Anthony Coldeway Movies

Johnny Mack Brown comes to the aid of a beleaguered female freight line operator in this standard Monogram oater directed by veteran Lambert Hillyer. Having saved his old friend Faro Jenkins (Raymond Hatton) and young Dave Porter (Robert Winkler) from marauding outlaws, Ranger Johnny Hudson (Mack Brown) learns that the attack may be part of a concerted effort by bandits to drive Dave's sister Peggy (Virginia Belmont) out of the freight business. Unbeknownst to Johnny and the Porters, the crimes are committed on behalf of local banker Gordon Gregg (William H. Ruhl), who wants to bankrupt the freight business in order to take over the valuable Porter ranch. Taking umbrage to Johnny's interference, Gregg orders his henchman Collins (Carl Mathews) to kill the ranger but he misses his mark. Tracking the unfortunate Collins to the gang's hideout, Johnny and Faro are taken prisoners but the former manages to cut his ties with a piece of broken glass. The gang is rounded up and sent to jail, but a desperate Gregg manages to free his henchmen after killing the trusting sheriff (I. Stanford Jolley). After discovering the murder weapon, a knife, Johnny orders every man in town to be fingerprinted, realizing full well that the culprit will attempt to steal the evidence. Hiding in the sheriff's office, Johnny and Faro catch Lem (Ted Adams) in the act but, the suspect is killed by Gregg, who explains that Lem had threatened his life. Sent on a wild goose chase by Gregg, Johnny and Faro manage to turn the tables and capture the entire gang, Johnny killing Gregg in self-defense. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Code of the Prairie was among the first of cowboy star Sunset Carson's vehicles for Republic Pictures. There is nothing extraordinary about the plot, in which Carson, wrongly accused of a crime, vanquishes the villains with a spectacular (and undoubled) display of fisticuffs. What is unusual is the billing. Comedy relief Smiley Burnette is actually billed above nominal leading man Sunset Carson, proof positive of Burnette's enormous popularity with western fans. Burnette's top-dog status in the Carson series would continue until 1945, when he left Republic to join Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two wild western towns battle it out for the position of county seat. Fortunately, Red Ryder and his little side-kick are around to restore the peace. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Don "Red" Barry took a break from westerns to star in the fair-to-middling sentimental drama The West Side Kid. Barry is cast as gangster Johnny April, who upon being sprung from prison is hired by dispirited millionaire Sam Winston (Henry Hull). Fed up with his selfish family, Winston wants to end it all and pays Johnny $25,000 to bump him off. Instead, Johnny takes a liking to the old coot, and sets about to reform Winston's profligate family. Dale Evans, future "Queen of the West," is intriguingly cast as Winston's spoiled-rotten daughter Gloria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Republic's winning combination of western star Wild Bill Elliot, comic sidekick Gabby Hayes and leading lady Anne Jeffreys is shown to good advantage in Death Valley Manhunt. Elliot plays a lawman who is hired by a group independent oilmen to protect them from crooked business interests. One of the bad guys is Richard Quinn (Weldon Heyburn), who tries to stir up a range war against the oilmen and the local landowners. When Elliot figures out what Quinn is up to, pity the poor bad man who gets in Our Hero's way. In the film's best scene, Wild Bill finds himself atop an oil well just as a gusher is about to burst forth from the earth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this espionage drama, a battle-fatigued British commando is diagnosed as clinically insane by doctors who are in reality, Nazi spies. They do this to keep him from divulging the secret info he has gathered about them. To prove their diagnosis, they murder several woman and blame him for the deaths. The RAF pilot comes out of his shell-shock in time to stop the Nazis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The direction of Warner Bros.' Lady Gangster is credited to one "Florian Roberts," who on closer examination turns out to be veteran helmsman Robert Florey, working pseudonymously. Faye Emerson plays the title character, aspiring actress Dot Burton, whose chance association with a gang of bank robbers leads inexorably to a life of crime. She eventually ends up in prison, where she participates in a break-out. Her regeneration comes about when she rescues Kenneth Phillips (Frank Wilcox), the only man who has ever shown her any kindness, from being rubbed out by the mob. The supporting cast includes Julie Bishop (who only a year earlier had been billing herself as Jacqueline Wells), and Jackie "C." Gleason, wasted in the role of a rotund henchman. Lady Gangter bears some traces of the 1932 Warner Bros. drama The Life of Vergie Winters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Shadows on the Stairs is a slimmed-down adaptation of Frank Vosper's stage play Murder on the 2nd Floor. There's dirty work afoot at the London boarding house managed by Mr. and Mrs. Armitage (Miles Mander, Frieda Inescourt): several mysterious murders have occured, and everyone is under suspicion. One of the tenants is Mr. Bromilow (Bruce Lester), who weaves in and out of the proceedings with the all-knowing air of one who's already figured out the solution to the murders. Indeed, Bromilow has done just that, as demonstrated by a twist ending that would have done Alfred Hitchcock or Rod Serling proud. Otherwise, Shadows on the Stairs is standard stuff, standardly produced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Under Texas Skies, Republic's Three Mesquiteers underwent a slight change of personnel. Robert Livingston remained as Stony Brooke, but now Bob Steele was seen as Tucson Smith and Rufe Davis assumed the role of Lullaby Joslin. The story opens as Stony returns to his home town, only to discover that his sheriff father has been murdered by person or persons unknown. The new sheriff (Henry Brandon) resents the arrival of the Mesquiteers, going so far as to frame Tucson on a murder charge. It doesn't take long for Stony to figure out who was responsible for his dad's killing-and to bring real law 'n' order back to the community. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Don "Red" Barry may be the star of The Tulsa Kid, but the film's acting honors are won with nary a struggle by that shameless old barnstormer Noah Beery Sr. A protegee of notorious outlaw Montana (Beery), young Tom Benton decides to stay on the good side of the Law upon reaching maturity. Montana, however, has no such inclination to reform, the result being a climactic gun duel between the ageing gunman and his former pupil. In addition, Tom finds time to solve the financial woes of brother-and-sister farmers Bob and Mary Wallace (David Durand, Luana Walters). Musical relief is provided by Jimmy Wakely's Roughriders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ace Secret Service agent Lt. Brass Bancroft is on the case in this crime drama. This time he is assigned to break up a major counterfeiting ring. To do so, he poses as a convicted counterfeiter who goes to prison to sneak into the inner circle. Eventually he learns that the money is coming from the printing press in the prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Astrology and murder meet head-on in the Warner Bros. programmer When Were You Born? When horoscope specialist Mary Lee Liang (Anna May Wong) predicts the death of importer Philip Corey (James Stephenson), her prophecy comes true in a surprisingly short time thanks to a mysterious killer. Mary then assists the police in their investigation of Corey's murder, using her knowledge of the zodiac to draw up a psychological profile of the culprit. Could the guilty party be Nina Kenton (Lola Lane), the dead man's sweetheart? Is it Fred Gow (Leonard Mudie), Corey's duplicitous partner? Or maybe it's Doris Kane (Margaret Lindsay), who halfway through the proceedings is revealed to be the victim's secret fiancee. The most novel aspect of When Were You Born? is its opening credits sequence, wherein the actors are billed in the order of their astrological signs rather than their importance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ronald Reagan is his usual sprightly self as ambitious insurance claims adjuster Eric Gregg. While diligently investigating a phony insurance racket, Gregg remains blissfully unaware that his own wife Nona (Sheila Bromley) has become deeply indebted to the crooks. Once this fact surfaces, Gregg loses both Nona and his job. Picking up the pieces is friendly cigar-stand clerk Patricia Carmody (Gloria Blondell), who ends up helping Gregg round up the villains. At the time Accidents Will Happen was released in 1938, the newspapers were jam-packed with stories about big-money insurance frauds; though the film lacks this timeliness when seen today, it remains an enjoyable trifle thanks to the always-dependable Reagan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide