''The Oregon Trail'' is a 1939 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 serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

starring

Johnny Mack Brown John Brown (September 1, 1904 – November 14, 1974) was an American college football player and film actor billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career. He acted and starred mainly in Western (genre), Western films. Early lif ...

and released by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Plot

Jeff Scott is sent to investigate problems with

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...

s attempting to make the journey to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Sam Morgan, the representative of an eastern syndicate, has full control of the fur trade. Morgan sends his

henchmen A henchman (''vernacular:'' "hencher"), is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organization: minions whose value lies prim ...

, under lead-henchman Bull Bragg, to stop the latest wagon train in order to maintain control of the fur trade in the area.

Cast

as Jeff Scott, in the last of four serials Brown made for Universal. * Louise Stanley as Margaret Mason *

Fuzzy Knight John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...

as Deadwood Hawkins, Scott's sidekick * Bill Cody, Jr. as Jimmie Clark *

Edward LeSaint Edward LeSaint (January 1, 1871 – September 10, 1940) was an American stage and film actor and director whose career began in the silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dia ...

as John Mason *

James Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...

as Sam Morgan,

villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

* Charles Stevens as "Breed" *Jack C. Smith as Bull Bragg, Sam Morgan's main henchman *

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for R ...

as Colonel Custer * Charles Murphy as Tompkins *

Colin Kenny James Colin Ramsey Kenny (born December 10, 1943) is a former Canadian Senator. A member of the Liberal Party, he was appointed to the Senate in 1984 by Pierre Trudeau to represent the Rideau region of Ontario. On January 31, 2018 it was anno ...

as Slade, a henchman *

Forrest Taylor Edwin Forrest Taylor (December 29, 1883 – February 19, 1965) was an American character actor whose artistic career spanned six different decades, from silents through talkies to the advent of color films. Early years Taylor was born in Bl ...

as Daggett, a henchman * Jim Toney as Idaho Ike

Production

Stunts

Yakima Canutt Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing t ...

(archive footage) *

Cliff Lyons Cliff Lyons (born 19 October 1961) is an indigenous Australian former international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Clive Churchill Medalllist and two-time Dally M Medallist, he made 309 first-grade appearances wit ...

* Tom Steele

Chapter titles

# The Renegade's Revenge # The Flaming Forest # The Brink of Disaster # Thundering Doom # The Stampede # Indian Vengeance # Trail of Treachery # Redskin Revenge # The Avalanche of Doom # The Plunge of Peril # Trapped in the Flames # The Baited Trap # Crashing Timbers # Death in the Night # Trail's End _Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon Trail, The 1939 films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1939 Western (genre) films Universal Pictures film serials Films directed by Ford Beebe American Western (genre) films Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton 1930s American films