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"George O'Brien Series ... Cowboy Millionaire (1935) ... Fox

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 07/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Fox Films presents "COWBOY MILLIONAIRE" (25 April 1935) (65 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- George O'Brien was an American actor, popular during the silent film era and into the talkie era of the 1930s, best known today as the lead actor in F. W. Murnau's 1927 film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans --- American leading man of classic silent films who became a different kind of star in B-Western talkies --- The son of a policeman who later became police chief of San Francisco and then California Director of Penology, O'Brien was raised around police stables and quickly became adept at horsemanship --- He was a star athlete in school and intended to study medicine, but with the advent of World War I, he joined the Navy and volunteered to serve as a stretcher-bearer with the Marines.

Following his discharge, a chance encounter with Tom Mix led to a job as camera assistant with Mix's production company --- O'Brien takes on small jobs as a prop man, extra, stunt man, and finally bit player --- John Ford spotted the husky young man and cast him in the lead role of his early Western The Iron Horse (1924) --- He continued to work for Ford and became a popular leading man for a number of top-flight directors --- With the coming of sound, he moved almost exclusively into Westerns and became a popular star of low-budget oaters --- George remained popular until sound came along --- By that time, his popularity was sliding, but he did make the transition to sound --- With his rugged looks and physical size, he was soon a Western Cowboy Star --- He was in some of the best stories ever written, Riders of the Purple Sage (1931),

George O'Brien became a popular star of Westerns and rarely took parts outside of the Western film genre --- Throughout the 1930s, O'Brien was a consistent Top Ten box-office draw appearing in scores of Westerns, often atop his horse named Mike.

Under the production staff of:
Edward F. Cline - Director
Daniel Jarrett - Story
George Waggner - Screenwriter
Sol Lesser - Producer
Frank B. Good - Cinematographer
W. Donn Hayes - Film Editor

Our story line and plot, Bob Walker (George O'Brien) and Willy 'Persimmon' Bates (Edgar Kennedy) have a job on a dude ranch is to fake a stage holdup for new arrivals --- When the trio of Pamela (Evalyn Bostock), Henrietta (Maude Allen) and Hadley (Alden 'Stephen' Chase) arrive from England, Bob takes an interest in Pamela while Hadley makes plans to con Bob and Persimmon out of their gold mine --- What lies before our heroes is in the final reel of action.

the cast includes
George O'Brien ... Bob Walker
Evalyn Bostock ... Pamela Barclay
Edgar Kennedy ... Willy 'Persimmon' Bates
Maude Allen ... Henrietta Barclay
Alden 'Stephen' Chase ... Hadley Thornton (as Alden Chase)
Daniel Jarrett ... Edward Doyle (as Dan Jarrett)
Lloyd Ingraham ... Ben Barclay
Dean Benton ... Desk Clerk
Thomas A. Curran ... Mr. Nolan, Hotel Manager

BIOS:
1. George O'Brien
Date of Birth: 19 April 1899 - San Francisco, California
Date of Death: 4 September 1985 - Tulsa, Oklahoma

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western features by George O'Brien:

GEORGE O'BRIEN WESTERN FEATURES FROM SINISTER CINEMA:
1. RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE (1931, Fox) SKU: W552
2. MYSTERY RANCH (1932, Reliable) SKU: W248
3. SMOKE LIGHTNING (1933, Fox) SKU: W599
4. THE DUDE RANGER (1934, Atherton) SKU: W202
5. THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1935, Fox) SKU: W415
6. COWBOY MILLIONAIRE (1935, Atherton) SKU: W255
7. WHEN A MAN'S A MAN (1935, Atherton) SKU: W190
8. DANIEL BOONE (1936, RKO) SKU: W190
9. HOLLYWOOD COWBOY (1937, RKO) SKU: W505
10.LAWLESS VALLEY (1938, Principal) SKU: W610

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Buck Rainey (The Life & Films of Buck Jones) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- If you're into the memories of B-Westerns with high drama, this is the one you've been anxiously waiting for --- please stand up and take a bow Western Classics --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 65 min on DVD ~ Fox Films ~ (07/31/2007)"