaw gang.
In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel. Eventually, the unconventional but close-knit family are bound by loyalty, tested by war, and torn apart by love, as told over the course of several decades in this epic saga.
Marshall "Big Jim" Cole turns in his badge and heads to Wyoming with his family in order to settle on some land left him by a relative. He faces opposition both from a neighbor who wants that land for his own sons, and from a grizzly bear nicknamed "Satan" who keeps killing Cole's livestock.
An ex-con returns to his rural Ontario roots and outwits a corrupt and wealthy thoroughbred owner trying to take over a slew of local farms. Ray Dokes, a charming ex-ballplayer, returns from jail to discover the rural landscape of his childhood transformed by urban development. Determined to stay out of trouble, Ray heads to the farm of his old friend Pete Culpepper, a crusty Texas cowboy who trains losing racehorses and whose debts are growing faster than his corn.
Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.
Jim Killian arrives in a small Arizona town hoping to establish a peaceful life as the local preacher, but he soon finds himself in the middle of a feud between sheep ranchers and cattlemen. Leloopa, a young Native American woman, pleads for Killian's help after her shepherd father is hung by Coke Beck, the vicious son of the head cattle rancher. Killian must weigh his actions carefully lest he perpetuate the cycle of retribution and revenge.
Eddie Dean is a Cattlemen's Association agent investigating a serious rash of rustlings along with sidekicks Soapy (Roscoe Ates) and Waco (Lee Bennett. The latter bears a striking resemblance to Lawrence ranch foreman Bert Ford (also Bennett), who has been the target of several assassination attempts. Rancher Lawrence (Lee Roberts) and Eddie decide that Waco shall impersonate Ford, who is hiding out in a hotel room.
Renegades trying to get the army to abandon their fort get the Indians addicted to whiskey, then convince them to attack and drive out the soldiers.
Judge Jim Scott must contend with the vicious relatives of a murderer he's about to sentence...and his unfaithful fiancee.
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.
A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his job too well. Tom Horn finds that the simple skills he knows are of no help in dealing with the ambitions of ranchers and corrupt officials as progress marches over him and the old west.
Two deputies go undercover to save a scientist from his evil kidnappers.
A young cowboy returns home to help his father fight off a gang trying to take over the family ranch.
It is now an accepted fact that the best of Johnny Mack Brown's Universal westerns were directed by the talented Joseph H. Lewis. Boss of Hangtown Mesa may not be in the same league as the Brown-Lewis classic Arizona Cyclone, but it comes awfully close. This time around, hero Steve Collins (Brown) comes to the aid of Betty Wilkins (Helen Deverell), who has taken over the telegraph-line business established by her uncle John (Henry Hall). The latter was murdered by outlaws who don't cotton to having the territory linked up electronically with the rest of the world.
This western features a singing cowboy, a brave hero, and a bumbling sidekick who band together to defeat a ruthless range boss.
An authoritarian rancher rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns. When a new Marshall arrives to set things straight, the cattle queen finds herself falling for the avowedly non-violent lawman. Both have itchy-fingered brothers, a female gunman enters the picture, and things go desperately wrong.
Peggy Barlou is a young rancher who refuses to sell her spread to greedy stage-line proprietor John Rankin. Tex Haines, meanwhile, is accused of killing Bill Dugan, Rankin's bodyguard, but eludes capture long enough to hook up with Dave Wyatt and Panhandle Perkins, a couple of rangers in disguise.
A veterinarian and a novelist compete for the heart of a lady rancher.
Six wanted outlaws are rounded up and captured by the Cheyenne Kid. Collecting the reward money, Cheyenne instructs his sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones to give the money to a group of financially strapped ranchers. Alas, Fuzzy falls off his horse, loses his memory, and forgets what became of the money.
Not to be confused with the 1929 film The Overland Telegraph, this Western from director Lesley Selander stars Tim Holt as a cowboy appropriately named Tim Holt. In order to hinder the construction of a new telegraph line for his own financial gain, scheming shopkeeper Paul Manning (George Nader) enlists the assistance of a gang of outlaws led by Brad Roberts (Hugh Beaumont in one of his many pre-Leave it to Beaver roles). Unfortunately for the bad guys, Holt and his cohort Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin) sense that there's foul play afoot and embark on an investigation.
In TV's pioneer days when kids idolized the Lone Ranger, the Texas Kid was a knight errant of the frontier leading the fight for law and order alongside his Mexican companion Pepe. In this rarely-seen TV pilot, the Kid and Pepe intercede on behalf of the murdered rancher's daughter, openly defying the landgrabbers in a cow town so lawless that rustlers operate in broad daylight! Shot at the Corrigan Ranch in 1950, TEXAS KID co-starred Mercury Records recording artist John Laurenz as Pepe and stuntman Hugh Hooker as the Kid. Hooker, a specialist in stunts involving horses and stagecoaches, often doubled Gene Autry and even produced a few movies, including the low-budget gem . That movie's star was Hugh's teenage son Buddy Joe Hooker, whose own subsequent, stellar stunt career inspired HOOPER (1978), Burt Reynolds' hit comedy tribute to movie stuntmen.