Joseph Carole Movies

Quickie producer Sam Katzman gathered together a few leftover costumes, sets and props from past Columbia "A" pictures, and the result was The Mutineers. First Mate Nick Shaw (Jon Hall) stumbles across the murdered body of his captain (Lyle Talbot). The evidence indicates that the culprits are members of a vicious counterfeiting ring. Shaw's situation becomes precarious when it develops that practically every passenger aboard his ship is in cahoots with his gang. Future "Superman" George Reeves turns in an effectively villainous characterization, while Adele Jergens goes through her usual paces as a "bad" girl who may not be as bad as she seems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two future TV favorites--Rocky Jones' Richard Crane and Dennis the Menace's Gloria Henry-head the cast of Columbia's Triple Threat. Crane plays Don Whitney, an egocentric college football hero who receives a good strong dose of reality when he joins a professional team. Whitney's game really begins to suffer when he moons over sweetheart Ruth Nolan (Henry), who seems interested in someone else. All the various subplots are resolved in the obligatory "Big Game" climax. The principal selling card of Triple Threat was the presence of several real-life gridiron stars, including Sammy Baugh, Paul Christman, Johnny Clement, Steve Van Buren and Bob Waterfield (later the husband of actress Jane Russell), not to mention sports commentators Harry Wismer, Tom Harmon and Bob Kelley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

How Dooo You Do? offers two refugees from radio's Eddie Cantor Show, Bert Gordon and Harry Von Zell, as an erstwhile comedy team. The film's title is a catchphrase of Gordon's, who gained famed in the 1940s as "The Mad Russian". Seeking refuge from their fans, Gordon and Von Zell head to Desert Springs and register at a resort hotel. No sooner have they arrived than a much-despised radio agent is murdered, casting suspicion on our heroes-not to mention fellow guests Cheryl Walker, Ella Mae Morse, Clare Windsor, and Keye Luke. For reasons that aren't explained until the end of the film, practically all the cast members (including bit players Thomas Jackson, James Burke, and Fred Kelsey) appear under their own names. In fact, the Pirandellian ending is the most entertaining aspect of this patchy comedy-mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Convicted Woman was Columbia's annual "all girl" B picture, allowing studio executives to decide which of their female contractees would be retained and which would be dropped. Rochelle Hudson plays Betty Andrews, a jobless girl who through a series of unfortunate setbacks ends up in a girl's reformatory. Her fellow inmates include three-time-loser Hazel (Lola Lane), the nasty Duchess (June Lang), and such Columbia "regulars" as Iris Meredith, Lorna Gray, Mary Field, Beatrice Blinn, Dorothy Appleby, and hefty June Gittleson (aka June Bryde). Reporter Jim Brent (Glenn Ford) tries to secure a release for Betty, all the while exposing corruption among the prison officials. Also concerned with Betty's welfare is lady lawyer Mary Ellis (Freda Inescourt), who has some of the best scenes in the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Telecast dozens of times on cable television back in the 1980s, Columbia's Babies for Sale was another stepping-stone on Glenn Ford's road to stardom. The story concerns a crooked adoption racket, operating out of a supposedly charitable maternity home. The establishment's staff uses methods of persuasion both subtle and overt to convince the unfortunate mothers-to-be to give up custody of their unborn children, which are then sold to adoptive parents who've had no luck within legal channels. Those expectant mothers who protest against these shady goings-on have a habit of disappearing without a trace. The racket is exposed by crusading reporter Steve Burton (Glenn Ford), with the aid of inquisitive maternity-home inmate Ruth Williams (Rochelle Hudson). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Few studios churned out prison pictures with as much frequency as Columbia Pictures. In Men Without Souls, young Johnny Adams (Glenn Ford) deliberately gets himself thrown in prison to accumultate incriminating evidence against Capt. White (Cy Kendall), the sadistic guard responsible for death of Johnny's father. Unfortunately Johnny is swept up in a prison break engineered by cell-block boss Blackie Drew (Barton MacLane), which culminates in the murder of White. Our hero is saved from the electric chair through the intervention of obligatory prison chaplain Reverend Storm (John Litel). Meanwhile, Johnny's true-blue girlfriend Susan Leonard (Rochelle Hudson) awaits the outcome of events on "the outside". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide