The Film Detective

A John Wayne classic! One of the last pictures legendary American Western star John Wayne made for Lone Star/Monogram Pictures, The Desert Trail is a rare glimpse into The Duke's unexpected penchant for slapstick comedy. As dim-witted rodeo star John Scott, Wayne flexes his comedic muscles, as his character and his gambler friend Kansas Charlie (Eddy Chandler, The Roaring Twenties) flee their town after being wrongfully accused of armed robbery. Hilarity ensues as they assume new identities...

Buster Crabbe swings into action in one of his earliest roles. Tarzan the Fearless was originally a 12 chapter serial from Sol Lesser Productions, a company known for its westerns and jungle titles. Director Robert F. Hill would go on to direct Crabbe in Flash Gordon (1936), but Crabbe's career really kicked off with this jungle adventure. The former Olympic swimming champion had previously auditioned and failed to get the role of Tarzan, but after appearing in a Tarzan knockoff called King of...

Buster Keaton is still trying to get the girl in this classy comedy from 1927. This time he's playing a bookish fellow who takes up sports in order to impress his sweetheart (Anne Cornwall). Baseball buffs will notice legendary Detroit Tiger outfielder Sam Crawford as a coach in one of the film's funniest scenes. Keaton, a real life baseball fanatic, causes as much mayhem on the ballfield as you can imagine! According to film lore, Buster actually directed this feature, which was filmed...

Tim McCoy, one of the unsung heroes of 1930s western pictures, stars in a dual role. First, he's 'Slim' Braddock, a miner who turns to robbing stagecoaches after being swindled by a banker. When Slim is murdered, his son Tim, also played by McCoy, seeks vengeance. Directed by B-movie legend Sam Newfield for Excelsior Pictures, this film is a showcase for McCoy, who appeared in more than 90 movies and in 1960 earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and Doc Holliday ride again in Howard Hughes' epic 1943 western, but the character you'll remember most is sultry country vixen Rio McDonald. Hughes' nationwide search for an actress to play Rio resulted in the film debut of Jane Russell, whose natural assets were allegedly helped by a special bra designed by Hughes. When The Outlaw finally received a nationwide release in 1946, its success vindicated Hughes and made Russell a star. As for Hughes' infamous bra,...

From the invasion of North Africa to the fall of Tunis! This captivating documentary is part of a series containing original archive footage filmed under actual battle conditions by service and newsreel cameramen attached to American, British, French, Russian and enemy forces. Directors Frank Capra, Hugh Stewart, and John Huston were involved in patching this movie together, utilizing the familiar voices of Burges Meredith, Leo Gann, and Winston Churchill. Also, look for footage of Dwight D....

Written and directed by a 24-year-old Francis Ford Coppola, Dementia 13 centers on the dysfunctional Haloran family, who have converged at Haloran Castle to enact a morbid ritual in remembrance of Lady Haloran's (Ethne Dunn) deceased daughter, Kathleen (Barbara Dowling). Secrets shroud Kathleen's demise, and soon there is a mysterious interloper prowling the grounds with a big axe to grind. Genuinely engaging and well-photographed, Dementia 13 is a bone-chilling horror classic sure to thrill...

Based on the story "Triple Cross for Danger" by the widely lauded Western author Walter J. Coburn, Fighting Fury is a thrilling take on the Western revenge drama. Portraying both a father and his son, star of silent and sound cowboy adventure films, Jack Hoxie (Trouble Busters, Law and Lawless) exudes the classic American rustic charm that still defines the genre. The film spins the yarn of Clay Hill Jr. (Hoxie), a Spanish-American boy raised by a Mexican servant who vows bloody vengeance on...

Hard-hitting cowboy star Tim McCoy appears as "Gentleman" Tim Madigan, a legendary card sharp who uses his skills at the gaming table to help a Mexican family keep their ranch. There's plenty of action and intrigue in this modestly budgeted western from Puritan Pictures, capably dished out by prolific director Sam Newfield (The Terror of Tiny Town). For those who take their western action straight, you'll be glad to know there's no singing in this one. It's just Gentleman Tim dealing a death...

This "bold, daring and frank" exploitation film features famed conjoined twins, the vaudeville sensations Violet and Daisy Hilton, portraying fictionalized versions of themselves in a narrative that reflects their tragic and unfortunate lives. Used and mistreated by their craven manager, the Siamese twins find themselves in trouble with the law when one of them murders a duplicitous scamp after he jilts her sister following a devastating sham marriage. Equal parts compelling and heartbreaking,...

Night of the Living Dead opens with chaos- the brains of the recently deceased have become mysteriously reanimated, causing the dead to rise and feed on human flesh. While visiting their father's grave, Barbra (Judith O'Dea) and her brother Johnny (Russell Streiner) are attacked by a strange shuffling man. Barbra runs into a farmhouse where she encounters Ben (Duane Jones), and they must find a way to save themselves from the horde of zombies approaching the house. George Romero's Night of the...

Be happy and go wacky! The classic fairy tale gets a comical workover from comedy legends Abbott and Costello! Lou plays Jack, while former heavyweight boxer Buddy Baer plays the giant who lives in the sky. Meanwhile, renowned voice artist Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny!) lends his familiar sound to various animals in the story. There's even a talking harp! This is one film that will make you think twice the next time someone offers you some magic beans...