Esther Dale Movies

This Republic programmer stars Lynne Roberts as a country gal who is slickered by a couple of city-fied jewel thieves, played by Peter Cookson and Jerome Cowan. Roberts is set up for a patsy by these two rogues, and nearly ends up in jail-and later on, narrowly escapes being rubbed out by gangsters. When all is said and done, Roberts gives up the Big City and returns to her faithful rural beau William Terry. Director John English keeps things constantly on the move in Behind City Lights, even when nothing much is really happening. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Her Favorite Patient is the TV title for Bedside Manner, an improbable comedy directed by future master of "realism" Andrew L. Stone. Ruth Hussey plays a big-city doctor who travels to a small town to assist her surgeon uncle (Charlie Ruggles). The townsfolk resist the notion of a female physician, but she wins them over by proving to be an expert on all things medical. Test pilot John Carroll, love-struck by Ms. Hussey, fakes a head injury so that he can remain at her side. Despite her high I.Q., Hussey can't see through Carroll's ruse...or perhaps she prefers not to. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this bit of WWII propaganda (designed to boost support of America's alliance with Russia against Germany), Kolya (Dana Andrews), Kurin (Walter Huston), Damian (Farley Granger), and Marina (Anne Baxter) are members of a farming collective in the Ukraine known as the North Star. The hard-working but happy members of the North Star find their way of life shattered when Germany, in defiance of previous treaties, storms the nation and begins a brutal occupation. Dr. Otto Von Harden (Erich Von Stroheim) begins gathering children -- who are to be used for blood transfusions and medical experiments. Many of the outraged farmers take to the hills to fight with the anti-Nazi resistance, while those who stay behind bravely destroy precious crops and materiel rather than turn them over to the Nazi war machine. Producer Samuel Goldwyn made The North Star at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (whose son James was an executive at Goldwyn's studio). Ironically, several members of the film's creative team (including screenwriter Lilian Hellman) later found their motivations for making the film questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee, who declared it Communist propaganda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Though somewhat past his prime, Edmund Lowe carries the dramatic weight of Murder in Times Square with breezy assuredness. Lowe plays Barrymoresque stage actor Cory Williams, who vaingloriously tries to solve a bizarre series of murders. Though the killings take place in the heart of New York, the victims are killed by the venom of a rattlesnake. It turns out that the killing has a vendetta against theater people, and Williams may be next on the list. Marguertie Chapman costars as perky press agent Melinda Mathews, while the many suspects and victims include Bruce Bennett, Veda Ann Borg, John Litel, and, best of all, Esther Dale as a crafty panhandler named Longacre Lil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the box office success of The Old Maid, Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins were reunited for this catty drama. Kitty Marlowe (Davis) is a well-respected author who returns to the small town of her birth, where she becomes reacquainted with her childhood friend Millie Drake (Hopkins). While Millie is happy as a wife and mother and loves her husband Preston (John Loder), she's envious of Kitty's success, and Kitty's visit prompts Millie to sit down at the typewriter herself. Millie turns out a sexy potboiler that, with Kitty's help, attracts the attention of a publisher. To the surprise of them both, Millie's book is a runaway bestseller, and a decade later she's one of the most successful authors in America, easily eclipsing Kitty's more highbrow work. Preston finds himself growing disenchanted with Millie once success begins to go to her head, and he finds himself attracted to Kitty; while Kitty tries to dissuade Preston's advances, a scorned Millie believes that her old friend has been trying to steal her husband away from her. Old Acquaintance was remade in 1981 as Rich and Famous. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a slightly addled young advertising executive works for his father's radio-advertising agency. His first job is to hire a famous big-game hunter for an upcoming show. Unfortunately, the man he chooses proves to be a fake and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this wartime drama, a doctor discovers that one of his patients isn't as crazy as he thought, with dangerous consequences for the whole world. Dr. Michael Lewis (John Garfield) is an intern at a hospital where a woman named Jane (Nancy Coleman) is admitted. Jane was injured in a car wreck, and she tells Michael a remarkable story. She claims that she is actually an espionage agent with top-secret information that could help the Allied war effort; the accident occurred while she was trying to escape from Axis spies who will do anything to get her documents. Michael, who is supposed to keep an eye on Jane, thinks she must be delusional, and when psychiatrist Dr. Ingersol (Raymond Massey) arrives with Jane's father, Mr. Goodwin (Moroni Olsen), he signs Jane out in their custody. However, Michael soon discovers that Mr. Goodwin isn't Jane's father at all; he and Ingersol are actually the Nazi spies Jane was fleeing in the accident, and someone must rescue her before it's too late, both for Jane and the Allied war effort. Dangerously They Live was scripted by Marion Parsonnet from her novel, Remember Tomorrow. ~ Mark Deming, 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

This historical drama tells the story of the first class to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In the early 19th Century, Congress appropriated the money to build the school, but opponents who believed it to be an illegitimate expansion of the powers of the federal government decided to sabotage the school. They put the hard-as-nails Major Sam Carter (Laird Cregar) in charge of the academy, and he ruthlessly put the recruits through grueling training -- until only ten prospective soldiers remained. They include Dawson (George Montgomery), a patriotic farm boy and Howard Shelton (John Sutton), a selfish playboy who has come to West Point only because of its prestige. The two vie for Carolyn Bainbridge (Maureen O'Hara), while they, along with the other eight, try convince Carter that the school is worth keeping. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The illustrious National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan provides the backdrop for this musical that chronicles the ups and downs of overseeing such an establishment. The story centers on a young burlesque singer who is discovered and taken to the camp. At first the uncultured girl rebels against the many rules of the camp, but eventually she settles down and sets to work. Trouble for the camp ensues when a negative newspaper article is published and the backers for the camp withdraw their support. To save the place, the young singer stages a benefit performance. She has by then become an opera diva and succeeds in saving the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The South Seas romance is set on the scenic island of Tahiti where the island chief betroths his son to a woman and then ships him to the US to attend Harvard. During the return voyage the lad is befriended by the ship's captain who also protects the beautiful girl the boy meets, but doesn't know he is supposed to marry. The two end up falling in love, even though the young man has sworn not to marry the girl his father picked out for him 15 years before. Meanwhile another jealous girl interferes with the romance as does another chieftain who wants the betrothed girl for himself and so tries to kill the young man. The whole mess is later resolved by a tremendous volcanic eruption which destroys the island and leaves the girl standing alone on a rocky peak staring at the blood red sun slowly sinking beneath the horizon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Charles Boyer and Margaret Sullavan star in this adaptation of Fannie Hurst's tearjerking novel about a woman who chooses to stand beside a man who cannot marry her. Rae (Margaret Sullavan) is a woman from Ohio who meets a dashing gentleman from out of town, Walter (Charles Boyer). They soon fall for each other, but he's due to leave town shortly. As he's about to leave, he calls her from the ship with a question: there's a minister on board who can marry them. Will she join him? As she dashes to the docks, she meets an old flame, and the delay causes her to miss the boat. Five years later, Rae is in New York City and unexpectedly runs into Walter; assuming that she left him behind intentionally, he married another woman. When he realizes that she still loves him, they begin an affair. Rae is content to live her life as "the other woman" until Walter travels to Europe and neglects to call her when he returns; convinced that their romance is over, Rae goes back to Ohio and agrees to marry Curt (Richard Carlson), who loved her long ago. When Walter discovers that Rae has gone back home, he races to Ohio to reclaim her hand. This was the second film version of Back Street, following a 1932 adaptation starring Irene Dunne and John Boles and preceding a 1961 remake with Susan Hayward and John Gavin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Paramount's "B" pictures of the early 1940s were generally more interesting than their star-studded "A"s, as witness Women without Names. Ellen Drew and Robert Paige star as newlyweds Joyce and Fred MacNeil, whose honeymoon comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying halt when Fred is accused of murder. Railroaded into prison through the efforts of politically ambitious assistant DA Marlin (John Miljan), Fred awaits his doom on Death Row, while Joyce works overtime on the outside to clear her husband's name. Fred fate rests in the hands of Peggy Athens (Judith Barrett), the spiteful girl friend of Joyce's ex-husband, and the only person who knows the identity of the real murderer. Women Without Names was based on a play by Ernest Booth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide