Glenn Tryon Movies
A lifelong professional, American actor Glenn Tryon appeared in tent shows and stock companies from the age of ten. When comedy producer Hal Roach was casting about for a handsome but trouble-prone young man to replace Harold Lloyd, he signed Tryon for the lead in the feature-length slapsticker The Battling Orioles 19(24). Tryon remained at Roach as a two-reel comedy star, where his ingratiating but unmemorable personality served as contrast for the more aggressive comic turns of supporting clowns Jimmy Finlayson and Oliver Hardy. He also starred in several moneymaking silent programmers, the best of which was 1928's Lonesome. Tryon's first talkie was Broadway (1929), where he registered well as a selfish, synthetic hoofer with aspirations for the Big Time. But Tryon was one of many performers of this type in the early talkies (Ben Lyon, James Cagney, Lee Tracy et. al.) and soon his star was eclipsed by others. He continued acting in B-pictures before switching over to screenwriting with the 1934 Stu Erwin vehicle Bachelor Bait, directed by another Hal Roach alumnus, George Stevens. In 1941 Tryon became a producer at Universal, specializing in comedies: he supervised Abbott and Costello's Hold That Ghost and Keep 'Em Flying (1941), and also presided over the lunacies of Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin' (1941) (for a brief period he was married to Hellzapoppin' leading lady Jane Frazee). In 1942, he moved back to Hal Roach as producer of a handful of 45-minute "streamliners," including the gloriously tasteless wartime farce The Devil with Hitler (1942). Only occasionally lured back before the cameras in the '40s, Glenn Tryon played a significant role in George White's Scandals (1945) -- as producer George White himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1965
Five of Laurel and Hardy's best features from the silent film era are compiled in this collection by Robert Youngson. Included are From Soup To Nuts, Wrong Again, The Finishing Touch, and iberty. On hand are legendary comic foils like James Findlayson and Edgar Kennedy, both masters of the "slow burn" when showing their disapproval. Watch for Margaret Dumont, famous for her characterization as the flustered dowager in many Marx Brothers films, in the pie-fight scene. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Jackson, Stan Laurel, (more)
- 1951
Home Town Story was commissioned as a pro-Big Business tract by General Motors. The story revolves around Blake Washburn, a mildly leftist newspaperman, played by Jeffrey Lynn. Returning to his home town, Washburn turns his journalistic vitriol upon the local business interests. Only after his kid sister Katie (Melinda Plowman), trapped in a cave-in, is rescued by locally produced technology, does Washburn realize the value of the capitalistic system. Home Town Story was fitfully distributed by MGM, then lapsed into obscurity. It might have remained there had it not been for the presence of a young Marilyn Monroe in a supporting part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Lynn, Donald Crisp, (more)
- 1950
Originally designed for church showings, Messenger of Peace was blown up from 16mm to 35mm and given a brief theatrical distribution early in 1950. Told in flashback, this is the inspirational story of Pastor Armin Ritter (John Beal), whose faith remains unshakable despite the most extreme forms of personal tragedy. Peggy Stewart co-stars as Ritter's ever-supportive wife, while Paul Guilfoyle has a plum role as an alcoholic who "sees the light." Though excessively hokey at times, the film scores on its obvious sincerity. Messenger of Peace was filmed by Roland Reed Productions, the same firm responsible for TV's religious weekly This is the Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Beal, Peggy Stewart, (more)
- 1949
The "B"-picture unit at 20th Century-Fox was slowly being phased out when Miss Mink of 1949 was produced. Lois Collier heads the cast as Alice Forrester, an office clerk who wins a $10,000 mink coat in a radio contest. This windfall proves disastrous to Lois' husband Joe (Jimmy Lydon), who goes deeply into debt so that his wife can live in the style in which she has suddenly become accustomed. Horror of horrors, the mink is stolen, the first of several setbacks for poor Alice and Joe. The mess is straightened out--sort of--in a wild courtroom finale. Veteran supporting players Richard Lane, Dorothy Granger, Paul Guilfoyle and Iris Adrian add a little salt and pepper to the more sugary passages. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Lydon, Lois Collier, (more)
- 1947
This story of two young hopefuls who come to Hollywood is merely a thin device to feature almost every star working for Paramount Studios in 1947. Mary Hatcher plays Catherine Brown, a woman of humble origins who arrives in Hollywood, where she meets another wanna-be movie star, Amber La Vonne (Olga San Juan). They work their way through the Paramount studios, trying to impress every important person. Mostly, the film is a cavalcade of songs by various stars that take place at several studio and Hollywood locations, including the famous Brown Derby restaurant. Many of the film's songs were written by Frank Loesser. Dorothy Lamour and Alan Ladd sing "Tallahassee"; Bing Crosby and Bob Hope play golf and sing a duet, "Harmony"; the Original Dixieland Jazz Band plays "Tiger Rag"; and a host of other top performers of the era appear in brief cameos. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Alden, Mary Hatcher, (more)
- 1945
Like the same-named 1934 and 1935 films, RKO Radio's 1945 musical George White's Scandals uses the eponymous Broadway revue as a framework for a fabricated plotline. The main story concerns the romance between stage comedienne Joan Mason (Joan Davis) and back-bay Bostonite Jack Williams (Jack Haley), which is staunchly opposed by Jack's spinsterish sister Clarabelle (Margaret Hamilton, who of course had previously costarred with Haley in The Wizard of Oz) A secondary romance involves the hot-and-cold relationship between British socialite Jill Martin (Martha Holliday) and Tony McGrath (Philip Terry), the assistant to Broadway impresario George White (played not by the real White but by Glenn Tryon). Musical specialties are provided by Gene Krupa and his band, organ virtuoso Ethel Smith and pianist Rose Murphy. The film's highlight is "Who Killed Vaudeville?", a tour-de-force for Joan Davis and Jack Haley which was later excerpted in the RKO musical pastiche Make Mine Laughs (prompting a lawsuit from Haley!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Davis, Jack Haley, (more)
- 1944
Bob Crosby, bandleader brother of Bing, heads the cast of Columbia's Meet Miss Bobby Socks. The thin-as-cheesecloth plot concerns WW2 veteran Don Collins (Crosby), who becomes the idols of teenaged girls everywhere when he pursues a singing career. Obviously intended as a takeoff of the "Sinatra craze", the film's comedy is rather dated, especially the story angle wherein Collins' fans, rather than cagey promoters, find a series of jobs for their idol. It's hard to tell who the titular "Miss Bobby Socks" is since the film is virtually wall-to-wall girls; apparently, the title refers to Susan Tyler (Louise Erickson), kid sister of nominal heroine Helen Tyler (Lynn Merrick). Guest stars include Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five and the Kim Loo Sisters, though they're seen but briefly in the course of events. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Crosby, Lynn Merrick, (more)
Law Men is a typically austere entry in Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram western series. This one finds saddle pals Nevada (Brown) and Sandy (Raymond Hatton) working as undercover US marshals. Hoping to thwart a gang of stage robbers, Nevada joins the gang, while Sandy poses as a shoemaker in order to keep tabs on local gossip and heresay. Somewhere around reel five, Nevada is exposed as a lawman; and somewhere around reel six, he and Sandy round up the bad guys. Billed fourth in Law Men is orchestra leader Kirby Grant, later famous as TV's Sky King. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1943
A sequel to the Hal Roach "streamliner" The Devil with Hitler, That Nazty Nuisance is much funnier, albeit nearly as tasteless as the earlier film. Bobby Watson, Hollywood's foremost Adolf Hitler impersonator, plays Der Fuhrer as a pompous imbecile, and who's to say his interpretation wasn't accurate. The plot requires Hitler to summon his Axis partners Mussolini (Joe Devlin) and Suki Yaki (a Hirohito clone played by comedy foil Johnny Arthur) for a secret meeting. For the purposes of secrecy, the three dictators travel to the island nation of Norom (spell it backwards). Fortunately for Truth, Justice and the American Way, Hitler and his stooges are sabotaged by shipwrecked American sailor Benson (Frank Faylen) and island beauty Kela (Jean Porter). A bit strong for contemporary tastes, That Nazty Nuisance provided 48 minutes of solid laughs for its wartime audience. The film has since been released to television as Double Crossed Fool. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Watson, Joe Devlin, (more)
- 1941
