Nelson Leigh

Ma Barker and her four sons terrorize the 1930s South and Midwest with a string of kidnappings, robberies and murders, and even get to work with such famous criminals as John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. From dust-bowl days in Oklahoma to an opulent Florida hideout under siege, Ma Barker (Lurene Tuttle of "Psycho"), leads her sons astray while maintaining a consultation sideline for the likes of John Dillinger, Alvin 'Creepy' Karpis, Baby Face Nelson and Machine Gun Kelly. —alfiehitchie

The son of Jesse James joins up with the notorious Dalton gang. Joe Branch (Brett King), reputed to be the son of Jesse James, comes riding into Coffeyville Kansas in 3-D, looking for proof one way or the other regarding the question of who is father was. He rescues Kate Manning (Barbara Lawrence) from being lynched by a mob because she had killed the son of the towns's leading citizen while defending her honor, or what was left of it. Rescuing Kate is an important plot hinge, in a movie that makes little or no sense historically or plot-wise, as her father had ridden with Jesse James. Joe also has an idea that he can learn something by making contact with the Daltons, and his method of doing that is by holding up the train to steal an Army payroll, as he knows the Daltons had intended to steal it themselves and knows they will come looking for him. Being smart enough to beat them to the payroll evidently doesn't equate to being smart enough to know the Daltons are going to be more than a little miffed when they find him. The title is a misnomer since the long-dead Jesse James does not appear, and Joe also turns out to not be his son. —Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

The U.S. government sends Major Thomas Blake on a secret mission when the Bey of Tripoli starts demanding tribute from American merchant ships in the Mediterranean in the early 1800's. His pose as a Tory on the ship alienates his fellow passengers, Anne Ridgeway, and her brother Sam. Off Tripoli, the ship is captured by the Bey's pirates, but Blake makes a friend of the Bey when he saves his life. Blake learns that a servant girl, Zoltah, and her friends ate plotting to kill the Bey, and that the Bey also has a spy in the State Department, Tobias Sharpe, who sends advance information about American ship movements. —Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>