Western Mail (Monogram) (1942)

‘Western Mail’ Loaded With High-Speed Thrills, Suspense || (Review) Fast gun-play, hit-the-saddle ac-¥* tion and trigger-quick excitement is the keynote of Tom Keene’s latest dynamic performance as a ridin’, fightin’ fool in Monogram’s “Western Mail,’ which opened at the theatre last night. The bullet-streaked story of singing lead and smoking .45’s will leave you in a cold sweat as Tom goes a-gunnin’ for a desperate band of mail pirateers and runs smack into the toughest bunch of gun-totin’ hombres ever to reach for their irons. The popular western star with the daring of a modern Robin Hood runs the gauntlet of this outlaw gang to match his trigger-itching digits with theirs. “Western Mail” has everything that makes for powerful drama of the western stage. As a secret deputy, Tom arrives at. Lucky Webster’s ranch in time to “save” the latter from being arrested for participation in a recent mail robbery. Tom joins up with the band of desperadoes, after he has gained Lucky’s confide nce and learns that the town banker, Jeff Gordon, is tne head man. While they are planning another mail holdup, Tom tips off the sheriff and arranges to meet his posse at the pre-determined spot. Julie, Lucky’s sister, not realizing that her brother is mixed up with the outlaw gang, reveals om’s real identity and the gang lets him ride into a trap. The picture reaches its exciting climax in a roar of guns. Producer-director Robert Tansey gives us a most exciting western melodrama in Monogram’s ‘“Western Mail.” Also appearing in the cast are Frank /Yaconelli, Jean Trent, Glenn Strange, Le Roy Mason, Karl Hackett, James Sheridan, Gene Alsace and Fred Kohler, Jr. CREDITS Produced and Directed by ROBERT TANSEY Original Screenplay by ROBERT EMMETT and FRANCES KAVANAUGH Photography by MARCEL LE PICARD Film Editor FRED BAIN Sound Engineer CORSON JOWETT Musical Director FRANK SANUCCI Star Risks Neck For Film Fans “If you don’t think there’s danger in being a western star, you're very | | much mistaken,’ says Tom Keene, who plays the starring role in Monogram’s “Western Mail,” coming to the theatre on “Tf I don’t come out of a western production with at least a couple of sprained wrists and cracked and busted ribs,-I get to thinking there wasn’t enough action for the fans. The actor appearing in ‘westerns’ is called upon to give a realistic exhibition of bare-fisted fighting, and I’m just a plain down-to-earth realist.” “There’s nothing phoney about Tom’s fights on the screen,’ producer-director Robert Tansey testifies, ‘and they’re as real as they look. Tom will ride his horse at a breakneck speed ud and down hills, and every time he performs his dangerous feats we watch him with our hearts in our mouths.” If you have a keen eye, watch the screen closely and you'll recognize ‘10m in every scene that involves him in a dangerous feat. He doesn’t believe in doubles! | COWBOY’S LADY | Lovely newcomer Jean Trent adds zest to “Western Mail,’ Tom Keene’s new action hit at the Theatre. One Col. Cut cr Mat No. 2 | “WESTERN MAIL” DELIVERS ACTION Flying fists and blazing guns are the order of the day at the Theatre, where Tom Keene battles marauders in “Western Mail.” Two Column Cut or Mat No. 16 Tom Keene Packs Punch In New Western Saga (Advance) Tom Keene, an odds-on favorite¥ with western fans and thrill-seeking | moviegoers, dons his 10-gallon hat and a pair of blue jeans for another thrilling story of the great outdoors, Monogram’s “Western Mail,” which is coming to the theatre OMS ic tocse vaccine On his faithful mount “Prince,” Tom blazes a trail of exciting gunplay across the silver screen. In the tale of a secret deputy in search of a murdering bunch of mail pirateers, Tom rides in on Lucky Webster’s ranch in time to save him from a posse, which is accusing him of taking part in a recent mail holdup. Gaining Lucky’s confidence, Tom joins up with the gang and finds that Jeff Gordon, the town’s banker and prominent citizen, is the “head man” of the outlaw group. Planting a dictograph in Gordon’s office, Tom gets the evidence on the previous holdup, and also discovers the new plans of tue band. As Tom rides into a trap, the climax comes fast and furious in a hail of hot lead. With his side-kick saddle pal, Frank Yaconelli, Tom portrays his role as a debonair cowboy and undercover officer, always in the thick of the fighting. With Jean Trent as the female interest, the cast also includes Glenn Strange, Le Roy Mason, Karl Hackett, James Sheridan, Gene Alsace and Fred Kohler, Jr | BRIEF BIOGS TOM KEENE .. star of many thrilling stories, Tom . Popular western is an expert horseman, convincing tighter with his fists, and an out standing thespian. The star's first successful screen hit was in Cecil B. De Mille’s “The Godless Girl.” Appearing more recently in such western triumphs as “Dynamite Canyon,” “The Driftin' Kid’ and “Riding the Sunset Trail,” his laiest film success is Monogram’'s “Western Mail.” FRANK YACONELLI ... Frank has a background of appearing before theatre audiences as an accordionist when vaudeville was in its prime, and now has become one of the leading comedians of the western films, as Tom Keene's screen pal and comic saddle side-kick. JEAN TRENT ... Destined to become one of the screen's outstanding beauties, Jean learned the art of acting in a Hollywood theatre group and has just completed an engagement at the Musart Theatre in “The Ninth Guest.” She makes her screen debut playing the female interest in Tom Keene's starring western melodrama, Monogram’s “Western Mail.”