Having joined the army in Buck Privates and the navy in In the Navy, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello signed up with Air Force in Keep 'Em Flying. Abbott and Costello play Blackie and Heathcliff, carnival workers who are fired from their jobs along with their pal, reckless stunt pilot Jinx Roberts (Dick Foran). When Jinx joins the Army Air Corps-the better to be nearer pretty USO singer Linda Joyce (Carol Bruce)-Blackie and Heathcliff loyally join up as well, obtaining low-echelon ground crew jobs. While Jinx tries to cure Linda's brother Jim (Charles Lang) of his fear of flying, Heathcliff pursues a romance with wisecracking waitress Gloria Phelps (Martha Raye), never quite catching on that Gloria has an identitical-twin sister (also Martha Raye). A bit too plot-heavy for its own good, Keep 'Em Flying is at its best when concentrating on Abbott & Costello, who in addition to performing their patented cross-talk routines participate in a zany runaway-torpedo chase and a gratuitous but amusing episode in a spooky carnival funhouse. As a bonus, Costello gets to do a bit of "straight" acting, and he's quite good at it. Deleted scenes include a comedy magic act (later restaged in Abbott & Costello's Lost in a Harem) and a wild episode at a skating rink (reworked two years later in Hit the Ice). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
- 1941
Hold That Ghost was the second of Abbott and Costello's starring films, but was held back from release in favor of their third picture, the more "topical" In the Navy. In Ghost, Bud and Lou play a couple of service-station owners who happen to be hanging around when gangster Moose Mattson (William B. Davidson) is killed. According to the terms of Mattson's will, whosoever is present when "the coppers dim my lights for the last time" will inherit his estate, which consists of a deserted mansion in the middle of nowhere. Crooked attorney Russell Hicks, who knows that Mattson has hidden hundreds of thousands of dollars somewhere in the lodge, dispatches sinister Charlie Smith (Marc Lawrence) to escort Abbott and Costello to the house, with instructions to "take care" of the trusting boys once they've arrived. Charlie charters a bus to take A&C out to the mansion; also on board, going off to various other destinations, are handsome Dr. Jackson (Richard Carlson), lovely Norma Lind (Evelyn Ankers) and professional radio screamer Camille Brewster (Joan Davis). It is inevitable that this disparate group is stranded along with Abbott and Costello in the forbidding mansion on a dark and stormy night. Charlie Smith is promptly murdered by parties unknown; throughout the rest of the film, Charlie's body pops up at the most inopportune moments, reducing the already tremulous Costello to a quivering mass of jello. The plot is merely an excuse to showcase Abbott and Costello's superbly timed cross-talking routines, a riotous impromptu dance performed by Costello and Joan Davis, and, of course, the legendary "moving candle" bit, which may well be Costello's funniest-ever screen scene. Hold That Ghost was originally designed and previewed as a 65-minute programmer title Oh, Charlie, but Universal decided to expand the length and throw in a few guest stars to secure top-of-the-bill bookings. This is why Hold That Ghost begins and ends with barely relevant musical numbers featuring Ted Lewis and the Andrews Sisters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
- 1941
In this drama two children return from their separate boarding schools to a nasty surprise. The father of one is romantically involved with the other's aunt. The two immediately try to destroy the love affair. They all get involved with chasing some thieves and end up in jail. There the judge marries the lovers and the children are finally able to accept it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Una Merkel, (more)
- 1940
Rosalind Russell and Brian Aherne go through their customary farcical paces in the formula romantic comedy Hired Wife. Russell plays Kendal Browning, the superefficient secretary of business executive Stephen Dexter (Brian Aherne). When Dexter is legally obliged to put his business and its assets in his wife's name, he is momentarily stymied, inasmuch as he has no wife. Rather than enter into a hasty marriage with one of his various amours, Dexter proposes to Kendal, with the firm understanding that their union will be strictly a business arrangement. Is it any surprise that this "in-name-only" set-up culminates in a deep and abiding romance by fade-out time. Also contributing mightily to the overall frivolity is Robert Benchley as Dexter's prudish business partner and Virginia Bruce as a sexy model whom Dexter plans to wed as soon as his financial problems are straightened out, and John Carroll as a temperamental Latin Lover-type-stock characters all, but consummately played. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, (more)
- 1940
Roland Young and Hugh Herbert make an unorthodox but amusing comedy team in the Universal programmer Private Affairs. Disowned by his wealthy family, Amos Bullerton (Young) ekes out a living as a chalk-board proprietor in a Wall Street brokerage. With the help of his erstwhile friend, cab-driver Angus McPherson (Herbert), Bullerton tries to smooth the path of romance for his daughter Jane (Nancy Kelly). Though engaged to snobbish Herbert Stanley (G. P. Huntley Jr.), Jane is really in love with Jimmy Nolan (Robert Cummings) who like Bullerton himself is on the outs with his well-to-do family. Given its Wall Street background, there's a stock-manipulation scheme at the heart of Private Affairs, which in its own way is as intricately funny as the Bull-and-Bear shenanigans in 1982's Trading Places. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Kelly, Hugh Herbert, (more)
- 1939
According to RKO Radio's publicity folks, Beauty for the Asking was supposed to have been an expose of the lucrative beauty-parlor "racket". What emerged on screen, however, was a pedestrian romantic triangle involving socialite Denny Williams (Patric Knowles), his wealthy wife Flora (Frieda Inescort), and pretty beautician Jean Russell (Lucille Ball). Spurned by Williams, Jean finds consolation by developing a revolutionary facial cream that makes her a millionairess. Ironically, her financial backer in this endeavor is none other than her romantic rival Flora. Among the screenwriters was Paul Jarrico, later blacklisted for his allegedly Communistic sentiments; the only thing remotely radical in Beauty for the Asking, however, is the notion that 28-year-old Lucille Ball could play a cosmetic tycoon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucille Ball, Patric Knowles, (more)
- 1938
Despite its title and its potent lineup of cowboy talent, RKO Radio's The Law West of Tombstone is more comedy than western. The characters are all based on famous frontier characters, with names changed to protect the producers. Harry Carey is cast against type as a blowhard Judge Roy Bean clone, whose bravado masks the heart of a coward. With the help of Billy the Kid rip-off Tim Holt, Carey fends off a gang that closely resembles the Clantons. Holt ends up in the arms of Jean Rouverol, a busy ingenue of the 1930s who later became a prolific children's story writer. Law West of Tombstone was directed by onetime movie leading man Glenn Tryon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Tim Holt, (more)
- 1937
Small Town Boy was the 33rd release from the burgeoning "B"-picture factory of Grand National Pictures. Stuart Erwin plays the title character, a milquetoast named Henry, who's brimming with good ideas but lacks the confidence to express them. All this changes when he finds a thousand-dollar bill on the sidewalk. Emboldened by his sudden wealth, Henry becomes a veritable dynamo of energy -- and, to some, a major pain in the neck. Joyce Compton, usually consigned to dumb-blonde support, is a most-appealing heroine. Small Town Boy is based on a short story by Manuel Komroff, also titled The Thousand Dollar Bill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Erwin, Joyce Compton, (more)
- 1936
In this comedy, Uncle Rodney, the host of a kiddie show, finds himself assuming guardianship of a bratty lad at the behest of his radio station, which thinks it would boost ratings. The host is also to become trustee of the boy's estate. When the host meets the boys lovely big sister, he is elated. His mood crashes when he discovers that both urchins are broke. He dutifully supports them and keeps the mansion going. Uncle Rodney's good deeds soon land him a sponsor and a new love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marsha Hunt, John Howard, (more)
- 1936
A horse and a dog share the same birthday in this exciting children's drama. Both are born in captivity, but end up escaping to the wilderness where they become close friends. Later when wolves attack a herd of wild horses, both team up to save them. Later they return to domesticity where the horse is trained to race. A wicked gambler attempts to stop the horse from winning. Fortunately, his pal the dog intervenes and the horse proves himself a champion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Arledge, Louise Latimer, (more)
Alice Duer Miller's novel Gowns by Roberta was adapted into the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, with music by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach. The 1935 filmization of Roberta was slightly adapted to accommodate the dancing talents of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, though their roles are secondary to the characters portrayed by Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott. Dunne plays a deposed White Russian princess who has become a famed Parisian couturier. Dunne is the partner of "Roberta" (Helen Westley), who passes away, leaving her half of the business to American football player Randolph Scott--who of course knows next to nothing about the gown business, and couldn't care less anyway. Astaire co-stars as bandleader Huck Haines, the character played by Bob Hope in the original Broadway production of Roberta. Rogers rounds out the cast as a phony Polish countess who happens to be Astaire's former girlfriend. Many of the songs written for Roberta were retained for the film version, including "Lovely to Look At," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "I Won't Dance;" other tunes are heard as background music. Keep an eye out for a blond Lucille Ball as a fashion model. Withdrawn from circulation for many years due to the 1952 MGM remake (titled Lovely to Look At), Roberta began making the public-domain rounds in the early 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, (more)
- 1935
The Daring Young Man is hotshot-reporter Don McLane, played by James Dunn. Always on the prowl for a good story, McLane is persistently outscooped by his rival, sob sister Martha Allen (Mae Clarke). After several reels of double-crossing one another, hero and heroine give in to the inevitable and fall in love. But as Martha waits at the altar in her wedding gown, McLane is off on another crusade, this time getting himself arrested to expose corruption within the prison system. This last assignment provides the films biggest laughs, as well-connected prison inmates live the Life of Riley while waited upon hand-and-foot by supplicative guards. The Daring Young Man was co-written by real-life newspaper columnist Sidney Skolsky, later one of the most vocal of the "Red-baiters" of the 1940s and 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Mae Clarke, (more)
- 1935
The title may be Orchids to You, but the plot is motivated by a camellia -- to be exact, Camelia Rand (Jean Muir). About to be ejected from her thriving flower shop when a developer plans to tear down the building, Camelia confronts Thomas Bentley (John Boles), the lawyer representing the developer. Despite her anger, Camelia can't help but take a liking to Bentley, though she refuses to entertain any romantic notions because the lawyer is already married to Evelyn (Ruthelma Stevens). Later on, a stranger enters Camelia's shop and orders a dozen orchids for Mrs. Bentley. Not wishing to hurt Mr. Bentley, Camelia refuses to mention Mrs. B's name in court when ordered to do so, and as a result spends 10 days in jail on a contempt charge. All-around comedy relief Teddy Stuyvesant (Charles Butterworth) shows up in time to solve everything, and the film ends with the philandering Mrs. Bentley out in the cold and Camelia in Mr. Bentley's arms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Boles, Jean Muir, (more)
- 1935
In this comedy-drama, an enterprising college football coach's desire to win overshadows his common-sense when he cuts a deal with a talented convict. If the youth will play on Bedford College's team and stay out of trouble, the coach will get him paroled. Well, natch, the con agrees to the deal. Unfortunately for Coach, he has no intention of staying away from trouble. Fortunately, Coach isn't as naive as he seems and convinces his pretty niece to use her wiles to insure that the youth remains on the straight and narrow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Furness, Grant Mitchell, (more)
- 1934
After several years' faithful service in RKO Radio's short-subject department, director George Stevens was rewarded with his first feature-length assignment, the innocuous comedy Bachelor Bait. Stu Erwin plays Wilbur Fess, the busy owner of a matrimonial agency called Romance, Inc. So dedicated is Fess to his job that he fails to notice how much his girlfriend Linda (Rochelle Hudson) loves him. As consequence, he very nearly marries Linda off to someone else, but at the last moment he is saved from this boo-boo by good-time girl Alice (Pert Kelton). The title Bachelor Bait was later used by RKO for the British release of the 1949 Shirley Temple vehicle Adventure in Baltimore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Erwin, Rochelle Hudson, (more)
