Canyon City

Helen Talbot was signed by Republic Pictures after she appeared as one of the Goldwyn Girls in Up in Arms. She said she thought it might be fun to work in westerns and not just be part of the scenic backdrop. In her first western with Don Red Barry, she was assigned a horse called Tucson and told to practice riding him before appearing on camera. Everything was fine until the horse threw her off, causing her to tear her split riding skirt. She said the wranglers were very sympathetic and got her cleaned up in a hurry. But one wrangler said, " You should get back on the horse immediately so that you can get used to it." After a few riding sessions, Helen told an interviewer that she and Tucson became the best of friends. However in the film, "Canyon City" and the subsequent films she made with Barry and the other Republic western stars she did very little riding. Her other two films with Barry were California JOE and OUTLAWS OF SANTE FE. Contrary to Hollywood gossip, she was never married to Barry but they were good friends for many years until his death in 1980.