Roy GordonFilmography

What a Way to Go!

Actors: Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly

Synopsis: This lavishly produced, big-budget comedy (it cost $20 million in 1964 dollars) stars Shirley MacLaine as Louisa, a widow who is worth $200 million dollars. However, she's convinced that her fortune is cursed, and she wants to give all her money to the IRS. As she explains her sad tale to her Read More

Hand of Death

Synopsis: Scientist Alex March (John Agar) is working on developing what he hopes will be a new, non-lethal form of nerve gas -- but following an accident in his lab, he discovers that not only is the gas deadly, but also that it has invaded his entire body, and his touch is instantly fatal to any other Read More

All in a Night's Work

Actors: Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Cliff Robertson, Norma Crane

Synopsis: Tony Ryder (Dean Martin) thinks that Katie Robbins (Shirley MacLaine) was the mistress of a recently deceased millionaire. On this fragile plot peg hangs the rest of All in a Night's Work. The millionaire died with a smile on his face, and Tony, who stands to inherit the dead man's publishing Read More

Plunderers of Painted Flats

Synopsis: In this Western, a good-hearted gunfighter helps a young cowboy find the cruel cattle baron who killed his daddy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Wasp Woman

Actors: Susan Cabot, Barboura Morris, William Roerick

Synopsis: This goofy but entertaining horror cheapie from producer-director Roger Corman and company involves the efforts of a questionable scientist working for cosmetics magnate Susan Cabot, who is developing a new rejuvenating beauty cream derived from an enzyme secreted by wasps, intended to make women Read More

The Fearmakers

Actors: Dana Andrews, Dick Foran, Mel Tormé, Marilee Earle, Veda Ann Borg

Synopsis: In this drama, a Korean war veteran, a victim of brainwashing while he was a POW, finally goes back to his home in Washington, DC, where he resumes his job at a public relations-opinion research firm. He soon discovers that his company is being run by communists after his partner mysteriously Read More

War of the Colossal Beast

Actors: Sally Fraser, Dean Parkin, Roger Pace, Charles Stewart

Synopsis: War of the Colossal Beast picks up a year after the end of The Amazing Colossal Man -- Joyce Manning (Sally Fraser), sister to the first film's 70-foot-tall Colossal Man, Lt. Col. Glenn Manning (Glenn Langan), believes that her brother is still alive, despite his fall off of Boulder Dam at the Read More

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

Actors: Allison Hayes, William Hudson, Yvette Vickers, Roy Gordon, George Douglas

Synopsis: Attack of the 50 Foot Woman may well be one of the worst science-fiction films of all time, but that's not to say that it isn't thoroughly enjoyable. Allison Hayes achieved screen immortality as Nancy Archer, the wealthy, dipsomaniac wife of shameless philanderer Harry Archer (William Hudson). Read More

The Unearthly

Actors: John Carradine, Allison Hayes, Sally Todd, Marilyn Buferd

Synopsis: Republic's The Unearthly was originally released on a double bill with The Beginning of the End. John Carradine chews the scenery as Professor Conway, who claims to have discovered a gland which enables his patients to live forever. Alas, most of Conway's human experiments are failures, left to Read More

The Spirit of St. Louis

Actors: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith, Bartlett Robinson, Marc Connelly

Synopsis: A misfire for all concerned, The Spirit of St. Louis can be chalked up as a courageous failure. At age 48, James Stewart was far too old to be convincing as 27-year-old "Lone Eagle" Charles Lindbergh. Director Billy Wilder, a past master of cynical pessimism, was clearly the wrong choice to helm Read More

Zero Hour

Actors: Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Sterling Hayden, Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, Geoffrey Toone

Synopsis: This suspenseful air-borne adventure can rightfully lay claim to being the Mother of All subsequent in-flight disaster films of the '70s. The trouble begins when the pilot and crew of a Canadian passenger plane suddenly find themselves doubled over from accidental ptomaine poisoning and unable to Read More

Slightly Scarlet

Actors: John Payne, Arlene Dahl, Rhonda Fleming, Kent Taylor, Ted de Corsia

Synopsis: This little film noir is freely adapted from James M. Cain's novel Love's Lovely Counterfeit, the story of a gangster working for a powerful Don who is fighting to retain control of the city's criminal activities when an honest mayoral candidate launches a strong anti-crime campaign. In a Read More

