Zeus

Under Montana Skies (1930)

• Director
  • Richard Thorpe
• Writers
  • Jimmy Aubrey(story)
  • Bennett Cohen(scenario)
• Stars
  • Kenneth Harlan
  • Slim Summerville
  • Dorothy Gulliver

  Journeyman director Richard Thorpe (who later helmed Elvis Presley features) directed this bizarre early talkie western which incorporated comedy musical numbers (vampish Nita Martan sings Crying Blues and A Man Like That) into a standard western plot dealing with rustlers and revenge. Joining up with a travelling medicine show, Westerner Clay Conning (Kenneth Harlan) tries to help his fellow troupers protect themselves against the villains. He also champions the cause of heroine Mary (Dorothy Gulliver), who is likewise being victimized by the baddies. Thrown into jail on a trumped-up charge, Conning escapes to see that justice is done. Screenwriters Bennett Cohen and James Aubrey threw in a stranded theatrical troupe to provide the vaudeville routines. Leading man Kenneth Harlan was the husband of actress Marie Prevost. Harlan's days as a star were numbered, but he continued in character roles for another decade and a half.