Paul Kelly Movies

In addition to being a fine Western in its own right, this film served to introduce perhaps Hollywood's oddest romantic couple: the gruff but lovable Wallace Beery and the tart but lovable Marjorie Main. Beery plays "Reb" Harkness who, with his Mexican pal Pete (Leo Carrillo), is almost caught red-handed attempting to rob a train carrying General Custer (Paul Kelly) and the cavalry. Double-crossed by his partner and with the cavalry in hot pursuit, Reb escapes to Wyoming where he finds shelter on a ranch belonging to orphaned Lucy Kinkaid (Anne Rutherford) and her kid brother Jimmy (Bobs Watson). The local ranchers are battling an unscrupulous empire builder, Buckley (Joseph Calleia), and Reb is involuntarily dragged into the feud. When plain-speaking blacksmith Mehitabel (Marjorie Main) loses her brother to Buckley's bullets, Reb takes matters into his own hands, and with the help of Custer's men, he manages to end Buckley's reign of terror. Casting plain-looking, twangy Marjorie Main as Beery's leading lady was a stroke of genius. The two actors complimented each other to the nth degree, and Main was seen as a worthy replacement of the late Marie Dressler. As a result, the former stage actress (Dead End) was put under a seven-year contract by MGM, who co-starred her with Beery in Barnacle Bill (1941), The Bugle Sounds (1941), Jackass Mail (1942), Rationing (1944), and Bad Bascomb (1946). Wyoming, which also benefitted from fine performances by Henry Travers as a sly sheriff and Stanley Fields as Buckley's chief henchman, was filmed on location at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the Grand Tetons National Park by a director, Richard Thorpe, who had worked in the Western field since the silent days. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

It matters not at all that the famed "wrong way" flight of aviator Douglas Corrigan, who in 1938 tried to fly from New York to California by way of Ireland, was probably a carefully calculated publicity stunt. The end result was that Corrigan became a household name, and as such was an ideal candidate for film stardom. RKO Radio shelled out a considerable amount of money to purchase "Wrong Way" Corrigan's life story, enhancing the publicity value of the resultant The Flying Irishman by casting Corrigan himself in the leading role. It's too bad that the same amount of effort wasn't lavished on the film itself, which is a ponderous, perfunctory tale of a barnstorming flyer who, unable to get a legitmate pilot's job because he never went to college, resorts to a variety of colorful methods to make a living. Like many other non-showbiz celebrities, Corrigan was constitutionally unable to play himself convincingly, so it's up to such supporting actors as Eddie Quillan, Paul Kelly, Robert Armstrong, Donald MacBride and Joyce Compton to take up the slack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this actioner, a U.S. border patrol agent stationed in Tijuana loses his job and gets into deep trouble after a friend is shot while the agent was doing an investigation. When the agent discovers that it was he, not his friend, who was targeted for the hit, he decides to get revenge upon the gang that did it. As he investigates, he is nearly blown up in a booby-trapped truck. He eventually succeeds and the gang gets its just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a thieving employee sticks her stolen goods into the locker of a co-worker and causes all sorts of trouble. The stolen items are found in the locker of a store clerk who ends up imprisoned. The store owner's son knows that she is innocent, but he says nothing. The enraged clerk spends her three imprisoned years studying law and learns all about the ins and outs of legal loopholes. Upon her release, she begins using her new-found knowledge. She also tries to seduce the owner's son. Despite her vengeful efforts, the poor woman makes a lousy criminal and again is punished. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

With Glenda Farrell having temporarily taken leave of Warner Bros., the actress' signature role of fast-talking girl reporter Torchy Blane was taken over by Lola Lane in Torchy Blane in Panama. Also absent from the proceedings is Barton MacLane as Torchy's loudmouthed police-lieutenant boyfriend Steve McBride; he's been replaced by Paul Kelly, who is frankly better in the role. The plot takes flight when a New York fraternal convention is interrupted by a daring bank robbery. Hoping to crack the story and outscoop her rival newshounds, Torchy Blane heads to Panama by plane, parachute and ocean liner. She manages to beat the other reporters to the punch, and to capture the mastermind of the robbery, with the surprisingly able assistance of McBride's dum-dum sergeant Gahagan (Tom Kennedy). Lola Lane is adequate as Torchy, but there was only one Glenda Farrell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This melodrama chronicles the enduring friendship between four boys in New York's Hell's Kitchen. As boys, the made a pact that they would meet annually to renew their friendship. Trouble ensues when one of the boys accidently sets fire to a building. Another boy took the blame. He went to reform school. Years pass before he is reunited with his pals. Now the man is a professional gambler and nightclub owner. He sees two of his friends, who have become cops, when they come into his club to investigate a murder. As they look into the death, one of the cops is killed. The fourth friend, now a priest, makes sure that justice prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a woman is told that a cop killed her brother in cold-blood during a shoot-out. The woman believes the crook, but this does not prevent her from falling in love with the injured policeman. When he finds out her relationship to the deceased he begins looking for the real killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This standard crime meller from the Columbia assembly line stars Paul Kelly as police lieutenant Tony Roberts. Hoping to smash a gang of racketeers who profit by "fixing" a crooked state parole board, Tony poses as a down-and-outer and gets himself arrested. While in prison, he gains the confidence of a mob contact, bribes his way to a parole, and joins the gang on the outside, working his way up to head of the racket. He does so well on the wrong side of the law, in fact, that one wonders why he retains his police badge! Ironically, star Paul Kelly actually did spend time behind bars in the 1920s on a manslaughter rap. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, a rookie reporter works for his uncle's newspaper and gets assigned to write a story about an elderly archduke. While interviewing him, the young journalist falls in love with the crown princess. He then exposes a conspiracy to kill her and her father. Mayhem ensues as he successfully thwarts the killers, and marries the girl who soon becomes queen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Frame-Up is a timely and typically tacky crime meller from the Columbia film factory. There's dirty work at the racetrack, with an honest fellow being framed for the misbehavior of crooked gambler Larry Mann (Robert Emmet O'Connor). Detective Mark MacArthur (Paul Kelly) would like to snap the cuffs on Mann and his minions but is prevented from doing so when the bad guys kidnap Mark's girlfriend Betty (Jacqueline Wells). Forced to cooperate with the crooks, Mark finally figures out a way to save Betty and serve justice in one fell swoop. Some of the racing scenes in Frame-Up would continue to resurface in Columbia's serials and 2-reel comedies for years to come. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ace reporter Casey (Stu Erwin) and city editor Blaine (Paul Kelly) are agreed on only one point: women are trouble! This is confirmed when Casey is constantly outscooped by rival news-hound Ruth (Florence Rice), whose sugary Southern-belle accent conceals a will of iron. Casey and Ruth are forced to become reluctant allies while investigating gangland activity in the liquor business. When the bad guys kidnap our hero and heroine, they are saved by an incorruptible cop (Cy Kendall) who'd previously been demoted on the say-so of gangster boss Pusher (Harold Huber). The screenplay has a full quotient of puns and snappy one-liners, which Stu Erwin socks over with his usual shambling aplomb. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime comedy, an ocean liner engineer messes up and ends up relegated to shoveling coal. Later he accepts a lovely cigarette lighter from a beautiful woman. He has no idea that it is chock full of purloined jewels and that she gave them to him to keep rival crooks from stealing them from her. Now the poor engineer finds himself pursued at every turn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Country Beyond is based on one of the scores of Canadian-Northwest yarns written by James Oliver Curwood. Robert Kent plays Corporal Robert King, a Mountie who has sworn to "get his man" -- the man in question being suspected fur thief Jim Alison (Alan Hale). Kings's resolve is weakened when he falls in love with Alison's pretty daughter Jean (Rochelle Hudson). For her sake, he vows to prove that Alison is innocent of the charges levelled against him. Sure enough, the real culprit is Ray Jennings (Alan Dinehart), who spends the last ten minutes or so of the film trying to bump off everyone in general and Kent in particular. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide