Max Terhune

Max Terhune

Birth : 1891-02-12, Franklin, Indiana, USA

Death : 1973-06-05

History

Max Terhune (12 February 1891 Franklin, Indiana, – 5 June 1973 Cottonwood, Arizona), was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 70 films, mostly B-westerns, between 1936 and 1956. Terhune performed in 21 episodes of The Three Mesquiteers (co-starring with Robert Livingston and Ray "Crash" Corrigan in the Republic series); The Range Busters (24 entries with Ray Corrigan and John King at Monogram Pictures); several supporting roles with Gene Autry (at Republic), and the Johnny Mack Brown westerns at Monogram. Terhune played the comic sidekick (usually named either Lullaby Joslin or just Alibi)--with a major distinction. He always traveled the range with his dummy Elmer sharing his saddle. Terhune was not only a splendid ventriloquist, but a fine magician. Card tricks were his forte, and he often performed such in his movies. His former vaudeville act included juggling and doing impressions, talents also incorporated into his sidekick roles. He joined the National Barn Dance radio program, along with Gene Autry, in 1933. It was Autry who introduced him to Republic Pictures. His last film role was in the major Hollywood film Giant, in which he played the dramatic role of the physician Dr. Walker. Description above from the Wikipedia article Max Terhune, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Max Terhune

Movies

Rawhide
Miner
Not a Rowdy Yates in sight in this western set in a stop over for the California to St Louis mail stagecoach run. The two staff are warned that four dangerous outlaws are in the area, and together with a female stage passenger and her baby they wait patiently for the word to go round that these men have been caught. Can you guess where the outlaws decide to hide out while they plan a large gold robbery? What follows is a film that concentrates on small details (like attempts to slip a warning note to a passing stage, or to reach a hidden gun that the bad guys don't know about) as the captives try anything to get away from the outlaws.
Square Dance Jubilee
Sheriff
Two talent scouts for a New York-based country music TV show called "Square Dance Jubilee" are sent out West to get authentic western singing acts. They find what they're looking for, but also get mixed up in cattle rustling and murder.
Western Renegades
Sheriff Alibi
Brown's principal antagonist this time is the town boss, an outlaw who has killed the community's leading citizen. The dead man's grown children want to investigate the killing, but the outlaw puts a stop to this by hiring a dance-hall dame to pose as the kids' long-lost mother. Johnny isn't fooled by this subterfuge nor is his sidekick.
Range Justice
Alibi
Johnny Mack goes to work on "Ma" Curtis' ranch, to the disapproval of his friends, rancher Glenn Hadley and his sister Beth, who are at odds with her. Secretly, Ma's foreman Stoner is plotting with real estate man Ed Dutton to ruin her ranch and acquire it cheaply, with controlling water rights. Johnny stops henchman Dade in an attempt to dynamite the barn and Stoner, supposedly taking him to the sheriff, kills him. Johnny stops Glenn and Beth from tearing down a Curtis fence in order to get their cattle to water, but Glenn refuses to help even after Johnny explains he is helping Ma in order to find out who is behind the attacks on both ranches. Ma pretends to fire Johnny for saving Glenn from an ambush. As the outlaws attempt to rustle Ma's remaining cattle, Johnny, Alibi and Glenn join forces.
West of El Dorado
Alibi
Johnny and Alibi try to straighten out a hostile young boy whose older brother was a notorious stagecoach bandit. When a gang of thieves try to strong-arm the kid into revealing the whereabouts of the stolen loot, Johnny and Alibi come to the rescue. There's a cursory romantic subplot involving heroine Mary and Barstow.
Trails End
Alibi
Cowhand Drake discovers gold on the ranch of his boss, Joe Stuart and makes a deal with crooked lawyer Mel Porter to induce Stuart to sell. The latter refuses, and also orders Bill Cameron not to see his daughter Laurie again. Foreman Johnny Mack, after intervening, quits after he sees Stuart hit Laurie while quarreling over her proposed marriage to Cameron. Peddler Alibi Terhune witnesses the killing of Stuart by Clem Kettering, hired by Porter, and is taken prisoner. Cameron is blamed for Stuart's killing, escapes jail, but is persuaded by Johnny to go back and stand trial. Johnny rescues Alibi and the two work together on clearing Cameron's name, and bringing the real culprits to justice.
Law of the West
Alibi Jenkins
With the railroad coming, Nixon is after the ranchers land. Using a stooge land agent, his method is to claim the person they bought their ranches from never had title to the land and their deeds are worthless. Fereral Agent Johnny Mack arrives posing as a gunman. He is quickly onto the henchman and Land Agent and eventually suspects Nixon is the big boss. But he needs the help of ventriloquist Alibi to bring them in.
Hidden Danger
Alibi
Johnny and Banty come in contact with a cattlemen's protective organization. Ostensibly an honest venture, the association is the front for an extortion racket, headed by a gent named Carson.
Gunning for Justice
Alibi Parsons
Three fellows band together to help a woman find her uncle's cache of gold in this western. All they have to help them is a tattered map that her uncle, a prisoner of war, created in camp. Unfortunately two badguys have the map and try to turn the three goodguys against the niece. They do not succeed and justice prevails.
The Sheriff of Medicine Bow
Alibi
Along the Oregon Trail
Max Terhune
The period is the 1840's and Greg Thurston is out to establish his own empire out of a large area of the west. He needs rifles to give to the Indians but Monte Hale breaks up his attack on the supply train. But when they get them by robbing the warehouse, Monte suspects Thuston who had the other key. He follows Thurston only to be caught by him just as Thurston launches his final big attack.
Swing, Cowboy, Swing
'Alibi' Terhune
An obscure entry in the musical Western cycle, Swing, Cowboy, Swing was produced by and starred country & western bandleader Cal Shrum. Shrum and his band, the Rhythm Rangers, are warned away from playing a theater in Big Bend by Cal's brother, Walt Shrum and his Colorado Hillbillies. Ignoring the warning, the Rhythm Rangers arrive at the theater only to be shot at by a masked stranger. With the help of stranded vaudeville performer Max "Alibi" Terhune and his dummy Elmer, Cal manages to catch the mystery shooter who turns out to be Frank Lawson (Frank Ellis). The film apparently did not generate enough interest for a series, but was re-released by Astor Pictures in 1949 under the title Bad Man From Big Bend.
Harmony Trail
Marshal Max
Sent to investigate a payroll robbery, Marshall Rocky meets his old friends Ken, Eddie, and Max. He has the serial numbers and when Pop puts on his medicine show they get one of the bills. This enables Ken to see through Sorrell's scheme that threw the blame on an innocent rancher and he sets out to prove it. Written by Maurice Van Auken
Sheriff of Sundown
Third Grade Simms
Bringing his large cattle herd to Sundown, rancher Tex Jordan must sell his cattle to corrupt baron Jack Hatfield. He does OK but learns Hatfield is cheating the small outfits. When one refuses to sell he is murdered and Tex then decides to stay and take up the fight. He is appointed a special Agent by the Governor but unknonw to him the Governor's Secretary is a spy for Hatfield and reveals his plans.
Cowboy Canteen
Professor Merlin
Song and comedy revue, featuring Western talents, along with a theatrical troupe taking their vacation on the Lazy B Ranch run by Steve Bradley. Steve is about to enter the army and he and Tex Coulter compete for the love of Connie Grey.
Bullets and Saddles
Alibi Terhune
Hammond is after the Craig ranch and has framed Charlie Craig for murder. Mother Craig brings in the Range Busters. They capture one of Hammond's men and Alibi plans to trick him into a confession as to who the real murderer is. Meanwhile, Denny has overheard Hammond's plans for his next move and he and Crash set out to round up the gang.
Black Market Rustlers
'Alibi' Terhune (as Max 'Alibi' Terhune)
In this WW II film meant to discourage the purchase of black market beef, the Range Busters are called on to fight cattle rustlers. This time they're up against a gang that strikes fast by hauling the beef away in trucks.
Cowboy Commandos
Alibi Terhune
The Range Busters investigate sabotage at a mining community and uncover a gang of Nazi spies.
Land of Hunted Men
'Alibi' Terhune (as Max 'Alibi' Terhune)
When a gang of outlaws led by Faro Wilson starts swiping payrolls and terrorizing the residents of a small Western town, courageous Range Busters Crash, Denny and Alibi gallop onto the scene to set things straight.
Haunted Ranch
'Alibi' Terhune (as Max 'Alibi' Terhune)
Both the Range Buster and Rance and his outlaw gang are looking for stolen gold bullion. To scare people away from the ranch where the gold is hidden, Rance has his man imitating ghosts. The gold is in a steel cased organ but a certain combination of organ stops need to be pulled to obtain the gold.
Two Fisted Justice
'Alibi' Terhune (as Max 'Alibi' Terhune)
Wells Fargo hires three cowboys to clean up a lawless town.
Trail Riders
Max 'Alibi' Terhune
In the 18th entry of Monogram's 24 "Range Buster" films, the bank of Gila Springs is robbed by Ace Alton and his gang, and Sheriff Frank Hammond, son of Marshal Jim Hammond, is killed. The Marshal sends for the Range Busters, Dusty King, Davy Sharpe and Alibi Terhune, to come and restore order to the town. Ed Cole, head of the local vigilantes, and secretly the head of the outlaws, promptly orders the trio out of town. They visit an old friend, Rancher Mike Rand and his daughter Mary. Mary's brother Jeff has unwittingly become a gang member, and carries out Cole's orders by taking a shot at Davy, but the latter makes him a prisoner during a subsequent fight in the town café. Jeff confesses to Cole's involvement, and the Range Busters, with the help of town banker Harrison, set a trap for Cole and his outlaw vigilantes.
Texas to Bataan
Alibi Terhune
In the 17th of the 24 films in Monogram's "Range Buster" series, Texas ranch owner Conroy returns from Washington with an order for horses to be shipped to the Philippines. The Range Busters, Dusty, Davy and Alibi, are selected to take the horses there but, before leaving, they capture three spies who are trying to steal the horses and also learn that the ranch cook, Cookie, is a Japanese spy, but he manages to escape. In the Philippines, they go to a café for dinner and see Cookie and Miller, a German spy. Eavesdropping, they learn that Ken Richards, a neighboring Texas rancher, is the Axis contact back in the states. They capture Cookie and break up the spy ring in the Phillipines, and then return to Texas intent on settling matters with Richards. They do so and are honored by the U.S. Government just as the radio blares forth the December 7, 1941 announcement of the Pearl Harbor bombing. They head for the nearest enlistment station.
Arizona Stage Coach
Alibi Terhune
In the midst of some friendly horseplay on their "Flying R" ranch, the Range Busters, Crash Corrigan, Dusty King and Alibi Terhune, are sobered by the arrival of a buckboard bearing their old friend Larry Meadows and his niece Dorrie Willard. Meadows seeks their aid against a gang of outlaws terrorizing his town. Ernie Willard, Dorrie's brother, has been taken in by Tex Laughlin who is using the Willard ranch as an undercover for his real occupation as a member of a gang of outlaws led by Tim Douglas, a supposed friend of the Willards.
Texas Trouble Shooters
'Alibi' Terhune
The Range Busters are together again to try and stop a swindle.
Boot Hill Bandits
'Alibi' Terhune (as Max 'Alibi' Terhune)
Bolton's men blow up the wagon carrying the mine payroll and Marshal Crash Corrigan is supposedly killed in the explosion. A man finds his badge and gives it to Bolton. Thinking Crash dead, Bolton gives the badge away and it ends up with the Sheriff. Crash is OK and the Range Busters know Bolton is the head of the gang but that he gets his orders from someone else and that is the man they want.
Rock River Renegades
Alibi Terhune
In Old Wyoming, a gang is plundering stagecoaches of shipped currency and a crusading newspaper editor is trying to get the local marshal replaced, because of his apparent failure to catch the gang, which seems to disappear into thin air after every robbery. The situation escalates when one of the stage drivers is mortally wounded; so the marshal sends for his friends, the Range Busters, to help him catch the criminals. Meanwhile, even the marshal's fiancee, the editor's daughter, turns against him in favor of an aggressive agitator for law and order - who secretly is leading the robber gang.
Thunder River Feud
Alibi Terhune
Attracted by a picture of Maybelle Pembroke, the Range Busters, bantering between themselves, head for the Pembroke ranch separetely. Crash arrives posing as a dude while Dusty arrives posing as Crash, a mixup having put his picture in the paper identified as Crash. Later Alibi arrives and the three go to work when outlaws trick the Pembroke ranch and it's neighbor into a gunfight with each other.
Underground Rustlers
Alibi
Gold stages are being held up in the far west at a time when the U.S. government needs bullion, just before the famed "Black Friday" attempt to corner the gold market.
Tonto Basin Outlaws
Alibi Terhune (as Max 'Alibi' Terhune)
Number 10 in Monogram's series of 24 "Range Busters" westerns, Crash Corrigan, Dusty King and Alibi Terhune, the Range Busters,enlist in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, but are mustered out and sent to Wyoming to clean up a cattle-rustling situation that is affecting the Army's meat supply. Arriving in North Butte, Crash's home town, they all get separate jobs. Jane Blanchard, a reporter from the Denver Daily, also arrives in town in search of a story, and is posing as a waitress. They learn that Jeff Miller is behind the huge combine of rustlers, but Miller also learns that they are the Range Busters and are on his trail. He and his henchmen engage the out-numbered Crash and Alibi in a fight, but Dusty stampedes a large herd of Miller's stolen cattle into the midst of the fray.
Saddle Mountain Roundup
Alibi Terhune
Someone wants to kill Magpie Harper. Crash and Dusty arrive too late, Magpie Harper is allready dead.
Fugitive Valley
Alibi Terhune posing as The Professor (as Max 'Alibi' Terhune)
The Range Busters have a plan to get into the outlaw's hideout in Fugitive Valley.
Wrangler's Roost
Alibi Terhune
The notorious outlaw Black Bart has reappeared and the Range Busters are sent to investigate. When they find that Black Bart is now a respectable citizen and that someone is impersonating him, they set a trap for the robber.
Tumbledown Ranch In Arizona
'Alibi' Terhune (as Max 'Alibi' Terhune)
Rodeo contestants Johnny King and Corrigan meet, their fathers having been members of the Range Busters. When Johnny is knocked unconscious, time reverts to their father's era and the Range Busters are soon involved in the scheme to get Railroad right-of-way across Mother Slocum's ranch. When she is tricked into signing a release, the Range Busters find their job more difficult as the Sheriff is in with the crooks.
The Kid's Last Ride
Alibi Terhune
The fifth film in the 24-film Range Busters series finds "Crash", "Dusty" and Alibi, on their way to Gopher City to become the town's peace officers. In the saloon, young Jimmy Rowell is losing money in a crooked poker game to saloon owner Bob Harmon. Harmon and his henchman Bart Gill are in reality wanted-outlaw brothers Jim and Ike Breedon seeking revenge against Jimmy and his school-teaching sister Sally as their father, a circuit judge in Nebraska, had sentenced their brother Bud to be hanged. Harmon involves Jimmy, because of his gambling debts, in a robbery of a rancher known to keep large amounts of money at his ranch. The Range Busters break up the robbery, Bart is killed, as is Rancher Fleming, and Jimmy is wounded but escapes. Harmon, setting a trap for Crash, tricks Sally and Jimmy to his hideout, and Crash follows them.
The Trail of the Silver Spurs
Alibi Terhune
The Range Busters are investigating a gold robbery from the Denver Mint in a supposedly deserted ghost town, but they soon find they're not the only town resident with a nose for gold.
West of Pinto Basin
Alibi
The Range Busters head for Pinto Basin where a series of stage robberies have occurred. To try and find the gang's boss, Crash sends out a empty money box. The plan backfires when the boss has the Range Busters identified as the robbers. Thinking it is now safe, the bank sends out a big money shipment. Needing to rob the stage, the boss gets the boys out of jail so they can be blamed. But this is just the chance they need to catch the robbers.
Trailing Double Trouble
Max 'Alibi' Terhune
When Moreland's henchman attack Bob Horner the Range Busters break it up. Horner dies but they get the baby Moreland was after. He must have it to become it's guardian and take control of the Horner ranch. When the henchmen catch up with Alibi, they take the baby cradle not realizing Alibi has substituted his dummy Elmer. Crash having evidence Moreland is the one they want, now has a plan to expose him.
The Range Busters
'Alibi' Terhune
A phantom-like gunman is murdering the hands at the Circle T Ranch and the Range Busters are recruited by its owner to stop the "phantom". Only, the ranch owner is killed before they can arrive. First film in the Range Buster series.
Man of Conquest
Deaf Smith
The story of Sam Houston, hero of the Texas revolution, statesman, and first president of the Republic of Texas.
Three Texas Steers
Lullaby Joslin
Nancy Evans, lovely circus owner, has a ranch that she's never visited, but for sentimental reasons won't sell to Mike Abbott. Her partners, secretly in league with Abbott, sabotage the circus to force Nancy to sell the ranch; instead, she goes there to live. Will her neighbors, the Three Mesquiteers, be a match for the secret swindlers? And what's so valuable about that run-down ranch anyway?
The Night Riders
Lullaby Joslin
Talbot uses a phony land grant to rule thirteen million acres, taxing everyone heavily and evicting those who won't pay. The Three Mesquiteers becomes mysterious "night riders" to fight this evil.
Red River Range
Lullaby Joslin
The Cattlemen's Association has called in the Mesquiteers to find cattle rustlers. They get Tex Riley to pose as Stony so Stony can arrive posing as a wanted outlaw. This gets Stony into the gang of rustlers and he alerts Tucson and Lullaby as to the next raid. But Hartley is on hand and unknown to anyone is the rustler's boss and he joins the posse with a plan that will do away with the Mesquiteers.
Santa Fe Stampede
Lullaby Joslin
The Mesquiteers capture a horse thief who escapes justice through a crooked judge. They gather signatures urging the governor to investigate but a friend with the petition is murdered. Stony is accused.
Overland Stage Raiders
Lullaby Joslin
After gold shipments from a mining town have been hijacked, the three Mesquiteers buy a plane to fly the gold out. The owner of the shipping line brings in Eastern gangsters to thwart them.
Pals of the Saddle
Lullaby Joslin
The first of eight "Three Mesquiteers" Westerns to star John Wayne.
Heroes of the Hills
Lullaby Joslin
In this entry in the long-running series of westerns, the Three Mesquiteers transform their ranch into a prison farm to provide a model for prison reform. They are opposed by a local contractor who wants to build a standard prison.
Riders of the Black Hills
Lullaby Joslin
Riders of the Black Hills is a 1938 American Western directed by George Sherman. The intrepid cowboys known as the Three Mesquiteers; Stony (Robert Livingston), Tucson (Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby (Max Terhune) are on the case when rancher Peg Garth's (Maude Eburne) prize racehorse is abducted by bookie Rod Stevens (Tom London) and a secret cohort to prevent it from winning an important race.
Ladies in Distress
Dave Evans
Alison Skipworth plays female mayor Josephine Bonney, at present having trouble dealing with her town's criminal element. Josephine enlists the aid of home town boy Braddock (Robert Livingston), a pretty tough customer himself, to take on the crooks.
Outlaws of Sonora
Lullaby Joslin
Outlaws of Sonora is a 1938 American Western "Three Mesquiteers" B-movie directed by George Sherman.
Call The Mesquiteers
'Lullaby' Joslin
The Three Mesquiteers are forced to track down a train robbery ring after some of the gang hijack their truck for a getaway and the police conclude they are part of the gang, an identification which is just fine with the gang's nameless chief.
The Purple Vigilantes
Lullaby Joslin
David Ross organizes the ranchers into a vigilante group to rid the town of outlaws. The plan succeeds but the trouble starts when some of the men form a new vigilante group and posing as the original one plunder for loot.
Wild Horse Rodeo
Lullaby Joslin
A champion rodeo rider returns home to track down a legendary wild horse called "Cyclone."
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
Max Terhune
In this musical comedy, a crooked record producer uses his mob connections to force performers to do their stuff. The trouble really begins when the gangster's strong-arm tactics nearly cause a singer to lose his fiancée. A wide variety of entertainers appear including cowboy crooner Gene Autry, baseball hero Joe DiMaggio, and big band stars Cab Calloway, Ted Lewis, and the Kay Thompson Singers. Songs include "Mamma I Wanna Make Rhythm," "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round," "Heaven?," "I Owe You," and "It's Round-up Time in Reno."
