The Nearly Good B-Pictures of the 1940s
Can there even be a thing like 'nearly good B-pictures'? At first I wasn't so sure either. But after years of watching B-movies, more often than not I stumbled across a B-picture which I wouldn't exactly consider to be a good (or even brillant) one. On the other hand it didn't reach the absolute bottoms of z-grade moviedom that connoisseurs of this kind of pictures are used to either. It was simply a movie which, in terms of B-pictures, was competently done, had all those ingredients we love so much in this kind of movies, yes, possibly it was even done bad for all the right reasons. But nevertheless, it didn't click with me, didn't offer that special something which makes B-pictures so enjoyable. What you can expect on this list are B-pictures which are not bad per se, they are more like near misses which can still offer plenty for the B-movie fan. Especially if you are a fan of a certain subgenre, actor or whatever. So have fun browsing through the nearly, but not quite, good B-pictures of the 1940s.
If you're up to it, don't hesitate to leave a comment.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
If you're up to it, don't hesitate to leave a comment.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
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- DirectorPhil RosenStarsKeye LukeLotus LongGrant WithersDetective James Lee Wong is on the scene as archaeologist Dr. John Benton, recently returned from an expedition in China where a valuable ancient scroll was recovered, is murdered while giving a lecture on the expedition.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMarjorie ReynoldsGrant WithersWhen Captain Street's best friend Dan Grady is murdered, Street receives help from Chinese detective James Lee Wong and local newspaper reporter Bobbie Logan.
- DirectorNorman LeeStarsLeslie BanksLilli PalmerRomilly LungeA murder is found to be connected to a false heir and a secret underground torture chamber.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMarjorie ReynoldsGrant WithersMr. Wong and a girl reporter investigate a shipping magnate's murder.
- DirectorRalph StaubStarsJames NewillLouise StanleyDewey RobinsonSgt. Renfrew and Constable Kelly go aloft to search for a plane missing with a shipment of gold from the Yukon Mine Company. Inventor Speavy has devised a power ray which disrupts electrical impulses, and Morgan and his gang of crooks has brought in Prof. Lewis to increase the ray's range, telling him he's helping the government develop this new weapon. Speavy spills the beans to Prof. Lewis and his daughter Madeleine,and Morgan threatens to implicate them in his crimes unless they cooperate. Morgan kills Speavy when he tries to warn Renfrew, but when Madeleine stows away on board the doomed plane Renfrew is piloting, will the crooks be able to make Prof. Lewis use the power ray to bring the plane down?
- DirectorRalph StaubStarsJames NewillLouise StanleyWarren HullWhen the plane owned by the "Yukon and Columbia Mail Service" crashes, RCMP Sergeant Renfrew (James Newill) and Constable Kelly (Dave O'Brien) suspect murder. Their suspicions are confirmed when Renfrew finds the control stick has been jammed, forcing the plane to fly in one direction until the gas ran out. Mine owner Louise Howard (Louise Stanley) reports that her superintendent is missing. The Mounties find him murdered and that too has been made to look like an accident. A new mail service pilot, Bill Shipley (Warren Hull), arrives. He had gone to training school with Renfrew but had been cashiered for misconduct. The Mounties discover that Raymond (Karl Hackett), who had been working for Louise, really owns the flying line managed by Yuke Cardoe (William Pawley.) They find proof that all the gold from the mine isn't being turned over to Louise, and suspect that Raymond and Yuke are stealing the gold and shipping it to Seattle by plane. Renfrew sets a trap and Yuke and Raymond try to escape in their plane.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsLloyd NolanBarton MacLaneLola LaneA criminal uses his knowledge of the law for his not-very-legal purposes, betraying friends along the way.
- DirectorD. Ross LedermanStarsAnita LouiseRoger PryorFrances RobinsonAn undercover man (Roger Pryor) recruits an escort-service rookie (Anita Louise) to inform him of scams.
- DirectorGeorge KingStarsTod SlaughterSylvia MarriottHilary EavesA madman kills a man who has just inherited a large estate, then impersonates his victim to gain entrance to the estate so he can murder his enemies.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsWayne MorrisMargaret LindsayWilliam GarganA man's ex-wife is found murdered, and he finds himself to be the prime suspect.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsEdmund LoweMargaret LindsayElisabeth RisdonDetective Adam Farradene postpones his honeymoon with wife Janet to investigate a murder. Janet puts aside her frustration to lend a hand, despite Adam's insistence on working alone.
- DirectorRalph StaubStarsJames NewillDorothea KentGuy UsherThe Royal Mounties are called in when one of the armored cars owned by Maxwell, containing a gold shipment, disappears with driver George Hill suspected of trying to get away with the gold. Actually, Maxwell and two henchmen had poured acid on the brake lines, causing the car to crash. Genevieve, daughter of the Mountie chief, suspects Maxwell and Thomas Hatch, president of the bank shipping the gold, but she quickly becomes more trouble than help to Sergeant Renfrew in charge of the investigation. Renfrew and Constable Kelly drive the next shipment but Maxwell plans to make them crash the same way as Hill did. Renfrew steers the vehicle into a hillside and this gives him an idea of what happened to the other car. Diving into the nearby lake, Renfrew and Kelly discover the missing car and Hill's body, and also finds the gold shipment is a fake. When Renfrew goes to arrest Maxwell and his cronies, they all escape in an armored car. The air brakes fail and the whole gang meets the same fate as the murdered driver.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsRichard CromwellHelen VinsonRobert ArmstrongA man is framed for being a spy. After he is released, he sets out to find who the real spies are.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJ. Farrell MacDonaldWarren HullPolly Ann YoungA veteran firefighter is forced to retire at age 65 by the Fire Department.
- DirectorEugene FordeStarsLynn BariLloyd NolanJoan ValeriePoliceman (Nolan) flirts with waitress (Bari) and finds out her sister (Valerie) is involved with the robber (Fowley) he is trailing.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsFrank AlbertsonConstance MooreJerome CowanA young newspaper reporter finds himself framed for murder.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsLola LaneJames CraigEduardo CiannelliA beautiful young woman organizes an expedition to Africa to search for a sacred skull that is worshiped by the locals.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsRalph ByrdLorna GrayGeorge LynnOn his way to a post as special adviser of the new parachute troops of the French Foreign Legion in Morocco, Paul Dumont meets the beautiful Helene on the ship. A romance ensues, but the two decide to part when Paul learns that Helene is the fiancée of his best friend and fellow officer Raoul. Raoul is wounded during an Arab attack and the wedding is postponed, and Helene and Paul are thrown together and find it impossible to hide their feelings. They meet in the tent of Hassan, a fortune teller, not knowing the tent is a storage place for arms and ammunition belonging to Addullah, an Arab leader determined to avenge the death of his brother Ben Ali.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsDorothy LamourRobert PrestonLynne OvermanHaving been marooned on an isolated island as a child, Dea grows to adulthood without human contact, her only companion being the chimp "Koko." Years later, on a South Sea island, Skipper Joe, a former bookie who has traded chasing dark horses for the pursuit of black pearls, meets Johnny Potter, a former Navy man who has lived in a drunken stupor since being kicked out of the service. The skipper tries to convince Johnny to sign on as his navigator, but Johnny refuses to return to the sea. However, after a bar room brawl with the savage Kehi, Johnny is knocked unconscious and is shanghaied by Skipper aboard his rusty old submarine. The men are chased from the harbor by Kehi, who is furious because Mekaike, one of the skipper's men, has stolen his black pearl earrings. After running out of oil because Mekaike has forgotten to refuel the tank, they reach the island inhabited by Dea, where Johnny collapses on the beach in a drunken stupor. The skipper leaves his friend on the beach, where Dea and Koko find him and take him to their tree house to recover. When the skipper returns to the beach, he thinks that Johnny has been washed out to sea. As the skipper and his men build a boat to leave the island, Dea begs Johnny to stay, but fearing that he is doomed to die an early death from alcohol, he refuses. Finding his way back to the beach, Johnny arrives just as Mekaike leads a mutiny against the skipper. After tying Johnny and the skipper to a tree, the men steal the submarine, only to drown when they dive with the hatch open. Stranded, Johnny and the skipper continue building their boat until Kehi tracks them down and sets fire to the island. As the flames consume the foliage, a typhoon roars in from the sea and floods the island, leaving a lifeboat behind in its wake. Dea, Johnny, the skipper and Koko then board the little craft and sail off to civilization.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsVictor McLaglenJohn LoderAnne NagelStory of the early days of the diamond-mining era in South Africa.
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsRichard ArlenAndy DevineJohn EldredgeA secretary sends a coded plea for help in her monthly report; two detectives investigate and find out that men are jailed on phony charges, forced to work in oil fields and then murdered if they try to escape.
