Short Grass

Another fine Rod Cameron Western
I have commented previously on several Westerns featuring Rod Cameron. SHORT GRASS is the third film with Cameron released by Allied Artists (Monogram Picture's higher budget releasing agent), and it came out in 1950. It was preceded by PANNHANDLE and STAMPEDE, both of which are also on DVD now. These three Allied Artists releases are superior entries, with good production values, equal to other "little A" Westerns released during the 1946-1950 period. (Monogram, itself, released three additional shorter, color Westerns with Cameron, and these have been put on DVD, as well, by Warner Archive)

SHORT GRASS stands out for a number of reasons. First, there is the stellar cast: not only do we have Cameron, but featured co-stars include Johnny Mack Brown (the town sheriff, a role he also plays in STAMPEDE), Myron Healey, Stanley Andrews (the "Old Ranger" of "Death Valley Days"), Morris Ankrum (leader of the bad guys), Harry Woods (Ankrum's henchman), Alan Hale Jr.(of later...

A present to western buffs!
This is a middle-budget western. Not a big John Ford or Howard Hawks film, not a small Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers film but one of those sort of between. And the best is that we now are able to see them. John Ford is of course the greatest and often b-westerns are the best concerning action and great fast riding but these "betweens" certainly are worth watching. They were films with Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Audie Murphy and many other great heroes. In this picture it is tall and convincing Rod Cameron who makes life risky for the bad guys and he is supported by good ol' Johnny Mack Brown. Lesley Selander directs and that means lots of action and shooting and fighting scenes. The plot is very intense and the magic between Cameron and leading lady Cathy Downs ( My Darling Clementine herself ) is glowing. The western buffs' best friends namely the so called mainstays are richly represented. Harry Woods, Morris Ankrum, Jack Ingram and many, many more. And the print is fine...

Rod Cameron rides tall in the saddle.
In the late forties Monogram Pictures began to move into the "A" movie realm by creating a subsidiary named Allied Artists by producing films with higher production values and longer running times, leaving their series pictures like Johnny Mack Brown and the Bowery Boys, under the Monogram logo. After 1952 all the films came under the Allied Artists logo. Three of the early Allied Artists pictures were westerns, Pan Handle, Stampede, and Short Grass, all starring Rod Cameron. Pan Handle and Stampede are noteworthy because they were written and produced by Blake Edwards and John Champion, Edwards went on to a great career with Peter Gunn and the Pink Panther and other films
Short Grass was written by Tom Blackburn and directed by Lesley Selander, a good western director.The cast includes Johnny Mack Brown, taking a break from his "B" series. Cathy Downs, and Alan Hale, Jr. The writing, acting, and directing are good. The budget was perhaps too small to support the...

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