The majority of the films were hour-long "B" westerns, the most popular of which starred Lash LaRue, a flamboyant former hairdresser who dubbed himself 'King of the Bullwhip." LaRue, who was arrested many times after his movie career ended, later became an evangelist. It was with LaRue and his grizzled sidekick, Fuzzy St. John, that Ormond made his reputation as a reliable and resourceful talent. More importantly, though, Ormond became known to skinflint backers and studio bosses as a guy who could crank out product on time and on budget. Some other actors in early Ormond movies were Robert Lowry, Noel Neil, Don "Red" Barry and Tom Tyler.

June remained involved as well, becoming a producer at a time when women just didn't do such things. She contributed to all aspects of film production, and her role became even more pivotal once they embarked upon their own projects. "I did interior decorating if we needed it, I did all the costumes," June Carr Ormond recalls, surrounded by memorabilia in a modestly furnished room of her West Nashville home. "I did the make-up for everybody. I handled all the dialogue. I would sit behind Ron to keep track of continuity. Usually, a man and wife get on each other's nerves when they work together. But Ron relied on me for a lot of different things and I always gave him encouragement. I loved the way he wrote because he didn't write a script so much as he wrote as if he were the eyes of the camera and visualize exactly what is being seen. Very few people can do that."

June was also instrumental in the organization of personal appearance tours with Peggy Stewart and cowboy stars Lash LaRue and Sunset Carson. The most successful of these was her series of tours with The Three Stooges during the early 50s Shemp era. In her vaudeville days, June had appeared on a bill with the Stooges in Hartford, Conn., and she knew them as well as their manager, Harry Rohm. Years later, when June had developed a reputation for road showing, she ran into Rohm. In passing, she told him, "Boy, if I could take the Stooges on the road we'd make a fortune."

Ron gave June Moe's telephone number. "Moe was the business mind, and Shemp was very nice and courteous," June remembers. She met with Moe at the Brown Derby and talked about the potential of a tour. Moe agreed, and off they went. "The Broome Brothers furnished the music and Chris Randall did a rope dance. Then out came the Stooges and did a hilarious act, they had people rolling in the aisles. Some of these people had never even dreamed of meeting and seeing the Stooges perform. In Lynchburg, Virginia, they did 5 shows a day, and each show was a packed house."

But the tour's bread and butter came at the close of the show. After each performance, June would take the stage and announce that if anyone wanted his or her picture taken with the Stooges, Moe Larry and Shemp would be willing to oblige outside—for a small fee. "The people stampeded out to get their pictures made," June says. "(We) used a camera that took 1000 pictures. The Stooges would do their antics with the fans, then give them a card to redeem the photo for one dollar through mail order. They often shot 500 to 1000 pictures after each show—and most all of them were sales." June remained friends with the Stooges for years and remembers a West Coast tour arranged for Robert Lippert as a highlight. She spent much of the tour playing poker with the Stooges' wives. One night June brought her mom, Norma Carr, who left the wives fuming while she raked in pot after pot.

In addition to the horse operas that were his bread and butter, Ormond also was able to bring to the screen some other projects closer to his origins as a travelling showman. Lippert had been a fan of the Ormonds' stage act since their vaudeville days, and he approached Ron about filming a couple of musical revues. The ex-vaudevillian shot several musicals for Lippert. HOLLYWOOD VARIETIES (50) featured Robert Alda as emcee, hosting acts such as The Hoosier Hotshots, Sandy and His Seals, and Twirl, Whirl, and a Girl. YES SIR, MR. BONES (aka MINSTREL MAN) (51) included country minstrel singer Emmett Miller, Scatman Crothers and F. E. Miller (from Mantan Moreland movies). VARIETIES ON PARADE (51) featured Jackie Coogan, Tom Neal, Lyle Talbot and Ormond McGill And His East Indian Miracle Show. June chose the acts from her network of vaudeville contacts, and the movies were filmed on miniscule budgets on a