- DirectorCharles LamontStarsDonald WoodsKathryn AdamsWallace FordIn despair after breaking up with his girlfriend, a man hires a thug he has never seen to kill him. However, he changes his mind when he falls in love with another woman--but he can't stop the man trying to kill him because he doesn't know who he is.
- DirectorJohn RawlinsStarsRichard ArlenAndy DevineAstrid AllwynA shifty boxing promoter places an amateur in fixed fights, then hands his contract over to an suspicious female investigative reporter as a raffle prize. He later regrets his actions, however, when the boxer becomes an honest champion.
- DirectorRay TaylorStarsJohnny Mack BrownFuzzy KnightNell O'DayWhen Sam Osborne, owner of the Circle S Ranch, is killed by cattle rustler Bo Gillman, the outlaw is advised by crooked attorney Virgil Parker to report the "mysterious" killing to Osborne's daughter, Helen. Steve Logan, a stranger, is jailed for the crime. He escapes and learns of Parker's scheme to steal the Circle S. Steve presents his Cattleman's Protective Association credentials to the sheriff and receives assurances of aid. Steve's former sweetheart, Mary Curtis, confirms Parker's treachery. In a gun battle, Parker, Gillman and the rustlers are rounded up and the Circle S is saved for Helen. Steve and Mary take up their romance again.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesJulie BishopBill Hickok, assisted by Calamity Jane, is after a foreign agent and his guerrilla band who are trying to take over some Western territory just as the Civil War is coming to a close.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesCarol HughesAn Eastern doctor is on the run from authorities in New York. Out west he comes to the aid of friends besieged by an outlaw gang known as the border legion. In the end, he is cleared of any wrong-doing back east.
- DirectorAlbert HermanStarsTex RitterKarl HackettWhite FlashStorm is out to wreck Ace's stage line. When Tex arrives to help Ace, Storm brings in hired killer Mule Bates. But Tex and Bates know each other and the two devise a plan to fool Storm.
- DirectorEdward KillyStarsTim HoltRay WhitleyEmmett LynnPecos 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.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsFranchot ToneWarren WilliamBroderick CrawfordA reporter goes undercover to break up an outlaw gang.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsWilliam BoydRussell HaydenMarjorie RambeauU.S. Marshal Hopalong Cassidy is called when a town becomes overrun with bad guys. Disguised as a member of a medicine show, Hoppy discovers that the ringleader is none other than sweet li'l ol' Ma Burton.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsWilliam BoydRussell HaydenBritt WoodEuropean bad guy Baron Bendor leads some local townsmen in a plot to obtain horses through theft. Hoppy and his sidekicks Lucky and Speedy must find and expose the horse thieves.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsWilliam BoydRussell HaydenMinor WatsonHoppy and Lucky confront a gang of outlaws which has been ravaging stagecoaches and gold mines. The final gunfight is at Ed Colby's mine.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsWilliam BoydRussell HaydenJulie CarterHoppy is busy chasing stagecoach bandits who sing as they rob.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsWilliam BoydRussell HaydenAndy ClydeHoppy and new sidekick California Carlson head to California to help out Lucky Jenkins.
- DirectorHarry L. FraserStarsKen MaynardTarzanDorothy ShortCowboy puts on a black mask and a black outfit to fight a gang of land-grabbing crooks.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsBob SteeleAl St. JohnLouise CurrieThe third in the series of six PRC westerns starring Bob Steele as Billy the Kid (Bob Steele, finds Billy and his pals, Jeff Blanchard (Carleton Young) and Fuzzy Jones (Al St. John) ambushed in a cabin and, as they are making their getaway, Jeff is wounded. They go to Little Bend Valley where Jim Blanchard, Jeff's uncle, has a ranch. On their way, there see Ed Baker (Charles King0 and Buck Mason (Rex Lease) stop the wagon driven by Ann Roberts (Louise Currie). Billy stops the two henchmen from throwing the supplies from the wagon. Ann tells Billy that she and her father, Tom Roberts (Forrest Taylor), have bought a ranch but that someone is trying to run them out of the valley. They ride with Ann and Jeff is surprised to see that the Roberts' are living on what was formerly his uncle's ranch. The Roberts had only been there a short time, had never met Jim Blanchard, and after buying the ranch from Cobb Allen (Al Ferguson) learned they had no water rights. Billy also learns that other ranchers such as Dave Barlow (Edward Peil Sr.) had also bought ranches from Cobb, but that Cobb had diverted the stream that ran through the ranches and was now trying to force them to buy water from him. Billy and Jeff go to the barricade Cobb has around the water and after a fight with Allen-henchmen Bragg (Kenne Duncan), Mason and Baker, the water is turned back into its original channel.
