MovieChat Forums > Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) Discussion > reed hadley

reed hadley

posted 18 years ago by pjwoodall1
32 replies | jump to latest

When I took a film course a few years ago, I paid tribute to Hadley when I analyzed LITTLE BIG HORN where he plays an embittered sergeant who had once been a major and feels that nobody respects him.
Hadley gives authority to the role because of his voice, I pointed out, and the cast includes numerous veterans: Lloyd Bridges, John Ireland, Jim Davis, Marie Windsor, Wally Cassell and quickdraw artist Rodd Redwing.
It's also very violent for a 1950's western and was directed by Charles Marquis Warren who created GUNSMOKE and RAWHIDE for tv.

[–] brucknerdan05 15 years ago

I agree! Reed Hadley was a greatly under-appreciated character actor. "Zorro's Fighting Legion" (the classic 1939 serial)was one of his few hero roles! Check out his small, but memorable role as Wild Bill Hickok in Gary Cooper's 1950 western, "Dallas". His narration work in Joel McCrea's 1944 western, "Buffalo Bill" is superb! His 1950s T.V. series, "Racket Squad" and "Public Defender", are available on DVD from oldies.com.

[–] pjwoodall1 15 years ago

Dallas and one turn as Jesse James(I don't remember which one) along with Racket Squad I remembe as well as Captain Marvel. I was surprised to find him unfilled in Ziegfeld Girl.
Little Big Horn is still one of my favorites due to its great cast with Lloyd Bridges, Jim Davis, Wally Cassell, Marie Windsor and John Ireland. For 1951 the violence was jolting for somebody used to Roy Rogers and company. Check out Bells of San Angelo for how Rogers' films were being more violent.
See you at the movies.

[–] jamesbwill 15 years ago

My most memorable Reed Hadley movie is "Guadalcanal Diary." He did not appear on the screen, but served as the narrator, and his great voice and forceful narration really kept me on the edge of my seat.

[–] pjwoodall1 15 years ago

Haven't seen that in several years, but I did notice stuntman Fred Graam among the men, I think, when they're reading letters. Very long career from MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY to POCKET MONEY with Newman, Marvin and Strother Martin. He was in so many westerns and serials it comes as a surprise to see him in ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD in the castle battle and doubling Basil Rathbone. He broke his ankle doing that fall!

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pjwoodall1 15 years ago

Hard to explain why he never starred in any other films that I know of. I still remember RACKET SQUAD vaguely. I took a film class a few years ago where we had to select a film and analyze it for an exam. I picked LITTLE BIG HORN where Hadley plays an embittered ex Confederate officer now a sergeant in the 7tn. Quite a cast: Lloyd Bridges, John Ireland, Hadley, Jim Davis, Wally Cassell (who's still around), Hugh O'Brian, Sheb Wooley and Marie Windsor. I singled Hadley out because of his voice.

It was a very violent movie for 1951 though not as violent as BRUTE FORCE a few years earlier.

[–] 398 14 years ago

I haven't seen LITTLE BIG HORN in decades. Will have to seek it out.

Besides his great take on Zorro and Don Diego, what I most remember about Hadley is his narrator turns. Checking his movie credits, about 25% are purely vocal. I wonder if his voice was perhaps too strong to be totally plausible in an ordinary role.

He did narration not only for the movies but for the Government, including the Defense Department, and I also remember him narrating a film about traffic accidents which I saw when taking driver's ed in high school way back in the sixties.

[–] pjwoodall1 14 years ago

I think ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION was his only starring role. The last time I saw Hadley in a film was in ZIEGFELD GIRL as a doctor.
There's another famous masked man in the cast. Clayton Moore appears briefly as one of the Legionaires when Zorro's seeking volunteeres to resuce Kala in Chapter 11. Moore omits ZFL from his screen credits.
I don't know if his voice kept him from better roles, however. One of his last films was an Al Adamson cheapie BRAIN OF BLOOD or something. Reminds me of Carradine on the Dick Cavett show years ago.
Cavett: "What's the worst movie you ever made?"
Carradine: BILLY THE KID VS DRACULA
Cavett: "For Heaven's sake! Why?"
Carradine: "For the money."

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 14 years ago

Beg to differ; Carradine's worst was Jerry Warren's immortal "Frankenstein's Island". Which I still enjoy until this day. He was superimposed in a cave and yelling about "The golden Power chord which can never be pulled!" Almost as superb as Lugosi yelling "Pull the String!" In Ed Wood's masterwork "Glenn or Glenda".

Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.

[–] pjwoodall1 14 years ago

When we have our antiques show here, Conrad Brooks comes almost every time. I can never convince him I've seen worse movies than 'Plan 9 and he can never convince me to buy any of his movies. He once offered it in color, and I asked
him if that improved the movie.

Beverly Washburn couldn't believe that I had actually seen SPIDER BABY, nor could a friend of hers. "Where did you see it? On cable?" They didn't know it was available on tape/DVD.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 14 years ago

"Spider Baby" stunk. Only good thing about it was Mantan Morland.

Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.

[–] pjwoodall1 14 years ago

Too long since I saw it, and I gave up a few years ago. I told Washburn I remembered seeing her on Wagon Train with Lou Costello, and she said he had trouble remembering his line.

Carradine was interviewed by Dick Cavett twice. Cavett asked him what was "the worst movie you've ever been in?" "Billy The Kid Vs Dracula." "For Heaven's. Why?" "For the money."

Some of The Blair Witch Project was shot around here in Gaithersburg, MD. And then you have Paranormal Activity which I thought was well done, but I couldn't figure out so many people found it frightening.

I love horror movies, but I usually skip the ones made in Hollywood these days. I thought DRAG ME TO HELL was the funniest film I'd seen in years. The other four or five people in the theater probably wondered why I was laughing so hard.
I tend to avoid remakes, sequels, prequels, etc and found it even funnier when I realized it was a very loose remake of CURSE OF THE DEMON. I asked Raimi about that in an e-mail, and he said they stole the idea from him!

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 14 years ago

I saw that "Drag Me to Hell" and I guess I didn't pay enuff attention cuz I don't remember it having anything to do with "Curse of the Demon" which was and still is a fine spooker. I was disappointed with "Drag Me..." especially after its big buildup by the many critics who loved it.

I though Saw 1 was good, but 2 was unnecessary and 3 was a real gagger. I'll not watch more of them. "The Crazies" looks promising, but who knows? "Planet Garbage" by Tarrantino was just that, but "Inglorious Basterds" was my fave of last year.

Carry on regardless.

Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.

[–] pjwoodall1 14 years ago

You are right about NIGHT OF THE DEMON being a classic. The copy I appears to be the uncut version, but I can't tell what was restored. DMTH is a very loose remake: 1)somebody killed by a demon in the opening scene; 2)the main character told they will die in three dsys at 10pm; 3)the exchange of the button/parchment to transfer the curse; 4)a seance; and 5)the fulfillment of the curse in a train station. There might be other points. One thing DMTH didn't have a wonderful performance by Reginald Beckwith as the medium.

When I submitted my screenplay I got a 7-page, single spaced analysis. Right off the bat the analyst said was a remake of THE WAGES OF FEAR. I took the basic idea of two truckloads of nitro being transported to an oil well fire and wrote a completely different story.

The plot was inspired by: 1)THE WAGES OF FEAR and SORCEROR; 2)the 12-chapter Republic serial THE TIGER WOMAN; 4)SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD, a horrible Italian cannibal movie starring Ursula Andress and Stacy Keach; and 5)THE UNTOLD STORY, a HK Category III film with Anthony Wong a restaurant owner who specializes in barbecued "pork" buns. Wong won a HK Best Actor award.

I saw the Tarantino film and thought it was good. Have you seen SUKIYAKI WESTERN: DJANGO FILM in which QT has a cameo? It's Takashi Miike's Japanese version of a spaghetti western where all the actors speak English.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 14 years ago

As yer bio says, you certainly have studied almost everything filmic. Pray tell, is HK Hong Kong? I am not a knower of Chinese films save a 7 Golden Vampires once in a stern while. Have not seen that Tarrantino thing, but have heard of same.

Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.

[–] pjwoodall1 14 years ago

I have Asberger's which is akin to autism, and one of the symptoms is an obsession with movies. I don't have a photographic memory, thank God. One of my favorite films is RAIN MAN. If you listen to the writers' commentaries you learn a great deal about these syndromes. Ralph Tabakin said he was surprised when it made $300M.

My grandmother was a local stage actress and in NY. She went to Hollywood with her first husband and my father to try to get into the Sennett comedies. I don't if she had any luck. Dad won a baby contest and got a contract, but then his parents divorced.

Her second husband Larry Woodall played in the major leagues and was Cobb' secondstring catcher. He also was in two or three of Joe E. Brown's baseball comedies, but I can't identify him. Larry wound up his career as a bullpen manager and scout for the Red Sox. In 1949 they sent Larry to Birmingham to scout Willy Mays. He didn't get to see Mays play and went back to Boston saying he didn't think Mays was Red Sox material. Of course, you have to consider the times and that Larry was from NC.

HK is Hong Kong where Jet Li, Jacky Chan and Chow Yun-Fat among others worked for years before Hollywood discovered them. John Woo also made several "bullet ballet" gangster films there. His 5-hr film RED CLIFF was the best film I saw last year. The Emperor declares war on two smaller kingdom who have to make peace in order to have any hopes of surviving. They have 100,000 soldiers to the Emperor's 800,000. Throw in a massive armada of 1,000 ships and the odds are getting worse. Two days before the big battle, the good guys need 100,000 arrows. No help from Gandalf, but where do you get 100.000 arrows on such short notice?

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 14 years ago

You certainly have a fine pedigree for the movies and a good familial history for baseball. But, what do you really think of "Zorro's Fighting Legion"? Yakima Canutt was the real star of it and his almost absurdly dangerous stagecoach stunt is still masterful after all these years!

Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.

[–] pjwoodall1 14 years ago

I first saw "Legion" sometime back in the 50's on Saturday afternoon, back to back with ZORRO'S RIDES AGAIN. Others included HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS, THE VIGLANTES ARE COMING and DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRLCE.

I still think Hadley was the best of the Republic serials with that deep, commanding voice, and Shaw was an interest choice for the mystery villain as was Carleton Young for Juarez. Here's an interesting question: Who was the voice for Don Del Toro? I've read it was Billy Bletcher who a munchkin voice and also Disney's Big Bad Wolf. Budd Buster, who played Juan, had a very long set of credits and was even a semiregular on GUNSMOKE.

I saw Canutt and his son Joe on the Cavett show years ago, helping Heston publicize SKYJACKED. Cavett asked Joe did you ever refuse to double Heston in a movie. Canutt said in PLANET OF THE APES Heston asked him to double him in the scene where the naked astronauts get chased by the gorillas. The scene would be shot from a helicopter and nobody would be able to tell the difference. "Hell, no. That's poison ivy."

One actor I'm surprised to find stunting Republic westerns is Ben Johnson before Ford discovered him. In WYOMING plays one of Wild Bill Elliott's ranchhands and is unbelievable thin. WYOMING, I think, was based on the Johnson County wars. I've also found him in one Randolph Scott western where he enters a building but then vanishes.

While I'm Johnson, I once asked Larry McMurtry if life in his hometown was as depressing in real life as was it was in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. "Even more so.
That's why I left."

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 11 years ago

Here I am again cuz U R the ANswer Man when it comes to many old cowboy movies and tv shows. I was wondering if U knew who doubled for William Boyd when he did the Hopalong flix? Did Canutt do the hard riding for him or somebody else? I just finished watching 3 of his adventures: "Pirates on Horseback", "False Colors" with a beginning Robert Mitchum and "The Devil's Playground".

I know U mentioned U watched "Rawhide" and I was wondering if U purchased them or watched them on Encore or somewhere else? If Encore, have U noticed how they don't show but a handful from 1960? Several times they'll list certain titles but never show them.

Hope all is well.

Significance is the popsicle of a melting mind.

[–] pjwoodall1 11 years ago

Re Hoppy my guess would have been Cliff Lyons, but his biography doesn't mention him doubling Boyd. I think he doubled Tom Mix in The Miracle Rider, Roy Barcroft in Haunted Harbord. He also achieved his greatest fame directing the battle in Wayne's The Alamo. Harry Carey Jr paid tribute to Lyons in the commentary for Wagonmaster. Lyons had a high voice and, according to Carey, Ford would insist on giving him speaking roles.

Re Rawhide the Western Channel seems to running the entire, including the episodes featurning John Ireland and Raymond St Jacques. Wooley must have dropped out to concentrate on his CW career. I think Wooley arrived at the end of the singing cowboy films and decided to play in straight. His first film was Rocky Mountain with Flynn, Slim Pickens Big Boy Williams and Buzz Henry who was the 2nd unit director on The Wild Bunch.

Just spent 5 days in the hospital with pneumonia, bronchits and infection as well as depression. One very conservative friend said I would anything to get out of voting.
Hope all is well with you too.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 11 years ago

Thanx for info on Hoppy. About Western channel didn't know there was another one separate from Encore channels. Yes Encore has shown the John Ireland ones but only a handful from 1960. Sheb Wooley was in and out of Rawhide several times. He was fickle that way.

Sorry about yer bout of sickness; my wife used to have terrible time with all that, but she finally found a doctor who cured her of all that. She does have adult onset asthma though and watches it very carefully. I had asthma as a child, but no more, thankfully. Well, at least yer home for the holidays!

Significance is the popsicle of a melting mind.

[–] pjwoodall1 11 years ago

Veronica Cartwright snd Ron Ely were at the antiques and collectibles show recently. VC autographed Invasion of The Body Snatchers for me. I asked her what attracted her movies to such as IOTBS, Alien, The Birds and The Witches of Eastwick. "A god script and a good role." I also asked about the dinner scene in Alien, and she confirmed she didn't like doing it because nobody knew what was going to happen. You can tell from her reaction.

Speaking of Alien, the special 9 disk edition has a commentary by Sigourney Weaver, VC, Tom Selleck, Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt as well as Scott. The "alien" was a graphics artist.

I recently picked up a film noir collection: The Big Steal, Where Danger Lives, Illegal, Crime Wave, Decoy, They Live by Night, Tension and Side Street. Nina Foch and one of the AFI people do a great commentary on Illegal with Robinson. They also spend time on the character actors such as Henry Kulky, Ed Platt and Ellen Corby. Foch also goes into the pervasive use of microphones inhibiting actors from using body language.

The other commentaries include Farley Granger and Audrey Totter.

Feeling much better, thank you. Xmas 1948 I spent in the hospital with double bronchitis. Mom used to tell me if I had been more cooperative about the shots I would have been out a lot sooner.

The last two new movies I've seen were The Cabin in The Woods and Prometheus.

Oh, thinking of Wooley, I read an interview him years ago. He said in Little Big Horn, the Indians had blinded him and with the makeup over his eyes, he needed help getting down the hillside. Curiously on the Stevens commentary for Giant they point out Monte Hale but omit Wooley. Trivia question: who is the last of the singing cowboys?

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 11 years ago

9 disc of "Alien"? That's too much for me! And speaking of Ridley Scott, will we ever know why his brother jumped off the bridge?

In "Illegal" at 38 mins. 46 secs, the statuette of the Maltese Falcon can be seen in the office. If U can't find it right away, U can go back and see it and keep going back until U do. Its there!

What's Tom Selleck doing on the "Alien" commentary as he wasn't in the flick?

What do U mean a graphic artist was "alien"?

Too bad all those actors on the Noir films are now gone. Foch etc.

I've not see Cabin in the Woods nor Promethus. I guess they didn't impress U as U said nothing about them.

Singing cowboys? Never cared for them. But I enjoyed Cowboys and Aliens!

Significance is the popsicle of a melting mind.

[–] pjwoodall1 11 years ago

I mixed Selleck up with the guy from MASH.
Re Alien the actor playing the Alien was credited but barely mentioned in the commentary. VC told me he was in graphics, I did watch It The Terror from Beyond Space recently which inspired Alien. Ray "Crash" Corrigan took time off from playing gorillas to play the alien. Which brings me back to the trivia question. The answer is Herb Jeffries who made westerns for black audiences. I tried watching one and it was beyond awful, especially the comedy.

Liked "Cabin" more than Prometheus. The pothead reminded me of my younger brother in his attitude toward everything. It showed what you can do with a limited budget, good actors and a good script. It reminded me of H.P. Lovecraft's stories. I don't remember seeing Richard Jenkiins in anything except a missing dog comedy starring Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline. The cameo appearance was a total surprise to me. I've always liked the "Evil Dead" movies and once exchanged e-mails with Sam Raimi about Curse of The Demon. I thought it was the funniest movie I'd seen in years. The other five people in the theater must have thought I was crazy.

That tells you something about my taste in comedy: Hope and Crosby, the Marx Brothers, Preston Sturges, Cary Grant, Hepburn and Tracy, etc.

I knew about the black bird but couldn't find it, and it's not mentioned on the commentary. Foch does talk about the paintings displayed throughout the movie as having come from Robinson's collection. She also skirts around Dekker's personal life but does discuss Mansfield's death. I have all three versions of the Maltese Falcon as well as the original version of The Big Sleep.

Cowboys and Aliens I thought had too much Star Wars--influence. Buster Crabbe was once asked what he thought of SW: "It's Buck Rogers on a bigger budget than I ever had." When Ch 50 ran Flash Gordon years ago Crabbe made a personal appearnce as did Heston. I thought I saw Crabbe prominent featured as an "ape man" in Island of Lost Souls.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 11 years ago

U ever see "Haunted Gold" with Jon Wayne from 1932? Its another one with the Maltese Falcon bird in it and a horse named "Duke".

Significance is the popsicle of a melting mind.

