Texas Lawmen

During the 80's and early 90's, I managed to collect most of the extant Johnny Mack Brown westerns made at Monogram. While there is a sameness to some of them (true of virtually any western series--especially when you watch more than one of them each day!), on the whole they are a quality lot and, to me, the last GREAT b-movie series Westerns. By the late 40's, many of the western actors and crew members were probably available for work inexpensively, and Monogram put many of them to work in this series. As many of the films featured similar supporting casts, different films would feature some of them and in other films those same actors would have small walk-on roles not even credited in the beginning titles. Virtually EVERY supporting actor in these films is a western veteran who is a pleasure to watch. When people the stature of Lyle Talbot and John Hart are in a film and NOT listed in the opening credits, you know you've got a solid cast. Brown was always one of the best actors in b-westerns (check his early credits to see some of the major stars with whom he worked and held his own), and at this point in his career he had a depth and warmth and gravitas that commanded attention and respect, yet he lacked the aloof quality of a Tim McCoy and seemed approachable. The under-rated Jimmy "Shamrock" Ellison joined Brown in a number of Monograms, and he's fine here as a new sheriff with a secret. I. Stanford Jolley is superb as a grizzled robber with a link to Ellison that Ellison wishes he could forget. There are a number of genuinely emotional scenes involving Ellison and Brown, and the plot is quite clever (the story, incidentally, was written by actor Myron Healey!). The dozens of Johnny Mack Brown "Monogram" westerns are a fine body of work that can still be enjoyed today...when I'm watching one and my children wander into the room, they usually wind up staying for the rest of the film.