Lou Crosby Movies
Dissatisfied with his postwar Republic westerns (not to mention his comparatively low salary), Gene Autry switched his base of operations to Columbia in 1947, where he wore two hats as both star and producer. Autry's first Columbia effort, The Last Round-Up, is a vast improvement over the Republics that preceded it. The story finds Autry arranging for an impoverished Indian tribe to move from their desolate reservation to a more fertile and attractive location. Understandably, the Indians doubt Autry's motives, having been previously burned by such usurping crooks as Mr. Mason (Ralph Morgan) and his son Matt (Mark Daniels). Once Autry has convinced the Indians that he's on their side, he must contend with the Masons' murderous minions. In the course of events, Gene Autry sings five songs, several of them directed to pert leading lady Jean Heather. Featured among the Indian characters is little Bobby Blake, a recent graduate of Republic's "Red Ryder" series. Some of the action highlights in The Last Round-Up were lifted from the 1940 Columbia "A" western Arizona. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Jean Heather, (more)
- 1946
Crooked newspaper columnist Jeff Mann (James Cardwell), who apparently was blackmailing half the criminal gangs in the city, is murdered in his own office, and a police officer is killed the same night in the alley outside the newspaper's building -- and the prime suspect is the Shadow, the mysterious masked adventurer with the ability to cloud men's minds so they can't see him. The Shadow is, in reality, millionaire playboy and dilettante criminologist Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond), who is about to get married to Margo Lane (Barbara Read); he's vowed to give up being the Shadow, but now he has to investigate this case to clear himself, much to Margo's dismay. Police Inspector Cardona (Joseph Crehan) wants to prove the Shadow committed the murders, and Mann's editor Brad Thomas (Robert Shayne) is calling for the Shadow's blood in his newspaper's editorial pages. This leaves Cranston with his hands full, especially after Margo -- anxious to get him to the altar -- tries to solve the case herself, at one point even masquerading as the Shadow. Between keeping her out of his way and staying ahead of the real culprit, the police, and the gangs that Mann was blackmailing, Cranston and his valet Shrevie (George Chandler) just about get themselves killed a couple of times, amid a string of comedic and mysterious twists that lead right back to the murder scene for the identity of the killer. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kane Richmond, George Chandler, (more)
- 1944
Like Song of Russia and Mission to Moscow before it, Days of Glory is a paean to the courage and resourcefulness of the Soviet Union during WW2 (this was long before the Russians became the stock villains in Hollywood films!) Producer Casey Robinson took a gamble with the project, casting the leading roles with movie newcomers. Heading the cast is Broadway actor Gregory Peck as Vladimir, the leader of a band of Soviet guerilla fighters. Tamara Toumanova, former premier ballerina of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, costars as Nina, whose love for Vladimir is surpassed by her love for Mother Russia (Toumanova was at the time the wife of producer Robinson). The actors speak in long, lyrical monologues about freedom, sacrifice and the indomitability of the human spirit: fascinating at first, the excess verbiage begins to wear on the viewer after three or four reels. In traditional underground-movie fashion, hero and heroine are obliged to give up their own lives for the sake of their countrymen, in a reasonably spectacular climactic battle sequence. Budgeted at nearly a million dollars, Days of Glory lost heavily at the box-office, though critics and audiences alike were in agreement that Gregory Peck had some potential as a screen presence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tamara Toumanova, Gregory Peck, (more)
