Leon Errol Movies

In Ham Fisher's original Joe Palooka comic strip, Joe's pal Humphrey Pennyworth was a blimp of a man. In Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey, Mr. Pennyworth is played by Robert Coogan, a slim, athletic chap who was then starring as TV's Captain Video. At least Joe Kirkwood Jr. was closer to Fisher's visual concept of soft-hearted pugilist Joe Palooka. The plot finds Joe pitted against Humphrey in a charity bout. Eschewing the gangster and murder-mystery subplots of Monogram's previous "Joe Palooka" entries, this one is played strictly for laughs, even unto having Leon Errol (cast as Joe's manager Knobby Walsh) going through his "Mexican Spitfire" paces in a dual role. Also good for a few chuckles is Joe Besser (who physically was better suited for the part of Humphrey) as a nervous hotel desk clerk. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Make Mine Laughs was the second of three RKO Radio "pastiche" films, largely comprised of musical and comedy highlights from previous RKO productions. Comedian Gil Lamb hosts the proceedings, finding time to make satirical comments about the opening credits and to perform his "swallowing the harmonica" specialty. The filmclips include two short subjects, Leon Errol's Beware of Redheads and one of RKO's Flicker Flashbacks entries, both presented in their entirety. Also featured are Frances Langford singing "Moonlight Over the Islands" (from Bamboo Blonde), Anne Shirley and Dennis Day duetting on "If You Happen to Find a Heart" (from Music in Manhattan), and specialties performed by the likes of orchestra leaders Frankie Carle and Freddie "Schnickelfritz" Fisher, ventriloquist Robert Lamouret, and dance teams Manuel & Marita Viera and Rosario & Antonio. Make Mine Laughs was withdrawn from distribution after Ray Bolger and Jack Haley brought suit against RKO for unauthorized use of clips from Bolger's boxing pantomime in Four Jacks and Jill (1944) and Haley's "Who Killed Vaudeville?" number from George White's Scandals (1945). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Monogram's low-budget, high-grossing "Joe Palooka" series carries on in this 66-minute entry. Joe Kirkwood plays Joe Palooka, the soft-hearted pugilist created for the funny papers by Ham Fisher. This time, Joe is framed on a bum rap by a group of gamblers who hope to fix the outcome of an upcoming bout. When Joe manages to clear himself, the gamblers go a step farther by having the scrupulously honest boxer accused of murder. On the lam from the law, Joe is forced to solve the murder himself--and he'd better hurry if he's going to get to the Big Fight on time. Virginia Welles is cast as Joe's love interest Ann Howe, while comedian Leon Errol is afforded top billing as Joe's manager Knobby Walsh. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

For their first independently-produced vehicle, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello chose to appear in a remake of the 1939 Universal programmer For Love or Money. Bud and Lou are cast as Ted and Tommy, two bumbling window washers hired by gangster Mike Craig (Joseph Calleila) to collect a $50,000 gambling debt. The boys manage to pick up the money, only to deliver it to the wrong person, a pretty private secretary named Carol (Cathy Downs). Ordered to retrieve the money within 24 hours "or else," Ted and Tommy trace the cash to Carol, who has mistakenly distributed it amongst the entries in a mailing list. As our heroes desperately concoct methods of escaping Craig's wrath, eccentric gambler Julius Caesar McBride (Leon Errol), the man who "never loses," comes to the rescue. Despite its seeming complexity, the plot exists merely as a peg on which to hang several of Abbott and Costello's best routines, including "Bet you 10 dollars you're not here," "Hole in the Wall," "Packing and unpacking," "Getting Arrested," and, best of all, "Mudder and Fodder." Beyond the seven credited actors, the huge unbilled supporting cast includes such reliable laugh-getters as Benny Rubin, Murray Leonard, Elvia Allman, Herb Vigran, Fred Kelsey, James Flavin, Lyle Latell, Isabel Randolph and Paul Maxey. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It's a case of mistaken identity after the boss thinks that his meek employee is married to his pretty next-door neighbor. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

After a beauty parlor makeover, a housewife (Dorothy Granger), has a chance encounter with her husband's identical twin brother. Because she's never met the twin brother, she mistakes his behavior for infidelity by her husband and begins plotting divorce. Leon Errol plays the twins in this routine comedy short. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi

This collection of three comedy shorts separately stars Billy Gilbert, Leon Errol and Edgar Kennedy in Chicken Feed (1939), Twin Husbands (1946) and False Roomers (1938). ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

A loose remake of the 1935 Charlie Ruggles-Mary Boland comedy of the same name, Mama Loves Papa stars Elisabeth Risdon in the title role. Thanks to the efforts of his social-climbing wife Jessie (Risdon), furniture store employee Wilbur Todd (Leon Errol) is tossed headfirst into the world of small-town politics. Sized up as a patsy by crooked politician Kirkwood (Edwin Maxwell), poor Wilbur is plied with champagne as part of Kirkwood's scheme to land a sweetheart playground-equipment contract. Awakening with a huge hangover and minus his trousers, Wilbur finds that he has inadvertently brought disgrace to everyone concerned, including his wife. Everything turns out all right, of course, but only when Jessie agrees to allow Wilbur to stay in his own backyard. The film is highlighted by Leon Errol's classic "rubber legs" routine, which was already familiar to aficionados of Errol's two-reel comedy escapades. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joan Davis, the daughter of a famed woman detective, has inherited none of her mother's deductive prowess. Nonetheless, Joan teams with patrolman Leon Errol to solve a series of blowgun murders. The two erstwhile Sherlocks track down the alleged murder weapon to a theatre, where it is being used as a prop in a play. After disrupting the performance, Davis determines that the murders weren't committed by blowgun, and that the culprit is a mild-mannered gentleman to whom murder is a "hobby." The title She Gets Her Man clues us in on the finale, and also refers to the shaky but affectionate relationship between Joan Davis and Leon Errol. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this musical comedy of mistaken identity, a group of young of budding theatrical performers endeavor to put on their own show and enlist the aid of twin brothers. One of them is a producer while the other is a business magnate. Songs include "Hold That Line," "A Dream Said Hello" (sung by Rooney and the Stardusters), "Me and My Whistle," "Come Back Erin," "Rhythm's What You Need," "The Happy Polka," "Stars and Violins" (Everett Carter, Milton Rosen), "The Blue Danube" (Johann Strauss, adapted by Katherine Bellamann), "Put Your Arms around Me Honey" (June McCree, Albert von Tilzer). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

At MGM, the studio's youth musicals were more rural than urban -- find a barn, get some friends together, and hey kids, let's put on a show. At Universal, for this musical for its young contract players, the atmosphere is more urban -- the kids at a settlement house, led by Trudy Costello (Peggy Ryan), have to raise $200 a month to support scholarships so that 10 of them can go to music school; they're helped by Carol Curtis (Ann Blyth), a wealthy young heiress who's in love with Billy Harper (Billy Dunn), who's too poor to afford the scholarship but also too proud to take her help. The kids decide to organize a night club for teenagers, and try to get help from Carol's eccentric uncle Malcolm (Leon Errol, who's never been comfortable with his upper-crust family's staid outlook on life. But standing in their way is Carol's aunt Martha Alma Kruger, who doesn't like music and sees no reason for her niece or any member of her family to be involved with this group of under-privileged kids. And running interference for the teenagers is her attorney, Dick Lorimer (Kirby Grant), who sympathizes with Carol and Malcolm and happens to like the director of the settlement house (nne Gwynne) a great deal. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Higher and Higher was advertised by RKO Radio as "The Sinatra Show", and small wonder: In his first major film role, Frank Sinatra was easily the film's biggest box-office draw. Actually, Frankie was a last minute addition to the film, which began as a traditional adaptation of a popular Broadway musical. Repeating his original stage role, Jack Haley plays Mike, the head servant in the household of millionaire Mr. Drake (Leon Errol). When Drake faces bankruptcy, Mike rallies the servants together and cooks up a moneymaking scheme: they'll pass off pretty scullery maid Millie (Michele Morgan) as Drake's daughter, and marry her off to a wealthy bachelor. Complicating matters is Sir Bictor Fitzroy Victor (Victor Borge), an impoverished nobleman who is himself looking for a rich wife. Mike saves the day with a last-minute discovery in the wine cellar, but not before a series of hilarious and tuneful plot twists involving Millie, heiress Katherine (Barbara Hale), and hired help Mickey (Marcy McGuire) and Marty (Mel Torme). Hastily written into the proceedings as Drake's next door neighbor, Sinatra croons several standards-to-be, including "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" and "This is a Lovely Way to Spend an Evening"; he also is arbitrarily permitted the film's closing shot, emerging from heavenly clouds like the Second Coming of Music. Thanks to the film's enormous box-office take, everybody was happy with Higher and Higher--except Jack Haley, understandably miffed that his onetime starring role was whittled down to a supporting part to allow more screen time for the estimable Mr. Sinatra. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi