Robert T. Shannon Movies

La Taverne de N.O. is the French title for the Franco-American costume drama Adventures of Captain Fabian. As sea captain Michael Fabian, Errol Flynn (who also adapted the screenplay from the Robert Shannon novel Fabulous Ann Madlock) is ostensibly the star. Most of the footage, however, is devoted to Micheline Presle as servant girl Lea Marriote, whose thirst for revenge against the prominent New Orleans family who wronged both her and Fabian motivates the film's plotline. After Fabian defends Lea on a murder charge, she promptly weds George Brissac (Vincent Price), scion of that aforementioned family, thereby laying the groundwork for a spectacularly unhappy finale. Filmed in Paris and Nice, La Taverne de N.O. represented the second film which Errol Flynn made in partnership with producer-director William Marshall; the first was the abortive Hello God. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carlotta Duval (Vera Ralston) is willing to help her boyfriend George McAllister (John Carroll) get his hands on his ailing brother Barry's (Robert Paige) fortune. She is willing to marry Barry, knowing full well that he has only been given a few months to live. And when she deviates from the scheme by falling in love with Barry, she is willing to nurse her husband back to health, despite what George has to say about it. But is George willing to prevent slimy blackmailer Ernie Hicks (Broderick Crawford) from destroying Carlotta and Barry's newfound happiness? In terms of both budget and histrionic level, The Flame is one of the most lavish of Republic Pictures' late-1940s productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Republic's ongoing professional association with the celebrated "Ice-Capades" skating show yielded a number of flashy but forgettable musicals, including 1942's Ice-Capades Revue. Though a plot is hardly necessary, the story concerns New England farm gal Ann (Ellen Drew), whose already-mounting debts are escalated when she inherits a near-bankrupt ice show. Her efforts to revivify this operation are regularly thwarted by a conniving promoter named Duke Baldwin (Harold Huber), who has already tied up all the best arenas for his own skating spectacular. But Baldwin's second-in-command Jeff (Richard Denning) falls in love with Ann and vows to see to it that her show will be staged, come heck or high water. Jerry Colonna goes through his customary zaniness as an eccentric would-be backer who turns out to be a phony, while Barbara Jo Allen again trots out her dizzy "Vera Vague" characterization. Foremost among the skating acts in Ice-Capades Revue is Vera Hruba Ralston, who'd later be elevated to leading-lady status at Republic by her ardent admirer (and future husband), studio president Herbert J. Yates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Judy Canova plays Bessie Cobb, a kitchen worker at a Miami hotel who happens to have a crackerjack singing voice. The bell captain, Chick Patterson, learns that band leader Danny Marlowe is looking for a new girl singer, and a contest will be held at the hotel to choose one. Chick sees this as a way to make some significant money, which would allow him to marry his sweetheart, and so he persuades Bessie to enter. Chick takes a recording of Bessie to Marlowe, only to discover that gangster Honest Joe Kincaid is ordering Marlowe to choose his moll, Sugar, instead. Marlowe doesn't want to do this, but he's in over his head with gambling debts. Chick plays Bessie's record, but tells Marlowe that the voice belongs to Sugar. When Sugar comes to town, Danny and his pals kidnap her and Bessie goes on, pretending to be her. Unfortunately, Sugar's former boy friend sends two hit men to take care of her -- and they abduct Bessie, assuming she is Sugar. Things get even more complicated before all identities are straightened out and Bessie emerges the winner of the contest. Songs include the title number and "Barrelhouse Bessie from Basin Street." ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

No relation to the much-later "Matt Helm" spy comedy of the same name, Pine-Thomas Productions' The Wrecking Crew serves as a virile vehicle for Richard Arlen and Chester Morris. The stars appear respectively as a demolition-crew boss and his top worker. Morris has earned a reputation as a "jinx", an onus he may have trouble overcoming on his latest peril-fraught assignment. Jean Parker costars as the romantic bone of contention between Arlen and Morris, while character actress Esther Dale scores as the no-nonsense owner of the wrecking firm. Dozens of stock shots from previous Paramount efforts are utilized to excellent effect in this two-fisted actioner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Great Train Robbery is not a remake of the 1903 landmark film of the same name; if it had been, it wouldn't have run any longer than eight minutes. This 1941 production isn't even a western, but instead a modern-day melodrama starring Bob Steele as a railroad detective. Steele takes it upon himself to halt the activities of his crooked brother (Milburn Stone), who apparently has stolen an entire gold train, passengers and all. The criminal's modus operandi (a rather cold-blooded one, involving mass murder) was later reworked into two Republic westerns, the first starring Bill Elliot and the second featuring Rex Allen. Claire Carleton is on hand in Great Train Robbery to play a nightclub singer who requires rescuing by two-fisted Steele. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Secret agent Jeff Clavering (Alan Marshal) is in the employ of a group of businessmen dedicated to world peace. In order to get the goods on war profiteer Kamarov (C. Henry Gordon), Clavering is ordered to romance Kamarov's wife Stephanie (Mady Correll). Our hero and heroine experience any number of thrill-packed adventures while uncovering the villain's nefarious scheme to plunge the World into war. Gee? if Kamarov had only waited a few months, he could have saved himself the trouble. Some much-needed comedy relief is provided by Herbert Mundin as a bumbling British detective. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A novel by Arthur Stringer was the source for this two-fisted Universal programmer. When a giant utility company begins building a dam in the Northwoods, feisty conservationist Heather McHale (Irene Hervey) battles tooth and nail to keep the land sacred. Impressed by her determination and grit, construction engineer Owen Merrill (Kent Taylor) falls in love with Heather. He's even willing to battle local bully-boy Doug McKenzie (William Lundigan) to defend the girl's honor, which is certainly worth defending. In a climax that may or may not meet with the approval of the EPA, Heather allows the project to go through when it's discovered that the dam will help preserve the local salmon population. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this gangster movie, a criminal king-pin and his gang hide out in his hometown where they witness a religious revival that inspires the man to begin billing himself as a "born-again" evangelist so he can cash in on the guilty consciences of local businessmen. At first he keeps it all for himself, but eventually his conscience kicks in and uses the money for good. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Moonlight Murder takes place virtually in its entirety at the Hollywood Bowl. Despite dire warnings by a sinister mystic (Pedro de Cordoba), opera-star Gino D'Acosta (Leo Carrillo) insists that he will sing in the Bowl's current production of Il Trovatore. He gets no farther than the "Anvil Chorus" before he drops dead in full view of the audience. It turns out that D'Acosta was murdered, placing everyone in the cast under suspicion. As night segues into morning, detective Steve Farrell (Chester Morris) -- whose past mistakes have put him in hot water with his boss -- teams up with lady-scientist Toni Adams (Madge Evans) to piece the clues together. The hot-potato issue of euthanasia is raised during the course of Moonlight Murder, and as a result the film turns out to have one of the most sympathetic and reasonable culprits in "B"-picture history. Trivia alert: One of the suspects is played by Duncan Renaldo, who later co-starred with "victim" Leo Carrillo on TV's The Cisco Kid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There's nary a serious moment in the loopy Warner Bros. programmer A Night at the Ritz. William Gargan stars as Duke Regan, a hot-shot hotel publicity agent. Fired from several jobs, Duke is given one last chance by the Ritz-Carlton. Improvising quickly, he promotes his future brother-in-law Leopold (Erik Rhodes) as a master chef, landing the hapless fellow a choice spot in the Ritz kitchen. But there's a hitch: Not only has Leopold never cooked anything in his life, but the mere mention of food makes him extremely nauseous. As Duke desperately seeks a way out of the web he's woven around himself, a banker's convention shows up at the Ritz, and they're as hungry as hunters. This is one of the few pictures of the 1930s in which a mother-in-law (Bodil Rosing) comes to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"I Sell Anything" is the boast of penny-ante auctioneer Spot Cash Cutler (Pat O'Brien), and he more than makes good his boast in this brisk Warner Bros. programmer. When Cutler accidentally sells a rare antique to clever Millicent Clark (Claire Dodd) for a mere 50 bucks, he demands a cut when Millicent resells the item to a museum for $5000. Instead, she talks him into utilizing his talents at a high-class Broadway auction house. This leads to a series of double- and triple-crosses as Millicent maneuvers Cutler into selling the worthless items cluttering the home of her boyfriend Smiley Thompson (Russell Hopton), leaving our hero empty-handed except for the love of his ever-patient sweetheart Barbara (Ann Dvorak). The cast of I Sell Anything lists "three stooges," but they're played by Hobart Cavanaugh, Gus Shy and Harry Tyler rather than Curly, Larry and Moe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide