Writing

J. Benton Cheney

Known for

Writing

Credits

40 titles

Known for

Silver Spurs poster
4.8

Jerry Johnson inherits a 50,000 acre ranch. Lucky Miller wants to take over the ranch. Roy is trying to get a railroad spur right of way. Lucky has a woman come west to marry Jerry to get control of the ranch. After the wedding, Lucky has the owner killed. Roy’s gun is substituted for the murder weapon, so Roy is put in jail.

Silver Spurs

1943

Hands Across the Border poster
6.0

Horse breeders Adams and Brock are vying for the Army contract. When Adams is killed trying to ride his horse Trigger, Roy saves the horse from being shot. He trains him and then plans to ride him in the race to win the contract.

Hands Across the Border

1944

Satan's Cradle poster
5.4

Satan's Cradle was the fourth of producer Phil Krasne's "Cisco Kid" programmers for United Artists. This time, Cisco takes on a frontier megalomaniac, shyster lawyer Steve Gentry, who has taken over a mining town. Gentry's confederate is dancehall girl Lil who is as deadly as she is beautiful. When itinerant preacher Henry Lane is beaten to a pulp by Gentry's goons, Cisco and Pancho move in for the kill.

Satan's Cradle

1949

King of the Cowboys poster
6.0

Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette and the Sons of the Pioneers go undercover to help Texas Governor Russell Hicks stop World War II Axis sympathizers from blowing up U.S. warehouses.

King of the Cowboys

1943

Outlaws of the Desert poster
6.0

Hoppy, Johnny and California go to Arabia to buy some horses. There they get involved with a sheik and a harem and a kidnapping plot.

Outlaws of the Desert

1941

Gun Runner poster
8.0

Kate Diamond owns the Roaring Falls Trading Post from where she directs her gang's gun-smuggling to the Indians. After she short-changes smuggler Stacey, his men attempt to steal the hidden guns, and attack her foreman Nebraska, but he is saved by Jimmy and "Cannonball" on their way to file a homestead claim at Canyon City. Jimmy renews a long acquaintance with Sheriff Harris and his daughter Jessica. The sheriff is wounded by half-breed Danny when he finds a rifle hidden in the latter's wagon, but Jimmy captures the outlaw, a go-between for Kate and the Indians.Wounded and in bed, Sheriff Harris ask Jimmy not to tell Jessica that she is only adopted and that Nebraska is really her father, although he believes her to be dead.

Gun Runner

1949

Behind the camera

Silver Spurs poster
4.8

Jerry Johnson inherits a 50,000 acre ranch. Lucky Miller wants to take over the ranch. Roy is trying to get a railroad spur right of way. Lucky has a woman come west to marry Jerry to get control of the ranch. After the wedding, Lucky has the owner killed. Roy’s gun is substituted for the murder weapon, so Roy is put in jail.

Silver Spurs

1943

Hands Across the Border poster
6.0

Horse breeders Adams and Brock are vying for the Army contract. When Adams is killed trying to ride his horse Trigger, Roy saves the horse from being shot. He trains him and then plans to ride him in the race to win the contract.

Hands Across the Border

1944

Satan's Cradle poster
5.4

Satan's Cradle was the fourth of producer Phil Krasne's "Cisco Kid" programmers for United Artists. This time, Cisco takes on a frontier megalomaniac, shyster lawyer Steve Gentry, who has taken over a mining town. Gentry's confederate is dancehall girl Lil who is as deadly as she is beautiful. When itinerant preacher Henry Lane is beaten to a pulp by Gentry's goons, Cisco and Pancho move in for the kill.

Satan's Cradle

1949

King of the Cowboys poster
6.0

Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette and the Sons of the Pioneers go undercover to help Texas Governor Russell Hicks stop World War II Axis sympathizers from blowing up U.S. warehouses.

King of the Cowboys

1943

Outlaws of the Desert poster
6.0

Hoppy, Johnny and California go to Arabia to buy some horses. There they get involved with a sheik and a harem and a kidnapping plot.

Outlaws of the Desert

1941

Gun Runner poster
8.0

Kate Diamond owns the Roaring Falls Trading Post from where she directs her gang's gun-smuggling to the Indians. After she short-changes smuggler Stacey, his men attempt to steal the hidden guns, and attack her foreman Nebraska, but he is saved by Jimmy and "Cannonball" on their way to file a homestead claim at Canyon City. Jimmy renews a long acquaintance with Sheriff Harris and his daughter Jessica. The sheriff is wounded by half-breed Danny when he finds a rifle hidden in the latter's wagon, but Jimmy captures the outlaw, a go-between for Kate and the Indians.Wounded and in bed, Sheriff Harris ask Jimmy not to tell Jessica that she is only adopted and that Nebraska is really her father, although he believes her to be dead.

Gun Runner

1949

Under Arizona Skies poster
10.0

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.

Under Arizona Skies

1946

Fighting Frontier poster
6.5

An agent (Tim Holt) goes undercover as an outlaw and almost gets lynched.

Fighting Frontier

1943

Mystery Man poster
5.3

Hoppy's ranch is threatened by rustlers. Hoppy and the gang oblige as usual.

Mystery Man

1944

Stick to Your Guns poster
5.7

Buck Peters arranges for Hoppy, California, Johnny and other cowboys to go to the aid of friends whose cattle are being rustled. Hoppy and California locate the rustlers' hideout and join the gang by posing as outlaws themselves, but must find a way to let the rest of the posse know where they are.

Stick to Your Guns

1941

Twilight on the Trail poster
5.0

Hoppy, California and Johnny come to the ranch of a friend and his daughter, disguised as dude detectives from the east, to investigate the disappearances, without a trace, of several herds of cattle.

Twilight on the Trail

1941

The Man from Thunder River poster
7.5

In this western, a cowboy and his pals must stop outlaws from stealing a cache of gold ore. Action ensues, and they succeed.

The Man from Thunder River

1943

Man from Music Mountain poster
5.4

Roy returns home to fine a range feud between the cattlemen and the sheepmen. When his friend is killed he finds the rifle had a defective pin. He learns the rifle belongs to a ranch hand named Barker and that a third party has caused the feud. When he captures outlaws trying to blow up a dam, he claims Barker was the killer. But Barker has switched rifles and the outlaws now accuse Roy and Roy finds himself in trouble.

Man from Music Mountain

1943

Pirates of the Prairie poster
7.0

In one of his better early Westerns, Tim Holt, as Deputy Marshal Larry Durant, is sent to Spencerville where a gang of vigilantes has been terrorizing the citizenry. Going undercover as a gunsmith, Larry quickly learns that the leader of the vigilantes, John Spencer (John Elliott), is an honest man who only seeks to establish law and order. The real brains behind the crimes, meanwhile, are revealed to be Spencer's brother-in-law, Lou Harmon (Roy Barcroft), and his chief henchman, Leighton (Charles King), who speculate in the coming of the railroad by forcing the townspeople to relinquish their land.

Pirates of the Prairie

1942

Frontier Agent poster
8.0

Johnny Mack Brown is sent to the badlands to round up an elusive outlaw gang.

Frontier Agent

1948

Outlaws of the Rockies poster
7.5

Outlaws of the Rockies is the fourth of Columbia's revitalized "Durango Kid" series. Charles Starrett is back in the saddle as the masked do-gooder Durango, aka easygoing sheriff Steve Williams. Accused of being a member of an outlaw gang, Williams is forced to don his Durango disguise to bring the actual criminals to justice.

Outlaws of the Rockies

1945

Hidden Danger poster
7.0

Johnny and Banty come in contact with a cattlemen's protective organization. Ostensibly an honest venture, the association is the front for an extortion racket, headed by a gent named Carson.

Hidden Danger

1948

Under Nevada Skies poster
7.5

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.

Under Nevada Skies

1946

In Old Colorado poster
6.4

Joe Weller has instigated a conflict over water rights between two ranchers. The idea is to have the ranchers do each other in then move in and take over. Hoppy and the good guys won't let this happen.

In Old Colorado

1941

Pirates on Horseback poster
6.0

Hoppy, Lucky and California search for a mine owned by Trudy Pendleton after it was taken from her by thw swindling gambler Ace Gibson. They find the mine and Hoppy fights Gibson over it.

Pirates on Horseback

1941

Silver Trails poster
9.0

Jimmy and Cannonball find the body of Don Muquel after he has been shot and robbed by henchmen Ramsay and Sturgis. Jimmy is accused of the crime by Jose Esteban but the latter's rich uncle, Don Esteban, clears his friend Jimmy. Jose accuses the the settlers, led by John Chambers, of confiscating the land of the native Californians, through murder and theft. Actually, surveyor Willard Jackson is making forged copies of stolen land-grant papers after his men have killed the rightful owners. Playing both ends against the middle, Ramsay urges Chambers and his daughter, Diane, to drive off the Californians.

Silver Trails

1948

The Laramie Trail poster
7.0

A cowbody acquires a ranch whose previous owner is believed to be dead.

The Laramie Trail

1944

Cowboy Blues poster
10.0

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.

Cowboy Blues

1946

The Gentleman from Texas poster
6.0

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.

The Gentleman from Texas

1946

The Law Comes to Gunsight poster
6.7

Brown arrives in the town of, yes, Gunsight, in the company of saddle pal Raymond Hatton. Like a new broom, Brown sweeps clean, going after the town's corrupt element.

The Law Comes to Gunsight

1947

Cowboy Cavalier poster
10.0

Jimmy Wakely and "Cannonball" Taylor protect shipments along a stage and freight line from villainous bandits.

Cowboy Cavalier

1948

Rustlers of the Badlands poster
8.0

The Durango Kid fights to catch the rustlers who killed an Army officer.

Rustlers of the Badlands

1945

Partners of the Sunset poster
10.0

Jimmy and Cannonball stumble across a murder scheme, hatched by beautiful but deadly Janice Thompson.

