''Covered Wagon Trails'' is a 1940 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Raymond K. Johnson, starring Jack Randall, Sally Cairns and

Lafe McKee Lafayette S. "Lafe" McKee (January 23, 1872 – August 10, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in more than 400 films from 1912 to 1948. Career McKee began working in show business in 1893. Part of his career was spent with Art Mix Pro ...

Plot

When Jack Cameron's brother, Ed, is killed on his way to meet his brother who is arriving with a wagon train, Jack sets out to find his murderers. As part of his plan, he allows himself to be captured by Fletcher and his gang of outlaws. He uncovers that it was Fletcher who killed his brother, in order to plunder the wagon train. While he is on the murderers' trail, he meets Carol Bradford, the daughter of the wagon train's leader, John Bradford. The two fall in love. In the end, Jack brings the murderers to justice and Jack ends up with Carol.

Cast

* Jack Randall as Jack Cameron * Sally Cairns as Carol Bradford *

as John Bradford * David Sharpe as Ed Cameron *

Budd Buster Budd Leland Buster (June 14, 1891 – December 22, 1965), was an American actor known for B western films. He was sometimes credited as Bud Buster, and as George Selk in his later work. Early life Buster was born either Budd Leland Buster or ...

as Manny *

Glenn Strange George Glenn Strange (August 16, 1899 – September 20, 1973) was an American actor who appeared in hundreds of Western (genre), Western films. He played Sam Noonan, the bartender on Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS's ''Gunsmoke'' televisio ...

as Fletcher *

Kenne Duncan Kenne Duncan (February 17, 1903 – February 5, 1972) was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor. Hyped professionally as "The Meanest Man in the Movies," the vast majority of his over 250 appearances on camera were Westerns, but ...

as Blaine *

George Chesebro George Newell Chesebro (July 29, 1888 – May 28, 1959) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1915 and 1954. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and died in Los Angeles, California. Partial filmography * ''Mi ...

as Carter *

Carl Mathews Carl Mathews (February 19, 1903 – May 3, 1959), also sometimes credited as Carl Matthews, was an American character actor and stuntman of the 1930s through 1950s. Born on February 19, 1903, in Oklahoma, his first film role would be in '' Rough ...

as Nixon *

Jimmy Aubrey Jimmy Aubrey (23 October 1887 – 2 September 1983) was an English actor who worked with both Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, having gone with Fred Karno's theatrical company to America in 1908. However he left to start on his own in va ...

as Denton * Frank Ellis as Allen * John Elliott as Beaumont *

Tex Terry Edward Earl Terry (August 22, 1902 – May 18, 1985), known professionally as Tex Terry, was an American film actor who often played a henchman in B-movie Westerns during the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Terry was born in Coxville, Indiana. In 1 ...

as Ogden *

Hank Bell Hank Bell (January 21, 1892 – February 4, 1950) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 370 films between 1920 and 1950. He was born in Los Angeles, California, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart attack A ...

as Sheriff

Production

In early March 1940 it was announced that Sally Cairns was to be the leading lady in the film. She joined a cast which already included Jack Randall, in the male leading role,

Steve Clark Stephen Maynard Clark (23 April 1960 – 8 January 1991) was an English musician. He was a guitarist and songwriter for the hard rock band Def Leppard until his death in 1991. In 2007, Clark was ranked No. 11 on ''Classic Rock Magazine's'' "1 ...

, John Elliott,

, and Dave Sharpe. Raymond K. Johnson was set to direct under the producing supervision of

Harry S. Webb Harry S. Webb (October 15, 1892 – July 4, 1959) was an American film producer, director and screenwriter. He produced 100 films between 1924 and 1940. He also directed 55 films between 1924 and 1940. He was the brother of "B"-film producer ...

. Production began in the last week of February, and was scheduled for release on April 10, opening on time. Production on the film was finished by March 9. The

National Legion of Decency The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was an American Catholic group founded in 1934 by the Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content i ...

gave the film a rating of A-1, "Unobjectionable for general patronage".

Reception

Showmen's Trade Review ''Showmen's Trade Review'' was a weekly trade magazine for exhibitors and distributors of motion pictures published by Charles E. "Chick" Lewis (February 6, 1896 - October 22, 1953) out of offices in New York City. History and profile The firs ...

'' gave the picture a positive review, feeling it was well-paced and would hold the interest of the audience throughout the show. They applauded the acting of Randall, as well as the editing of

Robert Golden Robert Golden (born September 13, 1990) is a former American football safety. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He played college football at the University of Arizona. Robert is the founder of Golden C ...

. ''

The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informati ...

'' gave the film a mediocre review, saying it was simple routine

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

fare, and the direction and cinematography were simply okay.

References

Bibliography

* Pitts, Michael R. ''Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films''. McFarland, 2012.

External links

* {{Raymond K. Johnson 1940 films 1940 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films American Western (genre) films 1940s English-language films Monogram Pictures films Films directed by Raymond K. Johnson 1940s American films English-language Western (genre) films Films scored by Frank Sanucci