Morgan Conway Movies

Unrelated to the same-named 1939 Sonja Henie vehicle, the 1934 Monogram release Happy Landing is an airborne cops-and-robbers affair. Ray Walker stars as brash U.S. border patrolman Nick Terris, on the trail of a gang of international crooks. Anticipating such later films as Assault on a Queen, the villains intend to rob an ocean liner. To keep the authorities at bay, the thieves threaten to drop a bomb on the ship from a stolen seaplane. Hero Terris is thus required to take to the air himself to foil the bad guys. Some nice aerial photography (credited to Archie J. Stout) is the principal redeeming factor of this standard effort. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

At one time Universal's "prestige" director, James Whale had slipped off the A-list by the end of the 1930s; even so, his films remained both intriguing and entertaining. In Whale's Sinners in Paradise, an airplane bound for China cracks up during a storm and crash-lands on an uncharted South Sea island. All of the passengers, including nurse Anne Wesson (Madge Evans), fugitive criminal Robert Malone (Bruce Cabot), blonde strumpet Iris Compton (Marion Martin), crooked former senator Corey (Gene Lockhart), "radical" heiress Thelma Chase (Charlotte Wynters), munitions salesmen Honeyman (Milburn Stone) and Brand (Morgan Conway), and traveler Mrs. Sydney (Nana Bryant), survive unscathed. Forced to fend for themselves, the marooned passengers are helped along by resident beachcomber Jim Taylor (John Boles) and his servant Ping (Willie Fung). Taylor is staying on that island, hundreds of miles from the shipping lanes, for his own reasons, and won't use his boat to return the castaways to civilization -- a decision that doesn't sit well with the most mercenary members of the group, but interests Anne who, in addition to her desire to help in China, is running away from a loveless marriage. Jim is hiding from something a lot less romantic, that could threaten whatever future they might see for themselves. A remake of a silent film of the same name, Sinners in Paradise was extensively re-edited before its general release, just as Whale's previous The Road Back had been. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Probably as a reward for her energetic performance in Torchy Plays with Dynamite, pert Jane Wyman was given another Glenda Farrell-like leading role in Private Detective. Wyman plays gorgeous P.I. Myrna Winslow, the principal rival of male gumshoe Jim Rickey (Dick Foran). The case at hand concerns the murder of a millionaire, with the dead man's wife and her boy friend as principal suspects. Also adding to the intrigue is an enormous trust fund, set up in the name of the millionaire's adopted son. A goodly portion of the film takes place in a deserted mansion at midnight, with Myrna snooping where she shouldn't. The finale finds Myrna and Jim joining forces to capture the real murderer in a well-staged donnybrook. Private Detective runs 57 minutes-and "runs" is the right word here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this, the premiere entry in the "Brass" Bancroft series (starring the man who would-be President, Ronald Reagan), Brass is seen as an ex-Army pilot who works as a commercial airline pilot. One day he quits his well-paying, safe job to become an agent for the Secret Service. His first assignment is to look into a gang of smugglers who are suspected of sneaking illegal aliens into the US via airplanes. This gang is really bad, and whenever they fear that they will be caught, they simply open their hatches and drop the hapless aliens like so many bombs. Bancroft is enraged at their inhumanity, and in the end, he and the ring leader battle it out in a plane spinning out of control. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this espionage drama, an inventor creates a way to send television broadcasts across the country and finds himself pursued by international spies. Eventually the enemy succeeds in stealing the plans. But in the end, he gets it back and even falls in love with his former partner's daughter, with whom, thanks to his new television, he has a long-distance romance. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an ingenious journalist finds himself at odds with his brother the district attorney over his unconventional methods of investigating a story; especially when they interfere with the judicial process as they did when he began eavesdropping upon a grand jury. One of the reporter's tricks involves several ham radios strategically placed around the city. With the help of the operators, the journalist is able to get scoops. When he is kidnapped by a crime boss who is sick of his constant snooping, the operators come to his rescue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Pat O'Brien is his usual likably obnoxious self in the Warner Bros. newspaper yarn Off the Record. While trying to smash a numbers racket, star reporter Breezy Elliot (O'Brien) takes tough young numbers-runner Mickey Fallon (Bobby Jordan) under his wing. The kid gets a job as a copy boy, earning the enmity of one and all because of his inability to keep his fists to himself. Mickey redeems himself-and, by extension, Breezy-when he engineers the capture of his gangster brother Joe Fallon (Alan Baxter). The romantic angle is handled by Breezy's gal Friday Jane Morgan (Joan Blondell), who eventually agrees to marry the hero only if he adopts the troublesome Mickey as his son (gee, things were so much simpler in the movies!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed on-location at the Naval Air Training Stations in San Diego, CA, and Pensacola, FL, this black-and-white Warner Bros. drama was dedicated to the U.S. Naval Aviation Service and probably served as propaganda when it was released in 1939, right before the U.S. involvement in WWII. Submarine officer Jerry Harrington (John Payne) goes to Pensacola to train as a flying cadet, just like his father and his brother, longtime airman Cass Harrington (George Brent). Jerry ends up falling for his brother's girlfriend, Irene Dale (Olivia deHavilland), which only increases the competition between the two brothers. After Cass gets injured, Jerry becomes a pilot in San Diego and Irene must choose which man she wants. Also starring Frank McHugh. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In this fourth film in RKO's series based on Leslie Charteris' modern Robin Hood "The Saint", George Sanders plays Simon Templar, alias the title character. The Saint's quarry is a ring of gamblers who have been fixing horse races. Inspector Fernack (Jonathan Hale), the Saint's friendly adversary, has been accused of accepting bribes to cover up the crooks' activities, prompting our hero to try to clear Fernack's reputation. Aided by his girlfriend (Wendy Barrie) and petty criminal Pearly Gates (Paul Guilfoyle), the Saint routs the gamblers, but not before nearly losing his own life. George Sanders would play the Saint twice more before leaving the series to become The Falcon, a Saint-like sleuth in another of RKO's B-picture series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Winfield Sheehan, former head of Fox studios, owned the only Austrian Lippizan horses in the U.S. In 1940, MGM bought the rights to the Felix Salten novel Florian, all about the Lippanzers. When the film was made, the producer was Winfield Sheehan. Coincidence? We don't think so. At any rate, the story, set in the 1880s, tells of how hero (Robert Young) and heroine (Helen Gilbert) are brought together through their love of horses. Just so we don't forget that Florian is set in Austria, Reginald Owen shows up as emperor Franz Josef. For another filmic treatment of the fabulous Lippanzer show horses, we refer you to Disney's The Miracle of the White Stallions (63). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1940 Warner Bros. quickie A Fugitive From Justice is based on Leonard Neubauer's short story "Million Dollar Fugitive." Roger Pryor plays insurance investigator Don Miller, who endeavors to hide Lee Leslie (Donald Douglas), holder of a million-dollar policy, from both the police and the underworld. Miller's efforts are frequently stymied by Mark Rogers (John Gallaudet), a Winchellesque radio reporter in cahoots with the G-Men. Our hero's allies include his wisecracking assistant Ziggy (Eddie Foy Jr., brother of Bryan Foy, the film's producer) and all-purpose heroine Janet Leslie (Lucille Fairbanks, niece of Douglas Fairbanks Sr.) A Fugitive from Justice sure looks like a remake, but a remake of what remains a mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This entry in the detective series follows Queen as he investigates the case of a woman's missing husband, a banker. As he searches, he must cope with several murders and a burlesque queen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide