Frank Coghlan, Jr. Movies

The second of three versions of James Oliver Curwood's pulp fiction drama of a mountie and his separated-at-birth prey stars Charles Bickford as both Sgt. Conniston and accused murderer John Keith. The latter is persuaded to prove his innocence by impersonating his captor, who has conveniently died from a "frosted heart." Everyone at the Mountie outpost likes the "new" Conniston, especially the dead mountie's girlfriend, Miriam (Evelyn Knapp), who just happens to be the daughter of the commandant (David Torrence). This idyll, however, is rudely interrupted when a jealous rival (Walter McGrail) reveals that Conniston has a wife and child stacked away in faraway England, a development that forces Keith to show his hand. River's End had been filmed in 1920 as a vehicle for Lewis Stone and would be remade in 1940 starring Dennis Moore. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

William Wellman's landmark gangster movie traces the rise and fall of prohibition-era mobster Tom Powers. We are first shown various episodes of Tom's childhood with the corrupting influences of the beer hall, pool parlor, and false friends like minor-league fence Putty Nose. As young adults, Tom (James Cagney) and his pal, Matt Doyle (Edward Woods), are hired by ruthless but innately decent bootlegger Paddy Ryan (Robert Emmett O'Connor). The boys quickly rise to the top of the heap, with all the accoutrements of success: custom-tailored tuxedoes, fancy cars, and gorgeous girls. All the while, Tom's loving (and somewhat addlepated) mother (Beryl Mercer) is kept in the dark, believing Tommy to be a good boy, a façade easily seen through by his older brother Mike (Donald Cook). Tommy's degeneration from brash kid to vicious lowlife is brought home in a famous scene in which he smashes a grapefruit in the face of his latest mistress (Mae Clarke). Some dated elements aside, The Public Enemy is as powerful as when it was first released, and it is far superior to the like-vintage Little Caesar. James Cagney is so dynamic in his first starring role that he practically bursts off the screen; he makes the audience pull for a character with no redeeming qualities. The film is blessed with a superior supporting cast: Joan Blondell is somewhat wasted as Matt's girl, Mamie; Jean Harlow is better served as Tom's main squeeze, Gwen (though some of her line readings are a bit awkward); and Murray Kinnell is slime personified as the deceitful Putty Nose, who "gets his" in unforgettable fashion. Despite a tacked-on opening disclaimer, most of the characters in The Public Enemy are based on actual people, a fact not lost on audiences of the period. Current prints are struck from the 1949 reissue, which was shortened from 92 to 83 minutes (among the deletions was the character of real-life hoodlum Bugs Moran). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Screenland magazine summed up the William Haines vehicle The Girl Said No thusly: "The star plays another of his cut-up roles that make the critics gnash their teeth and the audience chortle." Had this review been printed in the 1990s, the character played by Haines might have been labelled a demented stalker; in 1930, however, he was merely whimsically over-enthusiastic. The star plays go-getting bond salesman Tom Ward, who can't take no for an answer when his sweetie Mary Howe (Leila Hyams) throws him over in favor of a collar-ad wimp named McAndrews (Francis X. Bushman Jr.) Tom continues to hound Mary at home and at her job, and when all other tactics fail, he kidnaps her from her own wedding, merrily driving off with the outraged heroine bound and gagged in the back seat! Almost as "funny" as this denouement is the scene in which Tom poses as a doctor and gets his "patient" roaring drunk. Only the antics of Marie Dressler (as a reclusive Hetty Green-style financier) and Polly Moran save this so-called comedy from being an utter disaster. The dialogue in The Girl Said No was written by Charles MacArthur, who hopefully didn't use Bill Haines's caveman tactics while courting his own bride, actress Helen Hayes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Directed by serial specialist Spencer Gordon Bennet, Marked Money stars Junior Coghlan as the orphaned son of a seafaring man. His late father has left instructions that The Boy is to be delivered to the home of Captain Fairchild (Bert Woodruff) the father's old sailing master, along with $25,000 in cash to finance the boy's education. The villains aren't interested at all in The Boy, but they do dearly covet the 25 grand he carries with him in a box. When he isn't kept busy protecting the boy from the baddies, Captain Fairchild dedicates himself to keeping handsome naval aviator Clyde (George Duryea, aka Tom Keene), away from Fairchild's niece Grace (Virginia Bradford). But when Clyde and The Boy team up to rescue Grace from kidnapers, Fairchild welcomes the aviator to his home with open arms. In the film's pulse-pounding climax, the heroine and 12-year-old Coghlan struggle to bring an out-of-control airplane safely to the ground. In his autobiography, Frank "Junior" Coghlan cited Marked Money as a prophetic film in that he appears in a naval uniform -- just as he would as an adult, when he spent 23 years as an active U.S. Navy officer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most popular baseball films ever made, Slide, Kelly, Slide also solidified the stardom of MGM leading man William Haines. In his usual brash, cocky manner, Haines is cast as Jim Kelly, a self-styled baseball whiz who talks himself into a job with the New York Yankees. Though his boundless braggadocio is backed up by his talent on the baseball field, Kelly soon alienates himself from the rest of his teammates, who can't stand his arrogant behavior. Veteran Yankee catcher Tom Munson (Harry Carey) -- also the father of Kelly's sweetheart Mary (Sally O'Neil) -- tries to set the young upstart straight, but Kelly isn't interested. Upset because he feels the team isn't on his side, Kelly gets drunk on the eve of an important game in Chicago. Mary doesn't want him to get fired, so she hides him in her hotel room. When Tom shows up he tries to talk some sense into Kelly, but the hot-headed young player unleashes his invective on Tom, calling the aging player an old has-been in full earshot of the entire team. This shameful display thoroughly disillusions Yankee batboy Mickey (Junior Coghlan) who, up to that moment, worshipped Kelly.

After quitting the team, Kelly makes himself scarce during the deciding World Series game. When the team runs out of pitchers, little Mickey decides to seek out Kelly and beg him to return -- only to be struck down by a truck. Realizing that Mickey will recover only if he redeems himself, Kelly returns to the Yankee roster and scores the winning run without resorting to his usual show-off tactics. As the recovered Mickey is wheeled into Yankee Stadium, Kelly reverts to his old boastful self, but by now, everyone -- including Mary -- realizes that our hero is truly a reformed man. Filmed on location at the Yankee's spring training camp in Florida and at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field (one of the best minor-league stadiums in America), Slide, Kelly, Slide boasts cameo appearances from such real-life baseball luminaries as Mike Donlin, Irish Meusel, Bob Meusel, Tony "Poosh-em-Up" Lazzeri, and umpire John "Beans" Reardon. As a bonus, football-star-turned-actor Johnny Mack Brown makes his film debut in a one-scene bit part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Those who believe that It Happened One Night was the first film to tap the comic potential of "auto courts" (later known as motels) are referred to the 1927 film Rubber Tires. It all begins when the Stack family sells all its worldly possessions, invests in a car, and heads to California. Every possible disaster befalls them, from flat tires to busted radiators, but the family is always rescued by Bill James (Harrison Ford), the erstwhile sweetheart of Mary Ellen Stack (Bessie Love). Upon arriving in the Golden State, Pa Stack (Erwin Connelly) finds that a promised job has fallen through, but fortunately the manufacturer of their car gives the family a huge cash reward for proving the durability of the auto. Rubber Tires was filmed on locations ranging from Monterey Bay to the coast of Carmel; according to co-star Frank "Junior" Coghlan, one scene was filmed in the tiny chili stand owned by future "restaurateur-to-the-stars" Dave Chasen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide