Louis Sarecky Movies

Comedians Al Cooke and Kit Guard would never be mistaken for Laurel and Hardy (or even Olsen and Johnson, for that matter), but they managed to supply plenty of laughs in the low-budget Legionnaires in Paris. Not "Foreign" Legionnaires, however, but American Legionnaires, at large in the City of Light. Suckered into believing they've killed a man, WWI doughboys Al and Kit are divested of their bankroll by a clever con artist. Convinced that they're fugitives from justice, our heroes flee Paris, landing jobs at an upstate New York beanery. Years later, the American Legion elects two delegates to attend a convention in Paris -- and guess which two are chosen? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his professional doldrums in 1929, director Marshal Neilan was forced to work for second-string FBO Pictures. Fortunately, FBO was in the process of transforming itself into RKO Radio, enabling Neilan's His Last Haul to play in several prestigious moviehouses along the Keith-Orpheum circuit. Seena Owen stars as a reformed crook who decides to save her soul by joining the Salvation Army. Unfortunately, Owen is still wanted by the Law, so she has quite a time hiding out from the authorities. Still, she manages to convince petty-thief Tom Moore to change his crooked ways -- but not before Moore attempts one last burglary while dressed in a Santa Claus suit! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his movie debut, Rudy Valley portrays the crooning saxophone player who falls in love with a beautiful young woman. Classic romantic tale is fun with Marie Dressler outstanding in her role as the wealthy eccentric. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

The aforementioned appendages appear aplenty in this musical comedy that centers on a husband and wife seeking to recapture their youth by wooing younger partners. More mayhem ensues when their eldest daughter falls in love with the con artist who is involved with her father's new girl friend. The younger daughter is in love and wants to marry, but before she does, she wants to help her family get back together. Amidst the merriment and music, many bathing-suit clad beauties appear. Songs include: "You're Responsible," "How Lovely Everything Could Be," "With You, With Me" (Oscar Levant, Sidney Clare). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Cimarron was the first Western to win the Oscar for Best Picture--and, until Dances with Wolves in 1990, the only one. The film begins on April 22, 1889, the opening day of the great Oklahoma Land Rush on the Cherokee Strip. Boisterous Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) is cheated out of his land claim by the devious Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor). Instead of becoming a homesteader, Cravat establishes a muckraking newspaper, and with pistols in hand he becomes a widely respected (and widely feared) peacekeeper. He also displays a compassionate streak by coming to the defense of Dixie Lee, who is about to be arrested for prostitution. Cravat's insistence on sticking his nose into everyone's affairs drives a wedge between him and his young wife Sabra (Irene Dunne), but she stands by him--until he deserts her and her children, ever in pursuit of new adventures. Sabra takes over the newspaper herself, and with the moral support of her best friend, Mrs. Wyatt (Edna May Oliver), she creates a powerful publishing empire. Cimarron makes the mistake of placing most of the action early in the film, so that everything that follows the spectacular opening land-rush sequence may feel anti-climactic. While it's always enjoyable to watch Irene Dunne persevering through the years, it's rather wearing to sit through the overblown performance of Richard Dix, who seems to think that he can't make a point unless it's at the top of his lungs. Cimarron creaks badly when seen today, but it still outclasses the plodding 1960 remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Cuckoos began life as The Ramblers, a Broadway musical vehicle for the comedy team of Clark and McCullough. By the time the property reached the screen, it had been retailored to the talents of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey -- and the improvement was enormous. The scene is a fancy Mexican resort, where Sparrow (Wheeler) and The Professor (Woolsey), a pair of petty crooks, try to pick up a few bucks as fortune-tellers. Also staying at the resort is pompous matron Fannie Furst (Jobyna Howland), who is determined that her niece Ruth Chester (June Clyde) marry oily aristocrat Baron de Camp (Ivan Lebedeff). When Ruth evinces a preference for handsome aviator Billy Shannon (Hugh Trevor), the Baron, anxious not to let Ruth's millions slip through his fingers, orders a local band of gypsies to kidnap the girl and spirit her away to his private estate. Billy rushes to Ruth's rescue, as do Sparrow and The Professor -- though "rush" is hardly the appropriate word, since they play for time by singing "Goodbye" to the female chorus and waste even more precious minutes attempting to pilfer a keg of bootleg booze. Actually, our heroes are motivated less by chivalry than by cowardice: Gypsy king Julius (Mitchell Lewis) has threatened to kill both of them because of Sparrow's romance with sexy gypsy maiden Anita (Dorothy Lee). The boys manage to save Ruth from the Baron's clutches, but not before Sparrow distracts the gypsies by posing as a beautiful women. The Bert Kalmar-Harry Ruby score includes such standards as "All Alone Monday" and "Wherever You Are," both indifferently performed by June Clyde and Hugh Trevor. Far more entertaining are Wheeler & Woolsey's "Oh! How We Love Our Alma Mater!" (in which they pay tribute to all the prisons they've attended), Wheeler and Dorothy Lee's "I Love You So Much," and Lee's sizzling dance number "Dancin' the Devil Away." Though little more than a photographed stage play, The Cuckoos is a lot of fun, especially when Wheeler &Woolsey take center stage. For years available only in its 75-minute TV version, the film has recently been restored to its full 95 minutes with the inclusion of several long-unseen Technicolor sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this lively drama, a gambler believes he has killed a man and so boards the first train out of town. Unfortunately, a crash ensues and the wounded fugitive ends up recuperating at the home of a minister who has mistaken the card sharp for a traveling evangelist. The opportunistic gambler begins playing along. Time passes and he finds himself falling in love with the preacher's lovely daughter. The gambler is doing well in his new role, but just as he settles down into his happy new life, his past exploits return to haunt him. Luckily he is exonerated and his love finds forgiveness in her heart. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Made to exploit the panic caused by Black Tuesday, this thriller centers on the attempts of a broker to prove that a prominent banker is not responsible for the sudden closure of his financial institution. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a crime lord adopts the little brother of a slain colleague. Later a child-care inspector intervenes, deems the gangster a bad influence, and takes the lad away from him. The gangster is outraged and begins an unequaled crime spree until a local minister's daughter convinces him to reform and get an honest job at the ironworks where she is employed. He does well until the payroll is stolen. Naturally, he is the one accused. Unfortunately, this time, he is innocent. Fortunately, he manages to get it back from his old gang members--the real culprits--and return to the arms of the woman who loves him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

One of the best of the pre-Production Code Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey vehicles, Peach O' Reno remains as hilariously ribald today as it was nearly 70 years ago. Wheeler and Woolsey play Wattles and Swift, a pair of Reno divorce attorneys whose practice is so successful that their clients have to take numbers to be served. When the working day is over, Wattles & Swift convert their law offices into a nightclub, with the secretaries shedding their street clothes to don skimpy dancing outfits and the junior lawyers transforming into waiters. The story is set in motion when Joe and Aggie Bruno (Joseph Cawthorn and Cora Witherspoon) decide to get a divorce after 20 years of marriage. Wattles agrees to represent Joe in court, while Swift agrees to handle Aggie's case -- a cute conflict of interest that will mean money in the bank for the partners no matter what the outcome. The Brunos' pretty daughters Prudence (Dorothy Lee) and Pansy (Zelma O'Neill) show up in Reno to prevent their parents' breakup, whereupon Wattles falls in love with Prudence and Swift is overcome (quite literally) by Pansy. As part of his legal strategy, Swift arranges for Joe to be seen in public with another woman, who turns out to be Wattles in drag. After several minutes of double- and single-entendre comedy patter, disgruntled ex-husband Ace Crosby (Mitchell Harris), angry over the outcome of his divorce case, comes gunning for Wattles. The latter, still in female disguise, manages to keep Crosby at bay, but soon the ruse is revealed and the shootin' starts. The whole affair ends in up court, where the Brunos' divorce develops into a huge media event, with radio announcer Eddie Kane providing play-by-play and concessionaire Monte Collins hawking peanuts to the spectators. With the help of a melancholy violin rendition of "Hearts and Flowers" Wattles and Swift manage to reunite the warring couple. At this point, the Judge (Sam Hardy) instruct the jurors -- armed with musical instruments -- to "get hot," as he performs a double wedding ceremony, marrying Wattles to Prudence and Swift to Pansy. The musical highlights include a priceless Wheeler-Woolsey terpsichorean number which starts as a sultry tango and ends as an wild Apache dance, and Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee's delightful Niagara Falls to Reno, showing off the tapping skills of both performers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dolores Del Rio plays Dolores in Girl of the Rio -- which, one supposes, makes perfect sense. The heroine is a cabaret dancer who attracts the eye of her boss, slick gambler Don Jose (Leo Carrillo). When Dolores falls for handsome gringo Johnny Powell (Norman Foster), Don Jose pulls a few strings to have the boy carted off to a faraway prison. Using a few tricks of her own, Dolores manages to secure Johnny's release, whereupon Don Jose, his back to the wall, "gracefully" bows out of her life. Adapted from the old Willard Mack play The Dove (previously filmed under that title in 1928), Girl of the Rio was remade in 1939 as The Girl and the Gambler, with Leo Carrillo reprising his role from the 1932 film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The irrepressible Donald Barry is twice falsely accused of murder in this typical low-budget but well-mounted Republic Western. Barry plays Jim Randall, a lawman assigned to investigate a series of gold shipment robberies. Arriving in the middle of a hold-up, Randall finds himself accused of killing the driver (Yakima Canutt). Wells Fargo agent Cal Chambers (Milton Kibbee) vouches for his innocence, however, claiming him to be a noted geologist. Along with several of the prospectors, Jim devises a plan to prove that Jud Parker (Harry Worth) is using his dummy mine as a cover for stealing ore. The plan backfires and Jim is accused of killing one of the miners. About to be lynched, Jim is saved in the nick of time by crusading newspaper woman Martha King (Lynn Merrick), who arrives with proof of his true identity. As usual, this Donald Barry Western benefited from a well-chosen supporting cast that included William Haade as a crooked sheriff, silent screen star Dorothy Sebastian as the sheriff's ailing wife, and, of course, stunt man extraordinaire Yakima Canutt. Blond Lynn Merrick, whose contract was shared by Republic and Columbia Pictures, was to appear no less than 16 times opposite Barry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide