Last night we returned to Buster Crabbe, as Billy the Kid in "Sheriff of Sage Valley"(1942). You know how Billy and his pals Jeff and Fuzzy are always getting blamed for crimes they didn't commit? That's why, at the beginning of every movie, they're always hiding on the outskirts of town. Well, this time they decide to do something about it. They're gonna ride into town, early in the morning, and take down all the wanted posters with Billy's name on them. "Fuzzy" (Al St. John) suggests they go the extra mile and steal the rest of the posters from the mayor's office. "That's where they keep the extras", he tells Billy, "I'll bet there's a whole roll of 'em in there". Billy agrees it's a good idea, but just as they're about to take action, a stage rolls by, being chased by three bandits. Our boys run them off, then come to the rescue of the passengers. Unfortunately, one of them has been shot, and he's the Sheriff. Billy deduces that he was shot in the back, and the trajectory indicates that it came from inside the stagecoach. Someone aboard is the killer.
Could it have been Charles King? He plays "Sloan", the owner of the local casino. Sloan is an underling for a man named "Kansas" (also Buster Crabbe), who masterminds a gang from the boondocks. Kansas has plans to take over the town, after King forecloses on all the ranchers. It's never stated how he has the power to to this, and if Kansas holds the mortgages, then why is he an outlaw in hiding? Maybe I missed these explanations (they'd have been one sentence long, quickly spoken), but at any rate, one day when the boys are having a drink, Billy notices a wanted poster for Kansas, and holy smokes - he looks just like him! It's the old Dual Role Routine once again.
Because the Sheriff is dead, Billy becomes the new Sheriff at the mayor's request, to shut down Kansas and Sloan and their gang, but it's confusing to the ranchers and Kansas knows this, because he and Billy could be twins. So, he takes advantage by trapping Billy and forcing him to swap clothes. It's the old Identity Theft Routine, 60 minute western style. Now the ranchers and townsfolk think that Billy is Kansas and Kansas is Billy, i.e. the Sheriff. Kansas, as Sheriff, throws all the good guys in jail until the mayor figures out what's going on and rescues them. From there, many punchouts ensue. Interestingly, there isn't much gunplay in this film until the end, unusual for a Western, but there's a reason. It has to to with the lookalike factor between Billy and Kansas and I can't reveal it. This is another super-cheapie from PRC, with no romance and not much comedy (which is surprising with Al St. John in the cast), but you do get prime Buster Crabbe and Charles King, and he gets in a great line when, at one point, Billy the Kid tells him "you won't get away with this!" and King replies "I'm doin' okay so far". I about busted a gut on that one, which should be on Charles King's tombstone if it's not already . Two Big Thumbs Up for "Sheriff of Sage Valley", which, while mostly a Buster vs. Buster show, is still doggone good and highly recommended. The picture is fair to middling. ////
The previous night, we found another detective movie starring Bill Elliott: "Dial Red O"(1955), which begins in the neuro-psychiatric unit at the Westwood VA. When one of the patients escapes by hopping the fence, an APB is sent out by the Sheriff's Department, and the hunt is on for "Ralph Wyatt" (Keith Larsen), ex-Marine and WW2 vet, who is suffering from PTSD (called a nervous breakdown in those days), and is possibly dangerous. Sheriff's detective "Andy Flynn" (Elliott) sends out two deputies, one male, one female, to go undercover at the bars in Hollywood that Wyatt is known to frequent. Flynn himself goes straight to the apartment of Wyatt's estranged wife "Connie" (Helene Stanley), a hot-to-trot babe who's been cheating on him while he was away, with his old Marine Corps buddy "Norman Roper" (Paul Picerni). It isn't very Semper Fi of Roper, to sleep with his fellow Jarhead's wife, but he's got some payback coming from Connie herself, who is now demanding marriage. She's already filed divorce papers on her too-sensitive hubby Wyatt, an honest good guy, shell-shocked by the war. He's not her type; she wants the sleazy night life with diamonds dripping off her neck, which is why she chose Roper, who is now a successful real estate agent with money to burn. She's divorcing Wyatt to marry him, but Roper, who is also married, won't return the favor. On the same night that Wyatt escapes from the VA, Roper and Connie have a fight at her apartment. She slaps him hard, she's that kind of dame.
He responds by murdalizing her in a brutal way, using a Marine Corps judo chop, which will become an important clue later on.
After interviewing the sci-fi writer who lives next door to Connie Wyatt, Detective Andy Flynn concludes that it wasn't husband Ralph who killed her. One of the undercover agents talks to a man at a bar who describes seeing Connie drinking with a "well-dressed gent" (Roper), and with that, Det. Flynn has his suspect. But Ralph, who has no idea his wife has been murdered, goes to visit his old war buddy Roper at his real estate office, just to talk about old times. He explains that he's been in the psych ward, that he's escaped but plans on turning himself in.
This gives Roper an idea on how to frame Ralph for Connie's murder (which is a shame, because Paul Picerni has always played a good guy in every other movie in which we've seen him). If his scheme doesn't work, Roper plans to shoot Ralph. Det. Flynn, knowing now that Roper is the probable killer of Connie Wyatt, hunts all over town for Ralph until he finds him and puts him in a holding cell for his own safety, until Roper can be apprehended. But Ralph has a Marine Corps tactic up his sleeve as well. He fakes hanging himself to attract a deputy, then jumps the guy, and escapes. This scene uses realism in showing the deputy putting his gun in a drawer before entering the lockup. With Ralph back on the street, knowing that Roper not only cheated with Connie but also killed her, Det. Flynn now has to find both men, before Ralph kills Roper. This is one hard-boiled crime thriller with great performances across the board, especially from Keith Larsen as Ralph the war-damaged psych patient. He's not as crazy as people think he is, which plays against the cliche. Bill Elliott is tremendous again in the lead as a Sheriff's detective. This guy Out-Decencys Jack Webb as a Soul of Honor Cop. Webb's a hard guy, moral but street-worn (he always gives lectures, though the hippies deserve them), whereas Bill Sullivan's detectives, while under no illusions about the nature of man, have a softer touch where the choice between protection and violence is concerned. He'd rather lock a bad guy up than shoot him, and would be happier if a convict is reformed, but his dedication is to the innocent victims of crime. He's the kind of cop we wish we had in every squad car. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Dial Red O", which features great location shooting in Hollywood circa 1955 (check out the old-time hamburger stand). It's highly recommended and the picture is razor sharp. ///
With this blog you get a bonus movie, "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It", which I watched the other night on dvd. The reviews weren't as good for this entry as they were for the first two, both of which were classics in my opinion. I got this one from the Libe the other day on impulse, because i'm a fan of the franchise, and (cue Ed Grimley) I must say, though it has elements that, if not cliche, are clearly taken from other films (Exorcist, Amityville Horror), it is scarier than all get-out anyway. it's a demonic possession movie, with a crime story thrown in, and it's missing the out and out creepiness of the first two Conjurings (that easy chair in part two is bone chilling), but in its own way it more than delivers the goods. My advice: watch it with the volume turned up, but with all the lights turned off in your abode. If it doesn't scare the bejabbers out of you, I'll give you your money back. Two Big Thumbs Up and a very high and horrific recommendation. Conjurings never let you down. ////
That's all I know for tonight. I'm listening to Brahms' Requiem, conducted by the great Herbert von Karajan. Do you know that he sold 250 million records worldwide? He's the most successful classical artist in history (conductor or otherwise), and his sales are on par with the very biggest of rock stars (The Four Zepplini Brothers, Elton, Queen etc.) Not Beatles big, but right up there. Listen to his recordings and see why.
I wish you a nice weekend and I send you Tons of Love as always!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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