The early to mid 1930s.
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 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above are Edna Marion, Jack Perrin and Benny Corbett in a lobby card from the lost/missing ROMANCE OF THE WEST (Arthur Hammond Prod./Capitol Film Exchange, 1930).  Bob and brother John performed most of the production functions on ROMANCE OF THE WEST.  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - Sherry Tansey is about to take a board to hero Lane Chandler who is poundin' away on an unidentified player in a lobby card from the lost / missing RIDERS OF THE RIO (Round-Up Pictures, 1931).  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Lots of Tansey family involvement in this one! Wally Wales (later Hal Taliaferro) and Merla Bratton are shown in left inset from THE LONE RIDER (William Pizor/Imperial, 1934). The "directed by Robert Emmett" was Bob Tansey, and the "Jim Sheridan" was his brother Sherry Tansey. Not mentioned above is the screenplay credit to "Al Lane" ... and that might be a Bob Tansey alias.  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - Wally Wales versus Sherry Tansey in this lobby card and crop/blowup from ARIZONA CYCLONE (William Pizor/Imperial, 1934). Directing was Sherry's brother Robert Emmett Tansey.  (Courtesy of Ed Tabor) Above is a green duotone lobby card from the Wally Wales starrer THE LONE RIDER (William Pizor/Imperial, 1934). On the left are Fred Parker and Myrla Bratton (billed as Merla Bratton in this film). The "directed by Robert Emmett" is Robert Emmett 'Bob' Tansey. This was the last of the three reel shorts (approximately 27 minutes running time) that Wales did for Pizor/Imperial.  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is a pressbook cover for COURAGE OF THE NORTH. Note the mention of "Robert Emmett presents" at the top and "ONE OF THE" and the large number 6 in the background ... meaning there were six Preston "Northwest Action Thriller" mountie films planned by Bob Tansey and company. That half dozen didn't happen. John Preston starred in two, COURAGE OF THE NORTH (Empire/Stage & Screen, 1934) and TIMBER TERRORS (Empire/Stage & Screen, 1935). Then the "Morton of the Mounted" name was dropped and Kane Richmond took over the lead in a solo shot, THE SILENT CODE (International/Stage & Screen, 1935). |
| Circa 1935 - Tansey did stories and screenplays in three with John Wayne at Lone Star/Monogram and the newly formed Republic Pictures. |
 (From Old Corral collection) Above is the title lobby card for THE NEW FRONTIER (Republic, 1935), one of eight that Wayne did at the new Republic Pictures company. |
| Tansey with producer Ed Finney on the Tex Ritter films released through Grand National and Monogram ... and a solo adventure that starred stuntman David Sharpe. |
 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is the pressbook cover for Tex Ritter's SING COWBOY SING (Grand National, 1937). Directing was Bob Steele's father, Robert N. Bradbury.  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - Tex Ritter on 'White Flash' and Sugar Dawn on her pony 'Chiquita' in a lobby card from PALS OF THE SILVER SAGE (Monogram, 1940).  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - Tex Ritter and trusty steed White Flash in the title lobby card for ROLLIN' HOME TO TEXAS (Monogram, 1940). Musical support provided by Cal Shrum and his Rhythm Rangers.  (Courtesy of Les Adams) After the Tex Ritter series ended at Monogram, producer Ed Finney did some "specials", one of which was SILVER STALLION (Monogram, 1941) which Finney produced and directed and Bob Tansey did the screenplay. The title lobby card above shows stuntman Dave Sharpe (billed as 'David Sharpe'), along with Chief 'Tonto' Thunder Cloud, LeRoy Mason, 'Thunder the Wonder Horse', and 'Captain Boots, Famous Police Dog'. The heroine pictured in the lobby card - but not credited - is Janet Waldo (1920-2016). She did some film work circa 1940s, but opted to concentrate on a lengthy and prolific radio career. She worked on various Hollywood based broadcast dramas and also had recurring roles on the OZZIE AND HARRIETT SHOW, THE EDDIE BRACKEN SHOW, ONE MAN'S FAMILY, more. But Waldo is best remembered as the star of MEET CORLISS ARCHER, and she did that role for about ten years, beginning in 1943. In later years, she did voices of many cartoon characters including the voice of 'Judy Jetson' in the long-running THE JETSONS TVer. |
| Tansey exited Monogram to direct a Billy The Kid series starring George Houston for Producers Pictures / Producers Distributing Corporation (PDC). That didn't happen. |
 Above is a crop from an August, 1939 full-page tradezine ad from Producers Distributing Corp. (PDC) announcing their film lineup for the 1939-1940 release season. Their plans included a series of Billy the Kid yarns starring melodic George Houston with Tansey writing the stories and directing. Houston didn't become Billy the Kid, nor did PDC do that series in 1939-1940. Producers Pictures and Producers Distributing Corp. (PDC) were early incarnations of what would become Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). Bob Steele came on board as PRC's Billy the Kid for 6 films which were released in 1940-41. And in 1941, George Houston became PRC's Lone Rider. Tansey returned to the friendly confines of Monogram. |
