Anne Jeffreys Movies
Trained for a career in opera, blonde leading lady Anne Jeffreys supported herself as a singer and model before going to Hollywood in 1941. Among her first film assignments was a modest Columbia 2-reeler, Olaf Laughs Last, starring El Brendel; she then worked briefly at MGM before signing at RKO. Jeffreys now insists that she was rushed through so many "B" pictures during her first few years at the latter studio that she's forgotten most of them. When reminded by a fan that she played Tess Trueheart in the first two Dick Tracy films, she refused to believe it until she saw the pictures herself on TV. Her roles, and the quality of her films, improved towards the end of her RKO stay, but by 1948 Jeffreys briefly abandoned Hollywood for Broadway. Appearing in several productions throughout the 1950s, Jeffreys was at one time the highest-paid actress on the New York musical stage. In 1951, Jeffreys married her second husband, actor Robert Sterling, with whom she co-starred in the very popular TV sitcom Topper (1953-55), as well as the very unpopular 13-week wonder Love That Jill (1958). Except for a few isolated films like Clifford (1992), Anne Jeffreys has limited her acting to television and the stage in the last few decades; she was a regular on the daytime drama General Hospital, and briefly hosted a fashion-and-health series on cable TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1945
In this musical comedy, an arrogant war journalist is sailing back to the Big Apple after the end of WW II. En route, he has been assigned to watch over a band of teenagers who were trapped in Europe four years ago while entertaining the troops. Their entrapment has done nothing to dim their enthusiasm for performing and while waiting for passage the crews entertain everyone at every opportunity. Songs include: "I'll Buy That Dream" (sung by Anne Jeffreys), "Heaven Is a Place Called Home," "Seven O'Clock in the Morning (Waking up Boogie)," "Somebody Stole My Poor Little Heart" (Herb Magidson, Allie Wrubel), and "The Lord's Prayer" (arranged by Albert Hay Malotte). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Haley, Marcy McGuire, (more)
Previously filmed as a so-so Marx Brothers vehicle in 1938, the John Murray-Alan Boretz Broadway hit Room Service was effectively musicalized in 1944 as Step Lively. The plot remains intact: Fly-by-night theatrical producer Gordon Miller (Groucho Marx in the 1938 film, George Murphy in the remake) struggles to keep his production and cast together, despite severe deficiencies in the money department. Hotel-chain supervisor Wagner (Adolphe Menjou) threatens to throw Miller and his actors off the premises, an eventuality Miller hopes to forestall until he can obtain $50,000 from a wealthy backer. Meanwhile, Glen Davis (Frank Sinatra), the author of Miller's play, shows up to see how things are going. Before long, Glen is swept up in a desperate plot hatched by Miller and his underlings Binion (Wally Brown) and Harry (Alan Carney) to stay in the hotel despite Wagner's efforts to oust them. Caught in the middle are hapless hotel manager Gribble (Walter Slezak), potential backer Jenkins (Eugene Pallette), Glen's sweetheart Miss Abboli (Anne Jeffreys) and Miller's leading lady Christine (Gloria DeHaven). This being a musical, the outcome hinges on Glen's hitherto untapped singing ability, which might save the day if he overcomes a bout of psychosomatic laryngitis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, George Murphy, (more)
- 1944
In this western, a crusty old sourdough finally finds the silver mine of his dreams only to find his mine threatened by vicious outlaws. Fortunately, a cowboy hero rides up to save him, but not until considerable rootin' tootin' action. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Jim Lacy (Robert Mitchum), Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin), and Dusty (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams) are three cowpokes working what was then known -- in the 1850's -- as the western Utah Territory. They know cattle, not mining, and they can't help but feel like they're missing out on something amid the influx of prospectors trying to work the Comstock Lode. But then they see most of these claims come to nothing, as the surface gold always seems to run out and leave owners with nothing but useless blue waste -- and the three are prone to count their blessings. But the machinations of a crooked mining company head Cash Burridge (Craig Reynolds) and a shoot-out at a crooked casino leave the trio on the run, and Lacy -- taking the alias "Nevada" -- headed into mining country with both the law and outlaws on his trail. And that's how he crosses paths with the Ides, a prospecting family, and their pretty daughter Hattie (ancy Gates), and also with saloon singer Julie Dexter (Anne Jeffreys), who's close to Burridge but starts to like Nevada's honesty and sincerity. Burridge knows the truth about that "useless" blue slag -- it's some of the richest silver ore ever assayed in the United States -- and plans to swindle his neighbors to get control of the Comstock Lode; and Julie cares enough about Burridge that she's ready to go along, up to the point where it involves murder, especially when Burridge's cover-up of his crime may end up with Nevada at the end of a rope. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum
- 1944
This irresistably-titled comedy is arguably the best of RKO Radio's Wally Brown-Alan Carney vehicles. The daffy duo is cast once more as Jerry Miles and Mike Strager, this time employed as Broadway press agents. Mike and Jerry's latest scheme is to hire a genuine zombie for the opening of a new nightclub. The boys head to a mysterious tropical island with cabaret singer Jean la Dance (Anne Jeffreys), where they cross swords with looney zombie expert Professor Renault (Bela Lugosi). Barely escaping with their lives, Jerry and Jean return to Manhattan with a "zombified" Mike, who is under the spell of Renault's secret formula. When Mike snaps out of his trance, the boys must face the wrath of nasty nightclub owner Ace Miller (Sheldon Leonard), who's a lot more frightening than any zombie. Zombies on Broadway turned a neat profit for RKO, encouraging the studio to reteam Brown, Carney, Anne Jeffreys and Bela Lugosi in the far less satisfying Genius at Work (1946). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Carney, Bela Lugosi, (more)
- 1944
"Wild Bill" Elliott heads the all-star (by B-flick standards, at any rate) western Hidden Valley Outlaws. Elliott does battle with a cartel of ruthless landgrabbers, who are victimizing settlers throughout the Southwest. With such formidable villains as Roy Barcroft, Kenneth Duncan, Leroy Mason and Bud Geary to contend with, he certainly has his hands full. Anne Jeffreys provides the romantic interest, while George "Gabby" Hayes makes with the usual "Consarn it"s and "Gol'durn whippersnapper"s. It's uncanny how much sheer entertainment value Republic Studios was able to pack into a mere 56 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1943
Overland Mail Robbery is another entry in Republic's "Wild Bill" Elliot western series. Once again, Elliot's leading lady is Anne Jeffreys, and once again his comical sidekick is Gabby Hayes. The plot finds Wild Bill coming to the aid of namby-pamby Easterner Tom Hartley (played by future "Superman" Kirk Alyn), who has inherited his family's stagecoach line. With Elliot's assistance, Tom proves he's a real he-man by standing up to the outlaw gang terrorizing the countryside. Of interest is the fact that the gang leader is a woman, played by Alice Fleming, who later portrayed "The Duchess" in Republic's "Red Ryder" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Jeffreys, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1943
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
- Starring:
- George "Gabby" Hayes, Anne Jeffreys, (more)
- 1943
In this western, Wild Bill and his assistant, try to learn why a young med school graduate is being spurned by the members of his own Native American tribe. The heroes learn that the clan's medicine man is a phony in cahoots with a corrupt Indian agent and that these two are working for a wicked rancher who has been polluting the local drinking water with his illegal irrigation project. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Gabby" Hayes, Anne Jeffreys, (more)
- 1943
The 1943 Republic westerns of "Wild Bill" Elliot maintained a high batting average, and Bordertown Gunfighters was no exception. Elliot is cast as an undercover government agent, assigned to stop a gang of swindlers who've been preying on Mexican immigrants. The villains aren't averse to committing murder, and on several occasions resort to drastic measures to put Wild Bill out of the way. But our hero isn't so easily killed, nor is his grizzled ol' sidekick Gabby Hayes. The leading lady this time out is Anne Jeffreys, on the verge of bigger things, while the villainy is in the capable if grubby hands of Ian Keith and Harry Woods. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Gabby" Hayes, Anne Jeffreys, (more)
- 1943
Wild Bill comes to the rescue when his friend needs him to take care of a crook in this western. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1943
In this western, a cowboy and his pals must stop outlaws from stealing a cache of gold ore. Action ensues, and they succeed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1942
The sure-fire combination of Judy Canova and Joe E. Brown paid off in big laughs and excellent box-office returns in the bizarre wartime musical Joan of Ozark. While hunting quail near her home, hillbilly Judy (Canova) catches a carrier pigeon bearing a message for a ring of Nazi spies. She turns the bird over to the FBI and is lauded as a heroine-much to the dismay of Philip Munson (Jerome Cowan), whose posh New York nightclub is a cover for his Fifth Column activities. As luck would have it, theatrical agent Cliff Little (Joe E. Brown) has been sent to the Ozarks to scare up new talent for Munson's club. Little wants to sign Judy for a singing contract, but she'll have none of it until he poses as a G-Man and appoints her an honorary "G-Woman." To keep Judy happy once they're back in New York, Cliff pretends to be a spy while wandering around the nightclub-and thus it is that our hapless hero and heroine stumble upon Munson's nest of Nazis. It's hard to determine which is sillier in Joan of Ozark: Joe E. Brown's imitation of Adolf Hitler or the Keystone Kop-like climactic airplane chase. Also good for a few yocks is the closing musical number, set in "the future"-namely, 1952! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Canova, Joe E. Brown, (more)
X Marks the Spot was the first of eight brisk wartime-oriented melodramas, each running slightly under an hour, produced and directed in rapid succession by George Sherman. Private detective Eddie Delaney (Damian O'Flynn) swings into action when his father (Robert E. Homans), a police sergeant, is gunned down by rubber racketeers (please recall that rubber was a valuable commodity during WW2). With the help of heroine Linda Ward (Helen Parrish) and police lieutenant Decker (Dick Purcell), Delaney chases after the villains, experiencing all sorts of serial-like dangers along the way. Numbered among the bad guys are the typecast Jack LaRue and the cast-against-type Neil Hamilton (later Batman's Commissioner Gordon). Though the script covers familiar ground, X Marks the Spot is exhilarating entertainment in the true Republic Pictures tradition. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Damian O'Flynn, Helen Parrish, (more)
- 1942
Here's another entry in PRC's long-running "Billy the Kid" series, again starring Buster Crabbe as Billy Carson and Al St. John as his comic sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones. In this outing, a bandit posing as Billy manages to pin several crimes on Our Hero. Cleverly eluding the law (never mind the film's title), Billy endeavors to track down his impostor and put him behind bars. The plot is resolved by a typical PRC fistfight, which as usual is more energetic than expert. Young Anne Jeffreys, a starlet on the threshold of bigger things, is definitely an improvement over the standard western ingenue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe
- 1942
In this musical comedy, a country bumpkin spends most of his free time watching movies and becomes such an expert that he can accurately predict which ones will be hits and which will fail at the box-office. An employee at a failing Hollywood studio finds the fellow and takes him back to Tinsel Town. Trouble ensues when the rube convinces the studio to put a no-talent gangster in the leading role of an upcoming gangster movie because he is involved with the mobster's sister. Eventually, the hayseed extricates himself from it all and happiness ensues. Songs include: "Comes Love," "It's Me Again," "Let's Make Memories Tonight," "I Can't Afford to Dream" (Lew Brown, Charles Tobias, Sammy Stapt), and "Jim" (Caesar Petrillo, Nelson Shawn, Edward Ross). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Dekker, Joan Davis, (more)
- 1942
The final pairing of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, an adaptation of a Rodgers & Hart musical, stars Eddy as a playboy who fantasizes that he is romancing an angel (MacDonald). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, (more)
- 1942
This final "Tarzan" entry from the MGM assembly line is arguably one the least effective of the series, though it certainly has its adherents. It all begins when Boy (Johnny Sheffield), adopted son of Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), is kidnapped from the jungle by crooked circus promoters Rand (Charles Bickford) and Shields (Paul Kelly) and spirted off to America. This requires Tarzan and his mate to adopt "civilized" clothes and head to New York City, with the troublesome Cheeta the Chimpanzee along for the ride. There are some amusing moments as Tarzan tries to acclimate himself with the Big Apple, and some less amusing ones as Cheeta gets hold of a powder puff and lays waste to an expensive hotel room. The film's highlight, Tarzan's leap from the Brooklyn Bridge, comes at the film's halfway point, and accordingly things slow down considerably during the final reels. Tarzan's New Adventure works better as a stunt than as an official series entry, but it is still preferable to some of the so-so RKO Radio Tarzan films which were to follow. One racially questionable sequence involving black comedian Mantan Moreland has been understandably removed from some TV prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
- 1942
Though it ain't Noel Coward, Chatterbox is the funniest of the two Judy Canova-Joe E. Brown vehicles for Republic. Brown is hilariously cast as Rex Vane, a pompous radio cowboy star who's never been any further west than his living room. When Rex is signed to appear in a film, it becomes painfully apparent that he can neither ride nor shoot. But rambunctious Judy Boggs (Judy Canova) can do both, and it is Judy who helps guide the vain Vane through his moviemaking experiences. Rex proves himself to be a genuine hero in a slapstick finale "borrowed" from Chaplin's The Gold Rush. Naturally, both Brown and Canova are given ample opportunity to sing, as are guest performers Spade Cooley and the Mills Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe E. Brown, Judy Canova, (more)
- 1942
In this entry in the "Weaver Family" series, the town of Farmington is being plagued by a crime wave. The angry citizens are ready to impeach the mayor, June Weaver, and the police chief, Leon Weaver. To end the crime and preserve her career, June feigns corruption and hires a real gangster to get rid of the local mobs. Unfortunately, a bona fide crooked councilman intervenes and makes real mob connections causing an earnest journalist to launch a front page attack. Things look bleak until the police chief rallies to the rescue and arrests all the guilty parties. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Weaver, Frank Weaver, (more)