[–] pjwoodall1 11 years ago

Wayne made a lot of those westerns, most of which I've never seen. I have always thought he was repaying Robert Bradbury for helping with his career by using Bob Steele frequently.

Saw Tower Heist last night and it reminded me of Donald E. Westlake's about John Dortmuder, Andy Kelp and company. Of course, Ben Stiller and his gang were pros compared to Dortmunder. Westlake was asked whether an Oscar nomination would encourage him to write more screenplay. I think he said because you lose control over the material.

Which reminds me of trivia: Was Woody Allen's Small Crooks a remake of Edward G. Robinson's Larceny Inc? Virtually the same plot.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 11 years ago

As U know well, being a screenwriter yourself, there are only a set number of plotlines.

And speaking of writing, do U still do it?

Significance is the popsicle of a melting mind.

[–] pjwoodall1 11 years ago

When I can of something to write about. I stopped working on Treasure Island with Zombies after 120 pages and can still go back to it. I decided to create a character based on calypso songwriter Sir Lancelot who was in I Walked with a
Zombie and Brute Force and even tried writing some calypso songs. My dad's CW songs far better

Speaking of Brute Force(I don't if you seen it) did you know Tom Steele doubles Hume Cronyn when he fights Burt Lancaster at the end of the movie? Very striking resemblance. It can be confusing because Steele and Ed Cobb play guards slso in the scene.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 11 years ago

Yeah, Sir Lancelot, I remember him. What was your dad's professional name, I mean when he was a performer?

I saw Brute Force long ago and I don't remember it. It seems U know much more about the stunt people. How do U know all that, is it because U met them or?

Have U ever tried to show yer screenplays to an agent?

All of the actors I ever met are now dead, but I saw some of them in compromising positions like drunk.

The heading on Imdb is "Poor Johnny" but I don't remember what that means; any idea? Also anybody who comes here and see all this stuff that has nothing to do with Zorro's Fighting Legion will think we're nuts. Too bad!

Significance is the popsicle of a melting mind.

[–] pjwoodall1 11 years ago

I remember seeing Sir Lancelot on the Garry Moore show one night. He challenged the assembled cast to come up things to sing about, and one girl had a run in her stocking. I wrote two or three songs in his style.

My Dad's name was Paul Woodall, and his group was Paul and Friends. Eventually there was only Dad. A lot of his songs are autobiographical. His favorite was When Momma Put The Skillet on The Stove, a tribute to his grandmother. My sister Lia put the songs together in a songbook. I gave a speech in Toastmasters this year My Dad The CW Singer in which I sang that song. You don't want to hear me sing. Dad was nonprofessional and never sold any of his songs. Somebody from Hanna Barbera was interested in one song, but Dad never heard back from him.

I have a number of books covering serials, B Westerns, Hong Kong and Japanese films(to be continued)

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 11 years ago

U said at the end of yer last dispatch that it would be continued, but U never got back with any more so this is just a reminder.

Hope yer having a fine holiday feast and will not be spending anymore time in the hospital.

Significance is the popsicle of a melting mind.

[–] pjwoodall1 11 years ago

I don't remember what I was talking about now. Even my memory fails me at times.

Been out for about two weeks. Drove around the block once which I shouldn't have done and also walked around the block twice on the advice of the physical therapist. This is going to take time and I won't be going back to my Toastmasters clubs any time soon.

Some friends brought Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon from a church dinner. Was getting tired.

Did you know director King Vidor was a Toastmaster? I read a book about William Deems Taylor that mentioned Vidor wanting to make a movie about Taylor's murder and taking time out from researching the case to attend a meeting.

Big surprise on Rawhide yesterday. Claude Rains as a drunken judge facing off with John Dehner. Wouldn't expect to find Rains in a western. Bette Davis said he was her favorite leading man. This afternoon they had Beverly Garland in a brunette wig and oldtime badguy Holly Bane/Mike Ragan who gave up acting to be a makeup artist.

Thinking of Ragan stuntman Neal Summers has a website dedicated to B western actors, stuntmen and supporting players. A lot of very familiar faces in there. I have a bug The Bad Guys which is dedicated to Charles King: You never knew what his name was but you always knew he was the bad guy." That's not quite true. In the Columbia serial Adventures of Sir Galahad he plays George Reeves' sidekick.

Watched the 67 version of Casino Royale recently with a commentary. It helps explain why the movie was such a mess. I used to have the live tv version with Barry Nelson as Jimmy Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. Nelson is totally miscast but in the mid 50's nobody really knew who James Bond was. Nelson was asked about playing Bond: "Yeah. Just call me Agent 003.5."

Have a good holiday.