- DirectorLouis J. GasnierStarsJames NewillPolly Ann YoungDave O'BrienTwo Mounties find the body of a man who has just been murdered. They follow the trail to a cabin, where they are attacked by the murderer's gang.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsBill ElliottIris MeredithDub TaylorPowder Kilgore (Ray Bennett as Raphael Bennett) kills freighter Jeff Cameron (Edward LeSaint) and the latter's daughter, "Spunky" (Iris Meredith), sends for gunfighter Wild Bill Saunders (Bill Elliott, in another of his more than 195 films in which he was never, not once, billed as William 'Wild Bill' Elliott.) Bill finds that few men care to buck the Kilgore gang, and he gets consent from Governor Dawson (Don Beddoe) to form a state ranger's organization out of gunmen now in prison, the men to be pardoned if they prove themselves worthy. (A plot line used at least six times by writer/director Robert Emmett Tansey elsewhere in a ten year period.) Bill whips a Kilgore henchman, Lightning Barlow (Francis Walker), who is offering "Spunky" protection in return for a half-share in her freighting business. Bill jails Barlow and other Kilgore gang members when he and his "rangers" foil an attempted gold-shipment holdup. "Spunky" and her helper Cannonball (Dub Taylor) stumble on Kilgore's hideout and are taken prisoner. Bill rescues them, but Kilgore and his henchman surround the hideout.
- DirectorCharles LamontStarsBilly HalopHuntz HallGabriel DellDead End Kids epic. The boys want desperately to fly, and get mixed up with crooked crop dusters, whose planes are flying deathtraps.
- DirectorWilliam ClemensStarsJames StephensonMargot StevensonHenry O'NeillDespite an exclusive contract with the U.S. government, designer Archer Coe's design is being bid on by German, Japanese, and Italian agents - until he's murdered.
- DirectorRay TaylorStarsJohnny Mack BrownFuzzy KnightNell O'DayBill Ralston arrives in town planning to settle down but quickly gets caught up in the fight between the townspeople and Poe Daggett and his gang. He takes the job of town Marshal and soon brings law and order. When Daggetts men ambush him he kills Poe's brother. Poe then kills Bill's friend Brant and this leads to the showdown.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesPauline MooreTrouble in Colorado is tying up Union troops needed back east during the Civil War and Lieut. Burke is sent to investigate. Macklin and his gang are causing the problems and Capt. Mason joins them. When Burke catches up with them he also finds Mason, his brother.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesBob SteeleRoy is a bandit who is out to get the man who killed his younger brother. He learns as he rides into the town of Sonora that the man is the owner of the local saloon and gambling hall.
- DirectorS. Roy LubyStarsRay CorriganJohn 'Dusty' KingMax TerhuneAfter the owner of the Circle T Ranch is murdered by a ghostly serial killer, owner Carol Thorp resists offers to buy the ranch and is helped defend her property by the Range Busters.
- DirectorS. Roy LubyStarsRay CorriganJohn 'Dusty' KingMax TerhuneMoreland wants to control the lucrative gravel contract, so he has owner Bob Horner murdered, so he can make his orphaned son his ward, but the Range Bustersand Horner's sister have other plans.
- DirectorRay TaylorStarsJohnny Mack BrownBob BakerFuzzy KnightA newspaper editor stumbles upon an irrigation project swindle.
- DirectorS. Roy LubyStarsRay CorriganJohn 'Dusty' KingMax TerhuneThree cowboys fight a saloon owner who is trying to grab up all the local land by engineering stagecoach robberies so an irrigation dam can't be built.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesJulie BishopWhile Sam Houston in in the nation's capital trying to get Texas into the Union, his aide is trying to impose a self-serving tax on the use of the Santa Fe trail. The lady owner of a wagon train is using the trail, and a Texas Ranger comes to her assistance.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsFrankie DarroMarjorie ReynoldsMantan MorelandA delivery boy for a flower shop, who thinks of himself as an amateur detective, finds out that his boss is mixed up with a foreign espionage ring.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsBob SteeleTerry WalkerAl St. JohnArriving in a lawless Texas town, Billy finds his old friend Fuzzy. When Billy stands up to Flash and his gang, he is made Sheriff. He and Fuzzy then set out to retrieve the money stolen by Flash and clear his brother Gil Cooper who is part of the gang.
- DirectorHarry L. FraserStarsKen MaynardClaire RochelleBob TerryWhen Butch Taggart escapes prison, the Marshal sends Lightning Morgan to find him and his hidden gold. He finds the map to the gold on Taggart's boot. Joe Laikon and his men are also after the gold and they overpower Morgan, get the map, and head for the treasure. But Morgan and Tod Grant are soon on their trail.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsVictor JoryJo Ann SayersRussell HaydenCowhand Ladd dances with cantina girl Estrella and has a part in shooting Sheriff Tyler.
- DirectorJames P. HoganStarsEllen DrewJohn HowardAkim TamiroffWith thousands of cattle being rustled from White Sage ranch the 1930's Texas Rangers are called in. They manage to get one of their agents into the gang by making them think he is the Pecos Kid on the lam.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesPauline MooreBuffalo Bill, who bears virtually no relation to the real one, gets in a fight over mining lands in New Mexico. Indians besiege a Spanish rancho and the U.S. Cavalry rides to the rescue.
- DirectorLester OrlebeckStarsRobert LivingstonRaymond HattonDuncan RenaldoThis entry in Republic's "Three Mesquiteer" series, that skipped back forth in time much like Brick Bradford in his "Time Top" machine, finds the Mesquiteers, Stony Brooke, Rusty Joslin and Rico, intervening when an 1870's wagon train of settlers, headed by Dr. Bailey, is attacked by Indians. The wagon train leader is killed and the Mesquiteers agree to guide the settlers to their destination. Bailey and his daughter Anna and the other settlers have been lured westward by offers of cheap land. Arriving, they find that the land sold them by Judge Platt and Sheriff Gorman is practically worthless, but through hard labor and courage they manage to clear it and have reached the point where they are about to make a fair living when they are beset by exorbitant taxes. Judge Platt and his cronies have information that a railroad is to be run through the territory, and they plan to break the settlers by high taxes, regain the land at forced sales, and sell it to the railroad. The Mesquiteers arrange for a cattle sale in order to pay the taxes but Platt and his henchmen, led by Steve Carson, contrive to rob the Mesquiteers as they return from Omaha, and make it appear that the Mesquiteers took the funds and made up the hold-up story. But Stony, in the guise of the Masked Rider (a plot device much favored in the Mesquiteer films with Livingston following his essay of the title role in "The Lone Ranger Rides Again" serial), and his two friends begin a campaign to end the activities of Platt and his gang.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsRobert LivingstonRaymond HattonDuncan RenaldoStony Brooke, Rusty Joslin and Rico, the Three Mesquiteers, are returning from Mexico and are stopped at the border by Army officials, who are attempting to apprehend smugglers who are buying cheap silver in Mexico and smuggling it into the States, where they can take advantage of a silver stabilizing measure and sell it at a high price. The Army men suspect the Mesquiteers. Don Diego, uncle of Rico and Carlos is being urged by Ransome to sell his mine but refuses. This decision conflicts with the plans of Ransome, who is the brains behind the smugglers, who are using a connection between a Ransome mine - on the Mexican side, to the Juanita mine - on the USA side. Don Diego's plans to reopen his mine lays Ransome open to exposure. Ransome has Don Diego murdered and the blame laid on Carlos. The Mesquiteers, convinced that Ransome is involved in the silver smuggling as well as the murder of Don Diego, set about to prove Carlos' innocence and Ransome's guilt.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsRobert LivingstonBob SteeleRufe DavisStony Brooke returns to his home town only the learn that his father, Sheriff Brooke, has been murdered and that his boyhood friend, Tucson Smith has been convicted and is to hang for the killing. The killing was actually committed by Brooke's deputy Tom Blackton, when he feared that his activities as the secret head of a gang of cattle rustlers and bank robbers was about to be exposed. Blackton has taken over as sheriff. Rancher Jim Marsden helps Tucson escape, and Stony encounters the wounded Tucson and helps him back to his ranch, where Tucson's sister, Helen treats his wounds. When Blackton's posse arrive, Tucson escapes through a trap door and heads for the hills. Blackton convinces Stony of Tucson's guilt, and Stony becomes a deputy with the intent of hunting down his former friend. But he changes his mind when a circuit judge, coming to preside over a new trial for Tucson, is killed. Stony continues to work for Blackton, hoping to get the evidence needed to clear Tucson, and tells his jack-of-all-trades friend Lullaby, who has taken over the barber shop from Smithers, to try to get some information from his talkative customers.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsRobert LivingstonBob SteeleRufe DavisThe Continental Telegraph Co. is putting a telegraph line to the town and the fort. They know that the telegraph is needed to stop the activities of the outlaws, but only the outlaws can see the importance of the telegraph. They steal the supply wagons form the boys, which leaves only enough supplies to run a 30 mile line between Fort Dodd and Fort Jackson. But the outlaws attack the camp, killing everyone including Tom and Emily. The boys get more money and a new engineer to build the line between the fort's. This time, they are not going to let the outlaws stop them and they will find the head outlaw.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsRobert LivingstonBob SteeleRufe DavisDust storms and drought make herding horses a tough job for the boys. When the new owner of the ranch, Lydia Phelps, shows up, the ranch is in dire financial straits. The Martin Ranch has the contract to sell horses to the army. Some of the men are working for Martin to make sure that the Circle H will not have enough horses to even submit a bid to the army.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsRobert LivingstonRaymond HattonDuncan RenaldoThis entry in Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" series has a misnomer for a title since the action takes place in Texas and pre-statehood Oklahoma, and the Rocky Mountains are in neither state, but Republic, which easily produced the best of the B-westerns, quite often used a title that had nothing to do with the locale of the film. Stony Brooke, Rusty Joslin and Rico are Texas Rangers unable to enter the territory known as the Panhandle as it is not part of the state, and lawlessness runs rampant there, under the guerrilla leader, King Barton. They discover a young boy, Danny Burke, wounded and left to die by the Barton gang. They nurse him back to health, but he is killed in another raid by the Barton outfit. Stony takes possession of the boy's gun and vows vengeance. Since the strip of land hiding the outlaws is under Federal authority, the Mesquiteers enter the territory with a plan to lure the outlaws across the Texas border. Stony, posing as his look-alike outlaw double known as The Laredo Kid, stages a jail break to free King Barton's younger brother Jim from a Texas jail and insinuates himself into the gang. Barton has been forcing a Panhandle gunsmith named Manners to provide weapons for him, and Manners' daughter, Doris, is antagonistic toward Stony, whom she believes to be The Laredo Kid. Stony soon convinces her of his true identity. The plot to lure the Barton gang into Texas is progressing nicely until the real Laredo Kid shows up and exposes Stony.
- DirectorLambert HillyerStarsCharles StarrettLuana WaltersKenneth MacDonaldThe first film in which Charles Starrett played an alter-ego character known as "The Durango Kid" but this entry, for all intents and purposes, has only the names of Starrett and "Durango" in common with the long (long, long) "Durango Kid" series Starrett starred in from late-1944, beginning with "The Return of the Durango Kid" until 1952. Rancher Sam Lowry is killed by Mace Ballard because he learned that Ballard's men are waging war against the homesteaders. Ballard blames the killing on "The Durango Kid", a a mysterious frontier Robin Hood friendly to the homesteaders. This accusation makes Bill Lowry more than a little suspicious of Ballard for, unknown to anyone, he is the Durango Kid, a role he has assumed in order to fight against the Ballard gang. When Ballard's men raid the Ben Winslow homestead, they are driven off by Bill and his ranch hands but not before the home is burned and the cattle scattered. Taking a shine to Winslow's daughter, Nancy, Bill masks himself as "Durango", strips Ballard of all his cash and gives it to the homesteaders. Ballard has U. S. Marshal Trayboe post a reward for "Durango", and Trayboe, wiser than Ballard gives him credit for, makes Bill a deputy charged with bringing "Durango" in. The Kid keeps taking money from Ballard and giving it to the homesteaders that have been burned out and hiding in Hidden Valley. Ballard kidnaps Nancy and sets a trap for Bill, whom he now suspects is "Durango". But, with the help of Marshal Trayboe, Bill escapes and kills Ballard, who boasted in front of Bill that he has killed the elder Lowry, in a gunfight. Bill Lowry officially retires as "The Durango Kid" and settles in on his father's ranch with Nancy,
- DirectorJoe MayStarsThe Dead End KidsNan GreyRosina GalliThe Dead End Kids are out of the slums of New York's East Side and running around the sunny valleys of California looking for a way to make a quick buck. The idea of working never enters their minds until Halop is egged on by Grey to show his capabilities. Before long, he and Hall are working on the ranch of Galli, an elderly Italian woman who treats her workers like human beings instead of animals. Galli's son disappeared as an infant, and Halop tries to convince her that he is that long lost son, thus possibly sharing in her wealth. Galli is such a good person that Halop is soon motivated by respect instead of greed, so he devises a plan to help her when truckers and a labor organization band together to keep her crops from making it to market.
- DirectorRobert F. HillStarsLeon AmesDennis MooreJoyce BryantAfter being falsely accused of a murder, a group of kids have to find the real killer in order to clear their name.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsBobby JordanLeo GorceyHal E. ChesterStreet kids get sent to the country, where they get mixed up in murder and a haunted house.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsBobby JordanLeo GorceyClarence MuseGang member, Muggs, aspires to be a jockey and tries to cheat his way to the top.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsLeo GorceyBobby JordanKenneth HowellNew York City street principles get an East Side kid in trouble at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsFrankie DarroMary KornmanMantan MorelandFrankie Kelly is the soda jerk and embryo scientist in Midvales only drugstore. Two murders and an attempted killing suddenly swing Midvale into national prominence. Frankie and his pal, Jefferson, become involved when a wounded gangster starts to tell them where $300,000 in stolen loot is hidden, but he is murdered before he can give them all of the information. The search is on.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsFrankie DarroMarjorie ReynoldsMantan MorelandA none-too-popular (nor good) radio singer, Rita Wilson is murdered while singing on the air in a radio studio. Radio page boy, Frankie Ryan, and his janitor pal, Jeff, solve the mystery for the none-too-sharp police.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsGladys GeorgeBarton MacLaneBilly HalopKids look to get revenge when their fathers are all killed in a mob war.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsDick ForanLeo CarrilloPeggy MoranA down-on-his-luck businessman organizes an excursion to Sir Henry Morgan's Island for a treasure hunt only to encounter a mysterious phantom and murder.
- DirectorTim WhelanStarsBasil RathboneEllen DrewJohn HowardA crazed physician marries a wealthy women and, with the help of his demented assistant, murders them for their money.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsBrian DonlevyBroderick CrawfordAndy DevineThree shipwrecked sailors on an uncharted South Pacific island: one falls in love with the beautiful daughter of the tribe's leader; the others prefer to think about how to rob the tribe's gold treasure.
- DirectorLeslie FentonStarsHugh SinclairSally GrayArthur MacraeWhile on vacation, the Saint discovers a much-sought-after music box.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsRonald ReaganJoan PerryJames GleasonAn investigative crime reporter helps the cops solve the case of a missing tycoon who's later found dead in a cheap boarding house.
- DirectorD. Ross LedermanStarsFrieda InescortPaul CavanaghHeather AngelOccupants of a London boarding house become suspects as a string of murders are discovered.
- DirectorNoel M. SmithStarsWilliam LundiganMaris WrixonEddie Foy Jr.A reporter investigates a pair of deaths connected to an antique chest falsely believed to be a counterfeit made by a forger known as the "Black Parrot."
- DirectorWilliam C. McGannStarsWilliam LundiganNan WynnRicardo CortezHomicide detective Bill Ryder reluctantly teams up with wise-cracking news-hound Peter Kennedy to solve a pair of murders.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsEd PaysonPete SmithA man tells his harrowing story of one evening at midnight being alerted by a telephone call from his Aunt Tilly in distress at the old deserted Smith mansion. The man drove the two hours to the isolated mansion to find that it was haunted by various creatures after him. As the movie viewers are wearing metroscopic glasses watching it in 3D, the man, as he relives the story, and thus the viewers by association, are bombarded by weapons coming right at them wielded by these various creatures. The question becomes how the man escapes and saves his aunt... if he does indeed.
- DirectorWilliam K. HowardStarsJoan PerryRoger PryorAnthony QuinnA detective (Roger Pryor) courts a gangster's (Anthony Quinn) ex-wife (Joan Perry) to lure him into a trap.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsDick ForanAnne GwynneBilly HalopA young street kid idolizes his brother, a gangster who was sent to death row for murder. Frank, a local cop, tries to ensure that the boy and his gang don't wind up the same way as his brother, and enrolls them in a recreational program and gets them jobs. All seems to go well until the dead gangster's brother finds out that the cop who arrested his brother for murder, which resulted in his being executed, was Frank.
- DirectorWilliam C. McGannStarsBrenda MarshallArthur KennedyWilliam LundiganClaire Foster (Brenda Marshall) discovers that her respectable-businessman husband George Foster (Arthur Kennedy) isn't respectable and isn't a businessman, but a gunman in this remake-version of "Heat Lightning".
