Pat Brady

This documentary traces the history of the B-Western from it's silent movie origins to its demise in the early 1950s. The film contains a large number of scenes from early silents and seldom seen films, as well as old photographs of the stars and one-sheet advertisements for lost films.

Sea Captain Windwagon Smith hits Westport, Kansas, the starting point of the old Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, and is quickly the laughing stock of the town; instead of traveling in the usual oxen-drawn covered wagon, he is at the helm and wheel of a Contestoga-type wagon with a full set of sails. He plans to go to Oregon by taking advantage of the prairie winds. First, he wins over the town mayor, falls in love with the mayor's beautiful daughter, Molly Crum, and then secures financial backing from the townspeople. He sets sail across the plains, with Molly Crum as a covered-wagon stowaway, and a Kansas twister looming on the horizon. And, then, the wind hits the sails. And the fan, too, if he had had one.

"King of the Cowboys" Roy Rogers stars with his real-life wife, Dale Evans, in this Western about a hardworking farmer who helps a struggling rancher by transporting her prize horse to Mexico. A fortuitous meeting with a fortune-teller (Charlita) -- who specializes in dire predictions -- sets the tone for their adventures. Burlesque comic Pinky Lee co-stars, playing himself.

Evil Grant Withers lets a killer horse loose to ruin valuable horses on nearby ranches. He hopes to shake down the ranchers for his "protection". Roy tracks down the bad guys, but is suddenly trapped by them. Peter Miles, a boy terrified of horses, overcomes his fear and rides for help to save the day.

Roy is a United States Marshal tracking down a counterfeiting ring and hunting down a mountain lion. Songs: "It's One Wonderful Day," "Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy," "Pancho's Rancho" and the title song.

An insurance investigator must track down thieves before they take off in a plane with stolen uranium ore.

Diamonds are being smuggled across the border from Mexico in a specially made shoe of a palomino mare. One of the smugglers is killed when the mare runs off. The sheriff blames Trigger for the death. To keep his horse from being destroyed, Roy confesses and goes to jail. The smugglers buy Trigger and put him to work smuggling diamonds. The mare, who had earlier heard a trist with Trigger, foals Trigger, Jr. who Roy, finally out of jail, uses to help capture the smugglers.

In Roy Rogers' Down Dakota Way, the deadly hoof-and-mouth disease has struck the herd owned by evil rancher H. T. McKenzie (Roy Barcroft). To avoid an expensive quarantine on his stock, McKenzie plans to murder the local veterinarian (Emmet Vogan) before the latter can report his findings to the government. Rogers manages to straighten out the situation by appealing to the sensibilities of the aunt (Elizabeth Risdon) of McKenzie's hotheaded hired assassin (Byron Barr). The film also bears several musical numbers from Roy, Dale Evans, and Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage.

Twenty years earlier Farrell killed his mining partner Andrews. Now Andrews daughter arrives to get her father's trust fund. Farrell having rustled Roy's cattle now takes her money from her Lawyer and lets her overhear false information of their next rustling job. With the posse at the wrong location, his men attack the cattle train and Roy on board find himself greatly outnumbered.

A ranch owner turns his place into a home for boys who have lost their fathers in World War II. His evil female lawyer covets the ranch and uses a gang of local toughs, a pack of killer dogs, and a phoney rancher's beneficiary to get it. U.S. Marshal Rogers opens an investigation when the rancher is killed.

On vacation at his ranch, western actor Roy quickly finds himself involved with a horse rustling operation and a boy ward of one of the rustlers, leading to the kidnapping of Roy's trick horse Trigger by the gang with a demand for ransom.

Gridley is mining silver from an old Mexican mine and bringing it into the USA thru a passage into his worthless mine. Border guard Rogers suspects Gridley and finally finds the secret entrance to the Mexican mine. He sends Lee Madison for help only to have her captured by Gridley. Trigger brings help that takes care of Gridley's men and now Roy has to rescue Madison.

Horse breeders Adams and Brock are vying for the Army contract. When Adams is killed trying to ride his horse Trigger, Roy saves the horse from being shot. He trains him and then plans to ride him in the race to win the contract.

Roy returns home to fine a range feud between the cattlemen and the sheepmen. When his friend is killed he finds the rifle had a defective pin. He learns the rifle belongs to a ranch hand named Barker and that a third party has caused the feud. When he captures outlaws trying to blow up a dam, he claims Barker was the killer. But Barker has switched rifles and the outlaws now accuse Roy and Roy finds himself in trouble.

Jerry Johnson inherits a 50,000 acre ranch. Lucky Miller wants to take over the ranch. Roy is trying to get a railroad spur right of way. Lucky has a woman come west to marry Jerry to get control of the ranch. After the wedding, Lucky has the owner killed. Roy’s gun is substituted for the murder weapon, so Roy is put in jail.

A man of no worth brags to his daughter back East that he is rich and owns a big ranch. When she decides to pay a visit to her father, Roy and his buddies agree to pretend that the poor man is the owner of the ranch.

Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette and the Sons of the Pioneers go undercover to help Texas Governor Russell Hicks stop World War II Axis sympathizers from blowing up U.S. warehouses.

A deputy sets out to prove that a respected judge, who had once been a criminal, is being framed for crimes committed by a crooked saloon owner.

Roy Rogers takes on crooked wartime profiteers in the musical western Ridin' Down the Canyon. Posing as solid citizens, the crooks spend their evening hours stealing horses from local ranchers, then selling the steeds to the government at exorbitant prices. The head of the bad guys runs a dude ranch where Rogers and his pals (The Sons of the Pioneers) are employed.

Lambert owns the trucking line that ships cattle to market. When he raises his rates Roy decides to ship the cattle on the River Boat. When Lambert and his men are unable to stop the boat, they rustle the cattle.

Bad guys plot to trick a newly arrived Eastern girl out of a ranch which belongs to her infant ward. Roy, of course, saves the ranch for the girl. Songs include "I'm Headin's for the Home Corral," "He's a No Good Son of a Gun," "Sandman Lullaby," "Song of the San Joaquin," and "I'm a Cowboy Rockefeller."

A radio saleswoman helps a singing cattleman trap a shady meat buyer with a bogus broadcast.

A singing entomologist (Roy Rogers) acts meek to help a juggling sheriff (George "Gabby" Hayes) solve ranch raids.

Fur theives are looting the traps on the ranch where Roy is foreman and they have murdered one of Roy's friends.

Judge Kirby is being blackmailed and forced to let outlaws go free. He was once the partner of Roy's father and when Roy reads in the paper that he is in trouble he heads out to help him. Arriving, Roy quickly realizes he has been mistaken for one of the outlaws and is not wanted in town. However he stays, and now posing as that outlaw, hopes to learn who is causing all the problems.

To get the three needed business men to visit the Stevens mine, Roy stages a ride with the Vacaros and has them as honored guests. Seeing a chance to make a lot of money, gangster Harmon joins the ride and then has his men kidnap the three. Having filmed a fake holdup earlier, he uses the film to convince the Sheriff that Roy and the boys were the Kidnapers.

Roy is a government man assigned to a case of cattle rustling in the part of the country where he grew up, unaware that the leader of the gang is a woman, in fact an old flame.

To bring water to their valley, ranchers have raised money to build a dam. When that money is stolen, Allison suggests the ranchers sell their stock to a friend of his thereby getting the money needed to complete the dam. Roy has a clue that Allison was involved in the robbery and is out to get control of the valley. So Roy and the boys try to delay the sale of the stock while they look for proof against Allison.

After a handful of non-formula westerns, Charles Starrett returned to the mixture as before in Thundering Frontier. Starrett plays Jim Fillmore, kind to old ladies, small animals and heroine Norma Belknap (Iris Meredith). In contrast, the villains are kind to no one, least of all struggling building contractor Square Deal Scottie (Alex Callam), whose projects are continually targeted for demolition and his payroll is forever being stolen at gunpoint. A good 25 percent of the film's running time is given over to Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, whose C&W croonings are pleasant but a bit much. One of the film's few surprises is that Starrett's perennial screen sparring partner Dick Curtis isn't one of the bad guys.

Frontiersman Tom Garfield and his pals endeavor to save their land from the clutches of slimy easterner Forsyth. The villain hires a bit of local muscle in the form of brutish Chris Matson, but he's no match for our hero.

The Durango Kid is a sort of Robin Hood of the West who helps the lovely Walters (who replaced Starrett's usual love-interest, Iris Meredith), the daughter of a homesteader, defeat the evil MacDonald who has been terrorizing the decent citizens with his gang of rustlers.

The Kinkaids and the Harpers both run stage lines and are friendly competitors. Appleby is after the stage line and convinces the two owners to build a spur line to the same town. Then he has both projects sabotaged pitting the friends against each other and running them out of money.

Steve Beaumont, an operative for the Cattleman's Protective Association, is assigned the difficult task of breaking up a murderous gang of rustlers led by Ed Brock and Strang. He takes Sheriff Webb, Judge Baxter, and rancher Ann Houston into his confidence, and works his way into the rustler stronghold and confidence by "turning rustler" himself.

Thad Lawson arrives in Oak Valley to avenge the murder of his brother, the local sheriff. He learns that Jack Rand, powerful overlord of the town is to blame. After Rand murders newspaper publisher Jordan Webster, Thad sets out to put him behind bars.

The hero, Texas Ranger Larry Whalen (Charles Starrett), is on the trail of a mysterious outlaw leader.