Desperate Trails

Following 1939’s “The Phantom Stage”, the last of 12 series westerns made at Universal by Trem Carr and Paul Malvern starring Bob Baker, Universal kicked off a new series of six starring their new series-sign Johnny Mack Brown (who had already starred in three Universal serials with one more to go.) Baker was now odd-man-out at the studio as his contract had been with Trem Carr, and Carr and associate Malvern had moved over to Monogram to begin a series of four “Tailspin Tommy” features. Universal, usually late to the party anyway, added Baker and comedian Fuzzy Knight to the first-six Brown films to form a trio angle along the lines of Republic’s highly successful “Three Mesquiteers” series, but there were no continuing roles in these films—they even killed Baker off in the 2nd film—and Baker’s 2nd-lead soon went to 3rd-lead (behind Knight) and then to “gone” after the sixth film. When Bob Baker was next seen in a film at Universal, it was as the uncredited bus driver in Abbott …