Border Guns

Nominated by some historians as the worst Western of the 1930s, this 55-minute blunder was so inept that several key personel opted for pseudonyms. Leading lady Janet Morgan was actually silent screen flapper Blanche Mehaffey, and screenwriter Oliver Drake sincerely hoped that he wouldn't be recognized under the nom de plume of "Ollie Milliken." Despite the claim of the releasing company, Aywon, that the film offered "galloping horses whirling on to a sensational, unexpected climax," Border Guns told the pedestrian story of a cowboy (Bill Cody) battling a ruthless Mexican rustler (George Chesebro in the lawless border town of Driftwood, Arizona. The film was one of three Cody Westerns produced by the ubiquitous one-legged Robert J. Horner, who, as always, spared every expense.