Disneyland: Along the Oregon Trail

Actors: Fess Parker, Jeff York, Sebastian Cabot, Iron Eyes Cody, Kathleen Crowley

Synopsis: This Disneyland episode served to promote the upcoming theatrical feature Westward Ho the Wagons, with that film's star, Fess Parker, acting as narrator. After a brief segment in which host Walt Disney relates the history of the Oregon Trail (the pioneer route from Kansas City to the Pacific Read More

The Crooked Web

Actors: Frank Lovejoy, Mari Blanchard, Richard Denning, John Mylong, Harry Lauter

Synopsis: In this melodrama, an American soldier finds himself by two private eyes hired by the wealthy German father of the man he wrongly killed eight years ago. The female detective begins working at the killer's drive-in; eventually she seduces him into marrying her. At that point the other private eye Read More

The Gun That Won the West

Actors: Dennis Morgan, Paula Raymond, Richard Denning, Chris O'Brien, Robert Bice

Synopsis: The Gun That Won the West was, of course, the Springfield Rifle, the "central character" in this inexpensive Columbia western. The plot concerns the efforts of the War Department to build up a chain of defense posts to protect railroad workers from Indian attacks. Dennis Morgan stars as real-life Read More

The Big Combo

Actors: Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace, Robert Middleton

Synopsis: Police Lt. Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde) is criticized by his superior Capt. Peterson (Robert Middleton) for his obsessive but fruitless investigation of organized crime boss Mr. Brown (Richard Conte). Peterson calls it a waste of the taxpayers' money motivated by Diamond's love for Brown's Read More

Murder Is My Beat

Actors: Paul Langton, Barbara Payton, Robert Shayne, Selena Royle, Roy Gordon

Synopsis: Mr. Dean's body is found face down in the fireplace, his features burned beyond recognition. Detectives Patrick (Paul Langton) and Rawley (Robert Shayne) arrest nightclub-singer Eden Lane (Barbara Payton) and she is convicted of the crime. On the way to prison, Eden sees a man through the train Read More

Silver Lode

Actors: John Payne, Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea, Dolores Moran, Emile G. Meyer, Frank Sully

Synopsis: Next to Slightly Scarlet, Silver Lode is the best of the many 1950s collaborations between producer Benedict Bogaeus and director Allan Dwan. Clearly inspired by High Noon, the story covers three hours in the lives of a group of westerners. As the townsfolk prepare for the Fourth of July Read More

Cattle Queen of Montana

Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Reagan, Gene Evans, Lance Fuller, Anthony Caruso, Jack Elam

Synopsis: Filmed on location at Montana's Glacier National Park, Cattle Queen of Montana makes excellent use of the diverse talents of Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan. Stanwyck is cast as Sierra Nevada Jones, who hopes to stake her claim in the cattle business despite opposition from hostile land barons. Read More

Sangaree

Actors: Fernando Lamas, Arlene Dahl, Patricia Medina, Francis L. Sullivan, Charles Korvin

Synopsis: Filmed in 3-D, Sangaree is a satisfactory swashbuckler adapted from a novel by Frank G. Slaughter. Fernando Lamas portrays the son of an 18th century slave whose fortunes take a radical turn when he inherits a huge cotton plantation in the American colonies. Arlene Dahl (later Mrs. Fernando Lamas) Read More

The Vanquished

Actors: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Jan Sterling, Lyle Bettger, Willard Parker

Synopsis: The Vanquished represented another winner from Paramount's Pine-Thomas unit. John Payne plays Rock Grayson, a Civil War POW who returns to his Southern home to find carpetbagger Roger Hale (Lyle Bettger) in charge of things. An old enemy of Grayson's, Hale has commandeered the Grayson Read More

Titanic

Actors: Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Wagner, Audrey Dalton, Thelma Ritter

Synopsis: The 1912 sinking of the luxury liner Titanic is used as a backdrop for a several fictional subplots, chief of which involves snooty socialite Clifton Webb and his wife Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck has booked passage on the ill-fated passenger ship with her daughter (Audrey Dalton) and son (Harper Carter Read More

The Adventures of Superman: Czar of the Underworld

Synopsis: Clark Kent (George Reeves) and Inspector Henderson (Robert Shayne) go off to Hollwyood, where Clark is to serve as technical advisor for a film about underworld kingpin Louie Dinelli (Anthony Caruso). The gangster boss isn't about to let the film get made, and he arranges a number of suspicious Read More

So This Is Love

Actors: Kathryn Grayson, Merv Griffin, Joan Weldon, Walter Abel, Rosemary de Camp

Synopsis: This tuneful biography of operatic soprano Grace Moore begins as she prepares to perform on opening night. While awaiting her entrance cue, she reflects upon her life and the sequence of events that led her from a humble childhood in Tennessee to becoming one of the brightest stars in the opera Read More

Fangs of the Arctic

Synopsis: A courageous Mountie and his trusty dog Chinook traverse the Northwest Territory, through blizzards and other travails in search of illegal trappers in this adventure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Road to Bali

Actors: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Murvyn Vye, Peter Coe

Synopsis: This sixth entry in the Crosby-Hope-Lamour "Road" series was the first (and last) in Technicolor. This time, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope play George Cochran and Harold Gridley, American vaudevillians stranded in Australia. To avoid a dual shotgun wedding, George and Harold sign on as deep-sea divers Read More

The Robe

Actors: Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Michael Rennie, Jay Robinson

Synopsis: Historically important as the first CinemaScope feature film, 20th Century-Fox's The Robe is fine dramatic entertainment in its own right. Based on the best-selling novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, the film stars Richard Burton as the wastrelly Roman tribune who is assigned by a weary Pontius Pilate (Richard Boone Read More

Stars and Stripes Forever

Actors: Clifton Webb, Debra Paget, Robert Wagner, Ruth Hussey, Finlay Currie

Synopsis: Stars and Stripes Forever is the highly fanciful filmed biography of "march king" John Philip Sousa. Clifton Webb does a fine job as Sousa, while Ruth Hussey is equally good in the less-demanding role of Sousa's wife. The problem faced by screenwriter Lamar Trotti (who adapted the film from Read More

Texans Never Cry

Actors: Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Mary Castle, Russell Hayden, Gail Davis

Synopsis: Texans Never Cry but they sure do sing a lot in this Gene Autry western. Cast as a Texas Ranger, Autry is trying to get the goods on a frontier numbers racket. Perpetrating the crime is Tracy Wyatt (Richard Powers, who'd previously been a western hero himself under the name of Tom Keene). Adding Read More

The Lemon Drop Kid

Actors: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan, Jane Darwell, Andrea King, Fred Clark

Synopsis: Damon Runyon's Broadway fable The Lemon Drop Kid was filmed twice by Paramount Pictures, but only the 1934 version with Lee Tracy paid more than lip service to the original Runyon story. The second version, filmed in 1951, was completely retooled to accommodate the talents of Bob Hope. Known far Read More

Rhubarb

Actors: Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley, Elsie Holmes

Synopsis: Rhubarb is an amusing, if not entirely faithful, adaptation of the H. Allen Smith novel of the same name. When Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart), multimillionaire owner of the Brooklyn baseball team, passes away, he wills the team -- and his $30 million estate -- to his pugnacious pet cat Read More

Lone Star

Actors: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Broderick Crawford, Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi

Synopsis: During the 1845 battle for Texas' independence, a cattle baron (Clark Gable) spars with an evil senator (Broderick Crawford) over the state's future and for the affections of newpaperwoman Ava Gardner. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Indian Territory

Actors: Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Gail Davis, Kirby Grant, James Griffith

Synopsis: Columbia's final release for 1950 was the Gene Autry western Indian Territory. Set during the Reconstruction Era, the story finds Autry working as an undercover agent for the U.S. cavalry. His mission: to neutralize a former Austrian army officer named Curt Raidler (Phil Van Zandt), who is leading Read More

My Friend Irma Goes West

Actors: John Lund, Marie Wilson, Diana Lynn, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis

Synopsis: In 1949, Paramount put together a film version of the radio series My Friend Irma. It was assumed that the main attraction would be scatter-brained Irma, delightfully played by Marie Wilson. Instead, the picture was stolen by a couple of young upstarts named Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Read More

Mule Train

Actors: Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Sheila Ryan, Robert Livingston, Frank Jaquet

Synopsis: Though the hit song "Mule Train" is most closely associated with Frankie Laine, it was Gene Autry who first sang the tune on film, in a picture titled ... what else? .... Mule Train. This time, Autry plays a federal marshal who comes to the aid of a grizzled old prospector who has been framed for Read More

Beyond the Purple Hills

Actors: Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Don Beddoe, James Millican

