William Costello Movies

The racy, ribald Cole Porter musical Du Barry Was a Lady is here given a thorough dry-cleaning by prudish MGM. Richard "Red" Skelton takes over the role of Louis Blore (played on Broadway by Bert Lahr), while Lucille Ball steps into the shoes of the original play's Ethel Merman. The story proposes that Blore is a men's room attendant in a New York nightclub who has a yen for gorgeous showgirl May Daly (Lucille Ball). After drinking a potent mixture, Louis dreams that he is King Louis XV of France, and May is the magnificent Madame Du Barry. Also showing up in Louis' dream is Alex Howe (Gene Kelly), who in "real life" is the guy who ends up with May at fade out-time. It's hard to determine what's more fun to watch in Du Barry Was a Lady: the three stars, the antics of supporting player Zero Mostel, or the incredible sequence in which Tommy Dorsey & His Band -- including drummer Buddy Rich -- perform in 18th century garb and powdered wigs. Five of the original Cole Porter songs are retained for this Technicolor-ful film: "Katie Went to Haiti," "Do I Love You, Do I?," "Well, Did You Evah?," "Taliostro's Dance,", and, best of all, "Friendship." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Twixt and tween his Dick Tracy movies, Ralph Byrd plays a Foreign Legionnaire in Drums of the Desert. Byrd and his pal Peter George Lynn alternately fight off the Riffs and fight each other over the affections of lovely Lorna Gray. Gee...we always thought that people joined the Foreign Legion to forget women. Monogram's resident black comedian Mantan Moreland is on hand for his usual impeccably timed (albeit politically incorrect) comedy routines. Drums of the Desert was directed by veteran actionmeister George Waggner, long before he began billing himself as "George WaGGner." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Hidden Enemy concerns the efforts of a group of foreign spies to get their mitts on an experimental super-metal developed by scientist McGregor (George Cleveland). Astonishingly, neither McGregor nor his newspaper-reporter son Bill (Warren Hull) are aware of the spies' activities until the film is half over. Meanwhile, an exotic number named Sonia (Kay Linaker) poses as a rival reporter while trying to obtain McGregor's metal formula for mysterious reasons of her own. In keeping with Hollywood's policy of pre-war neutrality, the nationalities of the villains in Hidden Enemy are unidentified, though their accents are decidedly Germanic and Italian in nature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Less lurid than its title, Port of Missing Grils was one of several directorial efforts by screenwriter/cinematographer Karl Brown. After being framed for murder, heroine Della (Judith Allen) eludes both the police and the reel killer by stowing away on the freighter skippered by tough-but-kindly Captain Storm (Harry Carey). One she's discovered, Della falls in love with the vessel's wireless operator Jim (Milburn Stone). All three protagonists experience a series of hairbreadth adventures in Shanghai before word comes in from San Francisco that Della's been cleared of all charges. This Monogram low-budgeter is fun to watch but a bit hard to follow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by Greek-born Gower Gulch "tycoon" Anthony J. Xydias, this film was a remake, with plenty of stock footage, of Xydias' silent With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo (1926). In the new version, however, Crockett (played by a far-too-young Lane Chandler) is almost a bit part, the film concentrating instead on newlyweds Almerian and Anne Dickinson (Bruce Warren and Ruth Findley), heroic Texans based on real-life Alamo victims Almeron and Suzanna Dickinson. The siege of the Alamo by General Santa Anna (Julian Rivero) is mainly depicted via poorly-inserted stock footage from Xydias' silent version, but all the famous elements are there: Travis' (Rex Lease) line in the sand, Bowie (Roger Williams) crossing that line despite his illness and the death of all three mythical American heroes. The sole survivor is Anne Dickinson (a true flight of fancy), who is present when Sam Houston (Edward Peil, Sr.) utters the famous line, "Remember the Alamo!" Consisting of numerous gaffes (the defenders of the Alamo perform a rendition of The Yellow Rose of Texas, written years later, to mention but one example) and enacted on laughably cheap sets, Heroes of the Alamo was dismissed by an overwhelmingly hostile press. Xydias, who had come out of retirement for this, and a proposed series of historical Westerns, never produced another film. Heroes of the Alamo was later shortened to about half of its 80 minutes running time and sold as an educational short subject under the title Remember the Alamo. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Singing the praises of his new roadster, Popeye pulls up in front of Olive Oyl's house and offers to give her a ride. At the same time, Bluto drives into view in his sleek, streamlined gas-guzzler, advising Olive to go for a ride with him. When Olive chooses to remain with Popeye, Bluto decides to sabotage their motor excursion by rerouting the couple off the main highway and onto a treacherous mountainside path. The "high and dizzy" perspective gags in this cartoon are truly awe-inspiring, matched only by the wild-and-wooly chase finale. (A warning to youngsters: don't try to replace your dad's auto pistons with spinach cans. Popeye can do it because he's a professional). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Popeye and Olive attend a performance by the celebrated stage magician Bluto. Swept up in the excitement, Olive agrees to go on stage as Bluto's assistant, and before long she is under his hypnotic spell, clucking and strutting about like a chicken. Popeye proves a more difficult subject, but Bluto unleashes all his powers in an effort to (literally) make a monkey and a mule out of the one-eyed sailor before a live audience. This cartoon was remade in 1949 as A Balmy Swami. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pulling into port after a long sea voyage, Popeye proposes to his girl friend Olive Oyl, only to be informed that she loves another sailor. What follows is a cartoon-length rendition of the notoriously ribald drinking song "Barnacle Bill the Sailor", with bowderlized lyrics and generous doses of slapstick. Since Popeye's romantic rival Barnacle Bill bears a startling resemblance to his old adversary Bluto, an outsized brawl over the affections of "fair young maiden" Olive is a foregone conclusion--and this time, it's all set to music. Beware of Barnacle Bill is not a remake of the 1930 Fleischer"Talkartoon" Barnable Bill, though many of the gags are similar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's a real battle of the bands when Popeye's rag-tag symphony orchestra (including Olive Oyl on harp and Wimpy on percussion) shares rehearsal space with "The Great Maestro" Bluto and his army of long-haired musicians. At first, Popeye is clearly outclassed by Bluto, who not only wields a mean baton but also accompanies himself on violin and piano. But after a healthy dose of spinach, Popeye is instantly transformed into a musical virtuoso. Showing off his newly acquired skills by playing the piano with his fingers, toes and elbows, Popeye wraps things up by literally "socking over" a spirited orchestral rendition of Von Suppe's "Poet and Peasant Overture". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tired of cleaning his dingy apartment and burning his dinner, Popeye decides that it's time to get a wife. He heads down to a seedy-looking matrimonial bureau, where he and fellow bachelor Bluto vie for the affections of a modestly veiled Olive Oyl. Temporarily disposing of his rival, Bluto drags Olive to the nearest justice of the peace (who else but Wimpy?)--with Popeye, grotesquely scrunched like an accordion by a pile driver, hot on the couple's heels. This bizarre entry serves to introduce the Fleischer studio's unique "3-D" background effect, with the animated characters cavorting before a "live" tabletop-model background. The musical score inclues the lilting "Stay as Sweet as You Are", written byMack Gordon and Harry Revel for the 1934 movie musical College Rhythm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While taking care of a pugnacious little baby (not Swee'pea), Popeye goes to extreme lengths to lull the child to sleep. In his efforts to make certain that the kid is not roused from his slumbers by loud noises, the spinach-eating sailor beats up an entire orchestra, knocks out a radio baritone with a coast-to-coast punch, demolishes a fully-manned construction site, sinks an ocean liner, and even "murders" a street musician who looks like Harpo Marx. Popeye is at his most cold-blooded and sadistic in this episode--but he's none too good for that spoiled brat in the perambulator. Musical highlights include "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Dee-yay", "Emmett's Lullabye", and the Edward Heyman-Johnny Green standard "Out of Nowhere". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Popeye and Bluto are volunteer firemen in this one, with Popeye working for "Company D" and Bluto employed next door at "Company C". Two very loud alarm bells summon both smoke-eaters to the home of Olive Oyl, which is engulfed in flames (several of them "humanized" in time-honored cartoon tradition). In their efforts to douse the fire, Popeye and Bluto spend most of their time attempting to one-up each other, even unto using their hoses as dueling weapons. When Bluto and Olive are both trapped on the blazing roof, Popeye makes a final assault on the fire--this time backed up by his faithful can of spinach. The Two-Alarm Fire was remade in 1953 as Fireman's Brawl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide