Fred F. Sears
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Frederick Francis Sears (1913-1957) was an American film actor and director. Though a marginalized figure in 1950s cinema, he created 52 feature films in a number of genres for Columbia Pictures from 1949 to 1957, before his premature... Read full bio →
Featured Characters
Roles you can spot in Whatthemovie snapshots
The Giant Claw
Scientists ponder a buzzard--like big bird able to lift a train.
The Werewolf
Two scientists inject an unsuspecting auto accident victim with a mysterious serum causing horrible results.
The Rough, Tough West
Charles Starrett returns as the Durango Kid in Columbia's Rough, Tough, West. For most of the film, however, Starrett is known as "Steve Holden," a former Texas Ranger who comes to a wide-open mining town to visit an old friend (Jack -- later Jock -- Mahoney).
Laramie Mountains
Markham and his men have found gold on the Indian reservation and are trying to get rid of them by starting an Indian war. Dressed as Indians they are attacking the soldiers. Steve Holden is the Indian agent sent to prevent a war.
The Kid from Amarillo
Charles "Durango" Starrett and his pal Smiley Burnette go after smugglers. Our heroes travel incognito across the Mexican border to beard the leader of the gang in his den.
Fort Savage Raiders
Fort Savage Raiders is another entry in Charles Starrett's "Durango Kid" western series. Starrett once again does double duty as a peacekeeper named Steve (this time his last name is Drake) and as masked avenger Durango.
Cyclone Fury
A late entry in Columbia's seemingly endless Durango Kid Western series, Cyclone Fury was augmented with a hefty dose of stock footage from an earlier Durango effort, Galloping Thunder (1946), footage that included sidekick Smiley Burnette warbling "Hear the Wind (Singing a Cowboy Song)" accompanied by Merle Travis and his Bronco Busters.
Bonanza Town
Using marked bills, Steve is looking for the supposedly dead Henry Hardison. Coming to Bonanza Town he gets a job with the town boss Crag Bozeman and gets paid with marked bills. He suspects Hardison is Boseman's boss and he is right as Hardison and his men are now planning to get rid of both him and the Durango kid.
Texas Dynamo
Charles Starrett plays The Durango Kid in the 1950 Columbia western Texas Dynamo. As a novelty, Starrett not only plays Durango and his "alter ego" Steve Drake, but also takes on a third identity, that of a hired gun in the employ of the film's bad guys.
Frontier Outpost
Federal agent Steve Lawton works undercover with his assistant, Smiley Burnette, to track down an outlaw gang that is raiding government gold shipments bound for Fort Navajo.
David Harding, Counterspy
A Counterspy in the US military is killed under suspicious circumstances. His friend, Jerry Baldwin, a Navy Commander, is assigned to replace him and stop a saboteur in a torpedo factory.
Convicted
A prison warden fights to prove one of his inmates was wrongly convicted.
Tokyo Joe
An American returns to Tokyo try to pick up threads of his pre-WW2 life there, but finds himself squeezed between criminals and the authorities.
The Blazing Trail
Old Mike Brady built Brady Town and was a leader, but a bullet from an unknown assailant has ended his life. When the will is read, it leaves the bulk of the property to Kirk, the gambling son of Mike. This upsets Sam, the hard working son, but not gambler Full House who always beats Kirk at cards.
South of Death Valley
When Steve Downey arrives to reopen his brother-in-law's gold mine, he finds a war between the ranchers and the miners. Ashton has had the water poisoned killing cattle. When Ashton's men find Steve's hat, they kill Tom Tavish and frame Steve for the murder. Escaping jail the Durango Kid goes into action.
Shockproof
A parole officer falls in love with the ex-con who was his charge.
Renegades of the Sage
The plot finds Steve/Durango attempting to capture ex-Civil War guerilla fighter Miller who may be the man who's been going around knocking down telegraph wires.
Laramie
A major Indian uprising is expected and Wyoming military posts are alerted. Colonel Dennison is meeting with Chief Eagle and his son Running Wolf when Chief Eagle is mysteriously shot.
Bandits of El Dorado
Wanted outlaws have mysteriously disappeared. Ranger Captain Henley and Steve have a plan to find them. Steve becomes a wanted man by faking the killing of Henley. Not only is he now in trouble as both the Rangers and the Mexican Rurales are after him, but Smiley knows him and may expose his masquerade to the bad guys.
Whirlwind Raiders
It's 1873 and the disbanded Texas Rangers have been replaced by the corrupt Texas State Police. Steve Lanning arrives posing as a wanted outlaw to get in with them in his attempt to have them replaced.
The Man from Colorado
Two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him.
Law of the Canyon
Freight wagons are being stolen and ransomed back to their owners. Government agent Steve Langtry (and his alter ego the Durango Kid) is sent break up the Hood Gang that's behind the robberies.
Blondie's Holiday
Dagwood gets a raise due to a new contract with a bank manager. Blondie misunderstanding the amount of the raise pledges more than they can afford to Dagwood's high school reunion organizer who was also Dagwood's high school sweetheart. To make matters worse Dagwood becomes involved with a gang running a gambling establishment.
Blondie's Anniversary
Blondie finds a valuable watch that has been hidden by hubby Dagwood. She assumes that it's a surprise wedding gift, but the truth is that Dagwood has been guarding the watch on behalf of a client who bought the gift for his own wife, which soon leads to trouble with his boss, a loan shark, and crooked building contractors.
Blondie in the Dough
BBlondie opens a bakery in her home to help fill the family cookie jar. Her tasty cookies become so popular that a cookie magnate makes her an offer that is difficult to refuse. Unfortunately, this creates all kinds of problems for the Bumsteads.
Blondie Knows Best
Dagwood Bumstead poses as his boss Mr. Dithers so that a big business deal can be consummated while Dithers avoids nearsighted process server Jim Gray. The upshot of all this is that Dagwood ends up in a lunatic asylum, forcing Blondie to come to the rescue.