Robert Armstrong Filmography

Perry Mason: The Case of the Accosted Accountant

Synopsis: An otherwise peaceful lakeside resort is the scene of an angry confrontation between Edward Lewis (Richard Anderson) and his father-in-law B.K. Doran (Murray Matheson), with each man accusing the other of embezzling funds from the family business. Later on, Doran is stabbed to death, and Lewis is Read More

Johnny Cool

Actors: Henry Silva, Elizabeth Montgomery, Marc Lawrence, Richard Anderson, Telly Savalas, Jim Backus, Joey Bishop

Synopsis: In this offbeat crime drama, Mafia boss Johnny Colini (Marc Lawrence) has run afoul of the law and is being deported back to his native Sicily. Colini is not at all happy about this, and after he saves the life of a young thug, Johnny Giordano (Henry Silva), he knows the perfect way for Giordano Read More

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: House Guest

Synopsis: When a drifter named Ray Roscoe (Robert Sterling) saves little Tony Mitchell (Bill Mumy) from drowning, Tony's grateful father, John (MacDonald Carey), invites Ray to stay in his home until he can find a job. John's wife, Sally (Peggy McCay), isn't crazy about this situation, and it soon turns out Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Faith of Aaron Menefee

Synopsis: Small-town garage mechanic Aaron Menefee (Andrew Prine) becomes a devoted disciple of the Reverend Otis Jones (Sidney Blackmer) after the traveling faith healer seemingly cures Menefee's ulcer. Even so, Jones refuses Menefee permission to marry his daughter Emily (Maggie Pierce), arguing that Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Playboy Pugilist

Synopsis: Veteran boxing trainer Jimmy West (played by Robert Armstrong of King Kong fame) thinks he's finally found a "golden boy" in the form of young pugilist Davey Carroll (a young, pre-2001 Gary Lockwood). But sports promoter Tod Richards (Mark Roberts) also wants control of Danny, and is willing to Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Malicious Mariner

Synopsis: When a storm at sea threatens to sink the freighter "Janeel Trader", first officer Jerry Griffin orders a million dollars' worth of cargo to be dumped overboard, taking full responsibility for what he regards as a life-saving act. But when returns to shore, Jerry must face charges brought by a Read More

Have Gun, Will Travel: The Hanging of Roy Carter

Synopsis: Roy Carter (Scott Marlowe) will hang for murder unless Paladin (Richard Boone) can reach the prison in time with news that another man has confessed. Even so, the prison's vengeful warden refuses to enact a stay of execution. It takes the combined efforts of Paladin and prison chaplain Robert Read More

The Crooked Circle

Synopsis: A former fighter's younger brother decides that he too wants to enter the squared circle and so leaves his native Maine to try his luck in New York. Things go well until he finds himself entangled with mobsters who try to convince him to throw his fights. Meanwhile, his big brother, who simply Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Sardonic Sergeant

Synopsis: Although Army major Frank Lessing (John Archer) left behind a suicide note before his death, Sgt. Joseph Dexter (Paul Picerni) is charged with Lessing's murder. Exercising his legal prerogative, Dexter demands a civilan lawyer to defend him at his Court-Martial--and that's where Perry Mason Read More

The Peacemaker

Actors: James Mitchell, Rosemarie Bowe, Jan Merlin, Jess Barker, Hugh Sanders

Synopsis: James Mitchell stars as a gunslinger-turned-parson in The Peacemaker. Arriving in a hostile western town, Rev. Terrall Butler (Mitchell) intends to win over the townsfolk with faith rather than force. His religiosity is immediately put to the test when Butler tries to mediate a feud between the Read More

The Big Money

Actors: Ian Carmichael, Belinda Lee, Kathleen Harrison, Robert Helpmann, James Hayter

Synopsis: Ian Carmichael plays the "white sheep" in a family of successful thieves. Everyone in the clan has made a healthy career out of crime except poor Ian, so he decides to redeem himself with a single spectacular caper. Somehow this involves a passel of Arabs and an unctuous TV news team, all of whom Read More

Las Vegas Shakedown

Actors: Dennis O'Keefe, Coleen Gray, Charles Winninger, Thomas Gomez, Dorothy Patrick

Synopsis: Another "torn from today's headlines" crime drama, Las Vegas Shakedown stars Dennis O'Keefe as honest casino operator Joe Barnes. When not fending off gangster boss Sirago (Thomas Gomez), who wants a big piece of the action, Barnes endeavors to dodge pretty schoolteacher Julia Rae (Colleen Gray) Read More

The Pace That Thrills

Actors: Bill Williams, Carla Balenda, Robert Armstrong, Frank McHugh

Synopsis: The title refers to the euphoric pleasures of motorcycle racing, a sport that is exploited to the breaking point in this film. Reckless racer Bill Williams and his cycle-designer buddy Steve Flagg come to blows over the lovely Carla Balenda (a blonde in this picture, a brunette in other films). Read More

Destination Big House

Actors: Dorothy Patrick, Robert Rockwell, Jimmy Lydon, Robert Armstrong, Larry Blake

Synopsis: Destination Big House is a well directed Republic Programmer starring Dorothy Patrick as a vacationing schoolteacher. Gangster Richard Benedict bursts into Dorothy's mountain cabin, where he dies in a shootout with the Law. As he breathes his last, Benedict wills $80,000 to Dorothy, but neglects Read More

Mighty Joe Young

Actors: Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong, Frank McHugh, Mr. Joseph Young, Douglas Fowley

Synopsis: Hoping to make the magic of King Kong happen again, the production team of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack came up with the 1949 special-effects smorgasbord Mighty Joe Young. Robert Armstrong reprises his Kong portrayal of Carl Denham as hot-shot showbiz entrepreneur Max O'Hara. While in Read More

The Crime Doctor's Diary

Actors: Warner Baxter, Lois Maxwell, Adele Jergens, Robert Armstrong

Synopsis: Columbia's "Crime Doctor" series drew to a close with 1949's Crime Doctor's Diary. A visibly weary but still virile Warner Baxter stars as Dr. Robert Ordway, whose previous life of crime has made him something of an expert in the field of detection. This time, Ordway takes the case of parolee Read More

Streets of San Francisco

Actors: Robert Armstrong, Mae Clarke, Gary Gray, Wally Cassell, Richard Benedict

Synopsis: No relation to the 1970s TV series of the same name, Republic's Streets of San Francisco stars Hollywood veterans Robert Armstrong and Mae Clarke. Armstrong plays Willard Logan, a tough Frisco detective who is forced to killer a gangster leader. Logan takes pity on the gangster's orphaned son Read More

The Lucky Stiff

Actors: Dorothy Lamour, Brian Donlevy, Claire Trevor, Irene Hervey, Marjorie Rambeau

Synopsis: At the last possible moment, convicted murderess Anne Marie St. Claire (Dorothy Lamour) is saved from execution. However, the newspapers have reported that Anne Marie is dead. She decides to use her status as a "corpse" to her advantage, leading to several amusing and melodramatic complications Read More

Sons of New Mexico

Actors: Gene Autry, Gail Davis, Robert Armstrong, Dick Jones, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Not quite as memorable as his previous Riders in the Sky, Gene Autry's Sons of New Mexico is still well up to the star's standard. This time, Gene tries to reform Randy Pryor, a would-be juvenile delinquent, played by Autry-protégé Dick Jones (who later starred in the Autry-produced TV series Range Rider Read More

Captain China

Actors: John Payne, Gail Russell, Jeffrey Lynn, Lon Chaney, Jr., Edgar Bergen

Synopsis: Paramount's Pine-Thomas production unit was afforded a larger budget than usual for Captain China. The title character, played by John Payne, is a ship's captain whose embittered behavior after losing his lady love seemingly leads to tragedy. Accused of deliberately scuttling his ship during a Read More

The Paleface

Actors: Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Robert Armstrong, Iris Adrian, Robert "Bobby" Watson

Synopsis: Bob Hope's Technicolor western spoof The Paleface was one of the comedian's biggest box-office hits. Hope plays Painless Potter, a hopelessly inept dentist who heads west to seek his fortune. Meanwhile, buxom female outlaw Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) is engaged in undercover work on behalf of the Read More

Return of the Bad Men

Actors: Robert Armstrong, Walter S. Baldwin, Lex Barker, Robert Bray, Steve Brodie

Synopsis: The success of 1947's Badman's Territory prompted RKO Radio to assemble another "outlaw rally," Return of the Badmen. Randolph Scott plays US marshal Vance, assigned to rid the Oklahoma Territory of outlaws. This proves to be quite a challenge, inasmuch as virtually every frontier bad guy has Read More

The Fugitive

Actors: Henry Fonda, Dolores Del Rio, Pedro Armendáriz, J. Carrol Naish, Leo Carrillo

Synopsis: The Fugitive was shot on location in Mexico by that country's premiere cinematographer, Gabriel Figueroa. Henry Fonda plays a Christ-like priest in an unnamed Latin-American country where religion has been outlawed. Though incognito in a backwater village, Fonda cannot help but seem more spiritual Read More

Exposed

Actors: Adele Mara, Robert Scott, Adrian Booth, Robert Armstrong, William Haade

Synopsis: Not precisely the best film of 1947, the Republic comedy-mystery Exposed is nevertheless consistently enjoyable. Adele Mara is a delight as wisecracking female private eye Belinda Prentice, who has to put in a lot of overtime when her first client is murdered. Following the clues to an apartment Read More

Fall Guy

Synopsis: Nice guys don't always finish last as can be seen in this crime drama. The story begins as a perfectly nice fellow finds himself arrested for murder. The trouble is, the man cannot remember a thing about the night of the murder. Though he insists he is innocent, all the evidence tells a different Read More

The Sea of Grass

Actors: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Walker, Melvyn Douglas, Phyllis Thaxter

Synopsis: Usually associated with erudite, urbane comedies, the legendary screen team of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy goes intensely dramatic in the expensive western Sea of Grass. Tracy plays cattle baron Colonel James Brewton, who staunchly opposes opening the western frontier to homesteaders. Read More

Decoy

Actors: Jean Gillie, Edward Norris, Robert Armstrong, Herbert Rudley, Sheldon Leonard

Synopsis: This gripping, gritty film noir begins as a mortally wounded physician staggers into the apartment of a vicious vixen, the leader of a notorious gang of thieves. Shots ring out, and the police rush to the scene. Sergeant Leonard gets there to find the doctor dead, and the woman failing fast. As Read More

Blonde Alibi

Actors: Martha O'Driscoll, Tom Neal, Donald MacBride, Robert Armstrong, Samuel S. Hinds

Synopsis: Martha O'Driscoll fills the title role quite nicely in Blonde Alibi. The plot of this rapid-fire programmer involves a murder. Aviator Tom Neal is accused of the crime, thanks to the idiotic intervention of absent-minded professor Samuel S. Hinds. It is up to O'Driscoll, Neal's secretary, to prove Read More

Criminal Court

Actors: Tom Conway, Martha O'Driscoll, June Clayworth, Robert Armstrong, Addison Richards

Synopsis: Elevating Criminal Court above the B-picture norm is the inventive direction by Robert Wise and the better-than-usual performances by all concerned. In a break from his heroic "Falcon" role, Tom Conway stars as Steve Barnes, a criminal attorney known for his unorthodox courtroom tactics. After Read More

G.I. War Brides

Actors: Robert Armstrong, Louis Austin, Stephanie Bachelor, Virginia Carroll, Harry Davenport

Synopsis: Republic Pictures certainly didn't believe in obscure or misleading film titles, as G.I. War Brides amply proves. Ann Lee plays Linda Powell, a British lass who desires to enter the United States without dealing with the immigration authorities. To this end, Linda trades places with Joyce Giles Read More

Gay Blades

Actors: Allan Lane, Jean Rogers, Edward Ashley, Frank Albertson, Ann Gillis

Synopsis: The biggest surprise in Republic's Gay Blades is that the studio's resident skating star Vera Hruba Ralston doesn't appear. Allan Lane plays hockey star Andy Buell, whose prowess on the rink brings him to the attention of Hollywood leading lady Nancy Davis (played not by the real Nancy Davis Read More

Arson Squad

Actors: Frank Albertson, Robert Armstrong, Grace Gillern, Byron Foulger, Chester Clute

Synopsis: PRC's Arson Squad stars Frank Albertson as an insurance investigator and Robert Armstrong as chief of the police department's arson troubleshooters. Albertson and Armstrong team up to solve a particularly vicious series of deliberate fires. A man has been killed in one conflagration, so the Read More

The Royal Mounted Rides Again

Synopsis: In time-honored fashion, a couple of supporting players -- George Dolenz and Bill Kennedy -- found themselves elevated to starring roles in this minor Universal serial. They played Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers investigating the murder of a miner. The story, of course, was less important Read More

Blood on the Sun

Actors: James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney, Wallace Ford, Porter Hall, Robert Armstrong, John Emery, Rosemary de Camp

Synopsis: In his first film in two years, James Cagney stars as Nick Condon, the American editor of a pre-WW2 Tokyo newspaper. When two of his best friends are horribly murdered, Condon suspects that the "peaceful" Japanese military government is up to no good. He dedicates himself to getting his hands on Read More

The Falcon in San Francisco

Actors: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Edward S. Brophy, Fay Helm

Synopsis: Filmed extensively on location, The Falcon in San Francisco is one of the best of RKO Radio's "Falcon" series. This time around, amateur sleuth Tom Lawrence (Tom Conway), aka The Falcon, comes to the aid of 10-year-old Annie Marshall (Sharyn Moffet). While trying to solve the murder of Annie's Read More

Gangs of the Waterfront

Actors: Robert Armstrong, Stephanie Bachelor, Martin Kosleck, Marion Martin, William Forrest

Synopsis: In his first starring role in several years, Robert Armstrong essays a dual role in Gangs of the Waterfront. Armstrong is seen as ruthless gangster Dutch Malone, who happens to be the exact double of mild-mannered taxidermist Peter Winkly. Hoping to avenge the death of his brother at Dutch's Read More

Belle of the Yukon

Actors: Randolph Scott, Gypsy Rose Lee, Dinah Shore, Charles Winninger, William Marshall

Synopsis: Belle Of The Yukon is standard backstage musical fare, featuring Randolph Scott as a reformed con man who has fled north from the law and opened a successful dancehall/ gambling establishment in the upper reaches of Malamute. Meanwhile, his former lover Belle (Gypsy Rose Lee), who he deserted when Read More

Action in Arabia

Actors: George Sanders, Virginia Bruce, Lenore Aubert, Gene Lockhart, Robert Armstrong

Synopsis: Exiled from his own country during WW2, French filmmaker Leonide Moguy worked briefly in Hollywood, where he directed the patriotic thriller Action in Arabia. George Sanders stars as Gordon, an American newspaperman at large in Damascus. When a colleague is murdered, Sanders wants to find out why. Read More

Goodnight Sweetheart

Actors: Robert Livingston, Ruth Terry, Henry Hull, Grant Withers, Thurston Hall

Synopsis: In this drama a big-city reporter moves to a tiny town to begin running the newspaper he half-owns. His in-your-face reporting style does not make him very popular; especially when he begins causing trouble for the incumbent mayor's opposition. It is the candidate's pretty niece who teaches the Read More

