4/5 "Range Busters Series ... Fugitive Valley (1941) ... Monogram"
  by J. Lovins (Missouri-USA)
Monogram Pictures presents "FUGITIVE VALLEY" (30 July 1941) (61 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- With the success of Republic's Three Mesquiteers, several forces came together around 1940 to develop a new 'trigger trio' for the screen --- The star was Ray 'Crash' Corrigan, a producer named George W. Weeks and Monogram Pictures --- With a character of his own name. Ray starred in 20 of the 24 films in this series between 1940 and 1943 --- The Range Busters was clearly a lower budget copy of the Mesquiteers --- Big, muscular Ray 'Crash' Corrigan was the lead, the second lead was John 'Dusty' King, a big band singer (Ben Bernie Orchestra) with a reasonably good baritone, who would vocalize a tune or two in each film --- And comic relief was in the hands of ventriloquist Max 'Alibi' Terhune (and his wise-cracking dummy Elmer --- Monogram would distribute the Range Busters but not be directly involved in the productions --- The deal gave Corrigan a substantial share of the film profits (in an interview years later, Ray said he received 50%).

Under the production staff of:
R. Finkel - Director
Roy S. Luby - Director
John Vlamos - Director
George W. Weeks - Producer
Oliver Drake - Screenwriter
John Vlahos - Screenwriter
Robert C. Cline - Cinematographer
Frank Sanucci - Composer (Music Score)
Roy Claire - Editor

Our story line and plot, Our heroes Ray "Crash" Corrigan (Himself), Dusty (John King) and Alibi (Max Terhune) members of the Range Busters are infiltrating a notorious gang of criminals in an attempt to break it up and determine the identity of their elusive leader --- Lawmen are waiting on the outside to move in if the trio succeeds, but suspicions soon begin to mount. Meanwhile, the daughter of Fugitive Valley's doctor seems to be involved in her own secret activities. It's an interesting combination of circumstances --- This film features some musical numbers, including "Riding Along," "My Little Prairie Annie," and "Chisholm Trail." --- Watch for some of my favorite character actor villains Bob Kortman and Glenn Strange --- also appearing in this film is the best of the best B-Western actors Tom London, He played heavies and comical roles with equal skill and became, throughout the Thirties and Forties, a familiar face low-budget pictures --- London played the comic sidekick to Western star Sunset Carson in a number of B-Westerns and continued to play character roles until his death --- London is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for having appeared in more films than any other actor (into the thousands).

the cast includes:
Ray Corrigan ... Crash Corrigan
John 'Dusty' King ... Dusty King
Max Terhune ... Alibi / The Professor
Elmer ... Elmer, Alibi's Dummy
Julie Duncan ... Ann Savage
Glenn Strange ... Gray
Bob Kortman ... Red Langdon
Ed Brady ... Dr. Steve
Tom London ... Sheriff Warren
Reed Howes ... Jim Brandon
Carl Mathews ... Henchman Slick
Edward Peil Sr. ... Ed (jailer)
Doye O'Dell ... Jim - Whip rider

BIOS:
1. Ray 'Crash' Corrigan (aka: Raymond Benard)
Date of Birth: 14 February 1902 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date of Death: 10 August 1976 - Brookings Harbor, Oregon

2. John 'Dusty' King (aka: Miller McLeod Everson)
Date of Birth: 11 July 1909 - Cincinnati, Ohio
Date of Death: 11 November 1987 - San Diego, California

3. Max Terhune
Date of Birth: 12 February 1891 - Anderson, Indiana
Date of Death: 5 June 1973 - Los Angeles, California

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western double features --- Ask Amazon.Com to carry the volumes as they are not available on Amazon as of yet --- you can order and pick up your copy now from VCI Entertainment

RANGE BUSTERS WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURE FROM VCI ENTERTAINMENT
VOL 1 -- WRANGLER'S ROOST & SADDLE MOUNTAIN ROUNDUP - (VCI #7243)
VOL.2 -- FUGITIVE VALLEY & THE KID'S LAST RIDE - (VCI #7349)

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) 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 --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 61 min on VHS/DVD ~ Monogram Pictures ~ (10/26/2004)