B-WESTERNS: RKO-Radio Pictures

RKO-Radio Pictures was created in 1928 with the merger of the KAO (Keith-Albee-Orpheum) theater chain and Joseph P. Kennedy's production company, Film Booking Offices (FBO).  The merger had been brought about by RCA which wished to get involved in the film business by providing sound for films.  RKO stood for Radio-Keith-Orpheum and Radio was added to the title as an acknowledgement of RCA's position as a major stockholder.

During the silent era, FBO had been responsible for several outstanding B-Western series starring Fred Thomson, Tom Tyler, and Bob Steele.  After leaving Fox, the most popular Western star of all, Tom Mix, joined FBO for his final series of silent Westerns.

Fred Thomson and Silver King

Fred Thomson was a great all-round athlete and an ordained Presbyterian minister who became a superstar cowboy at FBO during the '20's.  In 1928, he stepped on a nail in his stables while tending his horses and he contracted tetanus.  His illness was wrongly diagnosed and he died on Christmas day that year.  He was 38-years-old.

Tom Tyler

Bob Steele

Tom Mix, the "King of the Silent Cowboys," and Tony

After the creation of RKO, Tom Tyler and Bob Steele hit the independent trail at Poverty Row and Tom Mix signed with Universal to star in his first and only sound series.  After a pause in the action to allow the dust to settle, RKO embarked on a number of superior B-Western series.  The studio never produced as many Western series as B-Western factories such as Republic or Monogram, for example, or as many as the two second tier major studios, Columbia and Universal.  However, the RKO series that were produced were consistently better than any produced by any other studio.

Their first B-Western cowboy star was born George Duryea.  That moniker wasn't going to cut it and consequently he became Tom Keene.  Keene's tenure at RKO began in 1931 and ended in 1933 when the studio decided to discontinue its B-Western series.   Like Tyler and Steele before him, he hit the independent trail before eventually settling in at Monogram.

Tom Keene, RKO's first cowboy star

For two years after the Keene series ended, RKO produced no B-Western series.  Then in 1936, the studio re-entered the field with a series starring George O'Brien.

How good was this series?  When Don Miller wrote Hollywood Corral, his seminal study of the B-Western, he titled one chapter "How to Make Good Westerns: Fox, RKO and O'Brien."

During the silent era, O'Brien had been a popular leading man in prestigious  films produced by Fox, a few directed by John Ford.  In 1930, with the advent of sound he began starring in a quality B-Western series for the same studio.  When that series was terminated in 1935, he moved over to RKO and began another topnotch series. Because of the influential popularity of the Autry Westerns over at Republic, RKO felt obliged to add music and provide O'Brien with a comic sidekick.  Therefore, in some of the entries, Ray Whitley provided the music and the sidekick was often Chill Wills, who portrayed a character known as "Whopper."

George O'Brien

O'Brien's tenure at RKO ended in 1940.  A member of the naval reserve, he was activated when the U.S. entered WWII.  Looking around for a new cowboy the RKO executives found one on their lot.  He was Tim Holt, the son of former silent film star, Jack Holt.  As a teenager, he had begun acting in films in 1937.  He even had a small role as a cavalry officer in John Ford's STAGECOACH (1939).  By that time, he had attracted RKO's attention and he had been cast in a number of that studio's films, including a couple of Westerns.

His series was inaugurated in 1940.  He would eventually star in more B-Westerns at RKO than any other actor and in the process he would become the cowboy most identified with that studio.

(L-R): Ray Whitley, Tim Holt, Lee " Lasses" White

Holt possessed many of the necessary attributes needed by a cowboy star.  He was boyishly handsome, was an excellent horseman (in fact, a champion polo player), and a good athlete who could more than hold his own when it came to the action.  The problem was, however, that only 21-years-old when the series began, he looked even younger, more like a teenager than an adult.

That said, the series was supported by all the good production values that the studio provided for its B-Westerns and it proved to be popular with the juvenile audiences who were the primary fans of the genre. Don Miller even titled one of the other chapters in his book on B-Westerns, "...Or Anyway, Better Westerns Than Most: Keene, Holt & other guys at RKO."

As mentioned, the producers of the O'Brien series had added music and a comedy sidekick to some of the features.  The trend was continued with the Holts.  Ray Whitley would continue to provide the music, while the role of Whopper was given to Emmett Lynn, who always was more irritating than funny.  The role was later given to Lee "Lasses" White, which was only marginally an improvement.  Finally, Cliff Edwards, a much better actor than Lynn or White, was cast as a character known as Ike.  It was a marked improvement.

Holt's first series ended in 1943 when he entered the Air Force and flew missions as a bombardier in the Pacific theater.  The decorated veteran would be off the screen for four years.

With both O'Brien and Holt in the military serving their country, RKO produced no B-Westerns in 1944.  However, wishing to begin another series, the search was on for another cowboy.  Once again, their man was found right in their own backyard.

Robert Mitchum began his career as a heavy in the Hopalong Cassidy films, before eventually working his way up to good guy roles.  RKO took notice and cast him in several non-Westerns.  In 1945, the studio starred him in two Westerns, both based on Zane Grey stories.  In the first, NEVADA, he was given not one, but two sidekicks.  Neither was a singer and both were assets.

Hoppy and Bad Man Mitchum

Guinn "Big Boy" Williams was always a welcome presence in a Western and maybe he wasn't able to provide brains but he was able to provide brawn as well as comedy.  Richard Martin portrayed the character of Chito Jose Gonzalez Bustamente Rafferty, the character that he would be closely identified with for the rest of his acting career.  Martin, without Williams, would fill the same role with the same characterization in WEST OF THE PECOS.  As it turned out, it would be Mitchum's final B-Western.

Good Man Mitchum

  

The same year that the two Westerns were released, RKO gave Mitchum an important role in William Wellman's WWII drama, THE STORY OF GI JOE, and a star was born.  There would be Westerns, but no more B-Westerns in the actor's future.

Enter James Warren.  He was no O'Brien, or Holt, or Mitchum, but he was as good as Tom Keene.  However, the studio seemed to be marking time by starring Warren in only three films, also based on Zane Grey stories, released over the course of three years.  Richard Martin was there for the first, but was replaced by John Laurenz in the Chito role in the other two.  It was a step back.

James Warren and friend

Perhaps what RKO was waiting on was the return of its young hero.  But the first role for Tim Holt after the war was an important supporting role as Virgil Earp in John Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (Fox, 1946).  Two years later, he would receive his best notices for his role as one of three gold seekers in Mexico in John Huston's THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (WB).  In between these two classic films, however, he had already begun a new series of B-Westerns at RKO.

Still only in his twenties, the war years had matured Holt and he looked more like what a sagebrush hero should look like.  Holt had the good fortune of inheriting Richard Martin (as Chito) as his sidekick.  Both were good actors who enjoyed an easy rapport on the screen with the happy result being one of the best hero-sidekick pairings that the B-Western genre ever produced.

The music was absent from these postwar films.  Furthermore, Holt's range wear tended toward plain boots and denim without any fringe or frill.  The stories contained enough action to satisfy the juvenile faithful while at the same time containing enough plot that even adults could enjoy them.  In addition, the black-and-white photography, often in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California, was excellent.

 

Holt did adopt one affectation at the beginning of the series.  He wore two guns, but the left hand gun was turned butt forward.  Eventually, thank goodness, the gimmick was discarded.

The young males in the audience were probably thankful that Holt did not engage in much mushy romance.  That part of the plot was usually left to Chito, who was a cowboy Casanova.  That seemed to be more acceptable to the young male crowd, who would just as soon have had no romance in their Westerns.

Tim, Chito, Friend (Myrna Dell)

Oddly enough, while the Holt character usually had a different name in each film, Martin was always Chito Rafferty.  It was only toward the end of the series that Holt's character became Tim Holt.  This is also one of the few series in which the sidekick was taller than the hero.

RKO's B-Western series, like those of other studios, could not overcome TV's competition in the early '50's.  Hoppy, Gene, and Roy had already ridden onto the small screen when, in 1952, Tim and Chito rode into the sunset for the last time.  And so ended what was one of the best B-Western series ever filmed and what many believe was the best of all the post-war series.

I need to add a final note.  In UNDER THE TONTO RIM (1947), a gent by the name of Richard Powers portrayed the leader of an outlaw gang.  Powers had been born George Duryea, but later changed his name to Tom Keene.  After his starring days ended, he changed it again and was often cast in supporting roles in RKO films.  In the final shoot-out, Tim was forced to shoot and kill the outlaw.  I wonder if anyone appreciated the irony that RKO's last cowboy hero had just killed the studio's first cowboy hero?

THE END

 

TOP 21 FAVORITE WESTERNS -- WESTERN UNION

#6

WESTERN UNION (Fox, 1941)



The poster indicates that Robert Young is the star, but the movie indicates that he isn't.

DIRECTOR: Fritz Lang;  ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Harry Joe Brown;  EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Darryl F. Zanuck;  WRITER: Robert Carson from novel by Zane Grey;  CAMERA: Edward Cronjager and Allen M. Davey

CAST: Robert Young, Randolph Scott, Dean Jagger, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine, Slim Summerville, Chill Wills, Barton MacLane, Russell Hicks, Victor Killian, Minor Watson, George Chandler, Chief John Big Tree, Chief Thundercloud, Addison Richards, Irving Bacon, Iron Eyes Cody, Francis Ford, Tom London, Reed Howes, Eddy Waller


THE PLOT.
WESTERN UNION is an old-fashioned epic told in the grand style.  But who said there was anything wrong with that?  

It begins with Vance Shaw (Randolph Scott) fleeing from a posse and riding through a buffalo herd and concludes with an interesting twist and an extremely well-staged gunfight, not to mention that in-between a huge fire engulfs and destroys the telegraph expedition's construction site.

It is the story of the stringing of the telegraph between Omaha and Salt Lake City and all the obstacles encountered in doing so.  There are the Indians who disapprove and white outlaws who steal the company's livestock and sells it back to the company.  Not only that, the outlaws dress as Indians, give the Indians firewater, and prod them into attacking the construction crews.

Edward Creighton (Dean Jagger) is the chief engineer and surveyor in charge of the Western Union effort.  He hires Vance Shaw to be his troubleshooter.  He knows that Shaw has a shady past, but since Shaw has done him a good deed he thinks the outlaw possesses the qualities that deserve a fresh start.

Robert Young is Richard Blake, a brash young Eastern tenderfoot sent West to serve as one of Creighton's assistants.  He got the job because his father made a nice financial contribution to the company.  But the tenderfoot is made of sterner stuff than first appearances would dictate and after several false starts he wins his spurs.

The Old West was hard on women and Western movies could be as well.  Virginia Gilmore as Creighton's sister is along as window dressing and to add a romantic angle in which Shaw and Blake compete for her attention.  We have seen this before and it doesn't add much to the story.



(L-R) Chill Wills, Dean Jagger, Randolph Scott, Robert Young

TRUE OR FALSE?
There was a real Edward Creighton.  He was in charge of stringing the telegraph from Omaha to Salt Lake City.  His memory is much honored in that part of the country as indicated by the fact that Creighton University in Omaha is named in his honor.  The other characters in the story are fictitious.

But did Creighton and Western Union have to fight outlaws and Indians in order to complete its mission?  In a word, no. 

The movie is billed as Zane Grey's WESTERN UNION and is purportedly based on the last novel written by the prolific novelist.  Supposedly it was published just three days before his death.  

The novel does exist but some claim that it was written after the screenplay.  It doesn't really matter.

As in so many other cases Grey's name exists as a brand name used in advertising to attract customers.  More times than not the only elements of his stories to make it into the films are the title and a few of the principal characters.



Zane Grey

After the director, Fritz Lang, agreed to take on the film and after he received a copy of the script he re-wrote it in order to inject some historical accuracy.  The producers rejected his efforts.  It was more accurate but it was too dull.

Here's what Lang had to say in a later interview: "In reality nothing happened during the whole building of the line except they ran out of wood for the telegraph poles."

So there was no resistance on the part of the Indians, there was no thievery and skulduggery by white outlaws and they didn't provoke the Indians into attacking the line?  

Well, then it was a good thing the director didn't get his way.  The real story would have been one dull Western. 



Fritz Lang

THE CAST.
Robert Young received top billing in the film, but he is not the star.  That would be Randolph Scott as the good-badman, Vance Shaw. And it may very well be his best performance, even surpassing his more acclaimed roles in the Boetticher films and RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (MGM, 1962).

Scott had been starring in low-budget A-Westerns such as FRONTIER MARSHAL (Fox, 1939) and WHEN THE DALTONS RODE (Universal, 1940) or co-starring in more prestigious films such as JESSE JAMES (Fox, 1939, Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda) and VIRGINIA CITY (WB, 1940, Errol Flynn).

WESTERN UNION should have led to bigger and better things for the actor, but it didn't work out that way.  He went back to the same kinds of roles that had been given to him before.

But he built a following and became a popular performer probably because people knew what to expect in a Scott film and they were rarely disappointed.  And occasionally films such as CORONER CREEK (Columbia, 1948) and MAN IN THE SADDLE (Columbia, 1951) would rise above the norm.

Many of the films would be produced by Harry Joe Brown, one of the producers on WESTERN UNION, and during that period the producer and actor would form their own production company to produce the Scott films.

Then came SEVEN MEN FROM NOW (Batjac/WB, 1956), the first of the Boetticher films, and Scott finally received the long overdue praise that he deserved for his acting.

Reportedly Don Ameche and Lloyd Nolan were original choices for the Young and Scott roles, respectively.  Ameche would have been acceptable, but if Nolan had been cast rather than Scott the result would have been a different film -- an inferior one -- and it would not have made my list of favorites. Nolan was a good actor in the right role, but he also is on my list of actors who should have never been cast in Westerns.  



Randolph Scott as Vance Shaw dominates WESTERN UNION

Dean Jagger's breakthrough role occurred in 1940 when he was cast in the title role in BRIGHAM YOUNG -- FRONTIERSMAN (Fox).  He would go on to become one of Hollywood's most dependable supporting actors and would win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH (Fox, 1949).  He is very good as a sincere and dedicated straight arrow, Edward Creighton.

Robert Young is also on my list of actors who should never have been cast in a Western.  However, in this one he portrays an Eastern tenderfoot and that's exactly what he appears to be.  His top billing is misleading since his role ranks behind that of both Scott and Jagger.

Virginia Gilmore doesn't have much to do in this film and it is a role that any actress chosen by lot could have filled.  Three years later she married Yul Brynner, which was a role I suppose that not just anybody could fill.

Barton MacLane was always more believable as an Eastern gangster than a Western outlaw, but he does okay as the chief villain, Jack Slade. 

Chill Wills, as Homer Kettle (great name), is well-cast as a rough, uncouth assistant to Creighton who has fun giving the tenderfoot a hard time -- but not as hard a time as the one he eventually experiences.

Slim Summerville as a cowardly cook is on hand for comedy.  A little Slim Summerville goes a long way and we get way too much in this film.

John Carradine is Doc Murdoch and he gives one of his patented oddball performances.  Apparently, the role was orignally intended for B-Western sidekick Gabby Hayes, who had to drop out due to illness.

Native Americans were rarely treated kindly in the Westerns of this era -- and this one is no exception.  Here they are child like and easily manipulated by bad men for bad purposes and by good men for good purposes.  

Iron Eyes Cody (who really wasn't an Indian, but that's another story) is briefly seen as a drunken Indian. 

Receiving more screen time is Victor Daniels, a Cherokee whose screen name was Chief Thundercloud.  He is the chief's son who is drunk on the white man's firewater and thus is out of control and is foolishly wounded by the tenderfoot.  

Daniels is best known as the screen's original Tonto in Republic's two Lone Ranger serials released in 1938 and 1939, respectively.


Tonto (Chief Thundercloud) and the Masked Man



Chief John Big Tree as Pony-That-Walks in John Ford's SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (Argosy/RKO, 1949)

The chief is portrayed by Chief John Big Tree, a member of the Seneca tribe.  He became a member of John Ford's stock company and had roles in THE IRON HORSE (1924) and STAGECOACH (1939), and most prominently in DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK (1939) and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949).    

THE DIRECTOR.
Frederich Christian Anton Lang, better known as Fritz,

was born in Vienna in 1890.  That and the fact that he was one of the founding fathers of film noir would appear to combine to make him an unusual choice to direct a Western.  He directed only three and one, WESTERN UNION, is a classic. That's not a bad average.

His others were THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES (Fox, 1940) and RANCHO NOTORIOUS (RKO, 1952).  The first is a totally fictitious account  of Frank's actions after the assassination of his brother.  It isn't a bad film.  RANCHO NOTORIOUS has its partisans, but I don't see it.  For one thing, the three leads -- Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, and Mel Ferrer -- are all on my list of people who should never have been cast in a Western.

LOCATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHY.
WESTERN UNION is beautifully filmed in glorious Technicolor by cinematographers Cronjager and Davey, which is one of the film's strong suits.  They take full advantage of the rugged vistas provided by Horse Rock Canyon in Arizona and especially Zion National Park and the area around Kanab, Utah.

******
REVIEWS

"Randolph Scott, an ex-outlaw who joins the expedition as a scout turns in a strong persuasive characterization." -- Variety

"Despite its dated drawbacks, WESTERN UNION remains a grand entertainment, probably the best of the epics of the period....Scott's performance...is exemplary -- possibly his best before RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY -- and the usually heavy-handed Lang directs with deft levity." -- Brian Garfield in Western Film: A Complete Guide

"Fritz Lang tells a straight, tense, lusty story with an almost naive enthusiasm, and the film's large budget pays off in the unsurpassed Utah scenery that's present in abundance." -- Steven H. Scheuer

"...Randolph Scott...shapes one of the truest and most appreciable characters of his career....Any way you take it WESTERN UNION is spectacular screen entertainment." -- Bosley Crowther in The New York Times