 (Courtesy of Ed Tabor) Pointing the way to more nefarious deeds is Yakima Canutt, a fixture in the Lone Star/ Monogram films of John Wayne as both stuntman and supporting player. A crop/blowup of the faces is shown below the lobby card - from left to right are Artie Ortego, Jay Wilsey (Buffalo Bill Jr.), Yakima Canutt, Herman Hack and Tex Phelps. Re-release lobby card from the Wayne 'NEATH THE ARIZONA SKIES (Lone Star/Monogram, 1934).  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Left to right are Edward Peil, Eleanor Hunt and Yakima Canutt in a scene from the John Wayne BLUE STEEL (Lone Star/Monogram, 1934). Peil was the brains heavy and Canutt was the "Polka Dot Bandit". Eleanor Hunt was a Ziegfeld girl and her biggest movie role was the leading lady to Eddie Cantor in WHOOPEE! (Samuel Goldwyn, 1930). She was married several times and her husbands included Rex Lease and producer George A. Hirliman.  (Courtesy of Les Adams) L-to-R are Al Hoxie, unidentified player, Yakima Canutt, Barney Beasley, Wally Wales, Sherry Tansey and Peggy Djarling in a scene from CARRYING THE MAIL (William Pizor/Imperial, 1934), one of the several two to three-reel (20 minutes to a half hour) oaters churned out by producer William Pizor in the mid-1930s. The Pizor/Imperial series marked the end of Wally Wales' starring career - a year or two later, he changed his name to Hal Taliaferro and became a prolific sidekick and supporting player in scores of A and B grade westerns and serials into the early 1950s.  (Courtesy of Jack Jones) L-to-R are Chuck Baldra, Jack Jones, Reb Russell (with drawstring shirt and horseshoes on the collar), then Jack Kirk, and on the far right is Yakima Canutt. And it looks like Reb is wearing Yak's gunbelt which has the light colored cartridge loops. From FIGHTING THROUGH (Willis Kent, 1934), Reb's second starring film.  (From Old Corral collection) L-to-R are John Wayne, Yakima Canutt and a young Dennis Moore (then being billed as Denny Meadows) in Wayne's THE DAWN RIDER (Lone Star/Monogram, 1935).  (Courtesy of Ed Tabor) Left to right in this screen capture are Yakima Canutt (as 'Snake'), Chief Standing Bear (as 'Chief Yellow Wolf') and George Chesebro (as 'Cherokee Charlie') from CYCLONE OF THE SADDLE (Weiss/Superior, 1935) which starred Rex Lease. Canutt is a no good working for Chesebro, and his weaponry is memorable - a pair of bullwhips. And he kills people by attaching a knife blade to the end of the whip and snapping it at his foe. |