The Trigger Trio
Lullaby Joslin
In this western, the Three Mesquiteers must find a killer and his band after they murder an official from the State Agricultural Service who had come to investigate an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease. The killer is fearful that the official would quarantine his entire herd. Unfortunately for the foolish rancher, if the herd is not isolated, all of his cows and those of his neighbors will die anyway. The heroes are assisted by Buck the clever Great Dane.
Boots and Saddles
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Young Englishman inherits ranch which he wants to sell, but Gene's gonna turn him into a real westerner instead. When new owner Spud arrives from England, Autry convinces him not to sell the ranch but to raise horses for the Army. When both Autry's and Neale's bids are the same, the Colonel calls for a race to decide the winner. But that night Neale has Autry's stable burned.
Heart of the Rockies
Lullaby Joslin
Cattle are being routinely stolen from a local ranch, and suspicion centers on a local mountain family. But the Three Mesquiteers are wise to the criminals' deeds. But when a ranger is shot and Stony is framed for the crime, it's up to Lullaby and Tucson to prove his innocence.
Range Defenders
Lullaby Joslin
Stony's brother George has been accused of murder and the Mesquiteers have returned to prove his innocence. But they find that Harvey rules the town along with his stooge Sheriff Gray and that George won't get a fair trial.
Come on, Cowboys
Lullaby Joslin
Harris and Rigby own a circus. Rigby is a counterfeiter and frames his partner. The Mesquiteers learn Rigby is the culprit and get a confession from one of his men only to lose the case when the man is murdered in jail. The Mesquiteers try again and send Lullaby to try and win some of the fake bills in a card game.
Gunsmoke Ranch
Lullaby Joslin
A crooked real estate manipulator sells worthless land on mortgage to flood refugees, then tries to profit by reselling the land to the state, committing murder in the process, as the Three Mesquiteers work to bring him and his gang to justice.
The Hit Parade
Rusty Callahan
Agent Pete Garland is fired by society singer Monica Barrett after he got her a new radio contract, because she thinks her lawyer friend Teddy Leeds fits in better with her social status. To get even, Pete wants to make an unknown singer into a star. He finds Ruth Allison, drives her hard through rehearsals and makes her a star. But she is worried about her past, something she hasn't told Pete: She's an ex-convict and jumped bail in order to keep her partners in crime out of it. Further she's in love with Pete, but feels that he's still carrying a torch for Monica. When Monica's popularity is decreasing, Pete is able to get Ruth a stint on the program, the result is Monica is fired and Ruth get her job, but Monica takes revenge by revealing Ruth's past. Ruth considers it is best for her to disappear before being arrested, but she has become a star in public opinion. Will she get Pete or will she go to prison again?
Hit the Saddle
Lullaby Joslin
Unable to legally capture and sell a herd of protected wild horses, corrupt rancher Rance Macgowan uses his trained killer horse, Volcano, to substitute for the real leader of the herd and cause havoc and death among the ranches. With the government about to drop the restrictions on rounding up the herd, the Three Mesquiteers find themselves in the middle of the controversy after their friend, Sheriff Miller is killed by Volcano.
The Riders of the Whistling Skull
Lullaby Joslin
When Professor Marsh disappears while searching for the lost city of Lukachukai, his daughter enlists the help of the Three Mesquiteers.
Roarin' Lead
Lullaby Joslin
The Three Mesquiteers fight cattle rustlers.
Ride, Ranger, Ride
Rufe Jones
It is the story of Gene's, a Cavalry scout, who manages to quell an Indian uprising.
The Big Show
Ventriloquist
At the Texas Centennial in Dallas Autry confuses two girls by being himself and his own stunt double. When cowboy star Tom Ford disappears, Wilson gets his double Gene Autry to impersonate him. But Ford owes gangster Rico $10,000 and Rico arrives to collect. He fails to get the money but learns that Autry is an impersonator and now blackmails Wilson and his movie studio. Original version runs 71 minutes, edited version runs 59 minutes.
Ghost-Town Gold
Lullaby Joslin
The three Mesquiteers try to recover the gold stolen by a gang in its effort to ruin the banker/mayor who ordered them to leave town.