George Montgomery

Acting

George Montgomery

Born 1916-08-29 · Brady, Montana, USA

George Montgomery was boxing champion at the University of Montana, where he majored in architecture and interior design. Dropping out a year later, he decided to take up boxing more seriously, and moved to California, where he was coached by ex-heavyweight world champion James J. Jeffries. While in Hollywood, he came to the attention of the studios (not least, because he was an expert rider) and was hired as a stuntman in 1935. After doing this for four years, George was offered a contract at 20th Century Fox in 1939, but found himself largely confined to leads in B-westerns. He did not secure a part in anything even remotely like a prestige picture, until his co-starring role in Roxie Hart (1942), opposite Ginger Rogers. Next, in Orchestra Wives (1942), he played the perfunctory love interest for Ann Rutherford -- though both, inevitably, ended up playing second trombone to Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. In 1947, George got his first serious break, being cast as Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe, in The Brasher Doubloon (1947). Reviewers, however, compared his performance unfavourably with that of Humphrey Bogart and found the film 'pallid' overall. So it was back to the saddle for George. Unable to shake his image as a cowboy actor, he starred in scores of films with titles like Belle Starr's Daughter (1948), Dakota Lil (1950), Jack McCall Desperado (1953) and Masterson of Kansas (1954) at Columbia, and for producer Edward Small at United Artists. When not cleaning up the Wild West with his six-shooter, he branched out into adventure films set in exotic locales (notably as Harry Quartermain in Watusi (1959)). During the 60's, he also wrote, directed and starred in several long-forgotten, low-budget wartime potboilers made in the Philippines. At the height of his popularity, George attracted as much publicity for his acting, as for his liaisons with glamorous stars, like Ginger Rogers, Hedy Lamarr (to whom he was briefly engaged) and singer Dinah Shore (whom he married in 1943). After his retirement from the film business, he devoted himself to his love of painting, furniture-making and sculpting bronze busts, including one of his close friend Ronald Reagan.

Acting credits

Battle of the Bulge poster
6.9

In the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New Year. To prevent it, Hitler orders an all-out offensive to re-take French territory and capture the major port city of Antwerp.

Battle of the Bulge

1965

China Girl poster
5.4

Two-fisted newsreel photographer Johnny Williams is stationed in Burma and China in the early stage of WW II. Captured by the Japanese, he escapes from a concentration camp with the aid of beautiful, enigmatic 'China Girl' Miss Young. The two arduously make their way back to friendly lines so that Johnny can deliver the vital military information he's managed to glean from his captors.

China Girl

1942

Roxie Hart poster
7.0

A café in Chicago, 1942. On a rainy night, veteran reporter Homer Howard tells an increasing audience the story of Roxie Hart and the crime she was judged for in 1927.

Roxie Hart

1942

The Texas Rangers poster
6.1

It's 1874 and the Texas Rangers have been reorganized. But Sam Bass has assembled a group of notorious outlaws into a gang the Rangers are unable to cope with. So the Ranger Major releases two men from prison who are familiar with the movements and locations used by Bass and his men and sends them out to find him.

The Texas Rangers

1951

Battle of Rogue River poster
6.0

In 1850 Oregon is trying to gain statehood, but a truce is needed with the Indians before it can be accomplished. A new Army commander, Major Archer, is dispatched to bring order and peace to the territory.

Battle of Rogue River

1954

Wild Wind poster
4.5

August 1943, Europe. The tentacles of the German octopus have begun to recoil. As the Nazis retreat, their concern focuses on the supply of oil from the refineries of Romania. Without the flow of "black gold", Germany's doom is sealed. Armadas of American bombers from bases in North Africa have begun to assault Pioesti - and there is another threat from the Partisans across the border of Yugoslavia. Against the tableau of spectacular events, the dramatic story of WILD WIND unfolds.

Wild Wind

1985

Lulu Belle poster
5.0

Lulu Belle is singing in a cheap dive in Natchez, Mississippi in the early 1900's when she meets rising young attorney George Davis. He gives up his fiancée and career to marry Lulu Bell. When his money runs out, Lulu Belle goes to work in a New Orleans club run by tough gambler Mark Brady. She tries to send George back to Natchez by pretending that she has fallen for prize-fighter Butch Cooper but George, in a fit of jealousy, drives a handful of forks into Butch's face. He is sent to prison and Lulu goes to New York with millionaire Harry Randolph, who makes her the singing sensation of Broadway and asks her to marry him. She refuses when she learns that George has been released from prison, realizing that he is the only man she ever truly loved.

Lulu Belle

1948

Army Girl poster
6.8

A young captain hoping to replace the U.S. Army's horses with mechanized vehicles faces court-martial after his commanding officer, who's opposed to modern changes, is killed.

Army Girl

1938

Cripple Creek poster
6.0

It's 1893 and gold is being smuggled out of the country. Instead of stealing gold bars, the outlaws are stealing high grade ore, having it smelted, and then having it plated to look like lead. The Government sends agents Bret and Larry who arrive in Cripple Creek posing as Texas gunfighters. Bret finds the smelting operation and Larry learns of the payoff. But the crooked town Marshal is suspicious of the two men and the reply of his inquiry to Texas exposes them putting their lives in danger.

Cripple Creek

1952

Claire poster
7.0

A doctor's second wife is tormented by the presence of his pet cat, which reminds her of the fact that she was involved in her husband's first wife's drowning.

Claire

1956

The Lone Gun poster
5.6

Cruze arrives in town and when he stands up to the three Moran brothers, he gets appointed Marshal. First the brothers kill a rancher while framing another man. But when the jailer is murdered, Cruze gets evidence the Morans did it. He tries to raise a posse to chase them down but the townsmen refuse to go. So he rides off by himself to face the three of them.

The Lone Gun

1954

Fort Ti poster
7.0

Set in the 18th century, the film recounts the exploits of Rogers' Rangers, a band of adventurers devoted to seeking out a "northwest passage" through Canada. At this juncture, however, Major Rogers is more concerned with helping the British forces at Fort Ticonderoga during a series of French and Indian raids. Fort Ti was filmed in 3D, and in typical William Castle fashion the stereoscopic gimmick is exploited to the hilt.

Fort Ti

1953

When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion poster
NR

Some of TV and film's popular western actors reunite in this tribute special hosted by Glenn Ford.

When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion

1979

Samar poster
7.0

In 1870, in the Spanish Philippines, the commandant of an island penal colony, aided by an American doctor and local villagers, decides to relocate his coastal camp to a fertile valley inland but the arduous trek is fraught with dangers.

Samar

1962

Robbers' Roost poster
5.9

Jim "Tex" Wall, searching for the last of the three men who raped and killed his wife, joins a gang of cattle rustlers led by Hank Hays. Both Hays' outlaws and a rival gang headed by Heesman, have been hired as ranch hands by "Bull" Herrick, a cripple who owns a large cattle ranch and wants to get his large herd to market. He theorizes that the two gangs will be kept busy watching each other and neither will rustle his cattle. Helen has little faith in her brother's contrived plan, and hates and distrusts both groups. She begins to soften toward Jim, but abruptly changes when she sees a reward poster which says he has killed two men.

Robbers' Roost

1955

Young People poster
5.3

Wendy Ballantine's parents decide to retire from show biz so she can have a normal life. They are unwelcome in the small town until a storm lets the family show their stuff.

Young People

1940

The Night Riders poster
5.8

Talbot uses a phony land grant to rule thirteen million acres, taxing everyone heavily and evicting those who won't pay. The Three Mesquiteers becomes mysterious "night riders" to fight this evil.

The Night Riders

1939

Jennie poster
10.0

A happy girl marries into the family of a stern shoemaker and leads a mutiny.

Jennie

1940

Huk! poster
5.2

After 14 years in the United States, Greg Dickson returns to his family's plantation in the Philippines to settle his slain father's estate. Boyhood friend Bart Rogers and his wife Cindy meet Greg's plane at Manila, but he dismisses their warnings about the marauding Huks, fanatic guerrillas who are plundering nearby plantations. They repulse a Huk attack on the way to the plantation and are met by Stephen Rogers, Bart's father and the village schoolteacher. With him is Philippine Army Major Balatbat who tells Greg that Kalak, leader of the Huks and murderer of Greg's father, is also after him.

Huk!

1956

Seminole Uprising poster
5.0

An angry Seminole chief wages war after his tribe is relocated from Florida to the American West.

Seminole Uprising

1955

Hostile Guns poster
5.6

US Marshal Gid McCool leads a wagon train of convicted felons to Huntsville prison. The only female among the crooks is the dancehall girl Laura Mannon, McCool's former flame. When McCool cannot be swayed from completing his lawful duty, Laura tries to endear herself to shotgun rider Mike Reno in hopes he will set her free.

Hostile Guns

1967

The Iroquois Trail poster
6.6

An American scout and his Indian friend help the English troops against the French during the French and Indian War.

The Iroquois Trail

1950

Gun Duel in Durango poster
5.6

A former outlaw must prove himself innocent after he's accused of bank robbery. Western.

Gun Duel in Durango

1957

The Lone Ranger poster
7.0

In 1865, Captain Mark Smith of the Confederate Army leads a band of deserters to conquer Texas and rule it as a dictator. In one of his first actions, he captures and assumes the identity of Texas' new Finance Commissioner, Colonel Marcus Jeffries, after having the real man murdered. When a contingent of Texas Rangers enters the territory, Snead, one of Smith's men, leads them into an ambush by Smith's "troopers". The Rangers are apparently wiped out, although one injured survivor is left. The survivor, nursed back to health by Tonto, swears to avenge the massacre and defeat "Colonel Jeffries" and his men.

The Lone Ranger

1938

Behind the camera

Samar poster
7.0

In 1870, in the Spanish Philippines, the commandant of an island penal colony, aided by an American doctor and local villagers, decides to relocate his coastal camp to a fertile valley inland but the arduous trek is fraught with dangers.

Samar

1962

Samar poster
7.0

In 1870, in the Spanish Philippines, the commandant of an island penal colony, aided by an American doctor and local villagers, decides to relocate his coastal camp to a fertile valley inland but the arduous trek is fraught with dangers.

Samar

1962

Guerillas in Pink Lace poster
6.0

An American gambler masquerades as a Catholic priest during the fall of Manila early in World War II in the Pacific to obtain clearance to fly out on an official military transport. Five American showgirls wrangle a pass with the aid of a helpful U.S. Army colonel to leave on the same plane. Ironically, the transport crashes at sea. The gambler and the girls wind up on a Japanese held island. Initially, they stay out of sight from the enemy, but inevitably things change.

Guerillas in Pink Lace

1964

Guerillas in Pink Lace poster
6.0

An American gambler masquerades as a Catholic priest during the fall of Manila early in World War II in the Pacific to obtain clearance to fly out on an official military transport. Five American showgirls wrangle a pass with the aid of a helpful U.S. Army colonel to leave on the same plane. Ironically, the transport crashes at sea. The gambler and the girls wind up on a Japanese held island. Initially, they stay out of sight from the enemy, but inevitably things change.

Guerillas in Pink Lace

1964

Satan's Harvest poster
5.7

Cutter Murdock inherits an estate in Africa on which "Satan's Harvest" (heroin and marijuana) is grown. The thugs growing the drugs want him out of the way, so things get messy.

Satan's Harvest

1970

Satan's Harvest poster
5.7

Cutter Murdock inherits an estate in Africa on which "Satan's Harvest" (heroin and marijuana) is grown. The thugs growing the drugs want him out of the way, so things get messy.

Satan's Harvest

1970

Hell of Borneo poster
5.7

A wealthy mercenary lives in blissful solitude on his private island in the Philippines, until it's invaded by pirates, mobsters, and smugglers.

Hell of Borneo

1964

Hell of Borneo poster
5.7

A wealthy mercenary lives in blissful solitude on his private island in the Philippines, until it's invaded by pirates, mobsters, and smugglers.

Hell of Borneo

1964

The Steel Claw poster
5.4

A Marine stationed in the Philippines loses a hand in an accident and is discharged from the Corps. When the Japanese invade the Philippines, he is called back into service to rescue a general held by Filipino guerrillas behind Japanese lines. Attaching a steel prosthetic in place of his missing hand, he and his men set out on the mission, which turns out to be not quite what he was told it was.

The Steel Claw

1961

The Steel Claw poster
5.4

A Marine stationed in the Philippines loses a hand in an accident and is discharged from the Corps. When the Japanese invade the Philippines, he is called back into service to rescue a general held by Filipino guerrillas behind Japanese lines. Attaching a steel prosthetic in place of his missing hand, he and his men set out on the mission, which turns out to be not quite what he was told it was.

The Steel Claw

1961