Synopsis: Gene Autry and his horse Champion play "themselves" in Columbia's Beyond the Purple Hills. This one finds Autry serving as a cattle-town sheriff. When his best friend is accused of murder, Gene does his duty and arrests the man--then conducts his own investigation to prove that his pal is Read More

The Blonde Bandit

Actors: Dorothy Patrick, Gerald Mohr, Robert Rockwell, Larry Blake, Charles Cane

Synopsis: Dorothy Patrick is The Blonde Bandit in this Republic time-filler. The script establishes a degree of sympathy for Gloria Dell (Patrick) by depicting her as more sinned against the sinning. Involved in a holdup masterminded by bookie Joe Sapelli (Gerald Mohr), Gloria is given a chance for Read More

Two Flags West

Actors: Joseph Cotten, Linda Darnell, Jeff Chandler, Cornel Wilde, Dale Robertson

Synopsis: Two Flags West is set in the waning days of the Civil War. Colonel Clay Tucker (Joseph Cotten) is one of several Confederate prisoners who agree to fight alongside Union soldiers against the Indians in New Mexico. Tucker's Union commander Kenniston (Jeff Chandler) despises all "Johnny Rebs," Read More

Michael O'Halloran

Actors: Charles Arnt, Florence Auer, Gregg Barton, Scotty Beckett, Ralph Brooks

Synopsis: In this three-hanky movie, an orphaned newsboy decides to care for a crippled young girl after her alcoholic mother is injured. With a doctor's assistance, he helps the girl understand that her paralysis is hysterical, caused by her reactions to her mother's behavior. Trouble ensues when the boy Read More

Riders of the Whistling Pines

Actors: Gene Autry, Patricia White, Jimmy Lloyd, Douglas Dumbrille, Damian O'Flynn

Synopsis: Gene Autry's second 1949 release for Columbia was Riders of the Whistling Pines. As was customary for Autry, the title refers to one of the songs heard in the film, rather than the plotline at hand. The villains busy themselves destroying all the timber in a government forest preserve. When Autry Read More

Apache Chief

Actors: Alan Curtis, Tom Neal, Carol Thurston, Russell Hayden, Fuzzy Knight

Synopsis: Apache Chief was the second film to be lensed with the Garutso Balanced Lens, which gave the illusion of a three-dimensional effect (the first was Deputy Marshal). Alan Curtis plays the title character, a pacifistic Native American named Young Eagle. When his tribesmen begin killing off white Read More

Angels in Disguise

Synopsis: The 15th film in the Bowery Boys series, Angels in Disguise combines lowbrow humor with "film noir" melodramatics. Bowery boys Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) are copy boys for a crusading newspaper, whose publisher (Ray Walker) is trying to crush the notorious "Loop Gang". When the boys' Read More

Riders in the Sky

Actors: Gene Autry, Gloria Henry, Pat Buttram, Mary Beth Hughes, Robert Livingston

Synopsis: Gene Autry enjoyed considerable success with his recording of Stan Jones' haunting "Riders in the Sky". He then parlayed this success into a film, which proved to be one of Autry's best postwar efforts. The basic plot concerns Autry's efforts to clear rancher Ralph Lawson (Steve Darrell) of a 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

The Fountainhead

Actors: Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey, Kent Smith, Henry Hull, Robert Douglas

Synopsis: The hero of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead is Howard Roark (Gary Cooper), a fiercely independent architect obviously patterned after Frank Lloyd Wright. Rather than compromise his ideals, Roark takes menial work as a quarryman to finance his projects. He falls in love with heiress Dominique (Patricia Neal Read More

Nora Prentiss

Actors: Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett, Robert Alda, Rosemary de Camp

Synopsis: In this slick melodrama, a sort of film-noir for women, a nightclub singer has an affair with an unhappily married San Francisco doctor. Though the physician desperately wants to leave his wife, he lacks the courage to ask for a divorce. In retaliation, the singer accepts an offer to move East and Read More

Cass Timberlane

Actors: Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, Zachary Scott, Tom Drake, Mary Astor

Synopsis: A visibly uneasy Spencer Tracy plays the title role in this lavish MGM screen version of Sinclair Lewis' 1945 magazine serial. A small-town bachelor judge, Cass Timberlane, takes a personal interest in beautiful stenographer Jinny Marshland (Lana Turner), who appears one day as a witness in his Read More

Railroaded

Actors: John Ireland, Sheila Ryan, Hugh Beaumont, Jane Randolph, Ed Kelly

Synopsis: One of director Anthony Mann's earlier films, Railroaded features John Ireland as Duke Martin, a seedy criminal looking to skim off of his boss' money. Instead of making the extra cash by his usual means--a small gambling operation run by beautician Clara Cahhoun (Jane Randolph)--Duke (Ireland) Read More

The Last Round-Up

Actors: Gene Autry, Jean Heather, Ralph Morgan, Carol Thurston, Mark Daniels

Synopsis: Dissatisfied with his postwar Republic westerns (not to mention his comparatively low salary), Gene Autry switched his base of operations to Columbia in 1947, where he wore two hats as both star and producer. Autry's first Columbia effort, The Last Round-Up, is a vast improvement over the Read More

Night Editor

Actors: William Gargan, Janis Carter, Jeff Donnell, Coulter Irwin, Charles D. Brown

Synopsis: Inspired by the radio program of the same name, Night Editor features Charles D. Brown as the editor of the New York Star. In flashback, the editor tells the tale of police lieutenant William Gargan, who forsakes his happy home life for the love of no-good society dame Janis Carter. Both Gargan Read More

Never Say Goodbye

Actors: Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker, Lucile Watson, S.Z. Sakall, Forrest Tucker

Synopsis: Romantic comedy was never Errol Flynn's forte, but he occasionally gave it the old college try in such films as Never Say Goodbye. Flynn plays Phil Gayley, a Petty-like magazine illustrator, whose close proximity with gorgeous female models ruins his marriage to the lovely Ellen (Eleanor Parker). Read More

Blue Skies

Actors: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Joan Caulfield, Billy De Wolfe, Olga San Juan

Synopsis: Jed Potter (Fred Astaire) is a popular radio personality who was once a famous dancer. He also used to be friends with Johnny Adams (Bing Crosby) until they became rivals for the affections of Mary O'Hara (Joan Caulfield). Jed lost out when Johnny and Mary got married, but life hasn't been too Read More

The Shanghai Cobra

Actors: Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Joan Barclay, James B. Cardwell, Walter Fenner, James Flavin, Benson Fong, Addison Richards, Gene Roth, Roy Gordon, Arthur Loft, George Chandler, Joe Devlin, Paul Newlan, Janet Warren

Synopsis: Just as Edgar C. Ulmer would at PRC around the same time, young Phil Karlson turned Monogram's almost nonexistent production values to his advantage in two Charlie Chan whodunits: The Shanghai Cobra (1945) and Dark Alibi (1946). Karlson added touches of film noir to the usual hoary Chan Read More

The Caribbean Mystery

Actors: Sheila Ryan, Edward Ryan, Jackie Paley, Reed Hadley

Synopsis: The Caribbean Mystery is a remake of Mr. Moto on Danger Island (1939)-which in turn was a remake of Murder in Trinidad. James Dunn stars as Mr. Smith, a Columbo-like Brooklyn detective who pops up on a tropical island to track down some missing geologists. In his own shambling, easygoing manner Read More

The Spider

Actors: Richard Conte, Faye Marlowe, Kurt Kreuger, John Harvey, Martin Kosleck

Synopsis: In this mystery, a detective and his partner are hired by a carnival psychic to help her find her long-lost sister who vanished a few years back. It is the partner who solves the mystery, but before she can tell her boss, she is killed. The detective is accused of the crime and arrested. He Read More

Standing Room Only

Actors: Fred MacMurray, Paulette Goddard, Edward Arnold, Roland Young, Anne Revere, Hillary Brooke

Synopsis: The overcrowding in WWII-era Washington, D.C., provided the concept for this comedy, as well as another film from the previous year, The More the Merrier (1943). Lee Stevens (Fred MacMurray) is an executive from a toy company owned by T.J. Todd (Edward Arnold). In hopes of landing a lucrative Read More

Take It or Leave It

Actors: Phil Baker, Phil Silvers, Edward Ryan, Marjorie Massow, Stanley Prager

Synopsis: A game show provides the backdrop for this drama that centers on an earnest young husband who desperately needs $1,000 to pay for his wife's obstetrician. To get it fast, he brings his wife and best friend to a radio station where the game is broadcast. He is chosen for the show. Unfortunately Read More

I Love a Soldier

Actors: Paulette Goddard, Sonny Tufts, Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Sande, Beulah Bondi, Ann Doran

Synopsis: Paulette Goddard and Sonny Tufts, two of the stars of director Mark Sandrich's wartime morale-booster So Proudly We Hail, were reunited in Sandrich's I Love a Soldiers. Looking gorgeous in bib overalls, Goddard plays defense-plant welder Eva Morgan, who avoids romance but gives generously of her Read More

The Story of Dr. Wassell

Actors: Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso, Dennis O'Keefe, Carol Thurston

Synopsis: The genesis of The Story of Dr. Wassell is said to have been a story told by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to director Cecil B. DeMille. Gary Cooper stars as Corydon M. Wassell, a real-life country doctor from Arkansas who worked as a medical missionary in China in the years prior to WWII. Read More

Jack London

Actors: Michael O'Shea, Susan Hayward, Osa Massen, Virginia Mayo, Harry Davenport, Frank Craven

Synopsis: This ambitious filmed biography of writer-adventurer Jack London is somewhat compromised by its too-tight budget. Michael O'Shea is well cast as London, whose rugged adventures range from the high seas to the Klondike. London's insatiable wanderlust causes friction in his marriage to the lovely Read More

What's Buzzin' Cousin?

Actors: Ann Miller, John Hubbard, Freddy Martin, Leslie Brooks

Synopsis: Ann Miller goes through her usual twinkle-toed paces in the quickie Columbia musical What's Buzzin', Cousin? The pencil-thin plotline involves attorney Jimmie Ross (John Hubbard), who moonlights as a singer with the Freddie Martin Orchestra. Using his legal and showbiz know-how, Jimmie revitalizes Read More

So Proudly We Hail!

Actors: Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake, George Reeves, Barbara Britton

Synopsis: Paramount's So Proudly We Hail, like MGM's Cry Havoc, is a tribute to the Red Cross nurses trapped behind enemy lines in the early days of the Pacific war. Claudette Colbert is the self-sacrificing head nurse, struggling to minister to the wounded and to keep her staff (including Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake Read More

Secrets of the Underground

Actors: John Hubbard, Virginia Grey, Lloyd Corrigan, Robin Raymond, Miles Mander

Synopsis: In this wartime espionage drama, Nazis open up a covert operation in the US. Outwardly it is a high-class dress shop, but inside it is really a counterfeiting operation in which the leader and his henchman make fake savings stamps in the hope of busting the morale of the good clients who spend 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

Powder Town

Actors: Victor McLaglen, Edmond O'Brien, June Havoc, Dorothy Lovett, Eddie Foy, Jr.

Synopsis: RKO Radio's Powder Town has the makings of an A picture, but the budget and approach is strictly "B" grade. Adapted by Vicki Baum from a novl by Max Brand, the story is largely set in a wartime munitions plant. Targetted for abduction or murder by Nazi agents, eccentric scientist Pennant (Edmond O'Brien Read More

Lucky Jordan

Actors: Alan Ladd, Helen Walker, Sheldon Leonard, Mabel Paige, Marie McDonald

Synopsis: Lucky Jordan (Alan Ladd) is a tough but good-natured New York racketeer who tries to finagle his way out of Army service. Despite his efforts, Jordan is drafted, but soon goes AWOL, with a lovely USO worker (Helen Walker) dogging his heels. She tries to arouse Jordan's patriotism, but he is Read More

The Strawberry Blonde

Actors: James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth, Jack Carson, Alan Hale

Synopsis: Strawberry Blonde is the second, and by far the most well-regarded, of the three film versions of James Hogan's play One Sunday Afternoon. James Cagney stars as Biff Grimes, a turn-of-the-century dentist married to onetime suffragette Amy Lind (Olivia de Havilland). A former convict, Biff has Read More

Married Bachelor

Actors: Robert Young, Ruth Hussey, Felix Bressart, Lee Bowman, Sheldon Leonard

Synopsis: Married Bachelor is a cute little MGM situation comedy, designed for the bottom half of the studio's double bills. Robert Young plays an married author who has penned several books on how to stay single. Naturally, he has to pose as a bachelor for publicity purposes...but wife Ruth Hussey is 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

Love Crazy

Actors: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gail Patrick, Jack Carson, Florence Bates

Synopsis: William Powell and Myrna Loy re-team for this (literally) crazy screwball comedy about a happily married couple who, thanks to a visit from mother, find their marriage on the rocks and the husband committed to a mental institution. Poised to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary, Steven (William Powell Read More

Two-Faced Woman

Actors: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Constance Bennett, Ruth Gordon, Robert Sterling, Roland Young

