Best Western Movies of 1946

Beautiful half-breed Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself torn between her sons, one good and the other bad.

Jody convinces his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?

On a train trip West to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop.

Businessman Logan Stuart is torn between his love of two very different women in 1850s Oregon and his loyalty to a compulsive gambler friend who goes over the line.

Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her. To add to his troubles, the Virginian finds that his old pal Steve is mixed up with black-hatted Trampas and his rustlers...then finds himself at the head of a posse after said rustlers; and Molly hates the violent side of frontier life.

Marshall Dan Mitchell, who is the law in Abilene, has the job of keeping peace between two groups. For a long time, the town had been divided, with the cattlemen and cowboys having one end of town to themselves, while townspeople occupied the other end. Mitchell liked it this way, it made things easier for him, and kept problems from arising between the two factions. However…

Hoppy finds a wounded girl and later finds Judge Morton who claims the girl is his daughter and he is looking for her. But Hoppy soon learns the girl is looking for stolen gold she wants to return and the Judge in not her father but only wants the gold. Hoppy and the girl find the gold but the Judge and his men find Hoppy and the boys and trap them in a cabin.

A western bandit is reformed by his love for a little girl.

It's the start of WWII in Northern Australia. The Japanese are getting close. People are evacuating and burning everything in a "scorched earth" policy. Rather than kill all their cattle, a disparate group decides to drive them overland half way across the continent, from Wyndham in Western Australia through the Northern Territory outback of Australia to pastures north of Brisbane, Queensland.

Gabby doesn´t want to breed his horse the Golden Sovereign with Roy's. When Sovereign and Roy's horse escape, the Sovereign get shoot accidentally by Skoville but Roy is blamed and jailed. A year later Roy returns with Trigger, the son of the Sovereign. When Skoville reveals he was present when the horse was shot, Roy sees an opportunity to clear his name.

In this Roy Rogers entry, featuring a song written by Oklahoma Governor Roy J. Turner (making him and Lousiania's Jimmie Davis and Texas' W.E. "Pappy" O'Daniel possibly the only state governors to write songs used in a western), Flying U ranch owner Sam Talbot is killed by a fall from a horse. St. Louis reporter Connie Edwards comes to check a rumor that he might have been murdered. She goes to Roy Rogers, editor of the local newspaper, and he takes her to the reading of Talbot's will. The ranch is left to Talbot's 12-year-old ward, Duke Lowery, much to the dismay of Talbot's niece, Jan Holloway. After some attempts on Duke's life, Roy finally proves that Jan, Steve McClory and coroner Jim Judnick had Talbot killed and are conspiring to do the same for Duke, making Jan the last heir.

Newcomer Monte Hale is tying to just get a job in western films when he meet young Danny McCoy and his sister Gloria. Danny is trying to get his horse, "Pardner" into films. Monte sings a song and "Pardner" does some tricks and a casting director notices. Monte gets a singing-cowboy role and the horse gets a bit, but there is an accidental explosion, engineered by western star Rod Mason, who is jealous of Monte, and the horse is badly scared and blows his lines.

Clint Barkley first sees Smoky as a runaway, and drives him back to the ranch where he meets the owner, Julie Richards. He is given a job on her ranch, but the head cowhand is doubtful about Clint and fears that since he refuses to talk about himself, he must have some dreadful secret in his past. Clint and Smoky become close to each other, weathering the hardships of Western life and the suspicions of others together, until one day, Smoky tragically vanishes. Will Clint ever see him again?

To get the Delaney ranch Cole's henchman Anders has started a phony range war between the cattlemen and sheepmen. After killing Delaney, he tries to kill his daughter Jill and then Roy who was sent to investigate the war. But the failed attempts gives Roy the information he needs.

After some gun play with a posse, the James Gang head for Quinto in a section of land which is not a part of America. Anyone there is beyond the law so the town is populated with outlaws. Next to arrive is Sheriff Rowley, following his brother whom the Gang have brought in injured. Rowley has no authority and gets on well enough with the James boys but is soon involved in other local goings-on, including a move to vote for annexation with Oklahoma which would allow the law well and truly in.

An elderly rodeo rider, his young grandson and their injured horse help transform the lives of various citizens in a small town. Released in 1946.

Roy Rogers, a Nevada State Ranger Captain in charge of the Rangers Reclamation Service, makes a trip to Las Vegas for the annual Heldorado Frontier Days Festival, as he wants to help his old friend Gabby Whittaker who originated the idea (at least, in this film).In Las Vegas, Roy meets heiress Carol Randall, who has been selected as the Queen of the Heldorado. Roy is informed that the F.B.I. wants an immediate investigation of the counterfeit thousand dollar bills that are being passed over the gambling tables at the casino.

Eddie Dean is a Cattlemen's Association agent investigating a serious rash of rustlings along with sidekicks Soapy (Roscoe Ates) and Waco (Lee Bennett. The latter bears a striking resemblance to Lawrence ranch foreman Bert Ford (also Bennett), who has been the target of several assassination attempts. Rancher Lawrence (Lee Roberts) and Eddie decide that Waco shall impersonate Ford, who is hiding out in a hotel room.

Dashing Johnny Barrett has a secret identity: Spanish Jack, the masked bandit. Always one step ahead of the law, Barrett effortlessly balances his double life--robbing by night, romancing by day and always with a smile. But when the woman he loves begins to suspect him and the young man he befriends is arrested for being him, it's time for Johnny to rethink his priorities.

A gang of swindlers takes advantage of simple-minded Fuzzy Jones.....

Lambert has the stagecoach wrecked killing the Commissioner so his phony replacement can alter Coonskin's land survey. When Red Ryder exposes the survey hoax, Lambert has his stooge Sheriff put Red in jail.

In this western, Red Ryder rounds up a gang of horse thieves who have been stealing cavalry horses.

Rodeo star Roy Rogers returns home to find that his old friend Tom Craig has been murdered after he was accused of stealing a family crest from Helen Williams. Helen joins up with Roy and Gabby Whittaker to find the killers and the crest.

Roy Rogers rides to the rescue when a bank robber's orphaned son (Tommy Cook), who is living at a ranch for homeless boys run by Gabby Whittaker (George "Gabby" Hayes), attracts the attention his father's rowdy gang, who want to claim the boy's inheritance for themselves

A dance hall girl is murdered and her body robbed of a quantity of gold obtained illegally. The killer flees into Death Valley and encounters the rightful owner of the gold and her sweetheart.

Canadian Mountie investigates a murder posing as a criminal.

A young outlaw gets involved with a gang of crooks. When he tells them he is breaking away, they threaten to pin a false murder charge on him. But he is rescued and reformed by his sister, and an undercover agent for the express company.

A honest stranger arrives in Devil's Gap and helps the local sheriff expose the murderer of a rancher.

A special agent hunts a female outlaw out West.

The daughter of a prominent citizen marries an outlaw's son.

The Caravan Trail stars PRC Pictures' resident singing cowboy Eddie Dean. This time around, wagonmaster Dean is appointed sheriff of a lawless frontier territory. Immediately getting down to business, our hero goes after a band of land-grabbing outlaws who've been terrorizing the homesteaders. The film is stolen hands down by supporting play Al LaRue, who as "Lash" LaRue would eventually be awarded a western series of his own. Like most of Eddie Dean's 1946 releases, The Caravan Trail was lensed in the two-hued Cinecolor process. Read more at http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-caravan-trail-v8165#ome2SWX8mH31k9yd.99

In this Western, an outlaw tries to escape from a gang of robbers after they refuse to assist a gang member wounded during a stagecoach caper. He and the wounded outlaw leave and try to steal a stagecoach as their ex-gang robs it. The sheriff's daughter observes the incident. Believing that the two outlaws were trying to save the stage, she takes them into town where the "heroes" are given jobs working for the stage.

In this western, a cowpoke gets in an argument; a scuffle ensues leaving the cowboy to believe that he killed his opponent. He is so wracked with guilt that he travels to the ranch of the dead man's sister, gives himself a new name and begins helping her. Rustlers come; he stops them. Trouble ensues after she learns his true identity. A scuffle ensues. She wings him with a gun; he disarms her. Later she hears the real murderer bragging about his crime during a fight with the hero.

Starring Ken Curtis and the hayseed singing group the Hoosier Hot Shots, this musical Western is really Lady for a Day with a switch in gender. Rotund Guy Kibbee is Dusty Nelson, the handyman at the Bar B dude ranch, whose daughter Susan is arriving with her socialite fiancee, Jerome Winston. Susan believes her father owns the ranch, and to spare Dusty any embarrassment, the Hot Shots, ranch manager Curt Durant and sidekick Big Boy Stover agree to continue the deception.

In one of his better Monogram Westerns, Johnny Mack Brown goes up against a crooked saloon owner with more than one murder on his conscience. Steve Corbin (Tristram Coffin) and his gang of cutthroats are terrorizing the townspeople of Rimrock, who in self-defense hire Johnny Macklin (Mack Brown) as new town marshal.

Texas Ranger Sunset Carson is given the mission of tracking down the notorious Marshall gang. Uncovering their hideout, he discovers the gang is led by Ann Marshall and is comprised of three of her ranch-hands, Dakota, PeeWee and Buckskin. He soon learns that they are the innocent victims of a ring of swindlers and cattle rustlers led by the ruthless Matt Conroy.

Returning G.I. Curt Norton (Ken Curtis), owner of a radio station, finds his father Amos (Guy Kibbee) has allowed the station to run down and has squandered Curt's money in bad investments in war-surplus material. Eddie Jackson (Robert Kellard), who owns the rival station, is also attracted to Curt's sweetheart Jean White (Joan Barton). When Curt and the Hoosier Hotshots successfully stage an auction to raise money, Eddie hires Mimi Carston (Claudia Drake) to claim that Curt married her in France.

Sunset Carson, ace driver for the Harding Stagecoach Line, persuades his boss Frank Harding (Edmund Cobb) to hire his brother, Jeff (Bob Steele), recently released from the penitentiary. Sunset isn't aware that Jeff owes his release to Marc Redmond (Tristram Coffin), owner of the rival line, and that Redmond is forcing Jeff to give him advance information when the Harding stages are carrying valuable shipments, so that his henchmen can rob the stage and force Harding out of business.

A cowboy sets out to break up a gang of rustlers.

Postal Inspectors Carson and Underwood have been sent to investigate a series of robberies where both the driver and stagecoach disappear. They team up with Pinkerton agent Bennett who has found some of the stolen money in the possession of Stevens.

Rancher "Utah" Neyes crosses the border into Canada to meet his partner, only to find that the latter has been murdered by a gang led by "Nails" Nelson. "Utah", with the aid of RCMP Jack Craig and fur-trapper Ivy Jenkins, manages to clear his own name of suspicion and also break up Nelson's fur-stealing and smuggling racket.

Redwood Valley residents raise $50,000 for blasting a mountain tunnel to bring a new railroad there. Town leader Bidwell engineers a plot to steal the money and to blame it on the Reno Kid (Bob Steele) who has recently broken out of prison in order to clear himself of false charges that sent him there and caused him to lose his ranch. The badly-wounded sheriff turns his badge over to Red Ryder. Reno visits his wife, Molly and their ailing son Johnny, and Red, also wounded, is brought there by Little Beaver. There, Red begins to believe Reno's story about being innocent. Written by Les Adams

California Gold Rush is set in 1849. Ryder heads to Sutter's Mill, where he must contend with claim-jumping and treachery.

Johnny Mack Brown dons a marshal's badge in the Monogram western Border Bandits. Brown's sworn duty is to bring in a gang of crooks whose hideout is on the other side of the Mexican border. Aiding Brown in his task are faithful sidekicks Raymond Hatton and Riley Hill. For reasons unknown, Brown is allowed to sing on occasion, despite the indifference of millions. Border Bandits benefits from the assured direction of veteran horse-opera helmsman Lambert Hillyer. Read more at http://www.allmovie.com/movie/border-bandits-v6698#KZjtZou6qvrzIxzI.99

A Hollywood scout (Lynne Roberts) averts disaster for a singing cowboy (Gene Autry) she has misled.

Government agents Ted Everett and Tumbleweed are sent to Spearville, Texas, where the law agencies have failed to stop a series of bank robberies. Arriving incognito, they become involved with the gang, and end up being accused of murdering banker Bartlet Mellon. They escape a lynch mob and return with evidence that Mellon has faked his death, hoping to gain the insurance, and is also leading the gang under another name.

When Sheriff Jeff Connor of Powder River cannot stop the crime wave, his young son, Larry, writes to the Durango Kid for aid. Taggart, the saloon owner, is the secret head of the outlaws, while Connor's brother Bill is in cahoots with him. Steve Randall, the Durango Kid, and his pal, Smiley Butterbean, arrive in time to stop a stagecoach holdup, and Steve is made a deputy sheriff. Taggart has one of his men, Slade, pose as the Durango Kid and while he is speaking to the townspeople, the rest of the outlaw gang pillages the town, and this somewhat damages the Durango Kid in the eyes of Larry and his sister Doris. Steve suggests that Sheriff Connor visit the government about a railroad project, and Taggart instructs Slade and the gang leader to kill Connor on his trip back.

Dusty Smith arrives and takes a job on a ranch that is losing cattle to rustlers. When the rustlers strike again the cattle cannot be found but Dusty shoots one of the rustlers. Arrested for murder, Dusty is broken out of jail and the real outlaws put in the cell. Dusty then has them released figuring they will lead him to the hideout and the missing cattle.

The Duchess, the aunt of Red Ryder, comes to town to protect her property. Crawford, a town big-shot behind an outlaw gang, tries to prevent her from reaching her destination, but the attack is thwarted by Red. The latter is made town marshal, and when he gets too close to the truth and is making it too hot for the Crawford faction, Crawford has his henchman Luke kidnap Red's Indian friend Little Beaver.