Mr. Winkle Goes to War

Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Warrick, Ted Donaldson, Bob Haymes, Richard Lane

Synopsis: The year is 1942: Mr. Winkle (Edward G. Robinson), a mild-mannered bank clerk, decides to quit his job and open a fix-it shop in his garage. Winkle's wife Amy (Ruth Warrick) disapproves of this, and orders her husband to move into his little shop. Tired of being browbeaten, Winkle is delighted Read More

The Navy Way

Actors: Robert Lowery, Jean Parker, Bill Henry, Roscoe Karns, Sharon Douglas

Synopsis: Johnny Jersey (Robert Lowery) learns The Navy Way in this typical Pine-Thomas actioner. A product of the streets, Johnny has no time for authority and protocol, thus has a lot of difficulty adjusting to the regimen at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station (where much of the film was shot). Read More

Adventures of the Flying Cadets [Serial]

Actors: Johnny Downs, Bobby Jordan, Ward Wood, William Benedict, Eduardo Ciannelli

Synopsis: Four enterprising air cadets are suspected of a series of murders actually committed by The Black Hangman, a mysterious Nazi agent. A typical war-time serial, this Universal offering basically wasted the talents of one of the best screen villains in Hollywood history, the demonic-looking Eduardo Cianelli Read More

The Mad Ghoul

Actors: David Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, George Zucco, Robert Armstrong, Turhan Bey

Synopsis: The Mad Ghoul may well be the definitive George Zucco horror melodrama. The star plays Dr. Alfred Morris, a distinguished scientist who obsession with an ancient Egyptian life-preserving process has tipped him over into madness. In love with young concert singer Isabel Lewis (Evelyn Ankers) Read More

Around the World

Actors: Mischa Auer, Marcy McGuire, Wally Brown

Synopsis: In this '40s film Kay Kyser parades an entertainment group all over the globe providing laughs for the boys in battle. This film realistically portrays the role of the USO during the WW II time period. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Wings over the Pacific

Actors: Inez Cooper, Edward Norris, Montagu Love, Robert Armstrong, Henry Guttman

Synopsis: Even by Monogram standards, Wings Over the Pacific is a modest effort. In his final film role, Montague Love plays WW I veteran Butler, who during WW II prefers to take an isolationist stance and squirrels himself away on a remote Pacific island. Alas, Butler's solitude is interrupted when Read More

The Kansan

Actors: Richard Dix, Jane Wyatt, Albert Dekker, Eugene Pallette, Victor Jory

Synopsis: Like several other Harry Sherman Productions of the 1942-43 season, The Kansan was originally slated for a Paramount release, then redirected to United Artists. Richard Dix and Jane Wyatt, stars of the previous Sherman effort Buckskin Frontier, are reunited herein as western lawman John Bonniwell Read More

Let's Get Tough!

Synopsis: Set soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Let's Get Tough! opens with the East Side Kids -- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, David Gorcey, Sammy "Sunshine" Morrison, and Bobby Stone -- trying to enlist in the armed forces and getting turned down because they're not yet 18 years old. Read More

Gang Busters [Serial]

Synopsis: Based on a popular radio series, this Universal serial, produced in 13 chapters, starred two of the studio's better B-movie leads, Kent Taylor and Irene Hervey. Despite their fine work, the serial's preposterous plot -- a mad scientist assembling a League of Murdered Men to wreak havoc on the city Read More

It Happened in Flatbush

Actors: Lloyd Nolan, Carole Landis, William Frawley, Sara Allgood, Robert Armstrong

Synopsis: It Happened in Flatbush is a likable baseball comedy inspired by the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers' pennant win. Lloyd Nolan portrays an ace ballplayer who was disgraced while still in college and is only able to secure work as a team manager. He takes charge of an unnamed Brooklyn team and whips in into Read More

My Favorite Spy

Actors: Ellen Drew, Jane Wyman, Robert Armstrong, Helen Westley

Synopsis: Produced by silent-film comedian Harold Lloyd, My Favorite Spy is a vehicle for bespectacled bandleader Kay Kyser, who resembles Lloyd more than somewhat. Just before embarking on his honeymoon with new bride Terry (Ellen Drew), Kyser is drafted into the Army. Proving to be a monumentally Read More

Baby Face Morgan

Actors: Mary Carlisle, Richard Cromwell, Robert Armstrong, Chick Chandler, Charles Judels

Synopsis: This homey little comedy is predicated on the notion that bucolic country boy Morgan (Richard Cromwell) is the son of a notorious Roaring-Twenties racketeer. Morgan Senior's former gang, pining for their glory days, appoint "Baby Face" Morgan as their leader and resume their criminal activities. Read More

Dive Bomber

Actors: Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Herbert Anderson

Synopsis: Lieutenant Commander Joe Blake (Fred MacMurray), Lt. Tim Griffin (Regis Toomey), and Lt. Swede Larson (Louis Jean Heydt) are longtime US Navy flying buddies, about to be transferred to different posts when Larson suffers a blackout during high-altitude maneuvers and cracks up. Navy doctor Douglas Read More

Mr. Dynamite

Actors: Lloyd Nolan, Irene Hervey, J. Carrol Naish, Robert Armstrong, Ann Gillis

Synopsis: Lloyd Nolan is thoroughly convincing as a big-league baseball pitcher in Mr. Dynamite--and never mind that the film never shows the inside of a ballpark! On the eve of the World Series, Tommy Thornton (Nolan), known to one and all as Mr. Dynamite, decides to spend some time at a New York amusement Read More

San Francisco Docks

Actors: Burgess Meredith, Irene Hervey, Barry Fitzgerald, Raymond Walburn, Robert Armstrong

Synopsis: In this crime drama set on the seedy waterfront of San Francisco, a longshoreman studies in his spare time to become an aircraft mechanic. He is also in love with a barmaid who works at her father's saloon. One day at the bar, the longshoreman gets into a fight with a man who is later found dead. Read More

Sky Raiders [Serial]

Synopsis: Universal catered to the young fans of aviation with this airborne serial, which featured a plucky kid -- "Bowery Boy" Billy Halop -- and plenty of "sky riders." Famous aviator Bob Dayton (Donald Woods) hires a bright member of the Air Youth of America, Tim (Halop), to help him finalize a Read More

Citadel of Crime

Actors: Robert Armstrong, Frank Albertson, Linda Hayes, Russell Simpson

Synopsis: Citadel of Crime was the original title of the Republic John Wayne vehicle which eventually emerged as A Man Betrayed (TV title: Wheel of Fortune). Never a studio to let anything go to waste, Republic redirected the cognomen Citadel of Crime to one of their minor but entertaining crime melodramas Read More

Forgotten Girls

Synopsis: An innocent young woman is accused of murder by her wicked stepmother. The poor lass ends up in prison. Fortunately, a reporter sets out to prove that she is not guilty and brings the real culprit to justice. Meanwhile the murderous step-mom plots the hapless girl's demise. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Read More

Framed

Actors: Frank Albertson, Constance Moore, Jerome Cowan, Robert Armstrong, Sidney Blackmer

Synopsis: Reporter Albertson works to solve a murder case in order to clear his name and get a great story for his paper. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Behind the News

Actors: Lloyd Nolan, Doris Davenport, Frank Albertson, Robert Armstrong, Paul Harvey

Synopsis: As suggested by its title, Behind the News was a "stop the presses!" yarn set in a big-city newsroom. Lloyd Nolan is top-billed as a cynical reporter with a penchant for sticking his neck out too far. Frank Albertson costars as a cub reporter fresh out of journalism school, whose presence is Read More

Meet the Fleet