California Straight Ahead! (1937, directed by Arthur Lubin)

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Biff Smith (John Wayne), fired from his job as a school bus driver, becomes a partner in a trucking company. In order to show-up the railroads that are determined to put any potential competitors out of business, Biff and his fleet race a train to the Pacific Coast, where a boat needs to be unloaded before a labor strike begins. Making this personal for Biff is that he’s in love with Mary Porter (Louise Latimer), the sister of Biff’s late business partner. Embittered by her brother’s death in a trucking accident, Mary is now working for the head of the railroad, James Gifford (Theodore van Eltz). Biff not only wants to prove that his small trucking firm can compete with the big boys but also wants to show Mary that her new boss is nothing but a smooth-talking weasel.

This film is from John Wayne’s B-movie star period, before John Ford cast him in Stagecoach and made him one of the biggest stars in the world. California Straight Ahead! features Wayne in a contemporary role, though the movie still has a western sensibility. There’s not much difference between a wagon train and Wayne’s fleet of trucks and, as in so many westerns, the greedy railroad baron is the villain. This is one of Wayne’s better B-movie performances. He was clearly comfortable in front of the camera by the time he made this movie and was no longer as stiff as he was in his earlier films. California Straight Ahead! is a crowd-pleasing film that finds Wayne standing up for small businesses and their workers. Though this may just be a 61-minute B flick, California Straight Ahead! reveals the movie star that Wayne would soon become.

The Eric Roberts Collection: Bad Substitute (dir by Steven Krasner)

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

If you want proof that Eric Roberts will appear in just about anything, just consider 2024’s Bad Substitute.

Though the title brings to mind a Lifetime film (and, as soon as I heard the title, I imagined Vivica A. Fox saying, “Looks like you hired the bad substitute,”), Bad Substitute is actually a comedy in the style of Bad Teacher, Bad Moms, Bad Bosses. and all the other bad films. Eric Roberts plays the principal of a high school who has to find someone willing to teach summer school. With all of his regular teachers having an excuse to get out of giving up their summer, Roberts is forced to turn to a teaching assistant (played by Steven Krasner, the film’s director and writer) who has just been dumped by his girlfriend and now has his entire summer open. The bad substitute has a class of misfits who need to prove themselves by passing their exams and he has a crush on the dedicated teacher working next door. You can pretty much guess where all this is leading.

Now, to be honest, for all the flaws in this film, I really don’t have any interest in trashing the Bad Substitute. The film pretty much is what it was advertised to be. It is what it is and I think most people’s critical ire is better served by being focused on expensive but bland studio films as opposed to an obviously low-budget and rather amateurish production that looks like it was filmed on someone’s phone. Bad Substitute may not be a good film but it’s also not actively hurting anyone.

What I will say is that Eric Roberts makes an impression as the principal, showing what a good actor can do with even limited resources. His befuddlement at discovering that all of his teachers are claiming to have COVID should be put in museum because it’s a moment that perfectly captures the mood of the past few years. Bad Substitute, whatever else you may say about it, should give every aspiring filmmaker hope. Maybe Eric Roberts can be in your film too!

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Westward Ho (1935, directed by Robert N. Bradbury)

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

As a young man, John Wyatt (John Wayne) witnessed an attack on a wagon train by the evil outlaw Wick Ballard (Jack Curtis). John’s parents were killed and his younger brother Jim was abducted. Years later, the grown John Wyatt realizes that the law cannot be depended upon in the wild west so he raises his own band of vigilantes and delivers justice to the frontier. (Wayne’s second-in-command is played by the legendary Glenn Strange.) Wyatt remains committed to taking down Ballard. Going undercover as John Allen, Wyatt joins a cattle drive that he thinks will be attacked by Ballard. Also working undercover as a member of the cattle drive is Jim Wyatt (Frank McGlynn Jr), John’s long-lost brother, who is now working for Ballard! Both the Wyatt bothers end up falling for Mary Gordon (Sheila Bromley), the daughter of rancher Lafe Gordon (Jim Farley).

This was a good example of the the type of B-movies that John Wayne made in the years before John Ford cast him in Stagecoach. The story is simple but Wayne gives a commanding performance as Wyatt. Unlike many of the B-movies that featured Wayne as a callow singing cowboy or a fun-loving rogue, Westward Ho features Wayne playing the type of character that he would often play after he became a star. Wyatt is determined to get justice for his family and to protect the innocents who are attacked by men like Ballard. The presence of his brother in the enemy camp adds an extra dimension to Westward Ho. Wyatt learns that vengeance isn’t everything.

It’s only 61 minutes long but it tells a good story and it has all the gunfights and horse chases that Western fans expect from their movies. Of Wayne’s poverty row westerns, Westward Ho is one of the better ones.

The Eric Roberts Collection: Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (dir by Jon Cassar)

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s disaster time!

In 2001’s Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534, a plane is making its way across the country. The pilot is the arrogant Jack Brooks (Kevin Jubinville), who is convinced that all a pilot has to do is let the instruments and the plane’s computer run the flight. He has total faith in technology. His first officer is Mike Hogan (Eric Roberts), a veteran pilot whose career went downhill after he was unfairly blamed for a crash in Boston. Mike is old school. He doesn’t have much use for all this technology nonsense. Mike thinks that a pilot has to listen to his own instincts and be willing to improvise. That sounds dangerous! It’s a good thing that Jack’s in charge of this plane!

Unfortunately, turbulence and a concussion temporarily puts Jack out of commission. Mike is going to have to conquer his own fears and insecurities to land this plane. Fortunately, he has the support of the head flight attendant, Katy Phillips (Alexandra Paul). Also, one of the passengers has some flight experience! Grant Blyth (Dean McDermott) is willing to help out. Of course, Grant is also a convicted murderer who was being flown to prison but whatever. I just find it interesting that, in the movies, convicted murderers and their handlers are always put on commercial flight. That seems kind of irresponsible to me.

Rough Air is a throwback to the old disaster movies of the 70s. The airplane is full of people who have to set aside their differences to work together and try to avoid a disaster. There’s a soccer star (Mark Lutz) and an engineer (Russell Yuen) and a rich guy (Carlo Rota) who only exists that he can be told to shut up whenever he doubts Mike. Unfortunately, this film isn’t quite as fun as any of those old disaster movies. There’s one funny moments where Jack wakes up and deliriously demands to be allowed to fly the plane but otherwise, this is a pretty boring flight. Not even Eric Roberts giving a typically committed performance can save this flight from being forgettable.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Hidden Assassin (1995, directed by Ted Kotcheff)

Posted on April 12, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

After the Cuban ambassador to the United States is assassinated, the CIA worries that someone is trying to create trouble between the USA and Cuba. With another Cuban-American summit due to be held in Prague, CIA Agent Dolph Lundgren is sent to arrest the assassin and bring her back to America to be tried before she can cause anymore trouble. The CIA claims that the assassin is a sniper-turned-club owner named Simone (Maruschka Detmers) but, once it becomes obvious that whoever wants to keep her from going to America want to not only kill him but also her as well, Dolph starts to suspect that there’s a bigger conspiracy at work.

Hidden Assassin was the last feature film to directed by Ted Kotcheff and, while it’s definitely a direct-to-video action flick, it’s still a cut above similar films that were being released at the time. Not surprisingly, the director of First Blood and Uncommon Valor knew how to shoot action films but he also did a good job directing the actors and everyone gives it their all in this film. Amongst the lower-tier action films of the 90s, Dolph Lundgren was always a better actor than Van Damme and he also more likable than Seagal. (Of course, a rabid bobcat is more likable than Steven Seagal.) Lundgren is at his best here, believable as both an action star and a spy. John Ashton of Beverly Hills Cop fame plays his partner and Gavan O’Herlihy plays his superior. They’re both pros who know exactly how to handle the material.

Hidden Assassin has some plot holes, the least of which anyone would go through that much trouble to sour relations between America and Cuba. America and Cuba haven’t gotten along for a very long time. Still, the movie makes great use of Prague as a location and Lundgren is characteristically strong as the film’s hero. There’s even some moments of deliberate humor that work surprisingly well. Lundgren and Kotcheff were a killer combination and it’s too bad they didn’t do more movies together.

The Eric Roberts Collection: The Perfect Summer (dir by Gary Wheeler)

Posted on April 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s the perfect summer …. or is it?

In this 2013 film, teenage Jake (Adam Horner) moves to California with his mother, Alyssa (Sydney Penny). They move in with Jake’s grandfather, surf shop owner Lou Reynolds (Eric Roberts). At first, Jake is miserable. He misses his friends. He doesn’t know what to make of the California lifestyle. He has a crush on Kayla (Katie Garfield) but he feels insecure because he can’t surf and, when he does buy a surfboard, it’s promptly broken in half by the local surf bullies.

(Is there really such a thing as surf bullies? I’ve never lived on the beach so I really haven’t had much experience with surfers. The ones that I met in Hawaii and Galveston all seemed pretty cool, though. But, in the movies, they’re all like, “Can’t surf our beach, brah.” A part of me suspects that movies should not be used as a guide for real life.)

It’s a good thing that Lou just happens to be a legendary surfer! While Alyssa pursues a romance with Marcos (Louis Mandylor), Lou tries to teach his grandson how to surf. It’s not always easy. Jake gets frustrated easily and he doesn’t quite understand the zen philosophy behind surfing. But, with Lou’s help, Jake gets the hang of it and soon, Jake is ready to enter the big surging competition!

If this all sounds familiar, that’s because you’ve already seen a hundred films like this. Think of The Karate Kid, but with surfing and Eric Roberts as the mentor. It’s all very predictable but the beach is pretty. The ocean is majestic. My favorite American Idol also-ran, Jason Castro, shows up for a few minutes. And Eric Roberts actually gets a fairly substantial role and a chance to show what a good actor he can actually be! There’s absolutely nothing surprising about the film but, for what it is, The Perfect Summer works.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Buckaroo From Powder River (1947, directed by Ray Nazarro)

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Pop Ryland (Forrest Taylor) is a frontier outlaw who makes law-breaking a family business. With his two sons, Pop is planning on flooding the territory with counterfeit bonds. His stepson, Tommy (Paul Campbell), doesn’t want anything to do with any criminal activity so Pop sends for McCall (Frank McCarroll), an assassin. In a letter, Pop explains that he wants his stepson murdered. When federal agent Steve Lacey (Charles Starrett) captures McCall, he finds the letter. Steve heads into town and goes undercover, pretending to be McCall. He also uses his other identity, the Durango Kid, to thwart Pop’s plans.

More than usual, this Durango Kid film leans more into the undercover aspect of Steve’s work. What’s interesting is that, after Tommy fakes his own death, Tommy also disguises himself as the Durano Kid and keeps his stepfather from suspecting that Steve is actually a member of law enforcement. It’s actually pretty clever, as far as these movies go, and it answers the question of why no one ever wonders why Steve and Durango are never in the same place at the same time.

Smiley Burnette shows up as Steve’s sidekick and he sings a few songs with the The Cass County Boys. Along with Smiley’s antics, this film has all of the horse chases and gunfights that we expect from a Durango Kid movie. Most of the usual stock company is present, including Ted Adams and Kermit Maynard. As always, Charles Starrett looks authentic riding horse and handling a gun. If you’re not into westerns, this film won’t convert you. But, for fans of the genre, this is another entertaining outing for the Durango Kid,

The Eric Roberts Collection: Deadly Sanctuary (dir by Nancy Criss)

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2015’s Deadly Sanctuary, Philadelphia reporter Kendall O’Dell (Rebekah Kochan) relocates to a small town in Arizona and proceeds to spend the majority of the movie complaining about it.

Seriously, I could relate to Kendall to an extent. We both have red hair. We both have asthma. We both hate snakes. We both wear high heels in the desert. We’ve both run outside in our underwear after coming across a tarantula in our house. But, even with all that in mind, even I quickly got annoyed with listening to her complain about every little thing. Her father got her a job at the Arizona newspaper so, of course, Kendall calls him up to complain about the desert. An old man stops and helps to shoo a snake away from Kendall’s car so, of course, Kendall gives him the glare of death when he casually calls her “sweetie.” (The guy’s 70 and was clearly not hitting on Kendall so maybe he can be forgiven for not speaking like a 30-something grad student.) Kendall shows up late for her job interview so, of course, she complains about the newspaper to her editor (Eric Roberts). Kendall gets a place to live, rent-free. She complains about the house being located near a mental hospital. Kendall’s co-worker, Ginger (Teri Lee), sets Kendall up with both a handsome cowboy (Marco Dapper) and the richest man in town (Peter Greene) and, of course, Kendall finds an excuse to complain about it.

Eventually, a plot of sorts kicks in. Kendall investigates the death of her predecessor and discovers that the sheriff (Dean Cain) doesn’t seem to be all the interested in solving any of the murders that seem to occur around town. She also tries to set up an interview with Dr. Price (Daniel Baldwin), the owner of the mental hospital, but it turns out that he doesn’t want to talk to her. He doesn’t care that she once wrote a series of articles about mental health in Philadelphia. (Yikes! I’ve seen Parking Wars so I can only guess how scary that must have been.)

Kendall hears strange voices in her house and spiders keep showing up at inopportune moments. Who can she trust? Who is the bad guy here? The rich guy or the salt-of-the-Earth cowboy dude? Well, I won’t spoil the film. I will say that the plot had potential but the poor pacing and the unlikable lead character eventually combine to do this movie in.

Eric Roberts is his usual avuncular self in this film. He spends most of his scenes sitting behind a desk. The rest of the film’s celebrity cameo budget was apparently spent on Dean Cain and Daniel Baldwin, both of whom seem rather bored with the whole thing.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys (1990, directed by Michael Switzer)

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Bruce Greenwood stars as Dennis Wilson and Greg Kean plays his brother Brian in this made-for-TV movie about the history of the Beach Boys. The movie focuses on Dennis and his struggle with his abusive father (Arlen Dean Snyder) and his ultimately fatal addictions. Bo Foxworth plays Carl Wilson, who doesn’t get a line until half an hour into the movie. Andrew Myler plays Al Jardine and Casey Sanders plays Mike Love, both of whom are portrayed as being bystanders while Brian and Dennis create the Beach Boys sound. (Jardine doesn’t get a single line in the movie.) An actor named Michael Reid MacKay shows up briefly as Charles Manson, wearing a fake beard and crashing at Dennis’s pad in the 60s. The movie portrays the Beach Boys transformation from being a clean-cut group of California teenagers to psychedelic pioneers by putting everyone in a wig once the late 60s arrive.

Summer Dreams claims to be The Story of the Beach Boys but next to no time is spent on the recording of Pet Sounds and Smile isn’t mentioned at all. (Don’t go looking for Van Dyke Parks.) Admittedly, this film was made before Brian Wilson made his touring comeback so I guess it would make sense that the story would focus on Dennis, who had died seven years previously. (Brian is portrayed as being neurotic and sensitive but not mentally ill.) Bruce Greenwood doesn’t do a bad job as Dennis and there definitely is a place for a movie that takes a real look at Dennis Wilson and his contributions to the group. Dennis was, in many ways, as serious an artist as Brian but, due to his early death, he’s often overlooked. But this film, mired as it is in biopic cliches and bland recreations of the 60s and 70s, doesn’t do justice to either Brian or Dennis or the group as a whole.

Watch Love & Mercy instead.

The Eric Roberts Collection: DC Down (dir by Geoff Meed)

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2023’s DC Down, Washington D.C. is hit by an earthquake!

It’s a 6.3 on the Richter scale, which means the aftershocks are going to be even worse. The Washington Monument now has a big crack on it. The Potomac is threatening to flood the city. And even worse, both the President (Sean Young) and the Vice President are trapped underneath a bunch of White House rubble. (Fortunately, the main White House is still standing and actually looks remarkably sturdy. The President and the Vice President were touring a new wing of the White House that was under construction.)

General Harris (Terry Woodbury) is determined to head up efforts to dig up the chief executive and hopefully find either her or the Vice President alive. However, Speaker of the House Terry Wilder (Eric Roberts) has other ideas. First, Wilder invokes the 25th Amendment and takes over as temporary President. Then he suggests that a militia group be brought in to search through the rubble and rescue the president. General Harris thinks that’s an odd idea but, in the end, he goes with it. Needless to say, Wilder does not have the president’s best interests at heart. For him, this earthquake is the perfect opportunity to take over. He orders the head of the militia to kill the president when she is found. Can Wilder be stopped?

(For that matter, do we want to stop Wilder? Eric Roberts seems like he would be a much more entertaining president that Sean Young.)

D.C. Down is another Asylum mockbuster, the type that I used to love to watch on the SyFy network. It’s cheap and it’s ridiculous and it’s self-aware enough to be entertaining despite all of that. You have to appreciate any film that can not only work in an earthquake and a flood but also a political coup. Add to that, Eric Roberts actually gets a few more scenes than usual in this film. I have to admit that I laughed out loud when he first appeared, casually walking up to the ruins of the White House extension as if it was just another day in the nation’s capitol. But, again, that’s a part of the charm of DIY, almost-punk rock charm of the Asylum and their mockbusters. They defy the conventional definitions of good and bad and they create a unique cinematic world all their own, in this case a world where both Sean Young and Eric Roberts can be President over the course of a day. Good for the Asylum! I hope they never stop making movies.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed: