ARIZONA WHIRLWIND MOVIE CAST - PRINTED PHOTOGRAPH SIGNED IN INK CO-SIGNED BY: BOB STEELE, KEN MAYNARD, HOOT (EDMUND) GIBSON - HFSID 82745

ARIZONA WHIRLWIND
All three western stars shown in a still from the 1944 film
Printed Photograph Signed in Ink: "Hoot Gibson", "Bob Steele" and "Ken Maynard". Sepia, 10x8. Movie still from the 1944 film Arizona Whirlwind. In their third and final "Trail Blazers" Western together, HOOT GIBSON, BOB STEELE andKEN MAYNARD witness what appears to be a gang of Indians raiding a stagecoach. Investigating, the three lawmen discover that the attackers are actually white bandits dressed as Indians. Maynard (1895-1973) a former trick rider with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and later Ringling Brothers, had made his film debut in The Man Who Won (1923) and would appear in dozens of Westerns, including three "Trail Blazer" films with Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele. Maynard, film's first singing cowboy, showcased his riding skills on his horse, Tarzan, who was sometimes, billed as Tarzan the Wonder Horse. Maynard retired from films in 1944 before returning to the big screen in two films in 1970 and 1972. Former rodeo champion and actor Edmund "Hoot" Gibson (1892-1962) is said to have been given his unusual nickname while working as a delivery boy for the Owl Drug Co. In 1912, he began working in films as an extra and stunt man. After starring in his first feature films, John Ford's five-reelers Action and Sure Fire, Gibson skyrocketed to fame, becoming one of Universal's top paid stars as the cowboy idol of millions of American kids in the 1920s and well into the 1930s. Gibson was an atypical western hero as he rarely carried a gun and was more of a comedian than action hero. His popularity continued until 1936, the last year in which he was on the Top Ten Money-Making Western Stars list. Gibson's later films included The Sheepman (1958) and Ocean's 11 (1960, uncredited). A B-film Western hero of the late silent and early talkie era, BOB STEELE (1906-1988) performed well in other roles when given the chance, as in Of Mice and Men (1939) and The Big Sleep (1946). He continued to play supporting roles, mainly in Westerns, into the 1970s, and also played Trooper Duffy on TV's F Troop (1965-1967). "Elsie" was ELSIE MYRUS, the wife of the mental telepathist, who would collect the autographs of celebrities attending her husband's shows. Stamp embossing at lower left corner. Creased and lightly soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.