Desert Gold (1936) | Full Movie | Buster Crabbe | Tom Keene | Monte Blue

Watch Desert Gold (1936) Full Movie on Western TV Shows
"Desert Gold" was another in the series of well produced 60 minute (or less) Zane Grey adaptations that Paramount turned out in the 1930s. Although there are considered "B" films, they had bigger budgets, better production values and a vast store of stock footage to set them above the average "B" western.
Director: James P. Hogan (as James Hogan)
Writers: Stuart Anthony, Robert Yost
Stars: Buster Crabbe, Tom Keene, Monte Blue
Buster Crabbe was a swimming champion in the 1928 and 1932 Olympic Games. This led to a role in the Tarzan serial Tarzan the Fearless (1933), and a career in which Crabbe starred in more than a hundred films. In King of the Jungle (1933), Jungle Man (1941), and the serial King of the Congo (1952), he played typical "jungle man" roles. He starred in several popular films at this time, including The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1933), alongside Betty Grable, and Search for Beauty (1934).
In 1936, he was selected over several stars to play Flash Gordon in the first, very successful Universal Pictures Flash Gordon serial, which was followed by two sequels released in 1938 and 1940. The series was later edited and shown extensively on American television during the 1950s and 1960s, then fully restored for home video release. He also starred as Buck Rogers for Universal, playing the role with dark hair, unlike his blonde hair for Flash Gordon. In 1939 Crabbe reunited with Grable for a lead role in the mainstream comedy Million Dollar Legs.
During World War II, Crabbe was put under contract by Producers Releasing Corporation for lead roles from 1942 to 1946. He portrayed a Western folk-hero version of Billy the Kid in 13 films, and Billy Carson in 23, along with Al St. John as his sidekick. As a 34-year-old married man, Crabbe had a draft deferment, but made Army training films for the field artillery at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, along with St. John.Crabbe also played some jungle roles for the studio.