- DirectorNoel M. SmithStarsCharles BickfordEvelyn AnkersFrank AlbertsonA truck convoy traveling the Burma Road is menaced by a group of smugglers.
- DirectorJohn RawlinsStarsLloyd NolanIrene HerveyJ. Carrol NaishA ball player takes his girlfriend to a carnival, only to discover a ring of saboteurs.
- DirectorJohn RawlinsStarsRichard ArlenAndy DevineAnne NagelArctic explorers (Richard Arlen, Anne Nagel, Andy Devine) partner with a sea captain and his ship, to locate a radium deposit. However, they are betrayed by the ship's crew and must fight to survive the deadly polar environment.
- DirectorErle C. KentonStarsWilliam GarganEdmund LowePeggy MoranStory of test pilots at a school that trains new flyers.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsWilliam BoydRussell HaydenAndy ClydeStephen Westcott and Ed Martin scheme to put Jane Travers' wagon line out of business. They want to use it take over all the wagon- train traffic going west. Hoppy, California and Lucky must make sure that doesn't happen.
- DirectorJohn RawlinsStarsRichard ArlenAndy DevineLinda HayesTwo American adventurers jump ship in a Middle Eastern port, and wind up in the middle of a civil war.
- DirectorRay TaylorStarsJohnny Mack BrownFuzzy KnightNell O'DayA young mining engineer sets out to catch the killers of both his brother and a beautiful young girl's father.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesSally PayneRanchers, with the help of Roy, raise money to build a reservoir but lose it to a gambler through a crooked stock deal.
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetStarsTex RitterWhite FlashSlim AndrewsA Texas Ranger goes after an outlaw who has his operations based in the Cherokee Strip.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsRichard DixPatricia MorisonPreston FosterAt Janet Allen's wedding to Steve Payson, owner of the Sweetwater Cattle Ranch, Greg Lane, her former fiancé whom she thought dead and Steve's best friend, turns up. Greg disregards the fact she is now a married woman and tries to make love to her behind her husband's back. Soon, on the Sweetwater ranch, against a background of Indian uprisings, rustlers, gun-running and bandits, the young bride is torn between loyalty to her husband and a burning love for her returned sweetheart.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesSally PayneThe conflict between a railroader and a stage line owner is being aggravated by bad guys who are sabotaging both sides. Roy and Gabby mediate the conflict and expose the bad guys.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesJoan WoodburyRoy is a newspaper reporter. He goes to Cheyenne to cover the activities of supposed bad guy Arapahoe Brown, and of course he discovers who the real bad guy is.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsWilliam BoydRussell HaydenAndy ClydeJoe Weiler has instigated a conflict over water rights between two ranchers. The idea is to have the ranchers do each other in then move in and take over. Hoppy and the good guys won't let this happen.
- DirectorDerwin AbrahamsStarsWilliam BoydRussell HaydenAndy ClydeA town bedeviled with outlaws sends for Hoppy, Lucky. and California after their own vigilante committee fails to solve the town's problems. Hoppy discovers that the bad guys are led by the town boss--and so are the vigilantes.
- DirectorS. Roy LubyStarsRay CorriganJohn 'Dusty' KingMax TerhuneThe Range Busters are investigating a gold robbery from the Denver Mint in a supposedly deserted Arizona ghost town, but they soon find they're not the only town resident with a nose for gold.
- DirectorS. Roy LubyStarsRay CorriganJohn 'Dusty' KingMax TerhuneThe Range Busters are hired as lawmen by the notorious Breeden Brothers, two-thirds of trio of three ruthless outlaws now disguised and renamed as solid citizens.
- DirectorS. Roy LubyStarsRay CorriganJohn 'Dusty' KingMax TerhuneRodeo 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.
- DirectorRay TaylorStarsJohnny Mack BrownFuzzy KnightNell O'DayThe Wolverine Kid kills a man and it looks like Steve Howard did it. But Steve's father recognizes the bullet as coming from the gun owned by the Kid. The Kid and Steve each have one of the ivory handled guns that were used when their fathers feuded many years earlier. Setting out to get the Kid, Steve gets captured by his men.
- DirectorFord BeebeStarsJohnny Mack BrownFuzzy KnightNell O'DayThe beautiful owner of a silver mine in Mexico asks an employee for help when bandits keep robbing her shipments.'