Synopsis: Attempting to Americanize Greta Garbo to appeal to American audiences (since most of the foreign markets for Hollywood product had been cut off due to World War II), M.G.M.'s Two-Faced Woman succeeded in making Garbo angry enough to announce her retirement from the screen. Two-Faced Woman was Read More

The Night of January 16th

Actors: Robert Preston, Ellen Drew, Nils Asther, Donald Douglas, Maggie Hayes

Synopsis: Ayn Rand's Broadway stage hit The Night of January 16th was distinguished by a clever gimmick, wherein members of the audience sat in the jury box while a fictional murder trial was conducted: the outcome of the play was thus totally in the hands of the spectators, and accordingly Rand penned two Read More

Virginia City

Actors: Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott, Humphrey Bogart, Frank McHugh

Synopsis: Promoted as a follow-up to the popular 1939 western Dodge City (which, indeed, was left wide open for a sequel in its closing scenes), Virginia City bears only surface resemblance to the earlier film. Indeed, the only discerning links between the two pictures are the western setting and the Read More

Wolf of New York

Actors: Edmund Lowe, Rose Hobart, James Stephenson, Jerome Cowan, William Demarest

Synopsis: In this crime drama, a brilliant lawyer is renowned for getting guilty-as-sin-but-powerful crime figures acquitted. He has never lost a case until he defends an innocent man. The hapless client ends up imprisoned and executed for killing a policeman. The loss traumatizes the lawyer and compels him Read More

Boom Town

Actors: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan

Synopsis: Clark Gable is "Big John" and Spencer Tracy is "Square John"; both "Johns" seek their fortunes in the Texas oil fields. They simultaneously fall in love with Claudette Colbert, but it's "Big John" who wins out. When both Johns grow rich on oil, "Big John" lets money go to his head, and he begins Read More

Foreign Correspondent

Actors: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Basserman

Synopsis: Fourteen scriptwriters spent five years toiling over a movie adaptation of war correspondent Vincent Sheehan's Personal History before producer Walter Wanger brought the property to the screen as Foreign Correspondent. What emerged was approximately 2 parts Sheehan and 8 parts director Alfred Hitchcock Read More

Pound Foolish

Synopsis: This entry in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series focuses on customs evasion. It shows how even wealthy people, not just career criminals and smugglers, attempt to evade paying customs tax on items they bring back from overseas. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide Read More

Queen of the Mob

Actors: Ralph Bellamy, Blanche Yurka, J. Carrol Naish, William Henry

Synopsis: Though the title character is loosely based on that of the notorious killer/robber Ma Barker, she has been sanitized and prettified to meet the perceived conservative values of Hollywood movie audiences. Unlike Barker, who was bad to the bone, Ma Webster is simply a matriarch who would do anything Read More

The Lone Wolf Strikes

Actors: Warren William, Joan Perry, Eric Blore, Alan Baxter, Astrid Allwyn

Synopsis: In this entry in the long-running series, the reformed master jewel thief rushes to help a lovely heiress whose pearl necklace has been stolen by other thieves. Using his consummate skill, the Wolf pulls a deft switcheroo and substitutes the real ones for fakes. He then brings the real necklace Read More

Men Against the Sky

Actors: Richard Dix, Wendy Barrie, Edmund Lowe, Kent Taylor, Granville Bates

Synopsis: Richard Dix is his usual strong, silent self in RKO Radio's Men Against the Sky. Dix plays a washed-up pilot who designs a revolutionary new plane. Realizing that he is persona non grata in the aviation industry due to his irresponsibility and alcoholism, Dix allows his sister Wendy Barrie to take Read More

Fifth Avenue Girl

Actors: Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Veree Teasdale, James Ellison, Tim Holt

Synopsis: A wealthy older man and a poor young woman each get a chance to see how the other half lives in this comedy. Alfred Borden (Walter Connolly) is a millionaire who feels neglected by his family. His wife Martha (Verree Teasdale), daughter Katherine (Kathryn Adams), and son Tim (Tim Holt) usually Read More

Persons in Hiding

Actors: Lynne Overman, Patricia Morison, J. Carrol Naish, William Henry, Helen Twelvetrees

Synopsis: In this crime drama, a young hood and a seductress team up and rob a gas station. As she requires an opulent, exciting existence, more robberies ensue until they get really greedy and attempt a kidnapping. Unfortunately, they chose an unusually perceptive victim who is able to recall the flight Read More

The Real Glory

Actors: Gary Cooper, Andrea Leeds, David Niven, Broderick Crawford, Reginald Owen

Synopsis: Set during the turn-of-the-century Moro uprising in the Philippines, The Real Glory stars Gary Cooper as an American Marine doctor and David Niven and Broderick Crawford as a pair of rowdy mercenaries. While staving off the insurgent Moros, Cooper must also combat a cholera outbreak. Once this Read More

Million Dollar Legs

Actors: Betty Grable, John Hartley, Donald O'Connor, Jackie Coogan, Dorothea Kent

Synopsis: No relation to the 1932 W.C. Fields comedy of the same name, Million Dollar Legs is a college picture starring most of Paramount's younger contract players. The college is in financial trouble, so the students pin their hopes on a race horse--the "million dollar legs" of the title. As it turns Read More

Sued for Libel

Actors: Kent Taylor, Linda Hayes, Lillian Bond, Morgan Conway, Richard Lane

Synopsis: Thanks to a practical joker, hotshot radio newscaster Steve (Kent Taylor) announces that prominent financier Pomeroy (Morgan Conway) has been convicted of murder. When it turns out that Pomeroy has been acquitted, Steve, his radio station and the newspaper that owns it are slapped with libel Read More

The Spellbinder

Actors: Lee Tracy, Barbara Read, Patric Knowles, Linda Hayes

Synopsis: In this crime drama, a shyster lawyer makes his living earning acquittals for his guilty clients. Most recently he freed a powerful crime lord. He comes to regret this when his daughter falls in love with the gangster. Despite his efforts to dissuade the criminal from pursuing the relationship Read More

Blondie Brings up Baby

Actors: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Danny Mummert

Synopsis: Columbia's new "Blondie" series continued its winning streak with its fourth entry, Blondie Brings Up Baby. So much happens within the film's 67 minutes that it's best to boil things down to the central storyline. Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms), the six-year-old son of Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead (Penny Singleton Read More

Boy Slaves

Actors: Anne Shirley, Roger Daniel, James McCallion, Alan Baxter, John Fitzgerald

Synopsis: Boy Slaves is an effective indictment of the exploitation of reform school labor. Several troublesome boys are offered an opportunity to work on a turpentine farm run by the seemingly benign Charles Lane, with the promise that their good behavior will ensure their early release from the Read More

Almost a Gentleman

Actors: James Ellison, Helen Wood, Robert Kent, Leonard Penn, John Wray

Synopsis: Ace the Wonder Dog, RKO's Rin Tin Tin-wannabe, plays Picardy Max, a mongrel dog adopted by Dan Preston (James Ellison) when both are thrown in jail for vagrancy. Dan's legal problems are quickly done away with but his pretty boarder, Shirley Haddon (Helen Wood), is increasingly troubled by Dan's Read More

Campus Confessions

Actors: Betty Grable, Eleanore Whitney, William Henry, Fritz Feld, John Arledge

Synopsis: This comical campus romance showcases the fancy footwork of All-American basketball player Hank Luisetti while it tells the story of a dean's son who does his very best to become a good student. When he fails, he turns to playing basketball and befriends Luisetti, which makes him quite popular. Read More

The Great Man Votes

Actors: John Barrymore, Peter Holden, Virginia Weidler, Katherine Alexander, Donald MacBride

Synopsis: Ageing, alcohol-benumbed John Barrymore had one last great performance left in him before his death in 1942, and The Great Man Votes was the ideal vehicle for that performance. Barrymore plays a widowed, once-distinguished professor, lately reduced to being a night watchman. He tries to stay off Read More

Cocoanut Grove

Actors: Fred MacMurray, Yacht Club Boys, Ben Blue, Rufe Davis

Synopsis: The legendary Cocoanut Grove nightclub is the setting for this all-star Paramount musical. Fred MacMurray heads the cast as Johnny Prentice, a small-time bandleader who heads to the Grove for an all-important audition. He is accompanied by his foster son Half-Pint (Billy Lee), a talented drummer Read More

Silver Wings

Actors: Mary Carr, Lynn Hammond, Knox Kincaid, Joseph Monahan, Maybeth Carr

Synopsis: For the first few decades of the twentieth century, films that carried the sentimental theme of a mother's love were almost guaranteed good box office (this trend reversed itself in the 1960s, when mothers became a subject of satire). In the silent era, character actor Mary Carr was well known for Read More