Partners of the Sunset

1948

Shadows on the Sage poster
10.0

Shadows on the Sage is a 1942 American Western "Three Mesquiteers" B-movie directed by Lester Orlebeck. The Three Mesquiteers, Tucson, Stony, and Lullaby arrive to help Sheriff Lippy fight the outlaws. But when the gang leader Curly Joe captures Tucson and notices the resemblance, he assumes Tucson's identity.

Shadows on the Sage

1942

Gunning for Justice poster
10.0

Three fellows band together to help a woman find her uncle's cache of gold in this western. All they have to help them is a tattered map that her uncle, a prisoner of war, created in camp. Unfortunately two badguys have the map and try to turn the three goodguys against the niece. They do not succeed and justice prevails.

Gunning for Justice

1948

Border Vigilantes poster
6.3

A town bedeviled with outlaws sends for Hoppy, Lucky and California after their own vigilante committee fails to solve the towns problems. Hoppy discovers that the bad guys are led by the town boss, and so are the vigilantes.

Border Vigilantes

1941

Throw a Saddle on a Star poster
7.0

The "star" in the title of this low-budget singing Western was Dynamite, a wild stallion captured by cowboy Curt Walker to ride in the Big Rodeo. Unscrupulous John Burton has bet against Curt and does his best to sabotage the event. When lovely Barbara Allen, Curt's new girlfriend, leaves town because of Burton's schemes, Curt loses the first couple of events. The big Bronco Busting contest is coming up, and Pop Walker stalls the proceedings with a series of singing acts while the girl's brothers attempt to locate her. Barbara arrives just in time to spur Curt on to victory.

Throw a Saddle on a Star

1946

Blazing the Western Trail poster
6.3

Stage line owner Brent has his men robbing Halliday stages and when his manager Waring learns of it, Brent has him killed. Jeff Waring arrives and takes his uncle's job. He soon learns what's happening and the Durango Kid goes into action. This keeps Halliday going and gives them a chance to get the mail contract by winning the stagecoach race.

Blazing the Western Trail

1945

Song of the Prairie poster
7.0

Joan Wingate's wealthy father doesn't want his daughter to go into show business. As they vacation in the west she gets a job with Dan Tyler's show and uses Wingate money to keep him afloat. Sandwiched in between the numerous musical numbers they try to keep her father away from the show. But he eventually finds out and decides they will return east

Song of the Prairie

1945

Raiders of the South poster
6.5

Johnny Brownell, former Confederate officer turned Federal agent, is sent to Texas during the reconstruction years to obtain evidence against a gang of raiders who have been making life difficult for the local carpet-baggers. He saves the life of Shorty Kendall, an unreconstructed rebel about to be hanged, and this wins him the gratitude of Belle Chambers, a widow whose husband was killed in the Civil War who hates all Yankees with a fever.

Raiders of the South

1947

California Firebrand poster
5.5

Directed by Philip Ford in 1948. When cowboy Monte Hale (Monte Hale) returns home to investigate his uncle's murder, he's mistaken for a fierce outlaw and is hired by the town's corrupt mayor, Lance Dawson (Douglas Evans), as the new sheriff. But Monte secretly works to undermine Dawson's land-grabbing schemes. Monte defends the feisty owner (Lorna Gray) of a gold mine that Dawson covets, although she is suspicious of the cowpoke's loyalties and demands that he prove himself.

California Firebrand

1948

Rockin' in the Rockies poster
5.8

Rancher Rusty Williams is away at agricultural college and leaves his spread in the hands of his older cousin Shorty. Shorty wants to do more than run a ranch, however -- he wants to prospect for gold, but he has no money. He recruits a pair of partners in the guise of two runaway vagrants and a pair of backers in two stranded singers. But then Rusty shows up, and his four somewhat bumbling hired hands manage to compound Larry and Curly's deep ineptitude, and Rusty wants them all out of his hair.

Rockin' in the Rockies

1945

Riders of the Timberline poster
4.5

Hopalong Cassidy and Johnny Nelson ride to the mountains to help a man and his daughter save their logging business from someone who is sabotaging their efforts.

Riders of the Timberline

1941

Law of the West poster
7.0

With the railroad coming, Nixon is after the ranchers land. Using a stooge land agent, his method is to claim the person they bought their ranches from never had title to the land and their deeds are worthless. Fereral Agent Johnny Mack arrives posing as a gunman. He is quickly onto the henchman and Land Agent and eventually suspects Nixon is the big boss. But he needs the help of ventriloquist Alibi to bring them in.

Law of the West

1949

Silver Range poster
10.0

Veteran cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown plays a cattle buyer turned prairie sleuth in this low-budget oater from Monogram, which co-stars perennial old-timer Raymond Hatton as a retired U.S. Marshal assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a rancher. As the two old friends soon learn, a gang of smugglers headed by the town's banker (Frank LaRue) needs the use of the Flying Arrow Ranch for their nefarious purposes.

Silver Range

1946