James McGrath Movies
- 1939
Two Canadian Mounties and the son of Rin Tin Tin join forces to solve a complex mystery in the north woods. The trouble begins when a lumber heiress finds herself victimized by two rivals who are after her land. She seeks help from her English uncle. Unbeknownst to her, he was killed by his aide who begins impersonating him. The disguised aide then goes to Canada to take the land for himself The heiress's rivals find themselves accused of the uncle's murder. Meanwhile, an addled mountain man claims that the land is really his. It is up to the RCMP and their dog to clear the whole mess up. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edgar Edwards, Sheila Bromley, (more)
- 1938
Silent-film leading man Ralph Forbes is given another shot at a starring role in the low-budget talkie Woman Against the World. Forbes plays kindly attorney Larry Steele, who champions the cause of distraught young mother Anna Masters (Alice Moore). When her baby is snatched away from her by her domineering aunt (Ethel Reese-Burns), Anna accidentally kills the old lady and is carted off to jail. While behind bars, Anna secures the services of a seedy detective agency to locate her missing child, leading to even more trouble for the beleagured heroine. Having been absent from the proceedings for several reels, lawyer Steele endeavors to see that justice is done in the climactic footage. Woman Against the World was written by Edgar Edwards, who shows up briefly on screen as Anna Masters' ill-fated husband. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ralph Forbes, Alice Moore, (more)
- 1937
In this romance, a new man comes to a logging camp and learns of a conspiracy with a competitor. Unbeknownst to the other lumber jacks, the new hand is actually the owner's son in disguise. He soon falls in love with the camp's lovely manager, his father's business partner. It is not an easy love affair as the couple must deal with plenty of misunderstandings and engage in may adventures. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Gargan, Molly Lamont, (more)
- 1937
The Fighting Playboy is a "Northern": a western plotline set in the Canadian woods. Nick Stuart plays the ne'er-do-well son of a wealthy man, who cuts Stuart off without a dime because the boy refuses to make something of himself. Thus, Stuart heads northward to prove his mettle. In short order (very short, inasmuch as the film is only 50 minutes long) Stuart makes a fortune and wins the girl (Lucille Browne). Filmed entirely on location, The Fighting Playboy was based on a short story by Alex Phillip. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nick Stuart, Lucille Browne, (more)
- 1936
Every so often, Columbia's resident cowboy hero Charles Starrett would head to the studio's facilities in British Columbia to star in a Northwest Mountie opus. The second of these "northerns" was Secret Patrol, which was supposed to have been directed by screenwriter Ford Beebe but was ultimately helmed by David Selman. Starrett is cast as Mountie Alan, who goes undercover to solve the murder of his best friend. Tied in with this is the mysterious disappearance of the Chief Inspector's son (Henry Mollison), who is presumed dead but who has actually gone AWOL. The love interest is provided by the exotically yclept Columbia ingenue Finis Barton. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Henry Mollison, (more)
Stampede was the first of western star Charles Starrett's "northerns," filmed through the facilities of Columbia's Canadian studios in Victoria B.C. Based on a story by Peter B. Kyne, the film cast Starrett as Larry, a cattle buyer who crosses the Canadian border to purchase new stock. He quickly runs afoul of a gang of rustlers, who cap their many misdeeds by murdering Larry's brother. Suddenly, our hero becomes a one-man police force, refusing to rest until every last one of the villains has been brought to justice. Stampede was written and directed by Ford Beebe -- evidently not to the satisfaction of Columbia's executives, who replaced Beebe with David Selman for Starrett's next Canadian production Secret Patrol. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Finis Barton, (more)
- 1935
Devil worshipping and Chinese tongs were the selling points of this ultra low-budget thriller produced at Willow Park, B.C., Canada. Assigned to quell a Chinatown crime wave, private detective Donegal Dawn (Raymond Lawrence) discovers that his best friend, Robert Rand (Nick Stuart), has become infatuated with Zenobia, a beautiful but strange white girl clerking in Chan Tow Ling's curiosity shop. The girl, however, is frightened of something and warns Robert that they can never be together. That night, the lovesick youngster steals into the basement of the shop where he observes Zenobia officiating a weird ceremony. When the worshippers, known as the Order of the Black Robe, discover Robert's snooping, Zenobia either cannot or will not help him and he is led away. Dawn, meanwhile, tracks the cult to a hideout in the mountain. After a furious donnybrook at the top of a cliff, the detective is able to save both Robert and the entranced Zenobia. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
