(Should Be) Overlooked Films: Frontier Marshal (1939)

With all the wildly inaccurate films about the life and times and Wyatt Earp (in other words, all of them), I figured that one purportedly based on the book Frontier Marshal by Stuart Lake (based on conversations with Wyatt himself) would be closer to the mark.

Boy, was I wrong!

Frontier Marshal is, in fact, the most historically silly Earp film I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them.

So I have to warn you. In picking this turkey apart, I can't help unloading a few SPOILERS. If you're allergic to those, this might be a good time to bop over to BEAT to a PULP and check out Richard Prosch's new weird western, "Blood Kin." That's HERE.

First, the good news. Randolph Scott, as always, is playing Randolph Scott, but his Earp is as good as anyone's. Cesar Romero makes a fine Doc Holliday. And the supporting cast includes John Carradine, Lon Chaney Jr. and Ward Bond. We even get Eddie Foy Jr. playing the role of his father.

There's one great scene, where Wyatt trees Indian Charley and drags him into the street by the heels (see lobby cards below) and a couple of other decent (but too brief) action scenes.

Now the bad news. This film is only marginally about Wyatt Earp. The real story revolves around Doc Holliday's completely fictional love life. Doc, so the story goes, abandoned his good girl fiance because he didn't want to saddle her with a lunger. In Tombstone, he dallies with the bad girl saloon dancer, who naturally falls for him, and resents it (as does Doc) when Good Girl finally tracks him down. The rest of the film is mostly about Wyatt trying to help Doc choose Good Girl. Ho hum.

Then there's the slap in the face of history. Remember what I said about SPOILERS? Here they come. There's some silly talk early on about Doc's medical practice back in Virginia, and him birthing a lot of babies (Doc, of course, was actually a dentist). The reason for this tomfoolery becomes clear when the saloon keeper's kid is shot, and Doc is called upon to perform emergency surgery (Yeah, I know - an emergency root canal would've had less emotional impact).

Throughout the film, Wyatt has a hate-hate relationship going with Curly Bill. That, of course, is as it should be. But after Doc's love triangle finally works itself out (guess who he choses?), Curly Bill rides into town and shoots Doc dead. Bill then tells Wyatt he and his gang will await him at the OK Corral. So Wyatt marches off to the shootout alone, without his brothers (who are absent from the film) and without Doc (who dies six years before his time).

At the corral, which in this case appears to be more of a livery stable (a far cry from the vacant lot next to Fly's Photography Studio), Wyatt battles Curly Bill and his boys, including Indian Charley, who appears to have risen from the dead - instead of Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers (also not in the film). And it takes place at night instead of the afternoon. And when Curly Bill runs away, he's shot down in the center of town by Bad Girl, who thereby redeems herself and gets vengeance for Doc at the same time.

The film ends with the camera zooming on Boot Hill, where a new tombstone reads, John Halliday (sic) M.D. (should be D.D.S.), 1848-1880 (should be 1851-1887), Beloved and Respected Citizen of Tombstone (should read Hated and Feared Interloper).

Here's the play-by-play:

When Ward Bond (center) wimps out as marshal, Wyatt steps in to handle an emergency. 

The emergency is Indian Charley, who's shooting up the Bella Union. Until Wyatt shoots him. 

Wyatt drags Charley into the street. Looks mighty dead, don't he?

Wyatt braces Curly Bill (seated center) and the boys.

New marshal Wyatt catches Bad Girl helping a card cheat and dumps her in the horse trough.

Doc arrives in town. This is a staged photo, not in the film. Bad Girl tries to pit Doc and Wyatt against against each, not keep them apart. And Wyatt never wears a suit.

After chasing Doc all over the West, his ex arrives.

Another staged photo, but a good look at Good Girl.

When Curly Bill's gang comes hoorahing the town, Doc saves Wyatt from a backshooter.

Sadly, there are no lobby cards depicting Doc's demise or the debacle at the OK Corral.

Overlooked Films is a SWEET FREEDOM presentation. 

FLOOD SALE from Black Dog Books

Black Dog Books publisher Tom Roberts had a flood in his basement the other day. To raise funds, he's marking down the prices of these four new releases.
NOTE: These books are NOT water-damaged!

BRING ‘EM BACK DEAD
by George Fielding Eliot
     Meet Dan Fowler, ace operative of the FBI!
     When organized crime rears its ugly head, the FBI turns to its best operative, Dan Fowler, to track down kidnappers, bust a smuggling ring, and spill the blood of a band of international counterfeiters in these three action-charged novels . . .
- Snatch!
- Bring 'Em Back Dead!
- Hot Money
- With an introduction by Matt Hilton, author of the HarperCollins best-selling Joe Hunter action series
Trade paperback/290 pages. Published at $29.95. Now $20.95

IN THE NAME OF HONOR
by Albert Payson Terhune
     A Prisoner of Honor!
     Pleading desperate need to settle a matter of his family's honor, Civil War hero Guy Bruce wins special dispensation from President Abraham Lincoln for a 90-day furlough to England. Just as a final resolution of the affair is in his grasp, Bruce finds himself framed for a crime, humiliated and disgraced before the woman of his dreams, and deported as a common criminal to a brutal Australian penal colony.
     Now he must fight his way back—to regain his personal honor—to honor his commitment to President Lincoln—and to once more win the heart of the woman he loves.
Trade paperback/289 pages. Published at $16.95. Now $11.95

THE RAJAH FROM HELL
by H. Bedford-Jones
     A Hindu prince seeks retribution for an ancient offense. Now four men have been marked for murder! Does the prince carry out his threat? Or can his revenge be thwarted? Find out the thrilling answers in The Rajah From Hell!
     Included are:
- The Thunderbolt of Indra
- The Diamond Death
- The Devil's Fire
- He Who Sets A Trap (novelette)
- With an introduction by James Reasoner.
Trade paperback/100 pages. Published at $10.00. Now $7.00

DUSTY AYRES: INVASION OF THE BLACK LIGHTNING
by Robert Sidney Bowen
     Three Exciting Novels of America’s Battle Ace!
     A steel fist pounded against the gates of Paris, battering to ruin the last stronghold of freedom on the continent. For three long years all Asia and Europe has been a seething inferno of war. The great wave of destruction makes its sweep westward. Rising up from Central Asia, the Black Lightning invaders, under the command of the mysterious Fire-Eyes, seek to annihilate the civilized world.
     Now the path across the Atlantic is open. The United States will be the next to fall unless its troops can rally behind Dusty Ayres, America's Battle Ace, and stop—the Invasion of the Black Lightning!
     For the first time, the initial three novel-length adventures of Dusty Ayres are brought together in one unparalleled volume. Packed with thrills and excitement, this is sure to be the "don't miss" item of the season!
     Included are:
- Black Lightning
- Crimson Doom
- Purple Tornado
- With an Introduction by Tom Roberts
Trade paperback / 266 pages. Published at $24.95. Now $17.50

Click on each title for a link, or view the entire Black Dog line HERE.

Cash Laramie Rides Again in "Manhunter's Mountain" by Wayne D. Dundee

I’ve enjoyed all of David Cranmer’s Cash Laramie stories, and I’m pleased to report that this entry by Wayne Dundee is a great read too.

When Cash goes after an escaped bank robber named Lobo Ames, he inadvertently causes the dying town of Silver Gulch to lose it’s only saloon and it’s last two whores. Understandably, the citizens are a might disgruntled. So when Cash sets out to haul Lobo back to civilization (with the two whores tagging along), a few of those citizens decide to ambush him.

To complicate matters, in rides Cole Bouchet, a bounty hunter who’s set his sites on Lobo, and doesn’t care how he gets him. Cash now has five men on his trail, three folks slowing him down, and a storm approaching fast. Yikes.

I took an instant liking to Wayne Dundee’s creation Cole Bouchet - who has the makings of a great anti-hero. He’s every bit as tough as Cash, and twice as ruthless. As the story plays out, Bouchet proves himself a bit too ruthless and depraved for a returning anti-hero role, but he’s a good indication of what Mr. Dundee is capable of, and I’d like to see a similar but more palatable character in his own series.

Meanwhile, I’ll be catching up on other adventures of Cash and his pal Gideon Miles from Mr. Cranmer’s growing posse of Edward A. Graingers.

Forgotten Books: A SATAN HALL novel by Carroll John Daly - The Mystery of the Smoking Gun

OK, you probably know how much I like Race Williams (if not, click HERE and see). But as much I like Race, I like Satan Hall even better. And he's in top form here in The Mystery of Smoking Gun. (And here's good news: Though the print edition is a hard get, Vintage Library offers a PDF version for the bargain price of $6.95. That's HERE.)

Satan Hall was Daly's second-busiest character, appearing in 23 pulp stories between 1931 and 1954, plus an 8-part, never-reprinted serial called "Satan's Vengeance." A second novel-of-novelettes, Ready to Burn (also available in PDF from Vintage Library), was published in England in 1951. Four more adventures were collected in the 1988 Mysterious Press volume The Adventures of Satan Hall.

Frank "Satan" Hall is no-nonsense New York police detective who doesn't play well with others. Not only does he look like old Beelzebub  (complete with pointy ears), but he has a personality to match. Luckily, the commissioner appreciates his unique talents and uses him as a one-man task force to combat whatever criminal currently poses the greatest threat to law and order.

This time, that threat is a smooth-talking but ruthless mob boss named Johnny Zitto. Zitto is well on his way to taking over all the rackets in town, and only one man has a chance of stopping him. Yep, Detective Satan Hall.

Satan is actually a detective in name only. He doesn't mess with stuff like clues or evidence. He simply challenges the bad guys to kill him, and when they try - he kills them first.

It works like this: He walks boldly into a bar full of mobsters, hands empty and at his sides. His steady tread is like the drumbeat of doom as he crosses the room, stopping inches from the face of a known killer. The killer looks into Satan's slitted green eyes and feels fear right down to his soul. Up comes Satan's left hand, slapping the killer's face and rocking him back on his heels. Up comes the right hand, delivering another slap. Then Satan's right balls into a fist and comes up from his knees to wallop the guy on the point of the chin.

That mobster now bears Satan's Mark, and his reputation is shot. His only chance to redeem himself is to go gunning for Satan. These killers are invariably fast with their hands - most are able to draw and  shoot in exactly one second. But when they're dealing with Satan Hall (as is the case with Race Williams) they are always exactly one-half second too late.

Aside from the commissioner, Satan has only one friend. Sort of. She's Mattie Hearn, a girl who was raised in the rackets and has only scorn for the law. Like Race Williams' femme fatale The Flame, Mattie is pure of body (she's saving it for Satan) but has a criminal mind. She'd gladly quit the rackets if Satan would declare his love for her - but he can't. He's so much an instrument of the Law ("I am the Law," he says from time to time) that he can't allow himself to be distracted by personal feelings. Such is love, Carroll John Daly style.

As a title, The Mystery of the Smoking Gun is pretty silly. The only explanation I can think of is that publisher had a drawing of a smoking gun laying around and was hot to use it. There is a brief reference to a particular smoking gun, but there’s no mystery about it. It’s smoking because Johnny Zitto has just used it to kill a rival. And heck, this is a Carroll John Daly book, so could open it to any page at all and smell gunsmoke.

Actually, this 1936 "novel" is made up of five connected pulp novelettes originally published in Detective Fiction Weekly in 1933. And as far as I can tell Daly didn't change a word. Here's the breakdown:

In the first segment, "Death by Appointment," Johnny Zitto's gunman Chet Barloff (above, leering through a secret panel) has two reasons to blast Satan's brains out. One, Chet's taken a fancy to Mattie Hearn, and two, Satan killed his brother Ed. Guess who comes out of this scene alive?

In "Satan's Mark," Zitto is hot to take over the Bronx, and his chosen lieutenant is a hotshot called Gunner Krause (above, with pipe wrench). Unfortunately for Gunner, he too falls for Mattie Hearn. After Satan puts the Mark on him, Gunner traps him in the back of burning taxi and attempts to put his lights out. NOTE TO GUNNER: Never bring a pipe wrench to a gunfight.

"If It Is Murder" ponders the deep philosophical question, Is it murder ... to kill a rat? Mobster Joe De Grassie (above, dying) comes to town, trying to bully Johnny Zitto (above, with smoking gun) into joining his nationwide criminal Combine. The commissioner is so worried, he'd be happy if Satan skipped the pleasantries and simply gunned De Grassie down. Thankfully, De Grassie pushes Zitto too hard, especially when he develops a yen for (guess who) Mattie Hearn.

In "Satan Strikes," brutal Chicago mobster Tanto Marcco (above with knife) tries to fill De Grassie's Combine shoes. But when Mattie (above, gagged) spurns his advances, he plans to slice her up and frame Zitto for the job, counting on Satan to execute Zitto. Tsk, tsk.

And now the finale, "Satan's Threat." Sadly, this story was not featured on the cover, and the mag probably paid the price in poor sales. Up until now, Zitto's relationship with Mattie has been strictly business,  but it was inevitable that he too succumb to her virtuous charms. Enter Satan (above left) and it's goodnight, Johnny.

For the illustrated lowdown on Satan's five earlier adventures (including the poop on my theory that his creation was inspired by the "blond satan" Sam Spade), click HERE.

And watch for the last Satan Hall story, "Avenging Angel," in the upcoming collection Race Williams' Double Date and Other Stories from Black Dog Books.

Forgotten Books is a pattinase production.

Art Gallery: Tarzan of the Movies

1950

1951

1953

A Ripping Good Time: The Rhondda Ripper by G.M. Dobbs

The Rhondda Ripper has something for (almost) everybody.

What’s it got?
     1. Murders - and plenty of them - committed mostly with knives.
     2. A unique setting (1903-04 Wales).
     3. An engaging detective.
     4. Buffalo Bill Cody, complete with horse, guns and bigger than life personality.
     5. A Jack the Ripper connection.

Any two of those elements could be counted on to deliver an entertaining story, but all five add up to a ripping good time.

This novel was first published in early 2011 as A Policeman’s Lot. I bought a copy, but had no device to enjoy it on, so it languished until I got a Kindle, and discovered I also had the revised (and retitled) version, The Rhondda Ripper (named for the River Rhondda, which flows through the area). So the revised version is what I read.

Frank Parade is a long-suffering police inspector trying to bring law and order to the Welsh town of Pontypridd. Making his job difficult are incompetent underlings, a superior who cares more for appearances than for justice, and a populace jealous of their right to hedonistic pleasures.

Into this mix comes Buffalo Bill and the five hundred cowboys, Indians, Cossacks and carnies that comprise his Wild West Show. And right away, people start getting their throats slit.

Buffalo Bill is a major character in the book, sometimes as an obstacle to Parade, sometimes an ally, and always as an irritant. But Bill, like Parade, comes across as a real – and genuinely likeable character.

And did I mention the Jack the Ripper connection? Yes I did, and that’s all I’m going to say about it. For the rest, you’ll have to read it yourself.

RACIAL DISCLAIMER: My father was Welsh, and his family hailed from Aberdare (a town not far from Pontypridd, and also visited briefly in the book). Did that influence my opinion of the book? Nah. But it does make me wonder if my grandfather – or some of his kinsmen – attended one of the Buffalo Bill shows in the area.

Overlooked Films: Doc Acupuncture (2011)

When I was in high school, I was in a rock 'n' roll band (wasn't everybody?). Anyway, our bass player, a gent named Howie King, was a talented cartoonist. As proof that he's still crazy after all these years, Howie has started posting animated shorts on YouTube. He blames this one on me, owing to the fact that I introduced him to the music of Wylie and the Wild West. I accept - gladly - because this is one hell of a fine cartoon.

More film links, as usual, at SWEET FREEDOM.

A complete adventure: Dan Turner - Hollywood Detective in "Killer's Chord"

Almost every issue of Hollywood Detective featured a "Dan Turner in Pictures" comic book story by Robert Leslie Bellem and Adolphe Barreaux. "Killer's Chord" comes to you direct from the issue for June 1944.