Marion Weldon Movies
- 1939
At the end of his long association with Hal Roach, comedian Stan Laurel produced three singing Westerns featuring operatic baritone Fred Scott. The second of the three, Knight of the Plains featured such songs as Paradise Valley (the film's working title), by Lew Porter and Harry Tobias, and When We Heard the Music Play Home Sweet Home, by Porter and L. Wolfe Gilbert, as well as the expected comedy routines of the redoubtable Al St. John. In between the songs and comedy, Scott portrayed rancher Fred "Melody" Brent, whose neighbors, the Rands, are in trouble with a gang of land grabbers out to acquire an old Spanish grant. After the usual sagebrush derring-do and a bit of romance with lovely Gale Rand (Marion Weldon, Scott and his sidekick Fuzzy (St. John) can deliver the bad Guys to Sheriff Steve Clark, happy with the knowledge that they have prevented a range war. Scott was to make thirteen singing Westerns for various low-budget producers, all of them released by Spectrum Pictures. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Scott, Marion Weldon, (more)
- 1938
This film is one of acclaimed director Fritz Lang's less noted achievements, a mixture of romance, comedy, drama, and satire. It includes three songs by the famed Kurt Weill, including "The Right Guy for Me." George Raft plays Joe Dennis, an ex-convict working in a department store. The store's boss, Mr. Morris (Harry Carey), likes to hire ex-cons. Joe falls in love with Helen (Sylvia Sidney), who hides the fact that she is on parole until after they marry. Since parolees can't wed, the marriage is illegal. Distraught, Joe organizes a gang to rob Morris' store. Helen intervenes and tries to convince the gang members that the potential take isn't worth the risk of returning to prison. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Sidney, George Raft, (more)
Ranger Bob Steele goes after the bandit who killed his colleague in this low-budget oater from Supreme Pictures Corp., which was picked up for distribution by Republic. When Dave Austin learns that Apache Joe (Ted Adams) is the killer of Ranger Carson (Julian Madison), he pretends to be an outlaw himself, and, with the assistance of Jean Drury (Marion Weldon), the innocent sister of one of the gang members, manages to capture not only Apache Joe, but also his boss, supposedly law-abiding businessman Martin Rand (Forrest Taylor). In the end, it is Jean's brother Dan (Rex Lease) who saves Dave's life by taking a bullet meant for the ranger. Grizzled Budd Buster provided a bit of comedy relief and the entire package came courtesy of low-rent producer A.W. Hackel. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Marion Weldon, (more)
In this western, a good-guy must halt a battle between cattle ranchers and settlers. An outlaw exploits the feud by working on both sides and then buying up all of the land for peanuts as the two factions murder each other. The hero soon figures out the outlaw's scheme and brings him to justice via a showdown. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Marion Weldon, (more)
- 1938
Less than a week after the release of the Bob Steele western Paroled-to Die came yet another Steele vehicle, Amateur Crook. Once again, the hero (Steele) is framed for a crime he didn't commit. Once again, he breaks jail to track down the culprit. And once again, he succeeds. Amateur Crook was part of a package of A. W. Hackel-produced westerns distributed by Republic. According to B-western historian Don Miller, it was considered the best of the batch (though it really wasn't), and used by Republic as an "ice breaker" to entice exhibitors to pick up the rest of the series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Marion Weldon, (more)
- 1937
With the increasing popularity of Republic's sagebrush crooner Gene Autry), rival company Columbia found it necessary to add a musical element to this Charles Starrett Western released in early 1937. As Starrett himself was no singer, the studio hired Donald Grayson to warble Lonesome River, Out in the Cow Country and Pancho's Widow, all by Ned Washington and Sam H. Stept. Grayson played Slim, a tenderfoot learning the ropes on a cattle run from Texas to Dodge City. The teacher is foreman Steve Braddock (Starrett), but training is interrupted by the news that the stagecoach has been held up by the Dawson gang and that Marian Phillips (Marion Weldon) is missing. Saving the girl from her kidnappers, Steve discovers that her father, Kenyon (Russell Hicks) is in cahoots with the gang, Suspecting that the man may be blackmailed by Dawson (Al Bridge), Steve infiltrates the gang by impersonating an outlaw. But Dawson sees right through the masquerade and demands to have him killed. Fortunately, the sheriff's posse arrive at that very moment and Steve can soon resume his courtship of Marian. Dodge City Trail was the first of many Starrett Westerns in which the hero's name is "Steve." The moniker was considered a lucky omen and Starrett retained it when playing his most enduring character, that of "The Durango Kid." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Donald Grayson, (more)
Virtually everybody except President Roosevelt was in the lavish MGM backstage musical Dancing Lady. Joan Crawford stars as Janie Barlow, an impoverished dancer reduced to working in a seedy Manhattan burlesque house. While on a slumming party with his society friend, wealthy young Tod Newton (Franchot Tone) spots Janie in the burleycue chorus line and immediately falls in love with her. When the joint is raided, Tod pays Janie's bail, but she resists his entreaties to become his mistress, promising instead to pay back every cent she owes him "honestly." With Tod's help, Janie is able to secure work in a big-time Broadway musical being staged by Patch Gallegher (Clark Gable), who is certain that the girl is an untalented opportunist and does everything he can to sabotage her audition. When he realizes that the girl "has something," he refuses to admit it but does, grudgingly, hire her for the show. Through a combination of skill and damned hard work, Janie ends up as the star of the show, whereupon Tod, worried that he'll lose the girl to the Great White Way, buys the show and promptly closes it. But Janie, who's fallen in love with Patch, teams with her new sweetheart to restage the show with their own meager savings -- and surprise of surprises, it's a smash hit. Truly an embarrassment of riches, Dancing Lady introduced Fred Astaire to the movie-going public, solidified the popularity of MGM's new tenor Nelson Eddy, and offered a wide berth for the comedy antics of Ted Healy and his Three Stooges -- Moe Howard, Curly Howard and Larry Fine (Larry, performing his role in a Jewish dialect, has a wonderful double-take bit with a jigsaw puzzle which turns out to be a portrait of Adolf Hitler). As a bonus, the film offers spectacular musical production numbers, not to mention the enduring song hit "Everything I Have is Yours." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, (more)
