"The Utah Kid"

Bob Steele (left) and Hoot Gibson (right) star in the 1944 Monogram picture, "The Utah Kid" — which was filmed at least partially at Ernie Hickson's Placeritos (Monogram) Ranch in Placerita Canyon (Schneider Vol. 4:56), later called Melody Ranch.

As usual with Monogram pictures filmed at his ranch, Hickson is the technical director / set designer / prop man, and Harry Neumann is behind the camera.

Gibson, onetime owner of the Baker Ranch Rodeo (later Saugus Speedway) would be inducted posthumously into the Newhall Walk of Western Stars. But he wasn't the only one from this picture. Dan White (1908-1980), who plays a henchman, was inducted in 2019. Overlooked, to date, is poor Bob Steele, real name Robert Adrian Bradbury (1907-1988). The son of film director Robert N. Bradbury, he appeared in more made-in-SCV movies than we can count. He also went to Glendale High School with a buddy named Marion Morrison, and the elder Bradbury cast him in pictures locally, too — under his stage name, John Wayne.

"The Utah Kid" also stars Beatrice Gray, Ralph Lewis, Evelyn Eaton, Mauritz Hugo, George Morrell, Mike Letz and Jamesson Shade. Uncredited cast inludes Lynton Brent, Jack Evans, Al Ferguson, Herman Hack, Earle Hodgins, Lew Meehan, Lew Morphy, Fox O'Callahan (another important SCV-in-the-movies figure), and the ever-present henchman, Bud Osborne (although he's a stage driver here). The famous sound engineer Glen Glenn handled the audio.

Lobby card, 11x14 inches.