California Mail
1936 film by Noel M. Smith
California Mail is a 1936 American Western film directed by Noel M. Smith and written by Roy Chanslor and Harold Buckley. The film stars Dick Foran, Linda Perry, Edmund Cobb, Milton Kibbee, Tom Brower and James Farley. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 14, 1936. It was the fourth of 12 B-westerns Foran made for the studio over a two-year period, and is noteworthy for giving ubiquitous bit player Cobb a rare co-starring role as the chief villain. Roy Rogers makes an early, uncredited appearance as the square dance caller.
Plot
As the Pony Express era is ending, Pony Express rider Bill Harkins, a resident of Gold Creek, is told by his father, Sam Harkins, that the government is terminating their contract, in favor of offering bids to stage coach lines. Bill and Roy Banton are both wooing Mary Tolliver. Three bids are received in Dodge City, including Harkins' and Banton's. Concerned with ambushes along the mail route, the Post Office decides to award the contract to the bidder who can run the route in the fastest time.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “California Mail” as 1936 film by Noel M. Smith. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1936 film by Noel M. Smith. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5020674. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1936.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “California Mail”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow California Mail primary sources, California Mail archive and California research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “California Mail”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “California Mail” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.