Best movies like Smoking Trails

Despite his unprepossessing screen personality, singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely was starred in a series of Monogram westerns, one of which was West of the Alamo. Wakely and comedy sidekick Lee "Lasses" White play a pair of government agents who work undercover to solve a series of baffling crimes. It comes to no one's surprise that the criminal mastermind is the town's leading citizen, in this case banker Clay Bradford (Jack Ingram). As was typical in the Wakely westerns, West of the Alamo is approximately 25 percent action and 75 percent musical. Among the guest warblers this time out is the Arthur Smith Trio, headed by a gospel singer who'd later emcee a popular religious TV talk show.

Two-fisted cowboys fight for law and order in their encounters with outlaws.

Captain Hayes of the mighty law enforcement squad named the Texas Rangers reached the pinnacle of his career when he captured the notorious John Henry, an outlaw cowboy, and put him behind bars. Twenty years later, upon his release, Henry is older but unrepentant. Within six hours after leaving his jail cell, he evens the score with Hayes by holding up the Bank of Texas for $20,000 in gold. Hayes, in his fury, gets himself out of retirement to take up the chase once more.

The sheriff of a small town in southwest Texas must keep custody of a murderer whose brother, a powerful rancher, is trying to help him escape. After a friend is killed trying to muster support for him, he and his deputies must find a way to hold out against the rancher's hired guns until the marshal arrives. In the meantime, matters are complicated by the presence of a young gunslinger - and a mysterious beauty who just came in on the last stagecoach.

Capt. James Stewart pursues the bandit "The Kinkajou" over the Mexican border and falls in love with Rita. He suspects, that her brother is the bandit.

Jim Waters arrives at Ed Parks' ranch to find Parks' cattle herd mysteriously increased. Hamp Harvey has been losing cattle and he suspects Parks. But the culprit is Harvey's foreman Brent who gets his orders from the town's leading citizen Sig Barstell. Barstell wants Harvey's ranch and after trying to frame Harvey by killing Parks, Waters takes over and goes after both the killer and the rustlers.

An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.

A wandering cowboy gets caught up in a range war.

Rich momma's boy Wade Kingsley Jr. an Eastern dude, tries to follow in his murdered father's footsteps by returning to the West to partner up with Slim Moseley Jr.,the son of his father's former partner. Wade overcomes Slim's initial reluctance to accept him by using his fortune to buy a prize cow and new car to help Slim in his job as foreman on the Kingsley family ranch, currently under siege by a gang of outlaws called "masked raiders." Wade generously tries to pay off the ranch's mortgage with $15,000 of his own money, but unfortunately neither "pardner" realizes that respected banker Dan Hollis, the son of their fathers' murderer, is the leader of the gang.

After shooting a man in self-defense, Buck Duane finds himself accused of many crimes, none of which he committed. In order to prove his innocence, he joins the Texas Rangers, and also hopes to win the approval and hand of Mary Aldridge, a girl from the East. He is assigned to round up a gang of cattle rustlers who are, unknown by Mary. led by her father.

Gunfighter "Brazos" Kane lays aside his guns "forever" when he is forced to shoot his best friend, and decides to join another friend, Bob Tyrell, as a cowhand on the Inskip ranch. Upon arriving there he finds the bullet-riddled body of his friend. He carries the body to the Banner ranch, the largest in the territory, and is accused by Banner of murdering Tyrell; Banner orders Deputy Sheriff Bill Yount, who is in Banner's pay, to arrest Kane. But Kane has the sympathy of Banner's daughter, Jane, who notifies Inskip of Kane's plight, and Inskip arrives in time to prevent a lynching. Sheriff Kiscade dismisses the murder charge for lack of evidence. Brazos then sets out to find the killer of his friend. Bess Bannister, Jane's sister, is in love with the Banner ranch foreman, Bard Macky, and knowing that Bard killed Tyrell and that Kane will track him down, then hampers Kane's mission somewhat by pretending to be in love with him.

Tim Hart (Tim McCoy), a former Texas Ranger, comes out of retirement to avenge the death of Lightnin' Ed (Frank LaRue), his foster father, who had been sent to Rainbow's End, to investigate a series of train robberies. He senses that George Johnson (Walter McGrail) and his henchman, Speck (Bob Kortman), head the robbery gang, especially after Speck makes an ambush attempt on his life.

With the increasing popularity of Republic's sagebrush crooner Gene Autry, rival company Columbia found it necessary to add a musical element to this Charles Starrett Western released in early 1937. As Starrett himself was no singer, the studio hired Donald Grayson to warble Lonesome River, Out in the Cow Country and Pancho's Widow, all by Ned Washington and Sam H. Stept.

In this western, fake settlers make themselves at home on an ex-ranger's ranch and drive him away. A shady newspaper publisher and a gambler then conspire to take over the land. Fortunately, another ranger endeavors to help his pal. Enlisting the aide of his fellow rangers, they get oust the homesteaders. The publisher and the gambler shoot each other and the retired ranger gets his ranch back.

The foreman of a cattle-ranch located on the Texas-Mexico border is the leader of a gang of alien-smugglers bringing Chinese immigrants illegally into the United States. An under-cover Texas Ranger is sent to investigate.

John William 'Will' Cooper is a modern-day rancher, maintaining his ranch in hard times along with his friend and foreman Amos Russell. When Will's estranged daughter Jake returns to the ranch for her grandfather's funeral, father and daughter clash over how to run the ranch and over the death years before of Jake's mother, which she blames on Will. Crisis comes in the form of insurmountable debt, and it is only by working together that Will and Jake have any chance of saving their home and their family.

A friend of Dick Bailey is killed by a mysterious assailant, whom Dick suspects to be Stack, who is in league with the crooked sheriff. Out on a spree Dick swears he will marry the first woman he sees, who happens to be Ruth Hammond, sister of his dead friend, arriving to take charge of the Hammond ranch. Revolted by his rough proposal,she fires him as the Hammond foreman and she proceeds to the ranch. Stack informs her he has purchased the ranch for the payment of the back-due taxes, and she relents and rehires Dick and his friends to aid her in her fight against Stack.

Two Texas Rangers have their worlds rocked by a wrongfully accused female bandit.

Fred MacMurray stars as a US Army misfit who, with pals Albert Dekker and Gilbert Roland, roam the west in search of adventure. Arriving in a small town, they befriend the elderly newspaper editor (Arthur Allen) and his young granddaughter (Betty Brewer). The trio learns that the community is under the thumb of a covetous land baron (Joseph Schildkraut), who is endeavoring to push out the ranch owners and take over the territory.

Wise-guy carnival barker Windy bilks a group of cowboys out of their money, gets caught and is forced into working off the debt on their ranch. He falls in love with Molly, the pretty owner of the ranch, but runs afoul of foreman Steve, who also loves Molly.

When Moreland's henchman attack Bob Horner the Range Busters break it up. Horner dies but they get the baby Moreland was after. He must have it to become it's guardian and take control of the Horner ranch. When the henchmen catch up with Alibi, they take the baby cradle not realizing Alibi has substituted his dummy Elmer. Crash having evidence Moreland is the one they want, now has a plan to expose him.

As foreman of a dude ranch, Gene has two problems. One is a guest, the spoiled daughter of a millioniare, and the other is the disgruntled ex-foreman that Gene replaced, now just a ranch hand. Gene eventually gets the daughter straightened out but has to fire the ex-foreman and this leads to trouble when he returns intent on revenge.

Chip of the Flying U was Johnny Mack Brown's first western entry for 1940. Brown essays the title role of Chip Bennett, foreman of the Flying U ranch. Before the second reel has tumbled over the spools, Chip finds himself falsely accused of robbery and murder. The actual miscreants are in the employ of a band of foreign gunrunners, who speak in heavily Teutonic accents. Rest assured that Chip makes short work of these bush-league Storm Troopers before the sun sets in the West. Musical interludes are provided by a group calling themselves the Texas Rangers, even though they actually hailed from Kansas City.

Singing cowboy Tex Ritter and his sidekick, Slim Andrews, star in this musical Western about a couple of Texas Rangers who defend the citizens of a small territory from power-hungry outlaws. Villain Bradley Craven (Forrest Taylor) is determined to stop the election process that would allow the region to join the Union. Tex and Slim join a rancher and his daughter to stop Craven, with fearless Tex going undercover to ensure that justice is served.

Fur theives are looting the traps on the ranch where Roy is foreman and they have murdered one of Roy's friends.

In this musical western, a cowboy band is offered the chance to appear in a Hollywood movie and begins the journey to the West Coast. Unfortunately, the band ends up stranded in Texas and must take a job running a ranch. Musical mayhem ensues: Songs include: "Let's Love Again," "Where the Prairie Meets the Sky," "Don't You Ever Be a Cowboy," "Texas Polka," "No Letter Today," "I Got Mellow in the Yellow of the Moon," "Sip Nip Song," "Salt-Water Cowboy," "The Blues," "Little Brown Jug" and "And Then."

After the Texas Rangers are disbanded, the the reconstruction years following the Civil War, a private state-police force extorts money from the citizens in a "protection" scheme. Ex-Rangers Jimmy Wakely and "Cannonball" Taylor foil an arrest by state-police officers Hamon and Kelly. Commissioner Jed Brant tells his nephew that his old friend Jimmy is plotting against the law-and-order forces. Vic's fiancée and ranch-owner, Sheila Carol, refuses to sign up with the crooked police outfit, and believes Jimmy is an outlaw. On Chief Barton's order, Hamon shoots ex-Rangers Murphy and Payson, so they can be blamed for a raid on Sheila's ranch.

The hero, Texas Ranger Larry Whalen (Charles Starrett), is on the trail of a mysterious outlaw leader.

The Rancho Grande, a Texas border ranch, cut off from the law by a gang of outlaws led by ranch foreman Bart Lane, who is holding the elderly owner of the ranch, Sarah Burton, a prisoner. Tex Lowery, an undercover Texas Ranger, rescues Martha Williams, a nurse sent for by the ailing Sarah, from a stagecoach holdup by Lane's henchmen. He later convinces Laner that he is a wanted outlaw named Ed Carter, and gains entry to Rancho Grande. But the real Ed Carter shows up.

No relation to the 1950 John Ford classic of the same name, Rio Grande is yet another rubber-stamp Charles Starrett western from the Columbia assembly line.

Gene and Pokie are on vacation in Mexico when they learn that their buddy Dusty has been bumped off.

Rancher Lew Remington is at odds with longtime rival Bob Randall. The two men battle over rights of oil land that borders both their properties.

Bill travels to a new state after the outlaw Scarface saves him from a lynch mob. There he takes a job on the Barton ranch and joins in the fight against gang leader Larkin. Finding a wounded Scarface he helps him recover. Arrested by Larkin's stooge Sheriff, and with another lynch mob after him, he once again needs Scarface's help.

Two deputies go undercover to save a scientist from his evil kidnappers.

Two ex-cons plan to kill the range rider marshal who sent them to prison and, when their plan fails, join forces with their former boss, a crooked saloon owner who has the same idea.

Meline is taking money from his own bank to drill an oil well. When he finds Doug Redfern's bandana, he has his gang rob his bank and uses the bandana to frame Doug. When Doug is convicted but immediately paroled, Meline has another plan that he thinks will put him away permanently.

A cowboy arrives in a town, and is immediately mistaken for his twin brother who is wanted for murder.

A banker struggles to keep his bank solvent and his town from going bankrupt after the bank is robbed and all its money taken. The Three Mesquiteers ride into town and set out to help.

Returning home from the Great War, "Breezy" Hart (Fred Humes) and his shell-shocked buddy Frank Wilcox (Ralph McCullough) discover the Wilcox property in the hands of evil Sam Hardy (William Norton Bailey). Frank, who is the rightful heir to the ranch, goes into hiding, while "Breezy" takes a job in the ranch kitchen. Learning of Frank's whereabouts, Hardy plots to have the young heir killed. Luckily, Breezy overhears the villain plotting with his henchmen and is able to rescue his friend. Hardy and his men are arrested, and Frank, now cured of his illness, is reunited with his girl, June Marston (Nita Cavalier). Breezy, meanwhile, is busy romancing his kitchen staff colleague, Mary Jane (Louise Lorraine).

When his well-meaning sidekick (Smiley Burnette) buys a cow farm instead of a cattle ranch, singing cowpoke Gene Autry prepares to embrace the dairy business. But with a corrupt association bent on driving up milk prices, it's up to newly elected Sheriff Gene to clean up the mess. Country music icon Patsy Montana sings "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart," while radio crooners the Texas Rangers perform alongside Autry.

A singing cowboy (Dick Foran) thwarts a thieving judge and courts a woman (Anne Nagel) in Texas.

A rancher caught in the middle of a bank robbery shoots one of the robbers. However, the dead bandit turns out to be a former ranch hand who was suing him. The rancher is arrested for murder.

Rangers Tex Wyatt and Jim Steele arrive in Gabe's Crossing, NM, to capture Bent Yeager, a rancher accused of sabotaging the progress of the railroad.

After killing a friend in a gunfight, Jeff Douglas quits the Texas Rangers. He arrives at the Kenyon ranch just as Jonathan Kenyon apparently commits suicide. He and Janet Kenyon then become the new half owners. At first, he refuses to wear a gun and is believed to be a coward, but as trouble mounts, he straps it on once again.

Sayres and his outlaw gang operate out of a town just across the border and out of the jurisdiction of the Texas Rangers. Ranger Bob Allen is sent across the border where he poses as an outlaw hoping to lure the gang back into Texas. He gets into Sayres' gang displacing the gang boss but the disgruntled ex-boss is able to expose the hoax and Bob is made a prisoner.

The suspicious death of Henry King during a hunting trip with his brother John leaves the inheritance of the rich Santa Rita Ranch to be shared with John, Henry's daughter Doris and a young girl from New York, Twinkle Watts. King says that a son, Henry King Jr., who left home as a young boy was killed in a Texas gunfight. - Written by Les Adams

Dorothy, and her big city lawyer boyfriend, return to the Lazy 'B' ranch to read her late father's will. For Dorothy to inherit everything, she must stay on the ranch for 5 years. If she does not, everything goes to Buck, who is the manager. She does not like Buck, so she makes a deal with the wrong people for cattle and then the outlaws go to the ranch to get the $10,000 from her. But Buck is on the job.

Having quit their old gang and gone straight, Bert Allen and Joe Kemp finally own their own ranch after three years, but Joe robs the Riverton bank of the Green River Dam payroll - using Bert's horse, gun and gloves and leaving behind Bert's hat.

Eastern capitalists hire a stranger to head out to Arizona to investigate property near the Bar C Ranch, which contains gold. The Bar C is run by Buck Moran, and he and his cowboys are a lawless bunch. They don't know about the gold, but Dave Moore does, and so does his daughter Bobbie, whom he dresses up like a boy. Her true gender is eventually sussed out by the stranger.

Bob Allen in his starring debut gets a job on Wright's ranch where he hopes to find the rustlers no one else has been able to locate. Everyone is looking for men when the actual rustler is a horse.