Wagon Train | |
---|---|
Directed by | Edward Killy |
Screenplay by | Morton Grant |
Story by | Bernard McConville |
Produced by | Bert Gilroy |
Starring | Tim Holt |
Cinematography | Harry J. Wild |
Edited by | |
Music by | Paul Sawtell |
Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 59 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Wagon Train is a 1940 American Western film directed by Edward Killy and starring Tim Holt. [2] It was this film that really started Holt's series of B Westerns for RKO, replacing those made by George O'Brien. [3] [4]
Pecos businessman Matt Gardner is buying up freighters, or wagon trains of food supplies, at cheap prices through intimidation, and charging high prices by deliberately causing phony food shortages at his trading posts. The only one refusing to sell his supplies is Zack Sibley, who is dead set on maintaining his freighter business as well as tracking down his father's murderer, his ex-business partner. Gardner plans on eliminating any competition Sibley presents by sending his thugs to kill him and raid his wagon train.
The film was the first in a series of six Westerns RKO planned with Holt. Martha O'Driscoll was signed to appear in the first two. [5]
The films proved so popular the series continued until the early 1950s. [6]
O'Driscoll and Holt were meant to reteam in Sir Piegan Passes but it was not made. [7]
It was filmed in Kanab, Utah and in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California. [8] [9]
Tom London was an American actor who played frequently in B-Westerns. According to The Guinness Book of Movie Records, London is credited with appearing in the most films in the history of Hollywood, according to the 2001 book Film Facts, which says that the performer who played in the most films was "Tom London, who made his first of over 2,000 appearances in The Great Train Robbery, 1903. He used his birth name in films until 1924.
Charles John "Tim" Holt III was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures.
Raymond Otis Whitley was a country and western singer and actor.
Martha O'Driscoll was an American film actress from 1937 until 1947. She retired from the screen in 1947 after marrying her second husband, Arthur I. Appleton, president of Appleton Electric Company in Chicago.
Dude Cowboy is a 1941 American western film. David Howard directed the film and Morton Grant wrote the screenplay. The film stars Tim Holt as Terry McVey, Eddie Kane as Gordon West, Marjorie Reynolds as Barbara Adams, Byron Foulger as Frank Adams, Louise Currie as Gail Sargent, Eddie Dew as French, Helen Holmes as Aunt Althea Carter, Lloyd Ingraham as Pop Stebbins, Eddie Kane as Gordon West, and Tom London as the Silver City Sheriff.
The Ranger and the Lady is a 1940 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and starring Roy Rogers, and George "Gabby" Hayes.
The Renegade Ranger is a 1938 American Western film directed by David Howard.
The Fargo Kid is a 1940 American Western film directed by Edward Killy starring Tim Holt. It was the second in Holt's series of Westerns for RKO. The film was shot in Kanab Canyon, Cave Lakes, and Johnson Canyon.
Where the West Begins is a 1938 American Western film directed by J.P. McGowan in his final feature film as a director.
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Freighters of Destiny is a 1931 American pre-Code Western film produced and directed by film editor Fred Allen, from a screenplay by Adele Buffington. Allen had started in the film industry as an editor in the early 1920s during the silent era. In the early 1930s, he was given the opportunity to direct. Freighters was his first film at the helm. The film stars Tom Keene, a well known actor of B-films.
Robbers of the Range is a 1941 American Western film directed by Edward Killy and starring Tim Holt, Virginia Vale, Ray Whitley, and Emmett Lynn.
Along the Rio Grande is a 1941 American Western film directed by Edward Killy and starring Tim Holt. The female lead was Betty Jane Rhodes.
Cyclone on Horseback is a 1941 American western film directed by Edward Killy and starring Tim Holt, Marjorie Reynolds and Ray Whitley. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. Tom Stempel thought the film "features a livelier heroine than is usual in B westerns."
The Bandit Trail is a 1941 American western film directed by Edward Killy.
Come on Danger is a 1942 American Western film directed by Edward Killy. It was a remake of a 1932 Tom Keene film. The story was bought for Holt in June 1941.
Thundering Hoofs is a 1942 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and starring Tim Holt. It was the first of many films Holt made with Selander.
Thunder Mountain is a 1947 American Western film directed by Lew Landers and starring Tim Holt and Martha Hyer. It was the first of Holt's 29 post war Western star vehicles and the first in a series of Zane Grey adaptations he made for RKO. It was also the first film of his written by Norman Houston who would go on to write 19 more for the star.
Trouble in Sundown is a 1939 American Western film directed by David Howard, using a screenplay by Oliver Drake, Dorrell McGowan and Stuart McGowan, based on a story by Charles F. Royal.
Racketeers of the Range is a 1939 American Western film directed by D. Ross Lederman from a screenplay by Oliver Drake, based on Bernard McConville's story. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, the film was released on May 26, 1939. and stars George O'Brien, Chill Wills, and Marjorie Reynolds.