''Wagon Train'' is a 1940 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Edward Killy Edward Arthur Killy (January 26, 1903 – July 2, 1981) was an American director, assistant director and production manager in films and television. He was one of the few individuals to be nominated for the short-lived Academy Award for Best ...

and starring

Tim Holt Charles John "Tim" Holt III (February 5, 1919 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures. In a career spanning mo ...

. It was this film that really started Holt's series of B Westerns for RKO, replacing those made by George O'Brien.Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story.'' New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p152

Plot summary

Pecos businessman Matt Gardner is buying up freighters, or wagon trains of food supplies, at cheap prices through intimidation, and charging high prices by deliberately causing phony food shortages at his trading posts. The only one refusing to sell his supplies is Zack Sibley, who is dead set on maintaining his freighter business as well as tracking down his father's murderer, his ex-business partner. Gardner plans on eliminating any competition Sibley presents by sending his thugs to kill him and raid his wagon train.

Cast

as Zack Sibley * Ray Whitley as Ned *

Emmett Lynn Emmett Earl Lynn (February 14, 1897 – October 20, 1958) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Early life Lynn was born in Muscatine, Iowa. When he was nine years old, Lynn became a song plugger in Denver, Colorado. From that ...

as Whopper *

Martha O'Driscoll Martha O'Driscoll (March 4, 1922 – November 3, 1998) was an American film actress from 1937 until 1947. She retired from the screen in 1947 after marrying her second husband, Arthur I. Appleton, president of Appleton Electric Company in Chic ...

as Helen Lee * Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart as Coe Gardner *

Cliff Clark Cliff Clark (June 10, 1889 – February 8, 1953) was an American actor. He entered the film business in 1937 after a substantial stage career and appeared in over 200 Hollywood films. In the last years of his life, he also played in a numb ...

as Carl Anderson, alias Matt Gardner * Ellen Lowe as Amanthy (Whopper's Lady Friendl) * Wade Crosby as Wagonmaster O'Follard *

Ethan Laidlaw Ethan Allen Laidlaw (November 25, 1899 – May 25, 1963) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 350 films and made more than 500 appearances on television, mainly uncredited in Westerns, between 1923 and 1962. Laidlaw was bor ...

as Henchman Pat Hays *

Monte Montague Monte Montague (April 23, 1891 – April 6, 1959) was the stage name for Walter H. Montague, an American film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1920 and 1954. He was born in Somerset, Kentucky, and died in Burbank, California ...

as Henchman Kurt *

Carl Stockdale Carl Stockdale also known as Carlton Stockdale (February 19, 1874 – March 15, 1953) was one of the longest-working Hollywood veteran actors, with a career dating from the early 1910s. He also made the difficult transition from silent fi ...

as Mr. Wilkes (Gardner's Lawyer) * Bruce Dane as McKenzie *

Glenn Strange George Glenn Strange (August 16, 1899 – September 20, 1973) was an American actor who mostly appeared in Western films and was billed as Glenn Strange. He is best remembered for playing Frankenstein's monster in three Universal films d ...

as Stagecoach Driver

Production

The film was the first in a series of six Westerns RKO planned with Holt.

was signed to appear in the first two. The films proved so popular the series continued until the early 1950s. O'Driscoll and Holt were meant to reteam in ''Sir Piegan Passes'' but it was not made. It was filmed in

Kanab, Utah Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a County
". ''N ...

and in

Wildwood Regional Park Wildwood Regional Park is a suburban regional park in the western Simi Hills and Conejo Valley, in Ventura County, California. It is located in western Thousand Oaks, northern Newbury Park, and southern Moorpark. Wildwood is home to over 27 mi ...

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

.Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne (2010). ''Conejo Valley''. Arcadia Publishing. Page 65. .

Soundtrack

* Ray Whitley – "Wagon Train" (Written by Ray Whitley and Fred Rose) * Ray Whitley and Glenn Strange – "Why Shore" (Written by Ray Whitley and Fred Rose) * "A Girl Just Like You" (Written by Ray Whitley and Fred Rose) * "Farewell" (Written by Ray Whitley and Fred Rose)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagon Train 1940 films 1940 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films directed by Edward Killy Films produced by Bert Gilroy Films scored by Paul Sawtell RKO Pictures films Transport films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films