Writing

Joseph O'Donnell

Known for

Writing

Credits

41 titles

Known for

Spy Smasher poster
6.1

Prior to the United States' involvement in World War II, the masked vigilante Spy Smasher fights Nazi agents operating within the US, led by the treacherous sabotage leader codenamed The Mask.

Spy Smasher

1942

Girl with Green Eyes poster
6.7

A naive young country girl moves to Dublin and finds herself drawn to a sophisticated author twice her age.

Girl with Green Eyes

1964

The Lone Rider Rides On poster
9.0

Tom Cameron is searching for the outlaws who ambushed a wagon train, murdered his parents and stole the deed to their land. Though he was only a child at the time, he vividly remembers the scar on the ringleader's face -- and Tom will stop at nothing until he brings him to justice … and exacts vengeance.

The Lone Rider Rides On

1941

Man from the Black Hills poster
9.0

As other "B"-western series kept dropping like flies in 1952, Johnny Mack Brown kept grinding 'em out for Monogram. In Man From Black Hills, Johnny tries to help locate his saddle pal Jim Fallan's (James Ellison) long-lost father. Arriving in a small mining town, Johnny and Jim discover that Jim's father has established a financial empire--and that a local opportunist (Randy Brooks) has capitalized on this by claiming to be the old man's son.

Man from the Black Hills

1952

Secret Agent X-9 poster
6.2

American, Chinese and Australian agents join forces to stop the Nazis from obtaining the formula for synthetic fuel.

Secret Agent X-9

1945

Border Roundup poster
8.0

In this " Lone Rider" B-Western series entry, Tom Cameron and his pal Fuzzy Jones are deputy sheriffs helping their friend Sheriff Smoky Moore rid the territory of a nasty claim jumper, Blackie.

Border Roundup

1942

Film credits

Behind the camera

Spy Smasher poster
6.1

Prior to the United States' involvement in World War II, the masked vigilante Spy Smasher fights Nazi agents operating within the US, led by the treacherous sabotage leader codenamed The Mask.

Spy Smasher

1942

The Lone Rider Rides On poster
9.0

Tom Cameron is searching for the outlaws who ambushed a wagon train, murdered his parents and stole the deed to their land. Though he was only a child at the time, he vividly remembers the scar on the ringleader's face -- and Tom will stop at nothing until he brings him to justice … and exacts vengeance.

The Lone Rider Rides On

1941

Man from the Black Hills poster
9.0

As other "B"-western series kept dropping like flies in 1952, Johnny Mack Brown kept grinding 'em out for Monogram. In Man From Black Hills, Johnny tries to help locate his saddle pal Jim Fallan's (James Ellison) long-lost father. Arriving in a small mining town, Johnny and Jim discover that Jim's father has established a financial empire--and that a local opportunist (Randy Brooks) has capitalized on this by claiming to be the old man's son.

Man from the Black Hills

1952

Secret Agent X-9 poster
6.2

American, Chinese and Australian agents join forces to stop the Nazis from obtaining the formula for synthetic fuel.

Secret Agent X-9

1945

Border Roundup poster
8.0

In this " Lone Rider" B-Western series entry, Tom Cameron and his pal Fuzzy Jones are deputy sheriffs helping their friend Sheriff Smoky Moore rid the territory of a nasty claim jumper, Blackie.

Border Roundup

1942

Texas Renegades poster
8.0

Marshal Tim Smith is sent to Rawhide to battle rustlers. When the outlaw gang attempts to kill the new Marshal, they get the wrong man. Tim puts his identification on the dead man and poses as a known outlaw. This gets him into the gang where he is given the job of posing as the new Marshal.

Texas Renegades

1940

Wild Horse Round-Up poster
10.0

Doan is trying to get control of the valley by having his night riders drive the ranchers out. Jack Benson hires on at the Williams ranch, the one ranch Doan must have. When Benson learns that Doan is the boss of the night riders, he joins up with him. He has a plan that both saves Williams' ranch and also brings Doan to justice.

Wild Horse Round-Up

1936

The Lone Rider Fights Back poster
NR

Opera star-cum-cowboy hero George Houston stars in PRC's The Lone Rider Fights Back. Appropriately enough, Houston disguises himself as a musician to get the goods on a gang of terrorists. The principal villain hopes to scare the local miners off their land, so he can move in and clean up.

The Lone Rider Fights Back

1941

Rustlers' Hideout poster
6.3

A cowboy and his sidekick fight evil guys who want to rustle cattle in order to get hold of land.

Rustlers' Hideout

1945

Reform School poster
8.0

A female warden takes over at a state reform school and attempts to bring about needed changes. Restored in 2020 by the Academy Film Archive with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts from a 16mm print donated by Giancarlo Esposito and Laurence Fishburne.

Reform School

1939

Valley Of Vengeance poster
6.7

Billy Carson arrives in King City looking for two men and kills them both. Caught by the Marshal he tells his story.

Valley Of Vengeance

1944

Frontier Outlaws poster
6.8

Billy Carson, looking for rustlers, kills Bradley in a gun fight. Arrested, the judge finds him innocent but jails him anyway. When the rustling resumes he is released and posing as a Mexican cattle buyer he hopes to trap the culprits.

Frontier Outlaws

1944

Secret Service In Darkest Africa poster
7.0

An American secret agent travels to Africa to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring.

Secret Service In Darkest Africa

1943

Roarin' Guns poster
7.7

Tim Corwin- an agent for the Cattlemen's Association- is assigned to look into a range war between settlers and powerful cattle baron Walton.

Roarin' Guns

1936

King of the Mounties poster
8.0

King of the Candian riding police is up against Japs and Nazis who are about to invade Canada. They just want to clear the way with a new futuristic plane called "The Falcon" first, but that's not gonna happen if Kig has his way.

King of the Mounties

1942

Lost City of the Jungle poster
6.5

A movie serial in 13 chapters, and Lionel Atwill's final film: Following the end of WWII, war-monger Sir Eric Hazarias sets the wheel in motion for WWIII. His search for Meteorium 245, the only practical defence against the atomic bomb, leads him to mythical Pendrang. Obstructing his sinister plan to rule the world are Rod Stanton, United Peace Foundation investigator, Tal Shan , Pendrang native, and Marjorie Elmore, daughter of scientist Dr. Elmore, unwilling assistant to Sir Eric.

Lost City of the Jungle

1946

Jungle Girl poster
6.8

Dr. John Meredith has been driven from civilization by the criminal activities of his twin brother Bradley Meredith. With his infant daughter, he settles in the African jungle, where his ability to cure the native ills has resulted in his virtual control of the Masamba tribes, who possess vast diamond mines coveted by a gang of crooks.

Jungle Girl

1941

Anything for a Thrill poster
4.0

Despite his older brother's objections, a young man vows to become a newsreel cameraman.

Anything for a Thrill

1937

Billy the Kid Trapped poster
5.5

Stanton breaks Billy and his two friends Fuzzy and Jeff out of jail. He wants them free so three of his men can impersonate them for the robberies and murders he has planned.

Billy the Kid Trapped

1942

The Lone Rider in Ghost Town poster
5.0

Tom and Fuzzy investigate a ghost town which, in this case, is supposedly haunted by real ghosts. The town is an outlaw gang's hideout, and they scare folks away to protect their mine.

The Lone Rider in Ghost Town

1941

Wolves of the Range poster
5.8

Dorn is after the rancher's land and is trying to stop Banker Brady from helping them. When his man Hammond kills Brady, there is a run on the bank. When Rocky volunteers to ride to the next town for money, he is ambushed by Dorn's men, loses his memory, and is jailed for supposedly stealing the money.

Wolves of the Range

1943

The Traitor poster
8.0

To prevent a lynching, Ranger Tim lets two outlaws go saying he will get them later. This gets him kicked out of the Rangers and he goes across the border and joins Big George's gang who are running contraband. But the outlaw Jimmy overhears Tim tell his sister that the dismissal was a fake. Big George and his gang then go after Tim and trap him in a cabin.

The Traitor

1936

North of the Rio Grande poster
6.8

Hoppy's brother has been murdered and he is on the trail of the murderers. To get them he makes himself seem to be a wanted man.

North of the Rio Grande

1937

Aces and Eights poster
5.6

A card sharp steps in when a Mexican family's ranch is threatened by swindlers and cheats.

Aces and Eights

1936

Billy the Kid in Texas poster
6.0

In the second of the "Billy the Kid" series from PRC that starred Bob Steele, Billy the Kid is being held on a trumped-up murder charge in a Mexico jail. He escapes and meets his pal, Fuzzy Jones, in Corral City, Texas, which is taking a holiday to allow the cowpunchers of the Lazy A Ranch their periodic spree. In the saloon, Billy is recognized by Dave Hendricks and Flash, two the Lazy A's bed men, as the rider who had held them up after they had robbed the express wagon a few hours earlier. Outside, Billy is ambushed and slightly wounded, and is taken to the express office by Jim Morgan where Mary Barton, the local agent, agrees to tend him until the doctor arrives. Billy turns over the loot he took from the outlaws and he is appointed sheriff, with Fuzzy as his deputy. The Lazy A gang brings in a noted gunfighter, Gil Cooper, who turns out to be Billy's brother. Billy, Gil and Fuzzy eventually rout the outlaw gang, and Gil remains behind with Mary as Billy and Fuzzy ride off.

Billy the Kid in Texas

1940

Phantom Patrol poster
6.3

A deranged killer escapes into the Canadian woods. He tries to fool the locals by pretending he is a well known mystery writer, but the local Mountie starts to get suspicious.

Phantom Patrol

1936

King of the Texas Rangers poster
7.0

Tom King Jr. seeks to discover who murdered his father, a Texas Ranger; the trail leads to a network of Axis spies.

King of the Texas Rangers

1941

Lightnin' Bill Carson poster
7.0

A lawman captures the notorious "Pecos Kid", who is tried and hanged for his crimes--then starts to have doubts as to whether the Kid actually committed the crimes.

Lightnin' Bill Carson

1936

Riders of Black Mountain poster
9.0

Marshal Tim Donovan has been sent to investigate a series of holdups. Posing as a card sharp he soon believes he knows who is tipping off the outlaws. So he sets up a fake shipment knowing that if the stage is robbed the contact person will be identiifed. But the day the stage is due the Sheriff arrests the gang Tim was expecting to do the robbery.

Riders of Black Mountain

1940

Death Rides the Plains poster
6.5

A couple of crooks have repeatedly sold the Circle C Ranch to unsuspecting buyers, whom they summarily rob and kill before signing the papers. Enter Fuzzy Jones, whose cousin Luke was one of the unlucky would-be ranchers, and Rocky Cameron who goes undercover as a fellow outlaw to catch the murderers.

Death Rides the Plains

1943

Trails of the Wild poster
8.0

An agent tracking down a man who disappeared in the mysterious "Ghost Mountain" area discovers discovers the hideout of a gang of murderous outlaws.

Trails of the Wild

1935

Daredevils of the West poster
7.0

A gang of land-grabbers tries to prevent safe passage of the Foster Stage Company through frontier territory.

Daredevils of the West

1943

Bulldog Courage poster
6.0

A miner who was swindled out of his mine by a banker turns to robbing stagecoaches. Several years after he is tracked down and killed, his son comes to town to tangle with the banker.

Bulldog Courage

1935

Prairie Roundup poster
8.0

In Prairie Roundup, Fred F. Sears' direction brings a welcome jolt of vitality to Columbia's aging "Durango Kid" western series. Once again, Charles Starrett stars as Steve Carson, a lawman who is forced to assume the identity of masked do-gooder Durango. Framed for murder, Carson escapes to locate the real killer. It turns out that he was set up by cattle baron Buck Prescott, who eliminates competition by stealing livestock from other ranchers.

Prairie Roundup

1951

The Royal Mounted Rides Again poster
7.2

In time-honored fashion, a couple of supporting players -- George Dolenz and Bill Kennedy -- found themselves elevated to starring roles in this minor Universal serial. They played Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers investigating the murder of a miner. The story, of course, was less important than speed and action, which directors Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins delivered in typical slap-dash Universal style. Starlet Daun Kennedy did not make much of an impression as the imperiled leading lady, and former star Robert Armstrong (of King Kong fame) was wasted in a subordinate role. Rondo Hatton, a non-actor whose grotesque appearance (caused by acromegaly, the so-called "Elephant Man" disease) was tastelessly exploited by Universal in the '40s, appeared as one of the outlaws.

The Royal Mounted Rides Again

1945

Land of the Outlaws poster
7.0

The old bromide about the western town run by outlaws as a hideout for their fellow crooks makes a return appearance in Monogram's Land of the Outlaws. Since the crooks include such reliable disreputables as Charles King and John Merton, the good guys really have their work cut out for them. But not to worry! The heroes are Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton, whose B-western track record is unbeatable. Land of the Outlaws was directed by Lambert Hillyer, whose sense of rhythm and pace had saved many another inexpensive oater.

Land of the Outlaws

1944

G-men vs. the Black Dragon poster
6.7

Japanese spies attempt to subvert America's war effort; G-Men attempt to thwart their plot.

G-men vs. the Black Dragon

1943

Raiders of Red Gap poster
7.3

One man wants to control all the land in the state to graze all his cattle. His band of outlaws are raiding ranchers and homesteaders, trying to drive them out. Rocky and Fuzzy are brought in to help stop the raiders and keep the land for the small ranchers and homesteaders.

Raiders of Red Gap

1943

Oklahoma Justice poster
9.0

Johnny Mack Brown goes up against a lady bank robber in this average Mack Brown series late-entry from Monogram. The lady, played by Barbara Allen, is of course called "Ma." In order to get the goods on "Ma" and her "brood," Mack Brown must masquerade as a lone bandit.

Oklahoma Justice

1951

Billy the Kid in Santa Fe poster
6.0

Falsely accused of murder, Billy is able to escape thanks to his pals. Once in Santa Fe, he meets once again the man who lied during the trial.

Billy the Kid in Santa Fe

1941