William Beaudine, often referred to as "One-Shot Beaudine" because of his reputation for only shooting one take of each scene, had one of the longest directing careers in the history of Hollywood. He entered the film industry in 1909, working as a gopher for D.W. Griffith, and reached his artistic peak during the silent era with Little Annie Rooney (1925) and Sparrows (1926), two Mary Pickford films. His real forte was B-movies and by the 1940s he was specializing in programmers in every genre, churning out Monogram westerns, Bowery Boys comedies, and exploitation films such as the notorious Mom and Dad (1945), which was a tawdry melodrama masquerading as a sex education film and made a fortune for producer Kroger Babb.

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter was the last film shot at the Corrigan Ranch, near Chatsworth, California. It was owned by Ray Corrigan who created a screen alter ego known as Crash Corrigan and appeared in such popular movie serials as Flash Gordon (1936) and Undersea Kingdom (1936). He became a popular western star shortly thereafter and specialized in oaters up until the mid-forties. His final film was It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) in which he played the title alien. It was a direct influence on Ridley Scott's 1979 breakout sci-fi thriller Alien.

Ray Corrigan sold his ranch to Bob Hope directly after the completion of Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter.

Mad female scientists are a rarity in the science fiction/horror genre and Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter is one of the first films to capitalize on this. Lady Frankenstein (1971) would exploit this plot angle more prominently with Rosalba Neri's Tania Frankenstein taking a distinctly sexual interest in her creation.

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter would prove to be the final feature film for Narda Onyx (Dr. Maria Frankenstein), Estelita Rodriguez (Juanita) and Cal Bolder (Hank/Igor).

Narda Onyx worked more frequently in television than in feature films and appeared in episodes of The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956), 77 Sunset Strip (1959), Have Gun, Will Travel (1960), The Beverly Hillbillies (1963), and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). She only made three film appearances, Gaby (1956), Hitler (1962), and, of course, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, which was her most memorable role.

Estelita Rodriguez was a Cuban actress who specialized in playing Mexican senoritas in a number of Westerns in the forties and fifties, several of which featured Roy Rogers. She never really escaped her stereotyped screen image as a 'spitfire' and died at the young age of 38. She was married four times; one of her husbands, actor Grant Withers, committed suicide shortly after his divorce from her.

Cal Bolder, whose real name is Earl C. Craver, was born in Elkhart, Kansas and later attended Wichita University where he played football. After college, the 6'3", 240 pound Craver served his country in the Korean War and then settled in Southern California.

Bolder was working as a cop for the Los Angeles Police Department when he was discovered by an agent whom he had stopped for speeding. He was encouraged to audition as an actor and almost immediately won small roles in several television productions. Among them were Adventures in Paradise (1960), Gunsmoke (1962), Honey West (1965), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1966) and, his most famous appearance as Keel in an episode of Star Trek (1967).

Cal Bolder retired from filmmaking in the sixties and became a novelist. His first book, The Last Reunion, was about the investigation of a serial killer stalking the residents of a small town in Washington. He died of cancer in January of 2005.

Carl K. Hittleman, the screenwriter of Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, had been associated with two previous films that featured Jesse James as the main character - I Shot Jesse James (1949) which Hittleman produced for director Sam Fuller and The Return of Jesse James (1950) which was based on a story idea by Hittleman.

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter and Billy the Kid vs. Dracula weren't actually the first horror westerns ever made despite some claims in the publicity materials. The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956) featured western star Guy Madison as a rancher who sets a trap for the prehistoric creature that's been feeding on his cattle. And Curse of the Undead (1959) featured a vampire gunslinger (Michael Pate) who challenges the town's preacher (Eric Fleming) to a showdown.

Compiled by Jeff Stafford

SOURCES:
William Beaudine: From Silents to Television by Wendy L. Marshall
"Cal Boulder Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" by Michael Barnum, www.horror-wood.com
IMDB