Dodge City is a 1939 American Western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Ann Sheridan. Based on a story by Robert Buckner, the film is about a Texas cattle agent who witnesses the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City, Kansas and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up. Filmed in Technicolor, Dodge City was one of the highest-grossing films of the year. This was the 5th of 8 movies that de Havilland and Flynn appeared in together.
Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter was a pioneer of American Country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The Sons of the Pioneers are one of the United States' earliest Western singing groups. Known for their vocal performances, their musicianship, and their songwriting, they produced innovative recordings that have inspired many Western music performers and remained popular through the years. Since 1933, through many changes in membership, the Sons of the Pioneers have remained one of the longest-surviving country music vocal groups.
Charles Robert Starrett was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the Durango Kid westerns. Starrett still holds the record for starring in the longest series of theatrical features: 131 westerns, all produced by Columbia Pictures.
John Ridgely was an American film character actor with over 175 film credits.
A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films. It references real-world campfire side ballads in the American frontier. The original cowboys sang of life on the trail with all the challenges, hardships, and dangers encountered while pushing cattle for miles up the trails and across the prairies. This continues with modern vaquero traditions and within the genre of Western music, and its related New Mexico, Red Dirt, Tejano, and Texas country music styles. A number of songs have been written and made famous by groups like the Sons of the Pioneers and Riders in the Sky and individual performers such as Marty Robbins, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Bob Baker and other "singing cowboys". Singing in the wrangler style, these entertainers have served to preserve the cowboy as a unique American hero.
Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. was an American actor who appeared in memorable westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and The Comancheros (1961). He was nicknamed "Big Boy" as he was 6' 2" and had a muscular build from years of working on ranches and playing semi-pro and professional baseball, and at the height of his movie career was frequently billed above the title simply as Big Boy Williams or as "Big Boy" Guinn Williams on posters and in the film itself.
The Terror of Tiny Town is a 1938 American musical Western film produced by Jed Buell, directed by Sam Newfield and starring Billy Curtis. The film was shot at a sound studio in Hollywood and partly at Placeritos Ranch in Placerita Canyon, California. The inspiration came when Buell overheard an employee jokingly say "If this economic dive keeps going, we'll be using midgets as actors".
Nevada is a 1944 Western film based on the 1928 Zane Grey novel and starring a 27-year-old Robert Mitchum, with Anne Jeffreys, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, and Richard Martin in supporting roles. The film was written by Norman Houston from Grey's popular novel and directed by Edward Killy. Mitchum is billed with "Introducing Bob Mitchum as Jim Lacy" at the film's beginning. Although this was not Mitchum's first movie, it was his first lead role; he had previously played mainly villains.
Riders of Death Valley is a 1941 American Western film serial from Universal Pictures. It was a high budget serial with an all-star cast led by Dick Foran and Buck Jones. Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor directed. It also features Lon Chaney Jr. in a supporting role as a villainous henchman as well as Noah Beery Jr., Charles Bickford, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Monte Blue, Roy Barcroft, Richard Alexander and Glenn Strange.
The Three Mesquiteers is the umbrella title for a Republic Pictures series of 51 American Western B-movies released between 1936 and 1943. The films, featuring a trio of Old West adventurers, was based on a series of Western novels by William Colt MacDonald. The eponymous trio, with occasional variations, were called Stony Brooke, Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin. John Wayne, who played Stony Brooke in eight of the films in 1938 and 1939, was the best-known actor in the series. Other leads included Bob Livingston, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Max Terhune, Bob Steele, Rufe Davis and Tom Tyler.
James Clarence Wakely was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies with most of the major studios, appeared on radio and television and even had his own series of comic books. His duet singles with Margaret Whiting from 1949 until 1951, produced a string of top seven hits, including 1949's number one hit on the US country chart and pop music chart, "Slippin' Around". Wakely owned two music publishing companies in later years, and performed at the Grand Ole Opry until shortly before his death.
Barbara Jo Allen was an American actress. She was also known as Vera Vague, the spinster character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. She based the character on a woman she had seen delivering a PTA literature lecture in a confused manner. As Vague, she popularized the catchphrase "You dear boy!"
Cowboy Holiday is a 1934 American Western film directed by Robert F. Hill, produced by Max Alexander and Arthur Alexander for Beacon Productions and starring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Richard Alexander. It was remade as Law and Lead (1936).
Powdersmoke Range is a 1935 black-and-white Western film directed by Wallace Fox starring Harry Carey, Hoot Gibson, Guinn Williams and Bob Steele. It is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by William Colt MacDonald with characters who would later appear in Republic's The Three Mesquiteers film series.
Wagons Westward is a 1940 American Western film directed by Lew Landers, written by Joseph Moncure March and Harrison Jacobs and starring Chester Morris, Anita Louise, Buck Jones, Ona Munson, George "Gabby" Hayes and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. It was released on June 19, 1940 by Republic Pictures.
One in a Million is a 1934 American drama film directed by Frank R. Strayer and starring Dorothy Wilson, Charles Starrett and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams.
Singing on the Trail is a 1946 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and written by J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Ken Curtis, Jeff Donnell, Guy Kibbee, Dusty Anderson and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. The film was released on September 2, 1946, by Columbia Pictures.
The Freshie is a 1922 American silent Western comedy film directed by William Hughes Curran and starring Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Molly Malone and Lincoln Stedman.
Chester William Hannan was an American actor and rodeo performer. He was known for starring as Yucca Bill Thompson in the 1937 film Stars Over Arizona.
