Dave O'Brien
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dave O'Brien (born David Poole Fronabarger, May 31, 1912 – November 8, 1969) was an American film actor, director, and writer. O'Brien was best known to movie audiences in the 1940s as the hero of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer comedy short film series Pete Smith Specialties narrated by Pete Smith. O'Brien wrote and directed many of these subjects under the name David Barclay. He also appeared in many low-budget Westerns, often billed as Tex O'Brien. In 1942, O'Brien starred in the movie serial Captain Midnight. Modern audiences perhaps best remember O'Brien as a frantic dope addict in the 1936 low-budget exploitation film Tell Your Children (better known under its reissue title, Reefer Madness). As a writer for The Red Skelton Show, O'Brien shared an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1961 and shared a nomination for the same award in 1963. O'Brien died, aged 57, of a heart attack while competing in a yachting race.
The Devil Bat
as Johnny LaytonDr. Paul Carruthers is frustrated because he thinks his employers, Mary Heath and Henry Morton,...
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Kiss Me, Kate
as RalphA pair of divorced actors are brought together to participate in a musical version of The Taming...
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Tell Your Children
as RalphHigh-school principal Dr. Alfred Carroll relates to an audience of parents that marijuana can...
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Rasputin and the Empress
as Soldier (uncredited)The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the...
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Hot Saturday
as Party Guest (Uncredited)A pretty but virtuous small-town bank clerk is the victim of a vicious rumor from an...
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College Humor
as StudentA college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful...
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Is My Face Red?
as Chorus Boy (uncredited)William Poster writes a gossip column for the Morning Gazette. He will write about anyone and...
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Tomorrow's Children
as Interne (uncredited)Young Alice Mason wishes to start a family, but because her own has been deemed "defective" by...
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Murder by Invitation
as Michael, the chauffeurThe relatives of a rich old woman unsuccessfully try to have her declared insane, so they can...
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Billy the Kid Wanted
as JeffBilly the Kid and his pal Jeff help their friend Fuzzy Jones escape from jail, and the trio...
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Murder at the Vanities
as uncreditedShortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's...
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That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time...
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Guns of the Law
as Tex WyattThe Texas Rangers take on a shyster who is trying to bilk a family of their money after he...
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The Sign of the Cross
as Christian on Stairway (uncredited)After burning Rome, Emperor Nero decides to blame the Christians, and issues the edict that they...
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The Phantom of 42nd Street
as Tony WoolrichA theatre critic teams up with a cop to investigate the murder of a Broadway actor.
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Prisoner of Japan
as U. S. MarineAn American astronomer living on a Pacific island attempts to thwart the Japanese during WWII.
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Fighting Mad
as Constable KellyAnn Fenwick is a witness to a bank robbery in the U.S. and the bandits, led by Trigger and Leon...
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Wyoming Outlaw
as Acacia Park Game WardenWill Parker has been destroyed by a local politician and now must steal to feed his family. He...
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Million Dollar Racket
as Johnny HenesseyMillionaire Larry Duane is posing as his own chauffeur while touring the West and meets Molly...
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Woman Wanted
as Steve - Tap Dancer at Baxter's Party (uncredited)Just after a jury finds Ann Grey guilty of murder, the car carrying her to prison crashes into...
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Doubting Thomas
as Member of AudienceA husband makes fun of his wife's theatrical aspirations when she agrees to appear in a local...
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Roar of the Dragon
as Submarine CrewmanA boatload of Westerners is trapped in Manchuria as bandits led by Russian renegade Voronsky...
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College Coach
as Student on Tennis Court (uncredited)Ruthless Coach Gore creates turmoil at a college by hiring players and alienating students....
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Forbidden Trails
as Jim CramerTwo ex-cons plan to kill the range rider marshal who sent them to prison and, when their plan...
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One Man's Journey
as Dance Extra (uncredited)Dr. Eli Watt, a widower, comes to a small town, considering himself a failure in his attempt to...
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Flying High
as Dancer (uncredited)An inventor and his lanky girlfriend set an altitude record in his winged contraption.
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Queen of the Yukon
as Bob AdamsThe owner of an Alaskan gambling boat and her business partner help thwart a crooked businessman...
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New Frontier
as Jason BraddockThe Three Mesquiteers convince a group of settlers to exchange their present property for some...
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On the Spot
as CharlieFrankie Kelly is the soda jerk and embryo scientist in Midvales only drugstore. Two murders and...
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The Pinto Bandit
as Tex WyattA masked desperado wants to disrupt the mail service between two frontier communities.
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Spooks Run Wild
as Jeff DixonA group of delinquents on their way to summer camp get stuck in a haunted house.
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Tahiti Nights
as JackIslanders make arrangements for an American bandleader to marry a princess.
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Gift of Gab
as Dancer (uncredited)Conceited radio announcer irritates everyone else at the station.
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The Arizona Kid
as SoldierRoy is a Confederate officer stationed in Missouri during the Civil War. He must put an end to...
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42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
as Self (archive footage)Making-of documentary about the 1933 musical, 42nd Street.
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Bowery at Midnight
as Det. Pete CrawfordA seemingly charitable soup kitchen operator (who moonlights as a criminology professor) uses...
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The Dawn Patrol
as Pilot (uncredited)World War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but he soon is...
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Buzzy and the Phantom Pinto
as Jim DanaRancher Timothy Wade is ambushed by a masked man riding a pinto horse. His young son, Buzzy Wade...
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Mutiny in the Big House
as DanielsA young man forges a check in order to help his mother, but is caught and sentenced to 14 years...
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The Black Coin
as Terry NavarroGovernment agents try to thwart smugglers, while some sort of plot unfolds, about a hidden...
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Born to Be Wild
as Trucker (uncredited)Truck drivers Steve Hackett and Bill Purvis are fired from their jobs with the West Coast...
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Consolation Marriage
as Man Picking Up Stack of Newspapers (uncredited)A sportswriter jilted by his globe-trotting girlfriend marries a woman jilted by her boyfriend.
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Captain Midnight
as Captain Albright / Captain MidnightSecret Service Major Steel is one of the few men in America aware of the fact that Captain...
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Sky Bandits
as Constable KellySgt. Renfrew and Constable Kelly go aloft to search for a plane missing with a shipment of gold...
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The Rangers Take Over
as Tex WyattJim Steele spots Pete Dawson taking horses over the Mexico-Texas border, but Dawson has an...
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Boss of Rawhide
as Tex WyattTexas Rangers Tex Wyatt, Jim Steele and Panhandle Perkins are sent to the district of Rawhide to...
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Where the Buffalo Roam
as Jeff GrayTex returns to Santa Fe to find his Mother murdered. Foster runs the town and all crimes...
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Flying Wild
as Tom LawsonA group of young men who work at an aviation factory begin to suspect that a doctor who runs an...
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No More Ladies
as Party Guest (uncredited)A society girl tries to reform her playboy husband by making him jealous.
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Tennessee Champ
as Luke MacWadeA boxer desperate for money falls in with a shady promoter.
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Frontier Fugitives
as Dave WyattEllen Williams' father has a valuable collection of furs and an outlaw gang is after them....
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70,000 Witnesses
as Football Player (uncredited)College football player is asked to dope a star teammate by his crooked gambler brother. He...
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On Your Toes
as Man in AudienceA Russian dance company agrees to stage the new ballet written by a vaudeville hoofer.
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The Fighting Renegade
as Dr. Jerry LeonardEl Puma, a Mexican desert guide, escorts an archaeological expedition headed by Professor Lucius...
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Wonder Bar
as Chorus Boy (uncredited)Harry and Inez are a dance team at the Wonder Bar. Inez loves Harry, but he is in love with...
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King of the Stallions
as uncreditedBoth Indians and cowboys are after a beautiful stallion, the leader of a pack of wild horses.
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Billy the Kid in Santa Fe
as Texas JoeFalsely accused of murder, Billy is able to escape thanks to his pals. Once in Santa Fe, he...
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The Spider Returns
as Jackson, Wentworth's AideThe evil and masked "Gargoyle" is sabotaging all of America's industrial plants. It is up to the...
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Spook Town
as Tex WyattDry Gulch Trading Post owner Kurt Fabian advances money on mortgages to the local settlers to...
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Man's Country
as BatAn undercover Texas Ranger runs into trouble when he learns that the murderer he's trailing has...
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Rollin' Westward
as Ranch hand RedA cowboy helps a pretty young woman and her father in their fight against land-grabbers who are...
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Did'ja Know?
as Expectant Father / Greeting Card Shopper / Hospital Patient / Job ApplicantThis short looks at the following questions: How would you act as an expectant father? How many...
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Frontier Scout
as Steve NorrisGen. Ulysses S. Grant has a job for Wild Bill Hickok (George Houston) and his sidekick (Al St....
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Undercover Agent
as Billiards PlayerA railway postal clerk goes after a sweepstakes counterfeiting ring.
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The Man Who Walked Alone
as Marion ScottA war hero returns home following a medical discharge and ends up entangled with a young woman...
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Lightnin' Crandall
as Tommy ShannonCowboy with a reputation as the fastest gun in Texas heads to Arizona to leave his past behind,...
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Good News
as StudentA college football star falls for his mousy French tutor.
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Code of the Cactus
as Bob SwaneA story of cattle rustling and double identities.
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Yukon Flight
as Constable KellyWhen the plane owned by the "Yukon and Columbia Mail Service" crashes, RCMP Sergeant Renfrew...
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East Side Kids
as Knuckles DolanAfter living all his childhood in the street, a young boy rapidly notices that crime doesn't...
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Riders of the Sage
as Tom MartinIn an effort to get Jim Martin to sell his ranch, the Halsey brothers have kidnapped his son...
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Gun Packer
as Red Baker - HenchmanJack has been called in to investigate stage robberies where the stolen gold bullion...
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Utah Trail
as Mason - BookkeeperTex and his sidekicks arrive to help out his friend Jeffers, a railroad owner, only to find that...
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That Gang of Mine
as Knuckles DolanA street kid has dreams of becoming a jockey. He gets his chance when he and his gang discover a...
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Buried Alive
as CarsonA prison trustee rescues a despondent executioner from a bar-room brawl, and is blamed for the...
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The Deadly Game
as Ralph SpencerA pre-World War II saber-rattler that finds a munitions inventor kidnapped, a federal agent...
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T.V. of Tomorrow
as Man on TVA variety of fanciful innovations in "future" T.V. sets, including a model with a built-in...
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Son of the Navy
as NelsonA runaway boy pretends to be the son of a Navy man, only to turn both their lives upside down.
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The Whispering Skull
as Dave WyattRangers Tex Haines and Dave Wyatt track a killer known as the Whispering Skull. In the wake of...
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Flaming Lead
as Frank GordonCowhand Ken Clark is stranded in Chicago, and temporarily takes a job as a sharp-shooter...
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Boys of the City
as Knuckles DolanStreet kids get sent to the country, where they get mixed up in murder and a haunted house.
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Billy the Kid's Smoking Guns
as JeffKnowing the Army is arriving to establish a post. Doc Hagan and his gang and the crooked Sheriff...
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Search for Beauty
as Talent Contestant (uncredited)Three con artists dupe two Olympians into serving as editors of a new health and beauty magazine...
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Murder on the Yukon
as Constable KellyUnknown to Joan Manning, her trading post partner Weathers is operating a counterfeiting ring....
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Water Rustlers
as Bob LawsonShirley Martin finds that Weylan has diverted the water from the valley and her cattle are...
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Ship Cafe
as Young Man (uncredited)The singing stoker and the vamp.
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The Gunman From Bodie
as Joe MartinThe Rough Riders are after a gang of rustlers. Marshal Roberts is posing as a wanted outlaw,...
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We're Rich Again
as Pete (uncredited)A polo-playing grandmother and her broke brood get back in the money with a Wall Street bet.
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Bad Men of Thunder Gap
as Tex WyattTex Wyatt is blamed for a murder actually committed by Ransom and Holman, a couple of thieves....
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Danger Ahead
as Corporal KellyThe Royal Mounties are called in when one of the armored cars owned by Maxwell, containing a...
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Crashing Thru
as Fred ChambersRenfrew of the Mounties hunts brother-and-sister gold hijackers.
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Outlaws' Paradise
as Henchman MeggsBill Carson assumes the identity of gang leader Trigger Mallory in order to fool his gang and...
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Brand of the Devil
as Tex WyattJolley is the leader of the Devil's Brand gang of rustlers. When Molly Dawson sends for the...
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Student Tour
as StudentA philosophy professor accompanies his school's rowing team on a worldwide tour.
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Pick-up
as Party Boy (uncredited)The scheme of a pair of married con artists goes awry when their victim dies, and they are both...
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Gangsters of the Frontier
as Dave WyattTex put the Kern gang away once but they have returned with reinforcements and have take over...
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Daughter of the Tong
as Jerry MorganA detective matches wits with the female leader of a crime ring.
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Hold That Woman!
as Miles HanoverA skip tracer--someone who collects late payments from people who've purchased appliances, etc.,...
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Sitting Pretty
as Assistant Cameraman (uncredited)Jack Oakie and Jack Haley are songwriters are enroute from New York to Hollywood to make their...
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The Kettles in the Ozarks
as ConductorMa and the kids head out to help Pa's brother Sedgewick with the his farm in Mournful Hollow,...
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The Girl on the Front Page
as Nightclub PatronThe heiress to a powerful newspaper owner gets a job at the paper under an assumed name and...
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The Big Parade of Comedy
as Actor in the Pete Smith Shorts (archive footage)Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
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Texas Wildcats
as Ed ArdenLightning Bill Carson and sidekick Magpie are after Burrows, the man that killed a friend of...
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Phantom Rancher
as Henchman LuckeCowboy puts on a black mask and a black outfit to fight a gang of land-grabbing crooks.
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Sheriff of Sage Valley
as JeffBilly and his pals, on the run from the law again, travel to Sage Valley where Billy is made...
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The Singing Cowgirl
as Dick WilliamsTolen is after the Harkins ranch where his men have found gold. After they kill Harkins, Dorothy...
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Enemy of the Law
as Dave WyattCharley Gray is about to be released from the state penitentiary after serving a long term for...
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Wrong Way Butch
as ButchThis Pete Smith Specialty short was produced in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor....
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Marked for Murder
as Dave WyattIn this western, the Texas Rangers must stop a range war between sheepherders and cattle...
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West of Texas
as Tex WyattRangers Tex Wyatt and Jim Steele arrive in Gabe's Crossing, NM, to capture Bent Yeager, a...
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The Texas Marshal
as Buzz WestonLocal "patriot's league" leader secretly kills off ranchers, buys up their estates, which are...
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Double Trouble
as Sparky BartonHarry Langdon and Charley Rogers star in this 1941 Monogram comedy, about two bumbling brothers...
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Whirlwind Horseman
as Henchman SladeKen and Happy, looking for their friend Cherokee, run into an outlaw gang led by Ritter who have...
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The Return of the Rangers
as Tex WyattThe Texas Rangers round up rustlers by masquerading as the same. Trouble ensues when while in...
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The Desperados Are in Town
as Dock Lapman / Mr. BrownIn this western, a young man tries to walk the straight and narrow, but he is impeded by his...
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Law and Order
as Jeff TravisBilly the Kid and his pals Jeff Travis and Fuzzy Jones are arrested and brought to Fort Culver,...
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Trail of Terror
as Tex Wyatt / Curly WyattTexas Ranger O'Brien has an outlaw twin brother. When his sibling is killed, O'Brien assumes his...
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Isle Of Destiny
as Whitey - Navy Radio ManA pretty socialite / pilot runs into gun smugglers when she lands her plane on a Pacific island.
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The Secret of Treasure Island
as Det. Jameson [Chs. 4-7]A variety of people are searching for a long-hidden treasure somewhere on an island. Chapters: ...
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Seventh Column
as Falstaff Pratt the Indestructible ManThis humorous short film shows how carelessness and accidents can harm the war effort, and steps...
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Song of the Buckaroo
as Tex AldenAn outlaw on the run assumes the identity of a dead man. When in his new identity he finds...
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Rough Riding Rhythm
as Detective WatersWhen Jim and Scrubby arrive to see Scrubby's sister, they find her murdered and suspect it was...
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Fighting Valley
as Tex WyattSomeone has been stealing ore from a valuable smelting mine. One of the independent mine-owners...
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Flaming Bullets
as Dave Wyatt / Steve CarsonBullets fly as the Texas rangers fight an outlaw gang.
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Movie Pests
as Feet-in-the-Aisle PestThis Pete Smith Specialty short takes a humorous look at the inconsiderate pests whose annoying...
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The Yanks Are Coming
as Sgt. CallahanA popular band joins the army with the idea of putting on shows for troops overseas. During...
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'Neath Brooklyn Bridge
as Sgt. Phil LyonsThe East Side Kids find a young girl in the apartment of a man who has just been murdered....
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Treasures from Trash
as Alonzo T. MousebrainThis short film presents an unusual Beverly Hills store called the Patio Shop, where trash is...
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Gun Code
as Henchman GaleThis low-budget western stars Tim McCoy as federal agent Tim Hammond, who follows a gang of...
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Starlight Over Texas
as HenchmanTex has been sent to investigate the theft of government provisions along the border. Kildare is...
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Let's Cogitate
as Oliver T. AseltafelShort film covering a variety of topics that folks may have wondered about.
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Down Texas Way
as Dave Dodge"The Rough Riders", has U. S. Marshals Buck Roberts (Buck Jones) and Tim McCall (Tim McCoy)...
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The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
as George BaldwinA 12-episode serial in which scholastic sports star Frank Merriwell leaves school to search for...
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Dead or Alive
as Dave WyattThe Rangers are after Yackey and his gang. Posing as an outlaw, Dave arrives as Panhandle's...
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Brothers of the West
as BartTyler is a range detective whose brother stands accused of robbing a bank and murdering the bank...
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You Can't Win
as Harried HomeownerIn this comedic Pete Smith Specialty short film, a homeowner experiences a series of mishaps...
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Three in the Saddle
as Dave WyattPeggy Barlou is a young rancher who refuses to sell her spread to greedy stage-line proprietor...
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Wanted - A Master
as Dog's Master (uncredited)A dog living in a junkyard learns that all stray dogs will be exterminated by 3 o'clock that...
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Things We Can Do Without
as Thaddeus E. Thud IIIA Pete Smith Specialty shorts series entry. Dave demonstrates a variety of household items and...
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Welcome Home
as Stanley PhillipsA con artist attends a reunion in his hometown and discovers that his former classmates are...
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Outlaw Roundup
as Tex WyattRanger Tex Wyatt introduces himself as the notorious bandit Spade Norton. Crooked saloon owner...
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Drifting Westward
as Henchman TriggerManuel and Carga are after the hidden map of a gold mine which is somewhere in the hacienda...
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Studio Visit
as O'BrienThis humorous Pete Smith Specialty short looks around various studios on a film lot.
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Border Buckaroos
as Tex WyattRangers Tex Wyatt, Jim Steele, and Panhandle Perkins are en route to Boulder City to investigate...
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Trigger Smith
as DukeA cowboy goes after a gang of stagecoach robbers who murdered his brother.
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Sure Cures
as Xavier T. SchneckendorfThis comedic Pete Smith Specialty short examines the folly of using "home remedies" for various...
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The Cowboy from Sundown
as Steve DavisThe drought-plagued ranchers of Sundown have to market their cattle at a loss in order to meet...
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