Tanis Chandler Movies

16 Fathoms Deep was a curious choice as the first effort from Arthur Lake Productions. Heretofore known best as Dagwood Bumstead in Columbia's Blondie series, Arthur Lake not only elected to produce this remake of the 1934 melodrama of the same name but also to play the film's comedy-relief character, a camera-crazy tourist named Pete. The story concerns a former Navy frogman who takes a job as a sponge fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico. The job proves more hazardous than expected, due to the dirty tactics perpetrated by a rival sponge dealer. Lloyd Bridges, still eight years away from TV's Sea Hunt, stars as the frogman-turned-fisherman, while Lon Chaney Jr., who played the hero in the 1934 version of 16 Fathoms Deep, is here cast as the villain. Filmed in Anscocolor, the 1948 16 Fathoms Deep paid its way, but wasn't successful enough to allow Arthur Lake to quit his day job as Dagwood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) helps out an actress justly terrified for her own life after her fellow actors slowly begin to die horrible deaths. The homicides transpire at a Malibu beach house; Chan gathers all of the clues into one location and hones in on the killer. This marked Toler's last film appearance; Roland Winters inherited the role from him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The first of the Bowery Boys' "haunted house" comedies, Spook Busters casts the boys as recent graduates of Exterminators' School. Setting up headquarters in Louie's Sweet Shop, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and their pals are hired by Mr. Brown (Chester Clute) to rid a forbidden old mansion of its various bugs and insects. Once they arrive on the premises, the Boys must deal with "pests" of a human variety-namely mad scientist Dr. Coslow (Douglass Dumbrille) and his assistants (Vera Lewis, Charles Middleton and Richard Alexander). The fun really begins when Coslow prepares to use Sach as a guinea pig for his latest diabolical experiment. The film's highlight is the obligatory fight scene, lensed on this occasion in ultra-slow motion! Gabe Dell makes his return to the Bowery Boys fold as returning GI Gabe Moreno, here equipped with a French war bride (Tanis Chandler) who would never be seen again after this film. One strongly suspects that Spook Busters was seen several times in childhood by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and other members of the Ghostbusters cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The definitive Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall vehicle, The Big Sleep casts Bogart as Raymond Chandler's cynical private eye Philip Marlowe. Summoned to the home of the fabulously wealthy General Sternwood (Charles Waldron), Marlowe is hired to deal with a blackmailer shaking down the General's sensuous, thumb-sucking daughter Carmen (Martha Vickers). This earns Marlowe the displeasure of Carmen's sloe-eyed, seemingly straight-laced older sister Vivian (Bacall), who is fiercely protective of her somewhat addled sibling. As he pursues the case at hand, Marlowe gets mixed up in the murder of Arthur Geiger (Theodore von Eltz), a dealer in pornography. He also runs afoul of gambling-house proprietor Eddie Mars (John Ridgely), who seems to have some sort of hold over the enigmatic Vivian. Any further attempts to outline the plot would be futile: the storyline becomes so complicated and convoluted that even screenwriters William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthmann were forced to consult Raymond Chandler for advice (he was as confused by the plot as the screenwriters). When originally prepared for release in 1945, The Big Sleep featured a long exposition scene featuring police detective Bernie Ohls (Regis Toomey) explaining the more obscure plot details. This expository scene was ultimately sacrificed, along with several others, in favor of building up Bacall's part; for instance, a climactic sequence was reshot to emphasize sexual electricity between Bogart and Bacall, obliging Warners to replace a supporting player who'd gone on to another project. The end result was one of the most famously baffling film noirs but also one of the most successful in sheer star power. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Horror films were not Republic Pictures' forte, as one can see while watching the stylish but pedestrian Catman of Paris. Carl Esmond stars as Charles Reigner, an amnesia victim who may or may not be fiendish "Catman" who has been cutting a homicial swath throughout Gay Paree. Essentially a Jeckyll-Hyde story, the film borrows a page from Oscar Wilde's anco 7 Argentina's first 1946 release, Christina stars screen favorite Zully Moreno as the title character. It's the old saw about the country lass who finds herself cast adrift in the Big City. She finds brief happiness in the arms of wealthy Esteban Serador, but he turns out to be a cad and a bounder. To no one's surprise, Moreno is rescued by hometown sweetheart Alberto Closas, who has remained faithful through it all. Very standard stuff, Christina coasts by on the appeal of Zully Moreno, who seems much too intelligent to be mouthing the inane dialogue she is given. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roundly blasted upon its release because of the extreme liberties it takes with the truth, Devotion is better as cinema than as history. Not that it's great cinema, mind you, mainly because the filmmakers opted to replace historical fact with either tired dramatic clichés or wild improbabilities. As an example of the latter, the film posits that Paul Henreid's character, who is a standard-issue film romantic hero (troubled, but understandably so), is the inspiration for two of the most passionate, fiery characters in the canon of English literature. Arthur Kennedy as brother Bramwell is much more passionate and fiery, a fact which tends to further muddle things up. The generic setting is also disappointing; these ladies wrote as they wrote because of where they lived and how they lived, but little of this makes it to the screen. Fortunately, Devotion has Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino on hand. De Havilland is quite good, grabbing hold of whatever she can find in the script and milking it for all it's worth. Lupino does even better, often making this standard-issue (at best) writing seem engaging and moving. As indicated, Kennedy also makes things work for him, and Nancy Coleman does what she can with the little she is handed. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score provides plenty of the atmosphere that Curtis Bernhardt's direction often lacks. Ultimately, Devotion's assets, particularly Lupino and de Havilland, manage to squeeze it into the winner's column -- but it's a pretty close call. The film was produced in 1943, hence the presence of Montagu Love, who died that year. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Janie, adapted from the Broadway play by Josephine Bentham and Herschel Williams, was one of a 1940s cycle of stage-to-film comedies about teenagers. Joyce Reynolds stars as Janie, a typical teen whose life is turned topsy turvy by the installation of a military base near her home town. Edward Arnold and Ann Harding, exasperated and understanding respectively, play Janie's parents. Robert Hutton is the soldier and Richard Erdman the hometown boy who vie for Janie's attentions. The film is cloying at times, but survives as a reasonably accurate representation of teenage life in the war years, right down to the "coded slang" used to throw parents off the track. Janie ends with the Army marching out and the Marines marching in, leaving the door wide open for a sequel, which appeared in 1946 under the title Janie Gets Married. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide