I found this 3 pack of George O'Brien Western films during the Half Price Books coupon sale. It's one of those Warner Brothers Archive Collections, it's on DVDr. I hadn't recalled running across George before. He's fairly entertaining, he's a big guy with a pleasant personality. I put his other multi movie Warner Brothers Archive Collection on my wish list. It's got 9 movies for 30 bucks. Maybe if there's a sale soon I'll have it.
The Marshal Of Mesa City 1939 The movie was directed by David Howard and the screenplay is by Jack Lait Jr. David directed 46 films in his 11 year career. Many of them were Westerns, three of them are in this set. David died in 1941 at age 45. Jack wrote 7 films and died at 52.
George arrives outside Mesa City just in time to prevent the kidnapping of the local school teacher by the henchmen of the corrupt sheriff. She decided to leave after the sheriff hit on her too many times. He is creepy. Since the stage was damaged in the ruckus George takes the school teacher back to her boarding house. George finds the sheriff has his fingers into the local judge. The sheriff threatens George and George fights back. The sheriff's days are numbered and that school teacher is mighty pretty.
The movie has one of the weirdest shootouts. George and his deputy go up against the sheriff and a few of his henchmen, in the fog. That's George and his deputy on the right, they walk into the fog, you can see gun barrel flashes for a while. Then it's all over and the gang are dead and so is the deputy.
That's his grave. I liked that shot. The camera rises up to reveal the mayor, George and the school teacher paying their respects.
Legion Of The Lawless 1940 The screenplay is by Doris Schroeder and it's directed by David Howard. Doris wrote a bunch of films in her career and then she wrote a whole pile of Whitman Kids novels. I've read several and they were all pretty good.
George arrives in Ivestown to hang up his law talking guy shingle only to find that the town is in the hands of a vigilante committee. The head guy doesn't like the law and he tries to run George out of town. That goes south for him and George has to blast him down in the end. It's a nice tight story. I have to say these prints of the film are fairly decent. All three come on one disc. They're all short, 62, 60, and 68 minutes.
Triple Justice 1940 It's directed by David Howard and the screenplay was written by Arthur V Jones and Morton Grant, the story was by Arnold Belgard and Jack Roberts.
George goes to Star City to be best man at his pal's wedding. He winds up getting mixed up with a bank robbery. There's plenty of Western action and a bit of romance.
All the movies were entertaining and I'd certainly watch them again.
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