As a member of the International Douglas Fowley Appreciation Society (Scottish chapter), I was delighted to see YANKEE FAKIR in which he stars.

Douglas does look very different without his moustache but he is the hero after all , so a quick shave was in order.

Douglas plays ‘Yankee’ Davis, who, with his partner,Prof.Newton (Ransom M. Sherman), travel from town to town peddling their wares from a wagon.

Yankee sells spectacles, watches etc but his partner is always trying to sell his snake oil tonic from Zanzibar.

They arrive in the little town of Mystic and Yankee is immediately smitten with Mary (Joan Woodbury) whom they rent a room from.

When her father, a border ranger ,is murdered, Yankee determines to find the killer.

Joan Woodbury, Douglas Fowley.

Yankee is a good  guy and when he comes across an old prospector  called ‘Shaggy’ (Clem Bevans) down on his luck and in bad health, he gives the old chap some money to get medical help.

Marc Lawrence is good as always as one of the bad guys who has been smuggling over the border. The head man is never identified though he is the one who killed Mary’s father.

Yankee  comes up with a plan to smoke out the murderer, and it involves Shaggy returning as a millionaire!

Clem Bevans as you have never seen him before! And this film provides quite a substantial role for old Clem. (Was this actor  ever as old as his characters!)

Clem offers $50,000 for the Worst Person in town, claiming he wants to find out how honest the town is before settling there. Of course the lure of the money starts loosening tongues and eventually the killer is revealed.

Happy ending all round.

This is a pleasant little film from Republic and directed by W. Lee Wilder (Billy Wilder’s brother). And a nice change of character for Douglas Fowley.

I liked Joan Woodbury (1915-1989) who was married to Henry Wilcoxon for over 30 years. She starred in the 1945 Columbia serial, “Brenda Starr, Reporter”.

Joan Woodbury

Yankee Fakir in support, but look at the advertising for The Two Mrs Carrolls! – “Kill Mad!……Love Mad!……Man mad!”