Product Details

• Actors: Buster Crabbe
• Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Vci Video
• DVD Release Date: May 29, 2007
• Run Time: 232 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000QCU9W6
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #67,956 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Olympic swimming champion Buster Crabbe was one of the most talented B movie actors, and his engaging personality was often responsible for the successes of a great many Western thrillers of the thirties and forties, as well as for his famous Flash Gordon character. Billy the Kid returns to the screen to fight for law and order in Fugitive of the Plains (1943), as he infiltrates an outlaw gang in order to clear his name of a crime. Wild Horse Phantom (1944), Billy and Fuzzy trail a gang of outlaws to an old mine, but it seems that the robbers are unable to remember where they hid the stolen money. In Western Cyclone (1943), Billy the Kid (Buster Crabbe) has been framed for murder by an outlaw gang. In Sheriff of Sage Valley (1942), Buster Crabbe gets to play dual roles, that of Billy the Kid and his own twin brother, Kansas Ed. Billy and his pals travel to Sage Valley where Billy is made Sheriff. Kansas Ed, who is a dead ringer, captures Billy and now plans to run the town as Sheriff. Bonus Features: Movie Selection| Trailers. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 232 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA – NR; Year - 1942, 1943, 1944; SRP - $4.99.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Classic Western Collection ... Buster Crabbe ... VCI Home Video (2007)", August 30, 2007

By	J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

VCI Entertainment present "CLASSIC WESTERNS COLLECTION: BUSTER CRABBE FOUR FEATURE" (232 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- now in Glorious Black and White --- VCI presents four outstanding films in the genre of the Western --- relive those thrilling days from the early '30s and '40s when Buster Crabbe took us down the dusty trails with some of the best B-Westerns ever to grace the Saturday Matinee Screen --- just remember double the thrills, mystery and suspense --- hitting the bull's eye with excitement --- don't miss any of the Buster Crabbe features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his B-Western adventures --- Excellent cast of fine actors with Jack Ingram, Glenn Strange, Karl Hackett, Hal Price, John Merton, Ed Cassidy, John Elliott and Charles King --- outstanding director Sam Newfield takes the helm of each oater.

The first of four Buster Crabbe westerns - "FUGITIVE OF THE PLAINS" (Released: 1 April 1943) (56 mins/B&W) --- our story once again has Buster Crabbe being blamed for crimes he's not responsible for, but the twist here is the leader of the outlaws is a woman Maxine Leslie ... veteran character actor Karl Hackett plays the Sheriff of Red Rock who is after Crabbe for these Poverty Row crimes ... head henchman is Jack Ingram, always in there trying to stir things up in the worst way ... Crabbe and Ingram lock horns, will the feelings for Buster sway Maxine's from saving him ... don't miss the last reel, cause it's a winner --- Fuzzy St. John is the comedy relief and scene stealer in this stellar oater ----- B-Western footnote, actor Al St. John, silent film comic who appeared in dozens of Mack Sennett's early Keystone comedies and would eventually create and star in his own vehicles for other studios. With the advent of sound, he became a character actor in westerns and later the bewhiskered sidekick, also known as Fuzzy Q. Jones in some popular series Fred Scott (Spectrum Pictures/1937-38), Bob Steele/Billy the Kid (PRC Pictures/1940-41), Don "Red" Barry (Republic Pictures/1940-42), Lone Rider wth George Houston (PRC Pictures/1941-42), Lone Rider with Robert Livingston (PRC Pictures/1942-43), Buster Crabbe/Billy the Kid (PRC Pictures/1941-43), Buster Crabbe/Billy Carson (PRC Pictures/1943-46), Lash LaRue (PRC Pictures/1947-52) --- St. John retired from film making in the early '50s, passed away in 1963 from a heart attack while working with the Tommy Scott Wild West show --- check out this and more in a new book "Those Great Cowboy Sidekicks" by David Rothel, available from Amazon and Empire Publishing --- pick up your copy today

Second feature - "FUZZY SETTLES DOWN" (Released: 25 June 1944) (60 mins/B&W), our story begins with Fuzzy St. John wishing he could settle down and become a hard working newspaper man ... Charles King is the boss villain in this oater, while John Merton another favorite of mine carries out all his skullduggery ... now enters our hero Buster Crabbe who is out to clear Fuzzy and bring in the true Poverty Row baddies ... can Buster get his favorite sidekick out of this one, well it's now over until all the hard riding, shooting and fisticuffs enter this over the top B-Western ----- Special B-Western footnote, actor Charles King was among the top five "Best of the Badmen" (according to a new book by Boyd Magers, Bob Nareau and Bobby Copeland) --- King was a big man, but as agile as a cat during his fight scenes with Johnny Mack Brown, Buster Crabbe, Tex Ritter, The Rough Riders and Bob Steele...King appeared in 400 films and 350 were in sound including many cliffhangers --- King was the heavy we loved to hate --- check out this and more in a new book "Best of the Badmen" by Boyd Magers, Bob Nareau and Bobby Copeland, available from Amazon and Empire Publishing --- pick up your copy today --- another great B-Western for Buster Crabbe under the PRC Picture banner, proves to be one of his most exciting performances.

In this third feature - "WESTERN CYCLONE" (Released: 14 May 1943) (62 mins/B&W), story line and plot has Glenn Strange trying to get the Governor (Karl Hackett) impeached so he can take over control of the state --- Knowing the Governor and Billy (Buster Crabbe) are good friends, he has Billy framed for murder. Fuzzy (Al St. John) finds the shell and Billy sees it has a peculiar mark --- Now they have to find the owner of that gun before this exciting oater comes to final shootout scene.

And the final oater - "SHERIFF OF SAGE VALLEY" (Released: 2 September 1942) (57 mins/B&W), Billy (Buster Crabbe) and his pals Al St. John and Dave O'Brien, on the run from the law again, travel to Sage Valley where Billy is made Sheriff --- The local outlaw gang is run by Kansas Ed (Buster Crabbe) who closely resembles Billy. Ed captures Billy and changing clothes with him, now plans to run the town as Sheriff --- two outstanding villains of the B-Westerns is Charle King and John Merton, give this oater a boost - - - Special footnote, When you think of great badman in films during the '30s and '40s, hands down the name is "Blackie" alias Charlie King. In fact author Bobby J. Copeland's latest book is titled "Charlie King - We called him "Blackie", comprehensive in depth behind the scenes of the baddest of the badmen. We saw him through the eyes of such heroes as Buster Crabbe, Johnny Mack Brown, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, Dave O'Brien, Tex Ritter and Bob Steele. Bob Steele and Blackies fight scenes were a joy to watch, classic moves that actually looked so real ~ you could feel the punch in the fifth row where I was sitting.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIOS:
1. Buster Crabbe (aka: Clarence Linden Crabbe II)
Birth Date: 2/17/1907 - Oakland California
Died: 4/23/1983 - Scottsdale, Arizona

Special footnote, actor Buster Crabbe graduated from the University of Southern California and won the 400 meter freestyle in which he medaled in the 1932 Olympics, went to work for Paramount in "King of the Jungle" (1933), next role was "Tarzan the Fearless (1933), Crabbe returned to Paramount Pictures was featured in Zane Grey Westerns which were well received, then came the roles that made him a household word "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers" at Universal Picture Serials (1936-1940), meanwhile PRC Studios was looking for a leading hero "Billy the Kid" and "Billy Carson" in the 1940's B-Western series and ran its course for six years, later made several televison appearances and appeared in a series "Captain Gallant and the Foreign Legion" (1955-1957)

2. Al "Fuzzy" St. John (aka: Alfred St. John)
Birth Date: 9/10/1893 - Santa Ana, CA
Died: 1/21/1963 - Lyons, Georgia

3. Charles King
Birth Date: 2/21/1895 - Hillsboro, Texas
Died: 5/07/1957 - Hollywood, California (cirrhosis of liver)

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns --- order your copy now from VCI or Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 232 mins on DVD ~ VCI Home Video. ~ (5/29/2007)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor Quality, July 6, 2008

By	G. Schneider "old movie buff" (VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Buster Crabbe has always been one of my favorite actors. Unfortunately, his Westerns have suffered neglect over the years. I have several on VHS and when this DVD version appeared, I snapped it up...only to discover that the quality really sucks. The picture is dark and murky. And in several cases there were so many splices and missing frames I finally gave up. I'd give this half a star if I could. Maybe someday someone will dig out pristine copies or the negative (not likely!) and we'll get to see these gems as they were meant to be seen. Meanwhile, stay away from this turkey!

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Chemistry Between Crabbe and St. John, October 8, 2008

By	Buster49 (Utica, NY) - See all my reviews

Before I proceed, I want to point out that my copy lists "Fuzzy Settles Down" but on the disc itself is "Wild Horse Phantom." The other three titles are on the disc as listed.
Buster and Al St. John had great chemistry which is the significant factor that lifts these poverty row films to a very entertaining level. VCI did a fine job (as much as possible) in restoring these movies.