Writing
Norman Houston
Born 1887-08-21 · Dennison, Texas, USA
Acting credits
5.6Hard-boiled newspaper reporter Larry Doyle (Robert Armstrong) goes a bit too far in celebrating a work bonus and wakes up on a train bound for St. Louis with only a buck on his person. To remedy the problem, Doyle pawns the revolver he's carrying. When the gun is subsequently used in a murder, Doyle's problems only multiply. In the meantime, he's also fallen in love with a comely stranger (Maxine Doyle) he convinced to impersonate his wife.
The Mystery Man
1935
9.0As California gubernatorial candidate Burton is about to cast his vote a truck crashes into the polling booth, critically injuring him and his opponent. A flashback traces his career from unemployed veteran to dockworker to lawyer. A side thread traces his tortured relationship with his wife.
Frisco Waterfront
1935
6.3A college economics professor's "radical" ideas about capitalism get him fired. When he decides to put those ideas into practice, he finds that they actually do generate him huge amounts of money. Soon a local banker and others who scoffed at his ideas see the amount of money he's making and try to cheat him out of his system.
Make a Million
1935
Behind the camera
6.3Disguising himself as a milquetoast Easterner who writes Western novels, Hoppy enrolls in a dude ranch in order to unmask the murderer of the owner's husband.
Sunset Trail
1939
6.5Bat Masterson's old friend Billy Burns convinces him to become marshal of Liberal, Kansas and help the residents fight drought and a destructive range war.
Trail Street
1947
4.6Heading west for his health, Colonel Lambeth takes his daughter Rill along. Lost on the desert they are saved by Pecos and Chito. The Colonel hires the two and the Lambeths soon find themselves mixed up in Pecos' trouble. Pecos has killed Sawtelle's brother and Sawtelle as head of the vigilantes is after him.
West of the Pecos
1945
6.7A disgraced veteran wanders the West alone until he decides to help a battered woman.
The Arizona Ranger
1948
6.5On a slow news day, the wisecracking staff of a newspaper write articles about the serious safety issues of a local excursion steamboat line.
Copy
1929
6.7A young boy threatens to follow in his outlaw brother's footsteps.
Gun Smugglers
1948
5.8The local school is causing Hoppy problems. First Bar 20 cattle are stolen when Hoppy investigates a problem there. Then the new teacher arrives and disrupts the routine of the Bar 20 hands. Later with the Bar 20 hands at graduation, the rustlers are poised to strike again. But there is dissension among them and this will lead to the break that Hoppy needs.
The Frontiersmen
1938
4.0A sponge diver hopes to make enough money to buy his own boat and marry his girlfriend. A rival diver, however, has other plans for him.
Sixteen Fathoms Deep
1934
7.0A very topical early talkie from low-budget company Columbia Pictures, Wall Street starred Ralph Ince, brother of producer Thomas H. Ince, as Roller McCray, a steelworker turned ruthless tycoon whose tough business methods leads a rival (Philip Strange) to commit suicide. The widow (Aileen Pringle), believing she can ruin Ince by using his own methods, conspires with her husband's former partner (Sam De Grasse), but a strong friendship between Ince and Pringle's young son (Freddie Burke Frederick) changes things dramatically. According to future Three Stooges director Edward Bernds, who worked as a sound mixer on Wall Street, Ince's reaction to his rival's suicidal jump from a window ledge was changed from a sneering "I didn't think he had the guts" to the more respectful "I didn't think he'd do it" due to derisive laughter from the film's crew.
Wall Street
1929
7.0A forger has made a copy of a Spanish land grant and Arnold is after it. Arnold and his men attack, shoot the forger, and take the deed while Russ tries unsuccessfully to stop them. Arnold presents it at the recorders office. It appears authentic and he starts evicting ranchers from their land. But Russ knows something is wrong as one of Arnold's men was a man he fought with during the attack.
Western Heritage
1948
6.6A female marshal and a newspaper editor help heroic Tim Holt fight an evil land agent. Western.
Target
1952
5.8When he thinks his brother has let him down, a cowboy goes bad.
Brothers in the Saddle
1949
6.0Marvin Hayden returns to find his ranch is about to be sold at auction and the Hayden Jorth feud still going strong. Carson wants the Hayden ranch and tries to kill Hayden. When he fails he kills Chick Jorth with a rock. As Hayden does not carry a gun and the two had argued earlier, Hayden is arrested for the murder. With Hayden in jail, his friends Chito, Ginger, and his Lawyer Gardner now go to work to find the murderer.
Thunder Mountain
1947
10.0Betty Forrester, a college flirt who is determined to attract Harvey Porter, the school coach, starts playing around to make him jealous. Her roommate, Doris Marlowe, is a naive girl who falls madly in love with Tom, a sophisticated playboy who leads Doris on until he tires of her. At this point Doris pleads with Tom to love her, but he refuses. Betty, afraid for Doris' welfare, tries to save her from Tom by falsely attracting him to herself. Doris, crestfallen, leaves them and accidentally tumbles into an elevator shaft and dies. Harvey is furiously jealous and determines never to see Betty again until he learns the real reason for her actions with Tom; then he asks her to marry him.
The College Coquette
1929
6.0Americans come west to California in the hope of peaceful settlement. Roy and Gabby sing a duet: "We're Not Coming Out Tonight." Other songs include "Sundown on the Rangeland" and "Ride on Vaquero."
In Old Caliente
1939
6.5Just as Nevada wins $7000 in yellowback bills, Ben Ide takes his $7000 and heads out to buy mining equipment. Burridge has his man Powell kill Ide and retrieve the money and Nevada finds Ide just as the posse arrives. Found with the money Nevada is arrested and Burridge now gets Powell to incite the local citizens to lynch Nevada.
Nevada
1944
9.0Troubles begin for the Sterlings when they buy an expensive car and friends start pressing them for rides.
Six Cylinder Love
1931
5.5Belle Starr has returned from time in prison only to face a hail of bullets, along with rescue by Hoppy and the Bar 20 gang.
Heart of Arizona
1938
7.0A railroad man and the owner of a freight line battle for control of a crucial mountain pass.
Buckskin Frontier
1943
6.1A cowhand becomes involved in a war between a road construction crew and the greedy toll-owner hoping to thwart the new project.
Dynamite Pass
1950
7.0Brand controls the only road to the cattle market and is charging exorbitant rates. Tim and Chito rob Brand to recover only their overcharge, but accidentally end up with all of Brand's money......
Road Agent
1952
6.5Two men are accused of killing their boss. They are saved from the hangman's noose when two other guys are arrested, but Holt feels as though justice is still not being served. On their own, they set about to track down the genuine killer.
Pistol Harvest
1951
6.5A young Eastern lawyer, seriously injured in a stage holdup, secures the help of Hoppy, California and Jimmy in completing his mission to his woman cousin's ranch in Texas. The ranch, as are others in the same area, is being plagued by a gang called the Night Riders, while the friendly local town lawyer is trying to cajole the cousin into selling out to him. Hoppy begins by arriving in the town, separate from his pals, all spiffed up and dandified, posing as the Eastern lawyer...
Texas Masquerade
1944
5.5Richard Dix stars as Dave Morrell, the new marshal of Goliath, Oklahoma. Immediately upon arrival, Morrell finds himself at odds with banker Coy Barrett (Victor Jory), who is actually the leader of all local criminal activities.
Cherokee Strip